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While you may view our full program on the Events Page of our website, we are pleased to highlight these upcoming programs.

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GARDEN THOUGHTS - II

April is here and spring has sprung! The Magnolias are blooming as are the Forsythia, Cherry trees, Daffodils, Hyacinths and many other spring bloomers.

Tasks to address in April are many, among them:

• Continuing to clean up the garden by picking up fallen branches, leaves and other debris. Get rid of old growth on herbaceous perennials and deciduous shrubs. This is also a great time to do some weeding, preferably early in the morning when dew is still on the ground or after it rains. As long as the soil is not too wet, you can begin digging and preparing your garden for planting, as well.
• Make sure you have a nice, clean edge between your lawn and your flower beds. This makes for a much neater appearance and also keeps the lawn from creeping into your beds. It's easy to create a clean edge with a special edging tool or even with a flat-edged shovel. If you're creating a new bed, you can lay a garden hose along the ground to create a line where you want the new bed edge to be and then follow along with the edging tool.
• After cleaning and edging, it's time to feed the soil with compost or well rotted manure. This will nourish the soil and enrich it with minerals and other elements necessary for good plant growth. In the absence of compost or manure, you can apply a slow-release fertilizer, making sure to stay away from synthetic fertilizers.
• You may want to look into setting up a compost area. It's fairly simple to do, either by purchasing a compost bin or making your own, lots of tutorials online. Use a combination of grass clippings, paper, vegetable peels and leaves. Turn the mixture a couple of times a month with a rake to keep it aerated. Your garden will benefit greatly!
• Check the garden for pests such as slugs and aphids and get rid of them with an organic remedy. Ladybugs love aphids and are a great garden ally!
• Give your garden a running start by planting masses of colorful annuals; they will bloom while your perennials are maturing and setting buds. You can start annuals inside and plant outside at the appropriate time, or you can purchase flats of annuals at your local garden center. The nice thing about annuals is that they bloom pretty much continuously all season long. That's their job, to complete their life cycle in one season, germinate, look pretty, produce seeds and die. Also consider planting a few containers for additional color, structure and texture and place them on your patio, deck or even in an empty spot in one of your beds.

In the words of Thomas Jefferson, "No occupation is so delightful to me as the culture of the earth, and no culture comparable to that of the garden". Enjoy!

PHOTOS OF FLOWERS BLOOMING IN MORRIS COUNTY

Trees and flowers are bursting with Spring glory, as seen in these pictures of cherry blossoms, azaleas and lilac buds from around the county. Click on any one to see them (and several others) enlarged in our photo gallery, April Flowers.

Retail Partners

When shopping at our fine Retail Partners, please remember to present your Membership card at the beginning of your check out transaction. Our Retail Partners need to enter the discount at the beginning of that process.

If you have not yet used this wonderful Member Benefit, you can view our full list of Retail Partners by clicking here.

Amazon Smile

Don't forget to "SMILE!"Amazon Smile, that is!

Amazon, through the AmazonSmile Foundation will contribute 0.5% of your purchases on Amazon to a charitable organization you select. Please consider selecting The Friends of the Frelinghuysen Arboretum as your designated recipient from this wonderful program.

Click here and log in to your amazon account to designate the Friends as your charity.

That's it for this time. Hope you enjoyed this edition of the newsletter. Tell your friends about this handy way to keep up with activities at the Frelinghuysen Arboretum (click here for complete directions for subscribing.

Visit our website: https://www.arboretumfriends.org.
Email your comments or suggestions to webmaster@arboretumfriends.org.
Phone us at (973) 326-7603.

The Frelinghuysen Arboretum is a facility of the Morris County Park Commission