Judi Lloyd: Gardening tips for the month of March

It appears that the worst weather is over for us; and what a winter it was. It will be very interesting to see what our landscape looks like in another month or so. The wintery conditions sure did not seem to play havoc with our flower bulbs as I see them coming up beautifully in my yard and all over town. The flowering apricot trees are also in full regalia.

My winter vegetable garden was a disaster this year. Last week I re-planted seeds for radishes, kale and carrots; and planted sugar snap peas. Hopefully, the heavy rains will not rot them before they have a chance to germinate.

Here are some tips you may find helpful for tending to your landscape in the month of March.

Trees and shrubs: Finish pruning crape myrtles, but avoid the temptation to cut them back severely. Only remove crossing or broken branches and cut off old seed pods. Apply slow release fertilizer around the drip line of trees and shrubs. Dont trim hydrangeas even though their stems may look dead, as this springs flower buds are contained there.

Flowers: Prune roses. Begin a fungicide spray program for disease-prone varieties when new leaves appear or replace them with a hardier variety like Knockouts. Broadcast slow release fertilizer on perennial beds. You can divide perennials such as hostas, day lilies and phlox as soon as new growth appears.

Lawns: Dont water dormant lawns except during extended spells of warm windy weather or if the soil becomes powder dry. March is the last window to kill cool season weeds before green up. You might want to visit Williams Farm and Garden or Trent Hardware for advice regarding cool season weed control. Wait until late May to fertilize established lawns.

Vegetables: Set out small cabbage, swiss chard, kale, broccoli an bok choy plants. Continue sowing lettuce and radish seeds every few weeks for a steady salad supply.

Fruits: Fertilize fruit trees, grapes and berries with a slow release product.

If you keep on top of these tasks, taking care of your yard will not become overwhelming.

This months topic for the third Saturday workshop at the Craven County Cooperative Extension Office is Plants That Succeed. It will be on March 15 from 10 a.m. to noon. It sounds like a very informative topic, so dont miss it. March 17, also, begins the third Monday garden tours in the demonstration gardens there. The one hour tours, beginning at 5:30 p.m. are open to the public. Each month Tom Glasgow discusses different plants that thrive in the local landscape. These events are free. I hope to see you there.

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Judi Lloyd: Gardening tips for the month of March