Home

• If you live in an area that is subject to earthquakes or other movement, check to be certain that large, breakable items are well secured and never placed on high shelves. Since an earthquake could occur while you are sleeping, never place heavy frames or other objects over your bed.
• Where do most people spend about one-third of their day? In bed. Under the bed is a good location to store emergency supplies. Check to be sure you have a battery-operated portable radio, flashlight, first-aid kit, and a selection of supplies routinely recommended for areas that face possible disasters, such as earthquake, forest fire, flooding, etc.  
• Inspect home from bottom to top, looking for damage that occurred over the winter. Prepare a "to do'' list of needed repairs. If you don't want to do the inspection yourself, hire a home inspector.
• Do spring cleanup. Wash walls and windows; clean carpeting, upholstery and window coverings.
• Check doors and windows for proper operation. Lubricate hinges and tighten loose hinge screws. Apply clear wood floor wax to door edges that rub. Clean the tracks on sliding windows to remove dust, dirt and debris.
• Clean garbage disposal by grinding up two trays of ice cubes made from a mixture of 1 cup white vinegar to 1 gallon of water.
• Now is a good time to start planning outdoor construction projects. If you will not be buying kiln-dried wood, you might consider buying your wood now and stacking it to dry. The lumberyard that provides the material should assist you with guidance on how to stack the lumber and if it needs to be restacked periodically to lower the moisture content.
• Examine children's outdoor play equipment, particularly pieces that are constructed of wood. Look for rot or damage at soil level, that could weaken the equipment, splinters, and loose and/or exposed hardware.

Garden

• Lawns need fertilizing this month. Use Superfine Lawn Fertilizer.
• Fertilize citrus trees. Use sulfate of ammonia, 1/2 pound for each inch of trunk diameter, spread evenly under tree. Soak soil after applying.
• Add a layer of mulch to keep soil moist and weeds out of shrubbery borders.
• It's summer- annuals planting time. Consider using alyssum, ageratum, calendulas, lobelia, portulaca, snaps, salvia, stock, verbena, cineraria, coleus, forget-me-not, nasturtium, petunia, zinnia, aster and nicotiana.
• Herbs, gourds, summer bulbs, perennials, flowering shrubs, cactus, and succulents are all available at nurseries this month.
• Snap off the dead flower clusters of rhododendrons. Grasp the brittle, dead flower stalk between your thumb and forefinger and gently bend it over to break it. Take care that you don't harm the new bud(s), as these are next year's growth.
• Purchase and plant your tropical's now to get them established. Bougainvillea, lantana, hibiscus, taro and others are plants that, in mild winter climates we should treat as "annuals", to be replaced if they get frosted in the winter.
• Pinch, or cut back, mums, marguerites, geraniums, and fuchsias to make them bushier and produce more flowers.
• Plant shade-tolerant flowers, such as fairy primrose, salvia, nicotiana, mimulus, lobelia, columbine, calceolaria, coleus, foxglove, impatiens, forget-me-not and fibrous begonias.
• Pinch back the tips of azalea branches after flowering to keep them compact, bushy and to produce more flowers next spring.
• Plant snap or pole beans, beets, cabbage, carrots, celery, chard, corn, cucumber, endive, lettuce, onions, parsley, peas, radish and late tomatoes.