By now the weather has broke and the garden and landscape are ready to get their attention for those in northern areas. What are some of the things you could begin to do in the world of plants?

House plants can go outdoors (if you do this sort of thing) this month to spend a few months rejuvenating in the garden. Plunge them pot and all in deep shade. Syringe occasionally and water when they need it. Do not put ferns, philodendrons or African violets outdoors. Whether the house plants are in or out continue your program of feeding.

Start the compost pile… Garden refuse can be turned into valuable plant food if you put it into a compost heap. One way to do this is to dig a large hole 18 inches deep in an out-of-the-way corner where the refuse can be piled up in layers in this manner: On top of 8 inches of refuse add an inch or two of soil and top with four inches of peatmoss and some bonemeal. Build up the pile in layers like this until it is three or four feet above ground. After 18 months the stack will be a good substitute for manure. A simpler method is to simply stack the refuse above ground without any of the other materials but turn it over several times a year to speed up decay and it will also be ready to use in 18 months.

Continue to sow vegetables. Here is a list with final dates for sowing. Sow snap (string) beans up to August 1, lettuce August 15, beets July 15, carrots July 15, kohlrabi August 1, radish August 30 and corn July 15. Plant spinach in August for a fall crop and sow cabbage and cauliflower now in a seed bed for a fall crop. Transplant them into the garden later. Sow sparingly and thin out plants when they are two inches high.

Fertilizing, cultivating and watering… Side-dress along the rows of plants every 10 days and cultivate it in. Water thoroughly after feeding. Sprinkle the fertilizer in a broad ring when applying it around such plants as tomatoes and cabbages. Feed rose bushes after the flowering begins… to slow down with a rose food or soluble garden fertilizer. Cultivate regularly and when you water soak the garden thoroughly. Shallow watering brings roots to the surface and then they are destroyed by cultivating or hot sun and drought.

Chinch bugs and mealy bugs are at work in lawns long before the appearance of the lawn announces their presence. These tiny insects suck the juices, kill good grass and cause the lawn to have a thin patchy appearance about midsummer but right now is the time to control the chinch bug. Contact a lawn professional or your county agent for the best control options. The same treatment should also kill the leafhopper which lives in the grass and carries various diseases to plants in the garden.

If you have a greenhouse … cleaning time is here. Clean out the debris from under the benches and take away the old soil and dirty ashes from the top of the benches. Wash out and scrub benches and woodwork. Finally remove the plants you want to keep, and to clean away every last trace of insect life spray the whole place with a thorough application of malathion.