Raise mowers to highest setting and mow groundcovers to remove winter burn and tidy appearance.

Shrubs and trees best transplanted or newly planted in spring, rather than fall, include butterfly bush, dogwood, rose of sharon, black gum, vitex, red bud, magnolia, tulip, poplar, birch, gingko, hawthorn, and most oaks.

Prune all dead and weakened wood from shrubs due to winter injury.

Established roses may be fertilized once new growth is 2 inches long. We recommend Bayer Advanced All-in-One Rose and Flower Care Concentrate.

Also use the Bayer All-in-One product to pretreat plants that are susceptible to mildew, such as monarda, phlox, and syringa.

Begin spraying to control black spot disease. We recommend Ortho Rose Pride Rose and Shrub Disease Control.

Carefully cultivate soils to avoid injury to balloon flowers (platycodon), gas plant (dictamnus), hardy hibiscus, plumbago (ceratostigma plumbaginoides) and some lilies as they are slow to show in the spring garden.

Easter lilies may be planted outdoors. Set bulbs 2-3 inches deeper than they grew in pot. Mulch.

Boxwoods can be pruned after April 15.

Use Espoma Holly-Tone for control of holly leaf miner. Apply when new leaves begin to grow.

Now is the time to shape evergreen and deciduous hedges. When pruning, it is important that the top is narrower than the base so that sunlight can reach lower limbs.