RBC Heritage Red Geraniums and More April Gardening Tips for Lowcountry Gardens
Play it safe and get your garden Heritage-ready ahead of the tournament, plus plan ahead on summer vegetables.
Story by Alea Wilkins and Suzanne Barton
Key Points
● Order RBC Heritage-ready red geraniums early to avoid suppliers running out.
● Grow varieties of tomatoes, peppers and other summer vegetables in containers if low on space.
● Prune azaleas once they’ve finished blooming to spur new growth.
April in the Lowcountry is when everything hits its stride, from championship fairways to backyard beds. Red geraniums light up the RBC Heritage grounds and island porches, winter crops are ready for harvest, and warm-weather plants are waiting in the wings. To help you keep the momentum going, certified professional horticulturist and The Green Thumb manager Suzanne Barton shares practical tips for bringing your backyard into peak season.
[LOCAL Life] I can’t wait for RBC Heritage, and I’d love some red geraniums to celebrate. What’s the easiest way to get them?
[Suzanne Barton] Red geraniums are a beautiful homage to the tournament. Everyone wants them this time of year. In fact, local nurseries grow thousands of them in preparation for RBC Heritage. Even with all the extra red geraniums, suppliers can run out, so order early to ensure you have yours on time.
for containers, windowsills and other small spaces, they ripen quickly, usually in 45 to 60 days.
[LL] I’d like to grow some fresh veggies this summer, but my POA doesn’t permit vegetable gardens. What can I do instead?
[SB] While you can get a plot in a community garden, long waiting lists can feel like too much hassle when you only want to plant a few vegetables. An easy workaround is to grow them in containers. Take any five-gallon container, fill it with a lightweight, well-draining soil, top it with shredded hardwood mulch and vegetable fertilizer, and voila, you have your own little garden on your patio. Summer vegetables that grow especially well in containers are tomatoes, basil and some pepper varieties. If you’re short on space, try Tiny Tim tomatoes. They only grow to be about a foot tall, and they’re perfect for warm-weather salads, pastas and more.
[LL] My azaleas are in bloom. How should I care for them?
[SB] Once your azaleas have finished blooming, it’s time to prune them. For some folks, this might be a little later than usual since our winter was so cold (by Lowcountry standards), but April is typically when you complete this task. Trim carefully around the shrub to help spur new growth and maintain blooms as long as possible.
Birth Flower of the Month: Daisy
April’s birth flower is the humble daisy, a cheerful bloom that practically invented the phrase “fresh as a daisy.” With bright petals and an easygoing nature, it brings youthful energy and spring renewal wherever it grows. Available in a rainbow of colors, daisies thrive as hardy garden perennials, happily inviting butterflies to drop in, and they look just as good in a bouquet, making them a safe bet for April birthdays, anniversaries or last-minute “I totally didn’t forget” gifts.
April tips from Lowcountry Gardening, a guide written and produced by the Lowcountry Master Gardener Association
Plant or transplant shrubs or trees before the end of April so they can establish before the Lowcountry summer heat.
Perennials and summer-flowering or foliage-type bulbs and tubers, such as caladiums, cannas, agapanthus and gladiolus, can be planted now.
Fertilize turfgrass in mid- to late April, following the recommendations in your Clemson Lab soil test report and the HGIC maintenance calendar for your turfgrass type. Find more information at hgic.clemson.edu.
Once spring-flowering shrubs, such as azaleas and loropetalum, have finished blooming, they can be pruned for size or shape to open them up for improved air circulation and sunlight penetration. Be sure to do so before mid-June, when they set their flower buds for next year.
Annual seeds such as cosmos, zinnia, poppy and tithonia may be broadcast over prepared soil. Mix seed with a handful of sand to spread them more evenly, then gently press them into the soil.
Excerpted from Lowcountry Gardening, written and published by the Lowcountry Master Gardener Association. Grab a copy of this handy guide to all things Lowcountry gardening for $5 at The Greenery, Bruno Landscape & Nursery, The Green Thumb or the Master Gardener booth at the Bluffton and Port Royal farmers markets. For more information, visit LowcountryMGA.org.
