Virginia Cooperative Extension - Loudoun County Master Gardeners
Helpline Hints for MARCH – the MONTH THAT BEGINS THE GARDENING SEASON
| Flowers | Garden | Lawn |
Trees & Shrubs |
| • Fertilize bulbs after blooming with balanced fertilizer or a mixture of bonemeal and dehydrated cow manure • Fertilize perennials as they start to grow; especially heavy feeders like astilbes, daylilies, and peonies with 5- 10-5 organic fertilizer or aged manure • Divide perennials as needed • Cut-back grasses, coneflowers, sedum heads, liriope, evergreen ferns, and other perennials • Prune roses and fertilize • Direct sow hardy flowers like poppies, larkspurs, and sweet peas • Plant ground covers and perennials • Prune hybrid tea roses to the 3 to 4 strongest canes to form a “vase” shape |
• As soon as ground thaws and is dry enough, start tilling or turning beds. Add compost, balanced fertilizer, or manure. • Check for any over-wintering diseases or pests and remove • Plant bare-root berry bushes, strawberries, fruit trees, grapevines, asparagus • Prune established berry bushes and grapevines • Remove winter mulch from strawberry plants when growth starts, but keep some for frost protection • Direct sow cool-season plants (beets, carrots, broad beans, mustard, peas, spinach, arugula) • Transplant seedlings of cabbage and broccoli after hardening them off • Fertilize established plants with balanced organic fertilizer • Check for cutworms; if present place collars on plants • Do not add wood ashes now as it burns the new seeds |
• Remove debris, aerate, and / or dethatch when soil is dry enough • Plant grass seed or plugs for new yards or restore existing ones; keep moist until established • Control Japanese beetles with milky spore or parasitic nematodes |
• Prune evergreen hedges (keep base wider than top), shrubs, and trees before growth starts; prune deciduous shrubs and trees before growth starts; remove all dead or diseased branches and do not compost or keep in yard • Put organic fertilizer on shrubs and trees if there are any signs of stress, slow growth, or poor leaf color (do not fertilize one year old trees) • Prune flowering shrubs and trees after bloom • Plant and / or transplant shrubs and trees; mulch around base for protection (but keep mulch 2- 3” from base) • Check for overwintering insects and diseases; apply dormant oil if needed • Check for any bagworms you might have missed in the fall |