March Garden Calendar
Vegetables and Fruits
- Prepare soil for spring planting.
- It is best to perform a soil test before fertilizing to determine needs. If there are no soil test results, fertilize the garden with 1 to 2 pounds of 10-10-10 per 100 square feet.
- Plant:
- Potatoes, peas, onions, lettuce and other salad crops.
- Asparagus, rhubarb, and strawberries.
- Broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage in late March.
- Start seeds inside for tomatoes, peppers, and other warm season vegetables.
- Apply dormant oil to fruit plantings to reduce scale and mite insects.
- Make a fungicide application to control peach leaf curl.
- Finish pruning fruit trees, grapes, raspberries, and blackberries.
- Remove mulch from strawberries when growth begins.
Flowers
- Plant pansies, snapdragons, calendulas, and other cool-loving annuals.
- Clean up the perennial bed by cutting back foliage and removing winter mulch layer. Divide and plant perennials in the garden.
- If dry, prepare soil for planting by adding compost or other organic matter.
- As growth begins, fertilize gardens with a balanced fertilizer.
- Start seeds indoors under lights for transplanting to the garden.
- Plant new roses. Remove winter mulch from existing roses and prune.
- Cut ornamental grasses back to within 3 to 5 inches of the ground.
- Fertilize spring flowering bulbs such as tulips and daffodils.
- Cut seed pods from spent bulbs.
- Help control iris borers by destroying old foliage before new growth begins.
- Unwrap mail order plants immediately and keep them cool and moist until planting.
Lawns
- Spot spray for dandelions, henbit and chickweed.
- Apply crabgrass preventer in late March through mid-April for best results.
- Seed thin areas in bluegrass and tall fescue lawns.
- If no fall application of fertilizer was made, fertilize bluegrass and tall fescue.
- Mow grass ½ inch lower to remove winter debris. Do not scalp.
Trees and Shrubs
- Pruning:
- Prune trees, except birch, maple, and walnut, which are best pruned after leafing out.
- Wait to prune spring flowering shrubs until after they bloom.
- Mulch tree and shrub plantings up to 4 inches deep, keeping mulch away from trunks.
- Fertilize trees and shrubs.
- Plant new trees in the landscape.
- Remove tree wraps from young trees for summer growth.
- Rake and clean groundcover plantings.
Miscellaneous
- Sharpen and repair garden tools.
