Your Garden in March.....

It may not feel like Spring is on the way but the calendar on my desk promises me that it's just around the corner!!  While this cold, rainy, miserable weather doesn't seem very "gardener friendly"...... if you bundle up and pull on your rubber boots a trip around your yard will actually lift your spirits!  Especially if you try and imagine your garden starting to bloom in the next few months!


A garden journal is especially helpful this month.  I highly recommend a simple journal or notebook that you can jot down notes, ideas and inspirations for each month of the year.  For example March is the month I plan my vegetable garden.  This month I will carefully review last years records and read the notes I listed.  I had a few beds that didn't get enough sun last Summer.  This year I will remember to move the "noted" raised beds before planting.  I also record plants I experimented with and their progress.  I'm always experimenting with new seeds and I try and record what worked well or what wasn't a big hit!


Your Garden in March

Planning

It's time to plan your vegetable garden!  Plan for  Spring, Summer and Fall vegetables that can be eaten fresh or preserved.  If you lack in-ground space, plan an outdoor container garden.  Use a soil thermometer to help you know when to plant vegetables.  Some cool season crops like onions, kale, lettuce and spinach can be planted when the soil is consistently at 40 degrees.

Maintenance

• Spread compost over garden beds and landscape beds.

• Fertilize evergreen trees and shrubs.  Fertilize rhododendrons, camellias, azaleas with an acid type fertilizer.

Planting and Propagation

• Divide hosta, daylillis and mums.
• Start tuberous begonias indoors.
• Take geraniums, begonias, and fuscia from indoor storage.  Water and fertilize.  Cut back if necessary and prepare to move outdoors next month.

Pest Management

• Spray trees and shrubs for web worms if present.
• Spray to control leaf fungus diseases in dogwood, sycamore, hawthorn and willow trees.
• Prune ornamental for better air circulation and to help prevent fungus diseases.