It Ain't Easy Being Green

April comes from the Latin Aprilis, from Greek Aphro, a shortening of Aphrodite the Greek goddess of love and beauty. What is beautiful and what I love about April is that greening process that started a while ago around here in south central Ohio and has been picking up speed ever since. Our daffodils were poking the tips of their leaves tentatively through the mulch in February. Crocuses were blooming in March. On St. Patrick’s Day my lilacs were showing little leaves. No wonder the Irish wear green on that festive day. In April most plant life is bursting with such green growth that even the most unobservant among us can’t help but notice. Kermit the frog seems an unlikely spokesman for April and the amazing process in plants that is riotously rampant in this month. Christopher Morley captured the mood when he wrote, “April prepares her green traffic light and the world thinks Go.”
So what is all this green? Where does it come from? What purpose does it serve? The green is from chlorophyll, a most important chemical. The development of this molecule is very involved and complicated. I don’t know enough to be too specific but a general view may help. Authors Bill Bryson and Bernd Heinrich explain the process. I can summarize it this way: in the first billion years of life on earth blue green algae began using the hydrogen available in water molecules and releasing the oxygen as waste. That process created our atmosphere’s oxygen that makes our life possible.
Through a chemical reaction involving energy from the sun chlorophyll combined the hydrogen from water and carbon from carbon dioxide to produce sugar, the basic fuel of life. This process is called photosynthesis. The hosts of the cells that evolved in this process became green plants about 450 billion years ago. Scientists Margulis and Sagan said that photosynthesis is “undoubtedly the most important single metabolic innovation in the history of life on the planet….” Even though the process was invented by bacteria, green plants and we have received the benefits of it.
We all learned in grade school that plants breathe in carbon dioxide and breathe out oxygen. So, the next time you take in a deep breath, and I hope it is soon, thank green plants. The next time you eat, anything at all, thank green plants. If you are not eating them or their seeds fruits or roots directly you are eating something that ate green plants. As you can see, it ain’t easy being green but it would be a whole lot harder being if there weren’t any green.
Now that I have attempted to convince you to love plants, let’s talk about how to get rid of some of them. April 14th is Ralph C. Starkey Community Action Day a day for volunteering to help our community. One of those activities will be held at Mary Virginia Crites Hanna Park at Rte. 188 and Pontius Road. People from the ODNR Division of Forestry will teach how to identify invasive plant species growing in the woods. The volunteers will work to remove as many of them as we can. Come join students from Ohio Christian University, local high schools and others. Bring loppers if you have them.

Things to do in the garden:
Time spent on your lawn now will benefit it the rest of the year. Fertilize lightly. Now is the time to re-seed once night time temps consistently reach 50 degrees. Warning: If you apply a pre-emergent herbicide it will prevent your grass seed from germinating so don’t be an April Fool. This is also the time to aerate lawns.
Start plants indoors. Hardy plants can be put out in the garden in April. Last average date of frost is mid-May. That means that there is a fifty fifty chance of frost after that. The odds of frost decrease 10% per week from then on. Unless you are prepared to cover plants in case of frost, don’t put out those tender plants such as tomatoes and peppers. If the end of the month shows the weather settling you can begin hardening off those tender vegetables. Our local giant pumpkin growers start their plants April 20th give or take depending on the forecast. If the forecast is for a cold spring start them later.
This is the time to prune your roses. Depending on the variety, you may prune back to a foot in height. Don’t mulch until the soil has warmed around them. Remember roses thrive on water, water, water. Spring flowering bulbs should be fertilized after they bloom. Remember to leave the leaves of bulbs until they yellow. Brown is better.
Did you save the ashes from your wood fires? Spread them lightly under your fruit trees or grape vines. The phosphorous in the potash will be used later to produce the fruit sugar.
Did some of your fall mums make it through the winter? If growth has started you can lift and divide them now if necessary. Set out the rooted young shoots 12 -15 inches apart, water well and mulch. When the shoots reach 6 inches tall pinch them back. Continue to pinch back new growth until the second week in August. This will insure bushy plants full of flowers.
If April brings its overhyped showers don’t dig in our clay soils until they dry out a bit. If they seem wet enough to make a clay pot, wait.
The OSU Extension Fact Sheet on growing tomatoes has been updated. Go to http://ohioline.osu.edu. Look under Yard and Garden then find Fact Sheet HYG1624-10. While you are at it see Fact Sheet HYG1132 which describes the process of soil testing. Testing your soil is THE best thing you can do to insure a successful lawn and garden. Now is a good time to do it.
Cut back your ornamental grasses to a couple inches. Cut back your butterfly bushes to the ground. You did let them stay over winter didn’t you? That’s best for their survival.
Pull those bag worms, or better, cut them off. Do it now before the worms hatch out (shortly after the Snowmound spirea blooms). Dispose of the bags in the trash or bury them. One bag left equals a hundred plus new bags that won’t show themselves until this fall. It is almost impossible to see them, unless they denude your evergreens, while they and everything else is green.