What To Do In the March Garden

Spring into action is the focus for March.

March is the beginning of the garden year with longer days and warmer nights. Highlights are visible everywhere with colorful Primulas, Scillas, Irises, Hyacinths, Daffodils and Tulips.

March also marks the return of Hummingbirds in about the third week. Provide plants sweet with nectar flowers such as Shrimp Plant and Weigela to attract these little friends.

The best thriving gardens are ones that are kept clean, tidy, well fed & watered. Now is the time to brush up on some good common sense organic gardening. It's easier to do than you think and will save you, and the environment, from some nasty chemical last ditch effort.

Perennials & Tubers

Continue to carefully divide & replant perennials as they emerge.

Pot up overwintered tuberous begonias in peat moss rich potting soil

Perennial Garden Plant Selector Tool

Annuals

Start to harden off hardy annuals in cold frames as the weather warms up.

Start indoor seedlings of tender annuals.

Annuals Plant Selector Tool

Vegetables, Fruit & Herbs

March 1-15 begin to sow radish, garlic & broad beans

March 16-31 begin successive sowings of peas, spinach, leaf lettuce, onion sets, turnips and shallots.

Plant new strawberry plants and feed established ones.

Sow annual herb seeds.

Train vine berries to wire or fence supports such as Loganberry, Tayberry, and Blackberry.

Bulbs

Tulips, Daffodils, Crocuses & Irises should be blooming now.

Deadhead and feed spring bulbs after flowering but do not remove leaves until they turn yellow, as that also feeds the bulb for healthy blooms next year.

Bring potted spring bulbs like Hyacinths, daffodils & tulips indoors to bloom. Plant Paper White Narcissus bulbs in gravel & water for fragrant indoor blooms in 6 weeks.

After Amaryllis finishes blooming, cut old flower but not the leaves. Put in sunny location Water & fertalize until end of summer so it will bloom next year.

Plant summer bulbs such as Lilies and corms of Gladiolas.

Pruning

Prune early blooming bushes such as Forsythia after flowering.

Prune Hybrid Tea & Floribunda Roses after the 15th.

Cut out any evergreen winter damage.

Trees & Shrubs

Plant new trees.

Prune Fruit trees.

Apply organic rose food to soil and mix in.

Now is also a good time to plant Evergreens & Hedges and mulched with well-rotted compost or manure.

Indoor Plants

Group indoor plants in trays filled with gravel and water. This increases humidity which helps plant during the dry season. Repot, prune and fertilize.

Protection

Winter watering is important if the weather has been dry, or if plants are in a location that is sheltered from rain.

Remove winter mulches and add them to the compost.

If you would like to know the condition of your soil, take samples for testing. Once you know the needs of your soil, you can determine which fertalizers and amendments to add.

Pest Control

Continue removing any annual weeds now.

Keep an eye out for any disease or fungus that may be starting.

Try not to use any pesticides as they may kill the eggs of beneficial bugs too. Instead read up on organic ways to deal with bugs & diseases.

Poke around to find any round, pearly-white eggs that look like fish eggs. These are slug eggs and should be destoyed to keep their population under control.