(Publisher’s note: Part one of this column published yesterday.)
Indoors
Have you finished making a plan for your gardens yet? If not, don’t wait. It really does help to have a plan for what you want to grow, so that you’ll be able to get what you need early in the season. Too often, people come in after gardening season is well under way looking for a very specific seed/plant/tool/plant support/fertilizer, etc., saying they’ve been everywhere and can’t find it.
If you make a plan early, and then start looking early, you are far more likely to find what you want. We have been getting lots of our spring gardening items in over the last few weeks, and are expecting more in the next few, so the month of March is the ideal time to come in to find what you need.
Seed starting season is upon us, and all seeds and seed starting equipment are on sale this month both in the store and at our website.
If you haven’t started parsley yet and you want to, do that now – it’s a bit slow to germinate, so needs a little extra time to be ready for planting outdoors. Broccoli, cabbage, kale, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, and most herbs should be started in mid-month, though basil can be started at the end of the month, or in early April.
Start tomatoes and peppers around the end of the month or the first part of April so that they will be mature enough to be planted outdoors by Memorial Day, which is always my target date for getting those in the garden. If you want to get yours in your garden sooner than that, start your seeds earlier, but realize that these warm-weather loving plants won’t do well if it’s still chilly outside when they are planted out.
March is also a good time to get flowers started, if you want to grow your own. I like to grow some of my own, simply because I can get varieties that I might not be able to find in nurseries, and it’s less expensive. Start Zinnias early in the month, and amaranth, catmint, cleome, Echinacea, gaillardia, nigella, stock, and thunbergia by mid- to late-March.
Begin fertilizing indoor plants that you were letting rest over the winter.
Also, now is a great time to re-pot any of your indoor plants that need it – before you get so involved with everything that needs to be done outdoors that you can’t get to them. If some of your plants are getting really big, split them into a few smaller ones so that you don’t have one huge plant that you can’t move. If you don’t have room for all those little ones, give them away as gifts.
I have had a couple of recent conversations with people about whether you can use old potting soil, so maybe it’s a topic others are curious about. There is really no reason not to use old potting soil, unless it has been stored outdoors where bacteria could be an issue. The one thing to be sure to do with old potting soil is to re-hydrate it.
Soil dries out the longer it sits, even if the bag has never been opened. Dry soil does not hold water well, and it becomes a losing battle to try to keep your plant well hydrated when it starts out with dry soil. Simply mix your soil well with water, stirring until the soil is evenly moist – kind of like when you’re making a cake and want the dry ingredients to be well combined with the moist ingredients. I keep a small Trug handy for just this purpose (mixing soil, not cake batter), but a bucket or even a large bowl can also work.
If you stored tender bulbs over the winter, check them now and discard any that are soft, damaged or diseased.
If you potted spring-blooming bulbs for forcing last fall, check their progress. They may have already started coming up because the weather has confused them as much as it has us. When they have a few inches of growth, it’s time to move them into a cool (60 degrees) sunny spot, but not in direct sunlight. Once they have flowered, move them into a warmer spot, but keep them out of direct sunlight to help the blooms last longer. For even longer lasting blooms, provide cooler nighttime temperatures.
For the birds:
Continue feeding the birds this month. By now, any seeds left on plants from last year have long since been consumed, and it’s still too cold for much insect activity outdoors, so the birds have to spend more time and energy searching for food sources.
Clean out nest boxes or put up new ones – or both. Many birds will begin to scout out nesting sites this month, so cleaning out existing houses or putting up new ones now will encourage them to take up residence at your home. They’ll repay you for the hospitality by feeding their young with insects from your yard this spring.
