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March To-Do List

“I have found, through years of practice, that people garden in order to make something grow; to interact with nature; to share, to find sanctuary, to heal, to honor the earth, to leave a mark.  Through gardening, we feel whole as we make our own personal work of art upon our land.”

-Julie Moir Messervy, The Inward Garden

1st Week:

Depending on the weather, yearling Purple Martins should begin to start arriving now through the rest of the month, looking for nesting sites to colonize.  Houses should be cleaned and ready to go up.  No matter what, keep the housing up through June, Martins may arrive and begin nesting as late as the end of June.

The first of March is typically the last frost date, but we have gotten nipped as late as the first week of April.

The first few days of this month is the last call for planting bare-root dormant rose bushes. They can be planted later with success, but they will not grow off as quickly or as well.

Last chance to apply pre-emergent herbicides and receive their full benefit.  Remember to water them in lightly.

Still time to mow/cut well established Asian Jasmine, liriope and mondograss, feed with a slow-release lawn food (never use a weed & feed).

Harvest spinach, leaf lettuce, collars and other greens one leaf at a time as you need them for salads.

To revitalize your lawn, aerate and top-dress your lawn now with a 1/2 inch of compost.

Rather than pruning pear trees, use spacers to spread branches at a 60 degree angle.  Pruning pear trees heavily stimulates vegetation rather than fruit.

Fertilize fruit trees with 1 cup of slow-release lawn fertilizer per inch of trunk diameter. Spread it around the drip line.

Divide summer and fall blooming perennials, including cannas, mallows, fall asters, mums and perennial salvias.

It's too early to fertilize lawns.  Instead, aerate and top-dress with compost.

Prune the tallest, thinnest canes of nandina to 2" to encourage thicker bushes.

Complete all transplanting of trees and shrubs.  Water well until roots have had time to establish.

"Scalp" lawn as needed to remove browned winter stubble.  Set mower down 1 or 2 notches, and wear quality respirator and goggles.  Don't confuse this with dethatching, which is rarely recommended.

Fertilize pecans with 21-0-0 or other high-nitrogen fertilizer on 30-day intervals early March through early May.

 

2nd Week:

Feed deciduous trees and shrubs as they resume growth.

The live oak leaves may be falling, this is normal, no cause for alarm.  The round growths on the leaves are wasp galls, harmless to the tree.  Use them for mulch.

Paint all wounds on oak trees with pruning paint or latex paint immediately after the wound is made or discovered in order to prevent the spread of oak wilt.

Watch for SOPHORA CATERPILLARS on Texas mountain laurel.  Use Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) or malathion to control them.

Geraniums, dianthus and petunias (salvia plants can be set out too) are good color plants for the sun during this transition from cool weather to hot.

Cut off any fruits set on Daffodils, Irises and other bulbs (and fertilize if not already done so).

It is not too late to apply dormant oil to pecans trees that had PHYLLOXERA last year.

Prune crape myrtles in mid to late March for shaping. Do not cut their tops off.

The current crop of WEEDS in your lawn will die with warm weather. Keep them mowed to prevent reseeding. (*Mowing your lawn now will reduce weeds from reseeding and encourage

turf grass to grow and green up sooner.)

BALL MOSS does not harm oak trees, but you can apply cupric hydroxide (Kocide ) vow to control it.

Side-dress onions with I cup of slow-release lawn fertilizer or 2 cups of organic fertilizer per 10 feet of row.

Sow sweet corn, snap and lima beans and cucumber seeds.  Plant watermelons, squash, seed potatoes, carrots and all types of beans.

Finish pruning evergreen shrubs.  Wait on spring-flowering shrubs.

Apply slow-release fertilizers to landscape plants (not lawns) to gear up for the growing season.

Oak pollen season is upon us and it's another trouble maker.

 

3rd Week

We have passed the average fast frost date for San Antonio.  (It can still freeze! The time of the latest freeze is still two weeks away.)  If extended weather-forecasts are favorable, it should be ok to turn the gas off to your furnace!

Spring is an exciting time for backyard bird watching as some of our familiar friends migrate home and join those who stayed all winter.  Watch for beautiful warblers as they secretly journey through our yards during the first few weeks of May.  Grab your binoculars, and you may catch a glimpse of one flitting about tree branches or checking out your birdbath mister...  Keep an eye out for nest-building and nestling-feeding behaviors as bluebirds, wrens, chickadees and woodpeckers take to the nest and raise their young.

APHIDS are feasting on cole crops and other plants (yd my roses). Try to wash them off with a blast of soapy water until the predator insects get them in control, or you can spray with Organo-spray or Malathion.

Oust APHIDS!  Consider adding nasturtiums (aphid's favorite snack!) to your flower bed.

When the nasturtiums get attacked, just yank them out and destroy them, leaving your other plants in fine shape.

Revitalize leggy salvia, pomegranate, crape myrtle, vitex, ceniza and other shrubs by removing the old stem at ground level.  Leave three to eight young stems.

Begonias can be set out in the landscape.  Bronze-leafed, pink-flowered begonias will do well in full sun.

Pansies, stocks, calendulas and other cool-weather blooms decline quickly if they dry out. Keep them well-watered.

Let potting medium of geraniums dry between waterings.

Replenish the mulch of young trees. Place it in a donut shape so the mulch is over the roots but not against the trunk.

Plant warm-season annuals and vegetables such as tomatoes, peppers, petunias and Dahlberg daisies, but protect the plants if frost (or hail storm) is predicted.

Sow bush lima beans, pole lima beans, cantaloupe and watermelon seeds.

If weather is looking good, this is a good time for planting cantaloupes, watermelons and cucumbers.

Apply broadleaf weed killer to eliminate CLOVER, DANDELIONS, HENBIT and other weeds from turf.

Remove freeze-damaged vegetables from your garden to prevent disease.

 

4th Week:

Goldfinches are changing to their breeding plumage now.  Keep providing thistle and sunflower seeds for another month before they head north.

Consider geraniums for a splash of color on the patio or balcony.  They can handle full sun until temperatures increase.  Then move them to a location with less sun.

Cold-sensitive plants can be placed on the patio now (check weather forecast).  Be prepared to protect them if a late freeze threatens.

It's not too late to prune crape myrtles.  Remove dead wood and excess stems (leave 3 to 6 per cane).  Cut back limbs, but try not to leave stubby branches.

Thin peaches and plums to one fruit every 6 inches when they reach dime size.

The first set of potted tomatoes can be placed in the garden now.  Place Gro-Web on the cages for protection from wind and cool nights.

Wait to fertilize your lawn until you have mowed real grass twice.  Fertilizing too early only benefits the weeds.

Plant plugs of "Del Mar" St. Augustine in semi-shade areas where your lawn is thin.  Do not over-water!  Aerate the lawn to reduce soil compaction and disease pressures.

Add more mulch around hardy perennials, shrubs, and trees if it is now less than four inches deep.  Keep mulch away from base of tree trunk.

Peak wildflower time in the San Antonio area probably will be during the first week of April.

Begin a fruit-tree spray program, alternating fungicide and insecticide, after fruit blossoms fall.

Ground temperature is warming up, and hot-season crops can be sown.  Consider planting Southern peas, pumpkins, peanuts, squash and okra.

Mow or prune overgrown Asiatic jasmine.

Begin a fruit tree spray program after petals fall.  Alternate fungicide and insecticide.

 

In Our Herb Garden

March 15 is the average last frost date for our Zone 8 (b). 

Thin annual seedlings planted in February.

Plant transplants of annual or perennial herbs and label cultivars for identification.  Examples to plant are parsley, French thyme (which does better in S.A.'s hot months than English thyme), oreganos, and Mexican mint marigold.

Plant basil seed, which needs warm soil (day/night temps, above 60 degs.). 

Plant ginger roots shallow in area where they will receive afternoon shade.  For edible ginger, purchase firm roots from the produce section of your local grocery store.

 

Springtime Stroll

Spring moves north at a rate of about 16 miles a day.  That means a person walking at a good pace could keep up with it, watching dogwoods, tulips and daffodils (and roses) come into bloom along the way. (Courtesy of Birds A Blooms, Feb./Mar. 2001}