Here in zone 7 spring is showing signs of emergence. Daffodils are beginning to bloom, crocuses are popping up, and the weather is teasing us with 70 degree days (immediately following 4 inches of snow and 10 degree weather!) It’s time to seriously get ready for gardening! With that being said here is a list of things to do for your garden in March to get ready for gardening. The to do list below is catered to a zone 7 garden (I’m in Tennessee) so you can adjust it accordingly to your zone.
March Garden To-Do List
- Start seeds for peppers and tomatoes indoors. They need about 8 to 10 weeks to grow before planting outdoors. You can also start planting cold tolerant plants like kale, spinach, lettuce, radish, and various greens. You can start them indoors them plant them outside or try direct sowing. (Seed Starting Method: Starting Seeds in Plastic Cups)
- Get your lawn equipment in the shop. I just recently took my mower in to have it serviced and they had it done within a few days. If you wait until when everyone else thinks about it that few days turns into a couple weeks! Get ahead of the crowd and get your mowers and weed eaters in the show ASAP.
- Apply preemergent herbicides. A general rule is to put out your preemergent herbicides when the forsythia begins to bloom. Now is the time! I do not use herbicides in general on my yard as a prefer to keep chemicals out of my garden. If you are like me in that regard then you could use corn meal as a preemergent. I would recommend overall to use good lawn mowing techniques instead and mow your grass high to prevent weed seeds from overtaking your garden.
- Corrective Pruning. As the trees are still bare now is a great time to prune any trees that need some corrective pruning. You can see the branching patterns very easily without the leaves on the trees. As a general guide if your trees flower in summer then you won’t be cutting off the blooms. If they are a spring flowering tree then you would be. It’s OK to prune the blooms off for corrective cuts just keep in mind that you will lose some fruiting on the plant. Sometimes this is necessary though if you tree branches are crossing each other or positioned very poorly.
- Prepare your garden beds for growing. I always recommend adding compost to help add some life to your soil through beneficial microorganisms. With compost make sure that it isn’t fresh compost as it may be too hot to use effectively. If it is just make a pile and begin a new compost pile where you incorporate leaves, grass clippings, kitchen scraps, and other vegetable matter to use later in the season.
- Apply dormant oil to your trees. Ideally you want to apply dormant oils for insect prevention before trees bud out and when temperatures are under 70 degrees. That makes March in our area the last opportunity to safely apply dormant oil. Dormant oil is useful for fruit trees to help prevent borer and insect damage. Ideally try to apply on a day that has temperatures in the 50’s.
- Mulch areas that need mulching. Mulching is most effective when weed seeds have not germinated yet. If you can get ahead of those weeds a good 2 inch layer of mulch will prevent weed seeds from germinating and help minimize your weeding through the season.
- Plan your vegetable garden layout. By now you probably have a good idea of what you want to grow this year and are starting your summer vegetables indoors so take a few minutes and map out your garden. Pay attention to the location of the sun and locate your plants to maximize that light. Taller plants like tomatoes can shade other plants so you can use that to your advantage by under planting tomatoes with cool season crops and extend their season. (Tips for Planning a Vegetable Garden Layout)
- Clean and sharpen your tools. If you didn’t do this in fall go ahead and clean and sharpen pruners and shovels. Also it is a good idea to treat your pruners with a 10% bleach water solution to soak and kill off any diseases that could still be on the blades. For a better alternative to the bleach solution you can use isopropyl alcohol to rub onto your tools to clean and disinfect them. With the alcohol you do not have to mix to dilute it, just rub it onto your tools and let dry.
- Plant bareroot trees. If you ordered trees for planting go ahead and plant them out now. Let those roots start getting established while we are still having frequent wet weather.
- Last minute hardwood plant propagation. A flush of spring growth is about to happen so there isn’t much time left to do hardwood cuttings. There are still a few weeks though to take advantage of this propagation method. Here is a video on YouTube I made on Hardwood cuttings that may help with that.
While this list is not all inclusive it should give you a good idea of what to get to work on for the garden in March. If you found this helpful feel free to share it with friends and other gardeners. Also please consider subscribing to my YouTube Channel. On the videos I talk about plant propagation, vegetable gardening, and general gardening stuff, just like here only on video! Growing The Home Garden YouTube Channel.
