Turning the Corner towards Spring!

For those of us that love to garden the month of March is a welcome sign!  I for one am very happy that the "dog days" of winter are behind us and we can now look for the temps to rise as well as our dormant plants.   
It's been well documented that this winter has been extremely mild and snowless.  In fact, if it hadn't been a leap year Boston would have set an all time record for least snow fall ever for the month.  History was thwarted by a freakish calendar event, 29 days of February. 

So, It's March... Fingers crossed Mother Nature will let is start Gardening 

GARDENING WORK FOR MARCH

March has always been a difficult month to try and accomplish anything in the garden; however there are many things can do.  On a warm day I spend time picking up the branches that have fallen from my neighbors trees, clean up any remaining leaves and hope for warmer days ahead. 

Here’s a list of some of things that you can do this month. 

If conditions are dry, water your evergreens.

Do not remove winter mulch too early, wait until the end of the month.

Purchase your seeds now! Local garden centers have their best selection during the early spring.

In early March start seeds of leeks, parsley, broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower indoors, they’ll be ready for planting by mid-April.  Wait until April 1st for tomatoes, peppers, eggplant and other cold sensitive annuals.

Do not work soil if it is too wet.  Workable soil will crumble, not ball, after being squeezed.  You may encourage your soil to dry out by aerating with a pitch fork.

At month’s end, plant peas as soon as soil is workable, followed by onions, spinach and lettuce.  Pansies will also be available by months end, be the first on your street with a pot on your porch or in your window box, they can handle temperatures below freezing if they have been hardened off, you can also protect them by covering with newspapers.

Scratch in bulb booster around your spring bulbs when they are 2” high.

Spray rose bushes with fungicidal soap or wettable sulfur fungicide, then cover completely with dormant oil.  The fungicide will kill most spores: the oil will suffocate the rest and act as a barrier to airborne spores.

Cut down ornamental grasses before new growth appears.

When the forsythia blooms you may do two things:  cut out deadwood on hybrid tea roses and prune back to 18”, and apply pre-emergent crabgrass control on the lawn.

Hold off pruning spring-flowering shrubs (forsythia, azalea, rhododendron, lilac) until right after they bloom, as they bloom on old wood.