Seasonal Gardening Calendar
March
The soil is starting to get warmer, so it is time to fertilizer your pansies. Now is also a good time to prune your shrubs and plant some radishes, cauliflower, and other veggies.
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MARCH Week 1
March Shopping List
Fertilize pansies
Fertilize pansies. Since the soil is warming, use any water soluble houseplant fertilizer, one half pint to one pint of solution per plant.
Trim liriope
Cut most of the green foliage off of tattered liriope. A mower, set to its highest setting, is the best tool for large areas.
Add lime to your lawn
If you haven’t spread lime on your lawn in a year, it’s time once again. Use 40 pounds per 1000 square feet.
See How to Soil Test
Seed tomatoes and annuals
Start seed of tomatoes and annual flowers indoors. You’ll need six weeks to grow strong transplants.
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MARCH Week 2
Prune boxwood
Prune boxwood – but not with shears. Use a hand pruner to make foliage “holes” in the greenery so light can penetrate to the trunk.
see Boxwood Pruning
Spray your fruit trees
Spray a fungicide (Captan, etc.) on apple and peach trees while the blooms are on the tree.
Prune your hollies
Now is the time to prune giant holly shrubs back to a manageable size. Don’t be shy – you can cut them to eighteen inches tall and they will come back.
see Holly Pruning
Plant roses
Plant bare-root roses in soil that contains plenty of organic matter and which has been thoroughly tilled.
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MARCH Week 3
Plant some veggies
Plant beets, cauliflower, mustard, radish and turnips in your garden.
Plan your fescue planting
Planting fescue now? You can’t use a pre-emergent weed preventer for six weeks after seeding.
see Fescue Seeding vs Pre-emergent
Propagate hosta
Divide overgrown clumps of hosta now that you can see the leaves unfurling aboveground.
see Propagating Hosta from Seed
Fertilize your pecan trees
Fertilize pecan trees with one pound of 10-10-10 for every inch of trunk thickness.
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MARCH Week 4
Check for insects
Examine the backside of euonymus and camellia leaves for scale insects. Thoroughly spray with horticultural oil if the pests are found.
Camellia cleaup
Remove spent camellia blooms from the bush and from the ground. You’ll prevent camellia petal blight.
Prune roses
Last chance to prune bush roses to approximately one half their present size.
Repot houseplants
Repot houseplants you plan to move outdoors. Their roots will need more room as they grow rapidly in the sun.
see Growing Indoor Plants with Success
Hold off on the caladiums
Wait to plant gladiolus, canna and caladium bulbs until mid-April – they all need warm soil in which to grow.
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MARCH Week 5
Plan before you build
Building near a tree? Be careful – ninety percent of the tree’s roots are in the top twelve inches of soil.
Pruning
Forsythia, quince and winter honeysuckle can be pruned to a smaller size after flowering.
Fertilize shrubs
Fertilize shrubs: 1 tablespoon of 10-10-10 (or shrub fertilizer) per foot of height.
Mower maintenance
Sharpen your mower blade or replace it with a new one.