March Garden Chores

March Garden Chores for Zone 7b

March is the time to get those seeds started.  The days will start getting longer, and your house plants will begin to wake up from their winter nap.

Flower Beds, Trees and Shrubs

  • Plant bulbs for spring and summer flowers such as dahlia, canna, and gloriosa. Amend beds with organic matter and provide stakes for growth.
  • Plant warm-season annual flowers, such as asters, calendulas, cosmos, impatiens, phlox, salvia, and zinnias.
  • Continue pruning summer-flowering shrubs, such as althea, hibiscus, and oleander. Do not prune spring-flowering shrubs until the last flowers have faded (but before new buds set).
  • Prune evergreen hedges but remember to keep the base wider than the top to allow for more even exposure to sunlight.

Kitchen Garden

  • Continue planting hardy vegetable crops that mature quickly. Good choices are turnips, mustard, radishes, and spring onions.
  • If the weather cooperates, you can direct sow some crops such as carrots, peas Swiss chard, spinach, collards, kale leaf lettuce, onions, parsley, parsnips, beets, and radishes.
  • Pull back any protective mulch put down on your strawberry and asparagus beds and plant any new beds you have planned.
  • Side-dress your early-planted crops with compost.
  • Once all danger of frost has passed (April 11-20), you can transplant tender vegetables, such as tomatoes and peppers. Before planting, harden-off by placing containers outdoors in a sheltered area for a few days.
  • Thin seedlings when they are 2- to 3-inches tall to give them room for growth.
  • Raspberry canes that will produce this year’s crop can be pruned back by 1/4. If you haven’t already, cut last year’s fruiting canes to the ground.

Lawn

  • Rake up any leaves from your lawn
  • You can plant lawn seeds now, if needed.  Keep seed moist.
  • Mow your lawn at recommended heights (St. Augustine and Bahia: 3 to 4 inches; Centipede: 1.5 to 2 inches; Dwarf St. Augustine: 2.5 inches).
  • Fertilize lawns with a slow-release nitrogen after danger of frost is clearly passed.

Houseplants

  • Fertilize your house plants with a diluted solution of soluble houseplant food.

Weeds

  • If you have not done so already, you can apply a pre-emergent herbicide to your lawn to help prevent any summer weeds.
  • Apply a layer of mulch around your newly planted shrubs, flowers, and vegetables to help prevent weeds.
  • Begin removing cool-season weeds from beds.

Other tips

  • Check sprinkler systems for any issues and fix, as needed.
  • Apply soil amendments in accordance with soil test recommendations.
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