Rutgers Gardens

Gardening Notes For March

For the gardener, spring is here!  Although there will certainly be plenty of cold days in March, plants are beginning to once again show signs of life.  With these signs, it is also time for us to return once again to our true love – the garden.  This is also a good time to start a garden journal.  It provides a great reference and study for the coming years, allowing you to build upon your past.   

Things to do:

  • Remove unwanted leaves and winter mulch from perennials and spring bulbs.
  • Finish cutting back ornamental grasses and perennials.
  • Start tomato seeds indoors in early to mid March, and eggplant, peppers and parsley towards the end of March.
  • Finish pruning the older stems (at most 1/3 of the plant) from Red Stemmed Dogwoods, Lilacs, Kerria, Forsythia, Weigela and other multistemmed shrubs.  For Macrophylla Hydrangeas, remove those stems that bloomed last year.
  • Cut and remove shrub stems that were broken by winter snows and winds. 
  • Prune Butterfly Bushes back to 12-18” in height.
  • Prune 1-2’ Forsythia and Pussy Willow branches to bring inside for forcing. 
  • Prune shrub roses back by about 1/4.  For hybrid Tea Roses, cut plants back ½, making certain that you cut to an outside facing bud.
  • Thatch lawns and overseed bare or thin areas.
  • Take soil samples from turf and vegetable garden areas.   They should be submitted via a mailer available at the local extension office for pH and fertility analysis.
  • Edge bedlines and lightly remulch bed areas.  If the beds were mulched last year, only 1” of new mulch may be needed unless there was significant erosion. 
  • Seed out peas and radishes at the end of the month.  The old rule of thumb was to sow the seed on St. Patrick’s Day.  Usually, the soil is still too cold at this point, unless you have very sandy and well-drained soils.
  • Remove your Canna, Colocasia and Alocasia tubers from their winter storage boxes, pot them up in an adequately sized container, and place in a sunny window.  Water sufficiently to keep the soil moist but not wet until you start to see signs of life.

 

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