Someone said to me the other week, "You work at a greenhouse, you must have a fabulous garden!" Sadly my gardens sometimes are akin to the shoemaker's children. Shoeless and unmulched. This year I'm turning over a new leaf. I propose a list of April Resolutions to guide my gardening endeavors this year.

1. Don't cut off your daffodil (or other bulb) foliage before it turns yellow and withers. This is very important to allow the plants to save up enough nutrients to produce next year's flowers. As tough as it is, leave it alone.

2. Mark your irises and daylilies for flower color or variety so that in the fall if you need to divide them you know who is where. This has prevented me from dividing mine the last 2 years and now they REALLY need it.

3. Look at the weather forecast before planting. If you see unseasonable lows or 10 days of no rain or hold off a bit. Covering or replacing annuals planted in haste is a pain.

4. Unless you have lots of friends, or don't want to keep the ones you have, only plant a few tomatoes and zucchini. Really 1 or 2 zucchini plants should be enough for anyone.

5. Mulch the garden to keep the weeds down. This should be a no-brainer, but I'm always too stingy with the mulch and pay for it later. A good 3+inches is good.

6. Prune shrubs and trees at the time of transplant to help get the roots established. Be ruthless. The root-to-shoot ratio should favor the roots when planting. If not, the plant will lose water through the excess leaves and the roots won't be able to keep up. Have you ever noticed a new tree or shrub looking wilty soon after it was planted? That's why. Do it a favor and give it a haircut. Don't worry it will grow back.

7. Same for perennials. A wise gardener once told me to cut off the flowers when planting so the poor thing wasn't trying to do two things at once. As much as it kills us to behead our new babies, cut them off and put the blossoms in a vase to enjoy.

8. Plant perennials in the fall. I know dad and I are starting to sound like broken records, but really it's much better for good root establishment. Falling air temperatures and the still-warm soil make for happy plants.

I usually don't make New Year's resolutions. Who wants to go on a diet? But this April list are things that are relatively easy, will make your gardening experience much better, and you can still eat chocolate.