The March garden to-do list

By Don Davis
Lynchburg News & Advance
Published: March 6, 2008

There are plenty of lawn and garden chores to keep you busy in March. Chief among them is planting.

St. Patrick’s Day is the traditional time for planting Irish potatoes in our area. The month of March is also ideal for planting peas, spinach, lettuce, salad greens, radish, carrot, turnip, arugula, cabbage and other cold hardy vegetables. Their seeds will germinate in cool soil, and you can begin to harvest some of these crops in April.

Fruits of all kinds are planted this month. Cross-pollination is needed for apples and pears, so be sure to plant two or more varieties of each. Fruits are often sold in bare-root condition, and these plants must be planted early. They need to develop some new feeder roots before warm weather sets in.

Ornamental trees, shrubbery and rose bushes planted in March will have time to establish some new roots before summer comes. No deep digging is required when you plant shrubs and trees. Shallow planting holes allow roots to get the air needed for survival. If you have soil left over when the planting process is complete, take it away rather than pile it on top of the root system. Cover the roots with mulch instead of soil.

For immediate color in cool weather, you could set out pansy, viola and snapdragon plants. Some other good choices for early spring’s frosty conditions are dianthus, calendula, bachelor’s button and Johnny-jump-ups.

Planting grass seed is always a little risky in spring. The grass you plant in March could grow perfectly and provide you with a fine quality lawn. It could also be overrun by crabgrass or be wiped out by fungal disease. A better time to plant is September.

The lawn mowing season gets started in March. To prepare for mowing on a weekly basis for the next eight months, be sure to change the oil in your lawnmower and sharpen its blade. Also walk around your lawn, collecting tree branches, twigs and other debris. They are hazardous when picked up by your mower and ejected at a high speed.

Bushes growing too big for their surroundings can be cut back in March. This is the time of year to prune shrubbery, which blooms in summer, a group of plants which includes vitex, abelia and rose-of-Sharon. Also pruned at this time are shrubs grown for their foliage: juniper, burning bush, holly, boxwood and many others. After bloom is the time to prune azalea, camellia and lilac. Cutting them back too early will destroy their flower buds.

Pulling weeds and cultivating become essential in March when your yard is invaded by chickweed and other winter weeds. Either you get rid of them now or deal with them next month when they are 10 times larger. They are eliminated from lawns by physical methods or by chemical weed killers labeled for use on broadleaf weeds.

The time for division is March. Clumps of hosta, daylily and other perennial flowers can be divided and replanted to increase your supply of plants. Chrysanthemums are ready for division when their new growth is three inches tall. This method of plant propagation involves a spade, axe or knife, depending on the plant involved.

Roses are fertilized and pruned at this time of year. Follow up on a monthly basis with more fertilizer until the middle of August. Fertilizing with nitrogen after that time can predispose roses to freeze injury.

Speaking of gardening …
The Hill City Master Gardener Association maintains a speakers bureau with 17 speakers who can present programs on more than 60 different gardening subjects. For more information, contact Master Gardener Joe Pond at (434) 384-7868 or by e-mail at .