Gardening Checklist for March
By Jodi Torpey
When I think about “March Madness” I’m not thinking about basketball. I’m thinking in terms of a frenzy of gardening activity.
- Plant early-season crops. Even if the garden soil is still too wet to work, you can plant some cool-season crops in patio containers. Radish, spinach, and even peas can be planted in March.
- Plan ahead for a beautiful lawn. Late March is a good time to core aerate the lawn, add grass seed to fill in bare spots and then fertilize with a slow-release turf fertilizer.
- Celebrate the first day of spring. Clip perennial stems that were left standing over winter, pull the mulch away from new perennials and cut back ornamental grasses.
- Prune shrubs. Use a pruning saw or sharp loppers to remove dead, broken or crossing shrub branches. Some shrubs, like redtwig dogwood, benefit from having old stems pruned at the base. Be sure cuts are straight across.
- Treat the turf. Look for gray snow mold damage in your lawn, remove the dead grass, rake, and then lightly fertilize.
- Water the lawn. Use a screwdriver to test for water moisture in the lawn. If the screwdriver has a hard time penetrating the soil, it’s time to water. Watering helps prevent turfgrass mites that can build up in dry, sunny areas.
- Wait to remove dead foliage. It pays to wait to remove the dried foliage from spring-blooming plants like daffodils. Wait until the foliage easily pulls away from the bulbs. The leaves serve as food to help with flowering next year.
- Plant pansies. Despite their wimpy name, pansies are a hardy spring flower. They make droop during a snowstorm, but they’ll pop back up when the weather warms.
- Evaluate your landscape. Take time to study the landscape while standing inside. Look through your favorite windows to see if there’s a way to improve the views. Think about what a difference it would make to add a rose arbor, shade tree, a few flowering shrubs or a brand new flower bed.
