A major tenet of organic gardening is preparation. By preparing your garden ahead of time and accomplishing important tasks at the right time, your garden will need less work later on in terms of dealing with pest, disease, and maintenance headaches. With that in mind, here are the tasks that need to get accomplished this month in your area.
This list is broken down into short season regions, mid-length season regions, and long season regions for the sake of simplicity. Here is how the regions are determined:
- Short Season: USDA Hardiness Zones 1-4
- Mid-Length Season: USDA Hardiness Zones 5-7
- Long Season: USDA Hardiness Zones 8-11
If you are unsure which zone you are in, please check out the USDA Hardiness Zone Map.
Short Season Region Tasks for March
- It's time to get the compost going again. If you have an existing pile that's been sitting all winter, give it a good turn and add some fresh compost or rotted manure to get it “cooking” again. If you don't have a pile going, you can start one with the debris you'll collect in your spring garden cleanup.
- Mulch your pathways and beds to beat those pesky annual weeds to the punch. The mulch will prevent weed seeds that overwintered from sprouting.
- Prune your ornamental and fruit trees. This is the time to remove any dead or diseased wood.
- Spray your trees with dormant oil to control scale and any pests that overwintered on your trees.
- Cut back blueberry bushes and grape vines to encourage strong new growth.
- Prune shrubs that bloom on new wood. Some popular examples of shrubs that bloom on new wood are spirea, buddleia, and smoke bush.
- Rake lawn to remove dead leaves, grass, and other debris. This can be added to the compost pile.
- Start seeds indoors of most annual flowers and vegetables, including tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, coleus, nicotiana, and salvia.
Mid-Length Season Region Tasks for March
- Top dress garden beds with compost or rotted manure.
- Mulch pathways and beds to inhibit weeds.
- Remove winter mulch from roses.
- Prune winter damage from roses.
- Prune shrubs that bloom on new growth.
- Feed fruit trees with compost or well-rotted manure.
- Clean debris from garden beds and lawns, including dead grass, leaves, and twigs. This can be added to the compost pile.
- Start seeds of annuals, herbs, and vegetables.
Long Season Region Tasks for March
- Side dress perennial vegetables such as rhubarb and asparagus with compost or manure.
- Cover new vegetable seedlings and transplants with floating row covers to protect them from hungry insects.
- Feed grapes and blueberries with compost or manure.
- Prune and feed summer blooming shrubs.
- Side dress azaleas, clematis, and camellias with compost or manure.
- Cut lawn grasses.
- Rake and reseed lawns for a new season of growth.
