Eager
to get out in the garden? Now is a great time to get your garden ready for the
season ahead.
First, finish cleaning up your vegetable garden and perennial
beds. This includes removing any dead vegetation and debris. Insects and
disease can winter over and you'll help reduce potential problems later on by
doing a good clean up now.
Prune fruit and shade trees while they're still
dormant. This is a great time to prune because you can see the tree's structure
clearly. You're looking for any broken, damaged or diseased branches.
Prune
these out using a sharp pair of pruning shears or loppers.
Next, prune out any
branches that are sticking straight up or crossing other branches.
Finally,
remove any branches that are coming up around the trunk.
Prune summer flowering shrubs such as
buddleia and caryopteris now. Wait to prune spring blooming shrubs such as
lilacs, forsythia, and spiraea until after they bloom. Hold off pruning your
roses. This is done later in the spring season.
Test your soil. You can do this
yourself with a test kit or stop in and pick up a Soil test kit from CSU.
Freshen up your garden beds by adding organic material such as compost and peat
moss. Put 2" of amendments on your beds and work it in 4" to 6".
Apply dormant oil. Dormant oil is very effective to control insects that may be
wintering over in your trees and shrubs.
Have the lawn aerated and apply Soil
Activator.
Soil activator helps improve the soil and helps your grass take up
nutrients more effectively.
Next, add Fertilome All Seasons to your lawn. This
will feed your lawn and help prevent crabgrass and other weed seeds from
germinating. Plant some cool season crops. Cabbage, onions, lettuce, peas,
radishes and many other vegetable crops can be planted now, either from seed or
starter plants.
Keep your
eye on the weather. If it stays dry, get the hose out and water your trees,
shrubs, perennials and lawns. March is a great time to be active in your garden. All the work you do now will lead to a better
gardening season this year.
It would be great, though, to leave the garden alone for one more month to let the overwintering native bees and caterpillars come out on their own in April, and not kill them with dormant oil and crab grass killer! Let's all survive winter!
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