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	March Gardening Tips

Late Winter Protection

• Last date for a freeze is March 10th. Local area gardening sages have always said to wait until the Houston Rodeo and Livestock Show is over before pruning shrubs.
• Prune winter damaged plants after St. Patrick's Day.
• If another freeze is forecast, water plants and cover them with fiber material, such as light canvas tarps, bedsheets, blankets, towels and frost-cloth. These keep the cold off the plants, allowing them to breathe at the same time.
• DO NOT USE PLASTIC. It is non-porous, trapping the moisture-laden cold air, thus freezing the plants. If left on in sunny areas during the day, it traps the heat, roasting the plants.

Fruits and Nuts

• Feed established fruit and pecan trees.  Apply the fertilizer in the area beneath the ends of the branches, i.e. the dripline, never against the trunk.
• Fruit trees must be pruned by mid-March.
• Thin out apples about a third, even if they have started to bloom. For pears, just cut back diseased or nuisance limbs.
• Cut peaches back one third. Thin out plums by one third, even if they have started to bloom. Spray both with Daconil when 75% of flowers have fallen to control for Brown Rot fungus. Always follow label directions.
• Prune out diseased limbs and nuisance limbs from persimmons and citrus.
• Fertilize fruit trees, except figs and pears, with the appropriate food following label directions. If trees are making more than 24 inches of terminal growth, cut back on the amount of fertilizer.
• Fig and pear trees don't need much fertilizer. They grow best with a bit of composted manure and pine needle mulch.
• Prune grapes to 2 - 4 fruiting canes, for a total of 120 - 200 buds. Prune muscadine grapes to 2 - 4 canes, with 2 - 3 fruiting spurs along the canes.
• Feed established grapes with 1 pound of a 15-5-10 (or similar) fertilizer per vine.
• Feed blackberries with 1 pound per 10 foot row of a 15-5-10 (or similar) fertilizer.
• Tomatoes and bell pepper plants can be planted in ground, but be prepared to protected them when the night temperatures drop below 40 F.

Herbs

• Prune winter damaged stems after St. Patrick's Day.
• Butterflies are here. Plant Chives, Parsley, Dill, Fennel and Rue to support their caterpillars. Other good "butterfly nectar herbs" are Mint, Oregano, Chamomile, Mexican Mint Marigold, Lemon and Lime Verbena.
• Plant Painted Daisy to every four tomato plants. Painted Daisy provides some insect control - the flowers are the source of the insecticide Pyrethrine.
• Wait until April to plant Basil.  Basils are said to make great tomato companion plants, improving their flavor.
• Weed, mulch and fertilize herb beds.

Insect Control

• Ants: Ants are pushing their mounds to higher, drier ground.  If they are in the back of the garden, or in a little used area you may leave them alone.  Otherwise, use Medina Orange Oil to destroy them.
• Bag Worms/Tent Caterpillars: Worms that spin bag-like nests spun in tree branches. Organic controls include spraying leaves with Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), and/or cutting the branch with the bag and burning it. Chemical controls include piercing bag and spraying the contents with Malathion or Eight.
• Lacebugs: Tiny bugs that suck sap from the undersides of leaves, leaving a brown excrement. Leaves have a mottled appearance from the top. Control organically with Neem Oil (Rose Defense). Control chemically with Eight or Malathion.
• Pecan Phylloxera: Usually seen as swollen bumps on the leaves and twigs in late spring. Spray with dormant oil. Do not spray when nighttime temperatures are predicted to fall below 45 F.
• Scale: Spray with dormant oil. Do not spray when nighttime temperatures are predicted to fall below 45 F.
• Always follow label directions.

Lawn Care

• If you haven't mowed the lawn all winter, do so at least once this month. This will allow the sun to reach grass roots. Do not take off more than one third of the grasses' blade length.
• Apply a pre-emergent herbicide to control the sprouting of warm season weeds. Use Amaze to control both grassy and broadleaf weeds, First Down to only control crabgrass, or Portrait to only prevent broadleaf weeds only.
• This month is perfect to core aerate the lawn. This opens up compacted soil, allowing water and nutrients to penetrate more deeply.
• You can apply an organic lawn food such as Garden Ville Lawn Fertilizer, Microlife, Milorganite. These contain a high amount of organic matter, that breaks down much more slowly than other types of lawn fertilizers, including those labeled slow release.
• In addition to, or instead of, organic lawn food you can spread fine compost on your turf areas.
• Apply seaweed extract to the lawn to stimulate beneficial soil organisms.
• It's still too early to fertilize the lawn with non-organic fertilizers, even ones labeled slow release. While the turf isn't ready to take up the nutrients; it's the winter weeds that really get the boost. The non-organic fertilizer can wash away with our frequent spring rains.
• Do not use weed and feed lawn fertilizers that contain Atrazine near shrubs, flower and vegetable beds, and young trees. Atrazine is a powerful broadleaf plant weed killer. Trees, shrubs, flowers, and vegetables are broadleaf plants.
• Water your lawn if rain has not been received for a week. Although the grass is dormant, the roots need a drink of water to remain healthy.
• DO NOT preventatively apply insecticide to prevent Cinch Bugs. This simply does not work. It is too cold for them to be active.

Perennials

• Prune the winter damaged branches after St. Patrick's Day.
• Pinch growing tips to make perennials bushier. Discontinue when they produce flower buds.
• Keep spent blooms picked off mums, which can provide a blush of bloom in spring.
• Divide crowded perennials. Give extras away to friends or school/community gardens.
• Remove spent flowers on late winter/early spring blooming perennials to promote more bloom production.
• Shear Asian Jasmine when new leaves appear to encourage spreading from the base of the plant.
• Divide and transplant Ajuga, Daylilies, Salvia and other summer/fall blooming perennials.
• Fertilize tropicals such as Hibiscus and Plumerias. However, keep the Plumerias indoors until next month.
• Pick fading blooms of naturalizing Daffodils and Jonquils so they won't go to seed, sapping the energy from the bulb.
• Do not remove leaves from naturalizing bulbs. They use the foliage to replenish the bulb for next year's blooms
• Butterflies will be visiting soon. Plant host and nectar plants such as Stokes Aster, Coneflowers, Pentas, Lantana, Mexican Firebush and others.

Roses

• Finish pruning established roses now! Watch for die-back (canes turning brown or black at the cut end); prune to healthy eyes, if needed.
• Feed established roses with a well-balanced fertilizer. Choose from Carl Pool, Easy Gro Premium, Miracle Grow for Roses, and Watch Us Grow.
• Don't fertilize newly planted, and transplanted, roses until after their first flush of blooms.
• For all roses, apply a handful of Epsom salts around each bush, and water it in. Epsom salts contain the element magnesium which is said to encourage new basal breaks.
• Prevent Black Spot Fungus on modern roses by preventatively spraying both the bottom and top sides of leaves, and canes, with Funginex. If Black Spot has been detected during a pruning session, alternate spraying with Mancozeb.
• DO NOT preventatively spray roses with insecticide. This simply does not work, and serves only to kill beneficial insects like Ladybugs. Spray only when insect damage is detected, and only with an insecticide formulated for the specific insect pest.
• If you're not sure what insect is causing damage, bring in your damaged leaves, canes, and/or flowers and we'll be happy to diagnose the offending pest for you.

Shrubs

• Prune winter damaged stems after St. Patrick's Day.
• If they have stopped blooming, feed Camellias with Azalea/Camellia/Magnolia food, and prune them to shape.
• Begin pruning summer flowering and evergreen shrubs.
• Do not feed or prune spring flowering shrubs until after they have finished blooming. This includes: Azaleas, Bridal Veil Wreath, Flowering Quince, Indian Hawthorn, Hydrangea, Loropetalum, Mock Orange, and Spirea.
• Shrubs that are exhibiting Black Spot Fungus can be sprayed with Daconil. Remove any fallen leaves from underneath the shrub to control the disease more effectively.
• If you see yellow leaves on your azaleas, check to see if there is Lacebug damage. See Insect Control on how to identify them.
• To prevent Azalea petal blight, spray entire plant with fungicide when first flowers open. Repeat during the blooming season following label directions.

Trees

• Groom Crepe Myrtles after St. Patrick's Day. Click here for instructions.
• Oak Leaf Blister is developing on Oak trees.  It is not a serious disease, but you may want to spray those trees that are visible in your landscape with Daconil or Funginil.  Spray when the trees are budding, then 10 days later. 
• Fertilize palms with complete fertilizer, such as Osmocote 14-14-14 or Palm/Ixora food.
• Information about Fruit and Nut trees can be found in the Fruits and Nuts section.
• See the Insect Control section for information about Bag Worms and Pecan Phylloxera.

Miscellaneous

• Now is a good time to clean mold from birdbaths, brick and sidewalks with Consan.
• Keep a water source in the yard for birds.
• Fill a hummingbird feeder with nectar. Use 1 part fine sugar to 4 parts water. Do not use honey or confectioners sugar. Do not add red food coloring.
• If you live in an open area set up Bluebird nest boxes.
• Clean up garden beds. Give the soil an application of seaweed or fish emulsion. This adds a bit of organic matter and will help stimulate beneficial soil organism activity. Apply mulch where needed.
• Remove leaves and muck from water gardens.
• Remove and discard tulip bulbs after they have flowered. They will not come back.
• Prune back poinsettias.
• Fertilize flower beds with organic fertilizer, or spread fine compost.
• In sunny locations plant cool annual color such as Violas, Snapdragons, Poppies, Wallflowers, Osteospermum, Alyssum.
• Plant Dianthus in partially shady sites. It will bloom in spring, go dormant in summer, and bloom again in fall when cooler temperatures arrive. In many Houston gardens, it has turned into a perennial groundcover!
• Plant primroses for shady sites. It's still early for heat lovers such as Impatiens or Torenia. The latter swoons at the mere thought of cool weather.

Vegetables

• Transplant Broccoli, Cabbage, and Collards between now and mid-March.
• Seed Carrots, Collards, Mustard Greens, Lettuce, Radish, Turnips, Spinach and Swiss Chard until mid- to late March.
• Feed the above cool-season veggies every few weeks to keep them vigorous.
• In late March transplant Bell Peppers, Cucumbers, Egg Plant, and Tomatoes.
• Seed Green beans, Lima Beans, Pumpkins, Southern Peas, Squash and Watermelon.