By Nancy Bauer
You know that March has arrived, ‘when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold: when it is summer in the light and winter in the shade’! With spring around the corner here is a March landscaping checklist:
March Tips:
*If a heavy snowfall occurs this month, use a broom to lift branches and gently shake off the snow. Don’t press down on the branches because this pressure plus the weight of the snow could cause them to break.
* Rake leaves and remove old fruit from fruit and deciduous trees.
* Cut back perennials and clean up flowerbeds, do these tasks this month before new spring growth appears. If you wait too long to begin clean up tasks you are likely to damage delicate new growth.
*Check evergreens for browning and deciduous trees for buds that have died, and deep water.
*Water your lawn if you see evidence of spider mites; thinning grass, soil exposed, excessive yellowing or browning of grass blades
*Spray dormant trees and shrubs for oyster scale, repeat application, before plants bud out.
*Winter months are a great time to prune many trees and shrubs. Dormant pruning is beneficial because a tree’s branch structure is readily visible and there are fewer disturbances to gardens. It is advantageous to thin shrubs during the winter to encourage healthy spring growth.
MARCH is one of the best months to whine about WHY ISN’T IT SPRING YET? Then calm down and realize it is almost here. Technically it is still winter and there is more prepping and planning to be done.
Here are five things you can do now to get your garden ready for spring:
* Compost. If you didn’t work compost into the soil last fall, throw fresh compost over the garden – even if it’s snow covered. It will settle over the soil, and you can work it right in before planting.
* Get going on seed. You can plant cool season crops as soon as the ground can be tilled (March, April). So have your seed ready. Find a local garden center or order seed online or from catalogs.
* Select your crops. Carrots, spinach, lettuce, beets, green onions, and peas are veggies to plant soon. Once these veggies are harvested in about mid- May, the garden can be re-planted with warm season crops- like tomatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, small cabbage, and squash.
* Plan what grows where. Rotating veggie placement each year is a good practice to avoid insects and diseases that can overwinter in the soil and attack specific veggies. They are more threatening if the debris was not cleaned out of the garden last fall. Tomatoes and corn are crops to move to a new place each year.
* Rototill or hand till the ground to work in the compost before planting.
Info for the Tree Hugger in All of Us:
Trees: the more you know, the more reasons there are to love them.
Shade, of course, is the obvious starting point. Trees keep our picnics, patios, parking lots and homes cool. That makes trees cool.
But beyond the obvious, we’re learning more and more about how valuable trees are both to the environment and our health.
*Just by doing what they do standing still in the earth, trees take in carbon dioxide and produce oxygen. An average tree absorbs 26 lbs. of carbon dioxide from the air each year.
*By standing tall and creating shade, trees reduce the heat island effect of hot pavement in urban areas, sometimes by as much as 10 degrees!
* Consider their economic value. Trees are not only the most expensive investment among landscape plants, but they appreciate over time as they grow. Individual trees can be worth thousands of dollars as they mature.
So how often do you hug your trees?
•Do you keep them properly pruned? That helps protect against wind and storm damage.
•Do you check out possible diseases or bug infestations when things look a little off? Evaluations and treatments that are warranted can keep trees healthy and protect your property value for the long term.
•Do you quench their thirst. Thirsty trees have more brittle limbs that will be more likely to break in storms – and drought-stressed trees are more susceptible to insects and disease. As with humans, hydration is the most critical component for tree health.