March Gardening

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POSTED BY PEGGY:  There are lots of projects to do in the garden this month.  It’s not too early to get started. One important thing to remember for March gardening: the ground can be very wet. Avoid walking in your plant beds this time of the year. Walking in the garden will compact the soil. Compacted soil doesn’t have any air pockets. Plants take up air through their root system along with water and nutrients, so they need the air pockets to thrive. Air pockets also allow for good drainage.

 Delay working if the garden soil is too wet. When a ball of soil crumbles easily after being squeezed together in your hand, it is dry enough to be safely worked.  If you work in the soil when it is too wet,   the soil structure can be broken down.

A popular question from our customers:  “Is it too early to plant perennials?” 

Answer: As long as you can work the ground, you can plant. Most of our plants are “hardened off” to the cold weather.  This means they have already been exposed to the cold weather and are ready to plant.  Just ask us, we will let you know.

 

Here is a list of things you can do in your garden this month:

 

Annuals:

Plant pansies and other cool season annuals such as linaria.  Cool season vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower and collards can also be planted.

Pansies love cool weather.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Linaria is a great cool season annual.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Perennials:

Loosen winter mulches from perennials cautiously. Re-cover plants at night if frost returns. Clean up beds by removing all weeds and dead foliage at this time.

 

When new growth appears in perennial beds, apply a balanced fertilizer like Osmocote

Prune ornamental grasses

to 6-8 inches.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

To make pruning neat and easy, tie a string around grass before cutting.

Summer and fall-blooming perennials can be divided now. Remember to wait until the ground is dry enough. 

 

 

Roses, Shrubs and Trees:

 

Apply sulfur to soils around acid-loving plants (Azaleas, Rhododendrons, Hollies and Dogwoods)

 

To get blue blooms on your Big Leaf Hydrangeas apply aluminum sulfate around base of each plant.

 

Prune shrub roses (not climbing roses), butterfly bushes and crape myrtle. Knock Out roses can be pruned to 2’. 

 

Knock Out Rose after pruning.

During the last week of March, start to pull back mulch from rose bushes.

Complete tree pruning before they leaf out. 

 

Bulbs:

Fertilize bulbs with a “bulb booster” formulation broadcast over the planting beds. Hose off any granules that stick to the foliage.

 

Overall:

Perennials, shrubs and trees may be planted as soon as they become available.

Clean up and dispose of all diseased foliage from roses, peonies, iris and daylilies. These are subject to fungal leaf diseases.

 

It’s a good time to prohibit new weed growth with Preen Weed Preventer or an organic option, Premerge Corn Gluten. These products keep seeds from germinating, so you need to apply them before it gets too warm. Now is the time to apply crab grass preventer to your lawn too.

 

 

 

For a full list of things to do in the garden this month, go to:

http://www.mobot.org/gardeninghelp/plantfinder/CalendarTips.asp?month=3

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Filed under Annuals, Good advice, Grass, Perennials, Roses

Tags: cool season annuals, march garden maintenance, March Pruning, pruning knockout roses, pruning ornamental grases