April Signs and Phases Overview

Making your good garden better

Here is the April Overview focusing on utilizing the phases of the moon and signs of the zodiac for planting to enhance your garden, no matter if your garden is a half-acre or a couple of tomato plants in a bucket.

This is written for USDA Planting Zone 6 B in Central Kentucky and all times given are Eastern Daylight. Just convert the information to your planting and time zone.

The moon

      The trend of the last several months continues with April beginning and ending with the moon in the light phase. The light moon rules until the full moon appears at 2:08 a.m. on April 11 and then returns at 8:16 a.m. on April 26, continuing until full moon on May 10 at 5:48 p.m.

      The dark moon thus rules for most April 11 and until the morning of April 26. The rest of the month is under the influence of the light moon.

      “General Tips” for dark- and light-moon activities are below and for veggies, it’s above-ground producers in the light moon and below-ground producers when the dark phase is in.

The signs

     Remember: Check to see if the moon is in the light or dark phase (information above) before proceeding with planting or other activities.

      April begins with Gemini (the arms), commonly known as “the bean sign,” in force, so that’s where we will begin, too.

      Gemini days: Gemini (the arms) rules April 1, 27-28. This is the best sign for planting beans - the Old Timers say they grow “long as your arm” – but while the first day in the month is very risky because of the chance for frost and/or freezing weather - the last two might be possibilities if we have a warm April and you are a bit of a risk taker.

      Considering beans take about 7-10 days to germinate, this pushes them into the almost safe no-frost days in May by the time they pop from the ground. Since all three of these days are in the light of the moon, those last two are great possibilities.

      Again, just remember: Beans can’t withstand frost and or freezing weather and if the month turns off cool, they won’t like that either, so just be patient.

      You might consider April 1 to replant those peas that got zapped during the freezing weather of March.

        Fertile days: These are the most fertile signs in the zodiac. Here’s the breakdown as they occur this month and the phase of the moon in which they appear:

         Cancer (the breast), April 2-3, 29-30 and May 1, all with the light moon in force; Scorpio (the secrets), April 11-13, all three in dark moon; Pisces (the feet), April 21-22, dark moon; and Taurus (the neck), 25-26, first day in dark moon and light moon on the 26th . There 12 days this month (including May 1) ruled by the four most fertile signs – Scorpio, Pisces, Taurus and Cancer – well distributed between light moon (above-ground producers) and dark moon (below-ground producers).

         Depending on the weather, take a close look at that April 25-May 1 stretch. There are fertile days, bean days, most are in the light and one dark moon day.

          Killing signs: No planting, transplanting, or dealing with things you want to thrive should occur on these days. Reserve them for cultivating, cleaning out fencerows — anything but planting: Leo (the heart), April 4-6; and Aries (the head), April 23-24. There are five killing days in April.

     Flowering days: These are “bloom days” and well suited for planting flowers. Virgo (the bowels) rules April 7-8; and Libra (the reins) is in force April 9-10. There are four flowering days this month.

     So-so days: These aren’t particularly fertile nor destructive, just so-so. They appear in this order: Sagittarius (the thighs), April 14-15; Capricorn (the knees), April 16-18; and Aquarius (the legs), April 19-20. We have seven days this month ruled by the so-so signs. All of them are when the dark moon is in force and that makes them perfect for making changes, too.

      More about that below.

April tips

      Here are a few general tips for activities other than planting:

      >Pouring gravel: If you have gravel to pour on a drive or roadway, do that when the light moon rules through all of April 10 and then beginning April 26 through all of May 9 and then some of May 10. The same applies for stones on a garden path: Place them when the moon is in the light phase so they don’t sink.

      When to pour gravel remains one of the most often-asked questions.

      >If you’re setting fence posts, do that in the light of the moon so the posts don’t sink.

      >If you’re putting on a new shingle roof, do that when the moon’s in the dark phase so that the shingles stick down and don’t curl up on the ends.

      >Making changes: We continue with lots of perfect days for making changes with the moon in the dark phase and the signs going out of the body beyond anything that functions.

     Those days are April 14-22, nine perfect days, down one from March. No need to break them down again since you have that above, they encompass Sagittarius (thighs) on April 14 through the two Pisces (feet) days on April 21-22. The moon is in the dark phase the entire time and the signs are going out of the body beyond anything that functions.

      If you are looking for perfect days to wean animals or children, stop smoking, start a diet or exercise program, schedule elective surgery – anything that requires a change – then these are your days!