March Gardening

Let your vegetable garden soil dry out a bit (it should be moist but not wet, and dry enough to crumble when pressed in your hand) before you prepare it for planting.  Loosen the soil to a depth of 6 to 10 inches with a spading fork and pulverize any clods into pea-sized granules.  Spread fertilizer and compost and then lightly work into the soil, rake it in, and lightly water it in. 

If you haven’t planted your beets and carrots it’s not too late.  You can also plant your Celery, Swiss Chard, Chives, Collards, Endive, Fennel, Jicama, Kale, Leeks, Lettuce, Mustard, Peas, Potatoes, and Radish. 

This is an exciting time of year all the plants are beginning to pop their heads out of the ground.  It’s a good time to pull some weeds while the ground is still soft.  Cut back any perennials you may have neglected earlier in the year.  It is far easier to cut them back as one clump than to cut away last year’s growth avoiding new shoots. 

March is also the time to plant your Asters, Celosia, Cleome, Cornflower, Cosmos, Gomphrena, Larkspur, Nasturtium, Nicotiana, Periwinkle, Portulaca, Rudbeckia, Salvia, Snapdragon, Verbena, Zinnia and many more.