Monthly Gardening Tips

March

Watering

  • Water lawns, gardens, trees and shrubs once to twice a week depending on temperatures and snow/rainfall.
  • Water winter annuals in containers every week or two depending on pot size.
  • Remember: New plantings will require more water the first year.

Fertilizing

  • Start applying Sure Green on trees, shrubs and lawns.
  • Fertilize houseplants with a good water-soluble fertilizer. Be sure not to over-fertilize or over-water houseplants in winter months.
  • Start improving your garden soil by mixing in some organic material such as compost or a top dressing of manure.
  • Start fertilizing Roses, Iris, Crape Myrtle, Lilacs and Peonies and all other flowering with an application of Super Phosphate or Triple Super Phosphate.

Yard And Garden

  • Plant bare root roses, trees and shrubs.
  • Prune roses in mid-March.
  • Plant trees, shrubs and perennials.
  • Plant flowering annuals and perennials.
  • Dethatch, aerate and water cool season lawns. Start mowing as soon as you start to see new growth.
  • Cut back ornamental grasses into a ball shape if you have not done so already.
  • Transplant any mislocated plants while dormant.
  • Prune deciduous trees and shrubs. The best time to prune is when plants have gone fully dormant. Prune summer-flowering shrubs such as Crepe Myrtle, Butterfly Bush and Rose of Sharon. Do not prune spring-flowering plants until after they bloom.
  • Prune berries and grapes in late March, except Heritage raspberries, which are pruned in fall.
  • Pruning Guidelines:
    • No more than 1/3 of the plant
    • Prune to shape
    • Prune all dead or damaged branches
    • Prune off branches that cross and rub
    • Prune to thin the interior of the plant to increase air circulation

Insects And Diseases

  • Clean your garden area by removing all debris to prevent unwanted over- wintering pests, but watch out for cocoons that may be harboring butterflies! Refresh with a layer of cypress, cedar or pecan mulch.
  • Be sure to remove fallen leaves from your lawn. Wet leaves can block sunlight and increase the chance of disease.
  • Use horticultural or dormant spray on deciduous trees and shrubs, especially fruit trees, to kill insects and help prevent disease. It’s important to spray early before buds start to swell.
  • Apply chelated iron or soil acidifier with iron to chlorosis-prone trees and shrubs, chitalpa, maples, aspens, willow, euonymus and photinia.
  • Apply Bonide Tree and Shrub to trees and shrubs for year-long protection from insects. Do not apply to edible plants.
  • Kill early weeds in landscape and garden with Killzall. Kill early weeds in lawns with Weed Beater.

Vegetables

  • Plant cool-season vegetables such as lettuce, cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, swiss chard, kale and mustards in a cold frame or use frost cloth.
  • Improve soils in vegetable beds by adding BTE compost, home compost or manure.
  • Plant onion sets, strawberries, rhubarb and asparagus.
  • Continue planting seeds for the upcoming spring season!

Misc.

  • Protect any tender plants from freezing with a frost cloth. Protect small plants with leaves or mulch.
  • Start a new compost bin.
  • Attend Osuna University.