In March the weather teases gardeners into believing spring is almost around the corner, with lots of continuous sunny and warm days. During this time of year, the weather is very unpredictable for planning and the weather is like a roller coaster, one day it’s nice and sunny, then the next day it’s cold and rainy. As gardeners we get antsy, we want to get out in our garden and play in the dirt. But we know better, the last average frost date is still a month or two months away, depending on your gardening zone. This is when we can start planning for this year’s spring garden. Spring is a good time to check out new gardening books. There are two gardening books I would like to recommend Southeast Style Gardening and Gardening for the Butterflies and the books are on sale on Amazon. Here are the links: Southeast Style Gardening and Gardening for the Butterflies. The books can help you plan your garden for spring.
March Gardening Chores
As we
patiently wait for spring to arrive, we can start preparing by starting seeds. Start
spring flowers and vegetables from seeds indoors. It takes about 6 weeks to get
strong seedlings. To make starting seeds easier several horticultural companies
have designed and marketed seed germination kits. The kits can be bought at
local nurseries, Home Depot, Lowe’s, and online. There is a kit that includes 2
grow lights, seedling heat mat, growing tray, base tray for excess water, 2
vents on the cover, garden tools, and plant labels. This kit is just one that
was listed on Amazon that I found.
Spring is a good time to prune your shrubs and vines. Just be
aware that some plants bloom on new growth where as other plants bloom on old
growth. When in doubt prune after flowering.
March is the last month recommended to prune Roses to half
their original size. After pruning rake up last year’s mulch and replace with
new mulch. This should be done especially if your roses had black spot because
the black spot spores are laying dormant on top of last year’s mulch. Fertilize
with Bayer Advanced Rose Fertilizer after pruning and apply once a month. Click
Here For More Information on Roses.
Prune back Holly shrubs that have gotten too large. If needed,
you can prune back to 36 inches, but if the holly shrubs are 10 to 15 feet you
can do the pruning in stages until you find the height that you like.
Flowering shrubs such as Winter Honeysuckle, Quince, and
Forsythia can be pruned after flowering.
Is your Liriope looking at little tattered? The leaves can be
cut either with a weed eater or your lawn mower set on its highest setting.
Trim back deciduous grasses before the grass breaks dormancy.
Add fresh layer of mulch on all trees and shrubs to prevent
weeds. To prevent future weeds from growing add pre-emergent weed preventer on
top of the mulch. Check the label to see how often you need to re-apply for
continuous protection.
Fertilize winter flowering annuals with a blooming type
fertilizer. Water in all granular type fertilizers.
Lawns should have lime at least yearly. Have you limed your
lawn lately? Use 40 pounds per 1000 square feet.
Fertilize Pecan Trees with a fruit tree fertilizer and water
in well after.
Fertilize shrubs with a shrub and tree fertilizer and water in
well.
Need to divide your perennials? When the leaves start to show
you can divide and plant elsewhere in your garden. Use a mixture of SuperThrive
and Recharge, professional strength microbial superpack as a root stimulator
for best results after planting.
One of the best times to plant fruit and nut trees is in early
spring. Nurseries have a good selection of these trees in spring, but hurry the
selection usually goes fast.
Peach and Apple trees need to be sprayed with a fungicide
recommended for fruit trees, and spray the trees while the blossoms are on the
tree.
Check for scale insects on Camellias and Euonymus. Spray with
a horticultural oil, if you detect the insects.
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