March Gardening In Soperton

Written By Soperton's "Gardening Guru"

March Gardening

With rushing winds and gloomy skies
The dark and stubborn Winter dies;
Far-off, unseen, Spring faintly cries,
Bidding her earliest child arise;
March!

Bayard Taylor

We've had some very unusual weather lately. But the rain has been a welcome sight. Some of the very foundations for summer gardens in this area are laid in March.; so we must plan carefully and , above all, take advantage of every favorable opportunity the weather affords.

Permanent plants in pots and tubs will benefit from top-dressing at this time. This consists of removing some of the surface soil without disturbing the upper roots too violently, and of replacing it with new, rich earth mixed with fertilizer. Among these plants are old geraniums, dracaenas, crotons, ficus, agapanthus, plumbagos, and large specimen begonias.

If your azaleas and camellias have finished blooming, you will need to fertilize them now. Use acid-type fertilizers especially compounded for these shrubs. These shrubs also respond well to a mulch of rotted manure or rich compost. Here is a helpful tip...if you are planning to add to an existing azalea bed, take a flowering branch to the nursery for an exact match!

It is not yet too late to divide and set out many perennials, but this should be done before new growth is very far advanced. Divide and replant dahlia tubers for early blooming; if late flowers are required, do not do this until April or May. Later plantings give the best results.

Check your lawns and begin using weed and feed compounds this month. Check the instructions on each product and follow carefully. This needs to be done toward the end of March.

If you like the look of summer blooming bulbs in your garden, the following are a few that can be planted in March: calla lilies, gloriosas, crinums, cannas, caladiums, tuberoses, montgretias, oxalis and gladioli. Make successional plantings of gladioli at two-week intervals to ensure a long season of bloom. But keep watching the weather reports. If our weather remains cold through March, you might want to delay this bulb planting until April.

Now is the time to finish all major pruning. This includes cutting back overgrown or misshapen plants. Also prune ivy and liriope before new growth begins. Remember...delay pruning of spring-flowering trees and shrubs until they have finished blooming.

Roses are heavy feeders so they require regular applications of a balanced fertilizer throughout the growing season. Apply a fertilizer formulated for roses this month and repeat every four to six weeks until late summer. Begin spraying roses with fungicides as soon as the first leaves appear. A combination of an insecticide and fungicide should be applied routinely every ten to fourteen days.

If you have never tried a bush called tea olive or sweet olive, also known as Osmanthus Fragrans, you have missed a truly wonderful smell in the garden at this time of year. I have a small hedge of it near my patio. As the weather permits, I have quiet breakfasts on the patio, listening to the birds and enjoying its sweet smell.

See you outside.