March Tip of the Month from Linda Dodds, Fox Islander & Master Gardener
As the saying goes ‘March comes in like a lion and goes out lake a lamb’ is proving to be at least half true. We will have to wait a few weeks before knowing if it will end gently and balmy or not. But meanwhile we can take advantage of some of the warmer days in March to start on a lot of gardening projects.
The first one that comes to mind is pruning roses and finishing pruning fruit trees before they are so full of leaves that it’s hard to see their basic structure. When pruning roses, be aware that if you cut a branch off at the place where a bud is pointing towards the middle of the plant, the new growth will be towards the inside of the bush, which will inhibit the air flow to your rose bush. Instead, cut at the junction where a bud is pointing outward from the rose bush. This will foster a bushier and airier looking plant that will have a better chance of fighting off any diseases or black spot due to poor air circulation.
If you have not been interested in composting before, it is time to catch up with the times. Good gardeners know that dumping compostable cuttings is a waste of money and energy as it is so easy to put in a compost pile or two. The best compost area I have is one that is a plastic 3ft by 3ft (although 4×4 is preferred) Lego type building boards that can be layered on to a preferred height or removed easily. It has a hinged cover so I don’t have to worry about dogs, mice or raccoons invading it. When it comes time to mix it in together or scoop out the compost, I just remove the lid and one at a time; remove the plastic layered boards until I have used it all up. The ratio for adding cuttings and leaves to you compost pile is one part green waste to two parts brown waste. The brown can be dry leaves or even the shredded newspaper from your shredder. Do not put meat or bones in a compost pile as they attract pests and can make it give off a bad odor (stinky, stinky stuff) and your neighbors will despise you. I actually have two of those compost pile containers so I can add to one until it is full and then while it is melding, I switch to the other. That way, I have a ready supply of that ‘Black Gold’ most of the time.
February didn’t really lend itself to planting seeds directly into soil but for sure March
will provided plenty opportunities to plant peas, spinach and onions. Any other seeds will need to be started indoors and kept in bright light until it gets much warmer. I just moved 6 trays of tomato starts into my greenhouse from the warmth of my furnace room. The six trays equal about 2000 tomato starts in laymen’s terms. Only the strongest, with the largest stems will be eventually repotted into 4 inch pots to be donated to the Fox Island Plant Sale in May and handed out to my clients, family and friends. So, that means that I will have about 1500 to either give away or be added to my compost pile. The crocus is blooming along with primroses and narcissus. My daffodils are opening, up and I noticed the first blooms opening on my Rhody so Spring is really here!