March Garden To Do List
"A Labor of Love, A Garden in Bloom!" 🌷💚
A garden in bloom is a testament to love, care, and dedication. Every seed planted holds the promise of beauty or nourishment, nurtured by patient hands. Gardening rewards hard work with vibrant flowers, fresh produce, and a deep connection to nature. It brings peace, fulfillment, and a sense of accomplishment. Through each bloom and harvest, we see the results of our labor of love. 🌷💚
In the Garden
- (If you didn’t in Feb) Cut back deciduous ornamental grasses to prepare for the emergence of fresh blades.
- (If you didn’t in Feb) Prune out any damaged, dead or diseased wood from your trees and shrubs.
- Cut back deciduous ornamental grasses for emergence of fresh blades.
- (If you didn’t in Feb) Prune your roses if you did not cut them back in February. Remove any dead or injured canes and any suckers (branches growing from below the graft). Keep the three to five strongest canes but cut them back by about a third, making sure each cane has at least one outward-facing bud.
- Plant bare root Roses
- Divide perennials
- Plant flowering Sweet Pea vines
- Prune summer & fall blooming clematis. These vines bloom on new wood rather than old wood and can be pruned back to a set of buds, 12" from the ground. Clematis that bloom on old and new wood can be cleaned up by removing thin stems in favor of the thicker ones. (Clematis that bloom on old wood, such as the evergreen, Clematis armandii should be pruned minimally and after they have bloomed.)
- Refresh your containers with colorful early blooming flowers and bulbs to invite back spring cheer. Add some color to your garden beds and containers with cold-hardy plants: Primrose, Hardy Cyclamen, Camillia, Pansy, Viola, Hellebore, Winter Heath, Spring Blooming Bulbs, Wallflower, Candytuft(perennial), Ranunculus.
- Cut budding branches of forsythia, quince, or flowering cherry to force blooms indoors.
- Apply Compost and Mulch to refresh and reinvigorate your soil.
- Fertilize Rhododendrons and Azaleas.
- Apply All Seasons Horticultural Oil Spray to your dormant trees and shrubs to treat for damaging insects.
- Seize the opportunity to Weed while the soil is moist!
- Inspect and Clean Tools before the gardening season kicks into high gear. Time to inspect and clean gardening tools, sharpen blades, oil moving parts, and replace any worn-out tools to ensure they’re ready for use.
In the Edible Garden
- Seed sweet peas, lettuce and any cool leafy greens, radishes.
- Plant Potato & Onion Starts, Asparagus, Berries, Currants, Garlic, Rhubarb, bare root fruit.
- Mulch your existing asparagus bed with several inches of compost this month.
- Amend vegetable garden beds with compost to improve aeration, add nutrients, and help retain moisture in the soil this summer.
- Start Seeds indoors
Lawn Care
- Sharpen mower blades and tune up equipment to prepare for spring.
- Need a lawn makeover? The best time to sow lawn seed is typically April or May, so plan and prepare your lawn now.
- Limit traffic on wet, saturated grass & soil. Apply lime now to balance the pH of your soil if the lawn is not soggy.
- You can aerate your lawn while it’s still moist (not soggy) and add seeds to bare spots after scratching the soil.
Indoor House Plants
In spring, most houseplants begin to grow more actively. You can start applying a fertilizer formulated specifically for indoor plants in late March.
Spring is also a great time to repot any houseplants that may be rootbound or need a soil refresher.