- Finish pruning deciduous plants, like fruit trees, flowering shrubs, grapes and cane berries before they leaf out. Pruning keeps older hedges and shrubs looking good. There is no other way to keep a shrub lush and flowering for a decade or more then to prune. Check your shrubs, are the branches densely packed with only a few leaves within the center? If so, you need to do some thinning. Thinning out the canes on the shrub can lengthen it's life span and improve it's appearance. In the early, early spring you can take out as many as 1/3 of the oldest, thickest canes to ground level without stressing the shrub. Don't go beyond a 1/3 of the canes, though, or you will stress the plant. If your shrub has very little new growth consider removing 1/4 of the old wood to ground level. If there are water sprouts, cut them back. If you notice suckers, remove them. If branches are crossing and rubbing again each other, remove one of the branches. Always remove deadwood as soon as you see it.
(image from Mike Zins and Deborah Brown's "Pruning Trees and Shrubs" Item # 00628, 1997, All rights reserved)
- If your garden soil is thawed, plant summer bulbs (begonias, gladiolus, dahlias and lilies).
- Place beer traps or slug pellets around plants for slug control. Be sure to keep away from pets, children etc. Better yet, if you live near a pond, fill it with natures crack team of slug exterminators: frogs.
- Start your vegetable garden! This is my favorite part of March. I start by sending in my seed order. Then I head to a local hardware store (or Agway) to purchase trays. Personally I think containers vary as personalities vary. Try a variety to see what works for you, but be sure they have adequate drainage. Be sure to clean them out. If you are using peat pots, make sure to soak them before adding the soil. The dry fiber pots will draw moisture away from the soil, leaving the soil and seeds dry as a bone. This year I'm going to try and make my own using newspaper and a cool gadget that I found in a catalog.
Find a sunny window with southern exposure. If you don't have a window that will do, consider purchasing cool-white florescent bulbs. Check the back of your seed packet for lighting requirements. Once germinated, all seedlings need light to develop into strong, healthy plants, so make sure you don't scrimp on the light.
When your seeds** arrive, either by catalog or a stop at the store, get out the containers/tray and soil. When planting the seeds, I've had the best luck with a commercial peat moss mixture. I've tried making my own, using compost and the gardening soil, but I've always had more luck when I've broken down and purchased a bag from the local Agway.
Fill pots or flats 3/4 full with your soil of choice. Water, letting the excess drain away. Make a little hole in the center, the eraser end of a pencil is the perfect size. Make sure you don't plant them too deep, fine seeds just need a coating of soil, where larger seeds need to be planted 4 times as deep as the seed is wide (plus or minus).
Make sure you check your seeds at least every other day, the soil needs to be kept moist (not soaking wet, the seeds will rot). I use a sprayer that I picked up from the pharmacy. If you decided to go with a tray as your container, consider purchasing a topper for it, it will keep humidity high and reduce the times you have to water.
Once you see at least three leaves on your little seedling, you can fertilize. I generally wait until I plant them outside for this step. If you do fertilize now, use an organic fertilizer that has been diluted significantly, don't burn the roots.
Depending on where you live, this step will vary from one week to two or three. When you are about ready to plant your seeds outdoors you need to start bringing them outside during the day. This is called "hardening off". This gets the soft plants ready for the elements. Move the plants to a shady outdoor area of the first few days, bring them indoors for the night. In the following days, place them in a slightly more bright area of your yard, the idea is to get them exposed to longer periods of light each day, don't forget to bring them inside at night. Spring nights can be cold and the new plants will die. Keep them well hydrated and check often for insect damage.
Before moving them to their permanent homes make sure the danger of frost has passed. It would be a shame for all your hard work to wither at a chance frost. I suggest having a planting plan in place well before you are planting your seedlings. Before planting water your new garden and the seedlings. Dig a hole twice as wide as your seedling pod. Place in your seedling and back fill. Make sure your plant doesn't stick above the level of the ground. Press the soil around the plant down firmly and water again. This is when I choose to fertilize, even though the plants are a bit larger, I still dilute the fertilizer for a few weeks.
To help your plants develop a deep rooting system, water deeply (for a length of time)and check on your new plants at least every other day for the first few weeks.
**Keep in mind that it's a good idea to use seeds that are "fresh" (purchased this year), if you do have seeds from last year, plant them! See what happens but I won't get your hopes up for a lush vegetable garden. There is no harm in using old seeds, the worse that can happen is that you don't get a sprout. The vegetables that come from out of date seeds are the same as those that are grown from fresh seeds. It's not a question of "waste not want not", but rather your chances of germinating old seeds. Keep in mind that there are three major things affect a seed’s viability, Their age (After the first year, the germination rates for out of date seeds will start to fall), the type of seed (depending on how mother nature packaged them to begin with. For example, pepper seeds probably won't germinate after two years. Beans, tomatoes, carrots and peas keep for about four years. And cucumber or lettuce can stay viable up to 6 years.) Of course this all depends on how they are stored. They have a greater chance of lasting into the following year of they are kept in a cool, dark place. Garages and storage sheds because of the varying temperatures from summer to winter, are not the ideal place to store seeds. A weather controlled house in a dark corner is better.
Happy Gardening!
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