Garden Jobs for March

[Farhan Ahmed]

March means late spring in karachi, mid in Lahore and early spring in up North. Following are some jobs that i can recall for the current month.

Planning your summer Garden
Though one is busy with spring blooms in March, but actually it is the right time to plan your summer garden, meaningby arranging/ordering seeds for your summer garden. If you are ordering from a distant place, leave a margin of fortnight.

Sowing seeds
March onwards temperature gets going. It appears early but late March-April is the right time to sow summer annuals as well as perennials such as Rudbeckia/Echinacea.
If you are short of space you can sow in pots/trays etc.
Zinnias are next in line after spring. They do not like transplanting, therefore if you can not sow them in situ, due to spring annuals make use of other means
Right time to sow Sunflower. Early sowing enables them to grow to their max size.
Other seeds that can be sown
Gomphrena
Celosia
Morning glory/Cypress Vine
Cosmos
Gaillardia
Vinca
Marigold
Amaranthus/Joseph's Coat
Balsam

Seed Saving
As your spring annuals are preparing for a farewell, this is the time of harvesting their seeds for next spring. Its easy and fun. Make ready envelopes(plastic/paper) and write down the names of seeds that your are expecting. You can even have seeds according to color in one variety.

Vegetables
Make beds for summer veggies.
You can plant seedlings/seeds of all types of Chillies, onion, Aubergine, Okra, Bitter gourd, Melons, cucumbers etc(all warm weather veggies). Early sowing lets the vegetables establish well before the onset of intense heat.
Pinch Chillies for a bushier growth.
Its still time to grow Cilantro.
If you are growing Tomatoes,ensure they are staked. Fertilize tomatoes. Reduce watering once they set flowers.

Grass
This is the best time to lay the grass. Shop for your favorite variety, make the ground ready by working it thoroughly, adding silt, removing weeds etc

For established grass, water requirement is going to increase from now. Water frequently atleast an inch per week and even more in hotter months. Feed with Urea or DAP if required.
Mow your grass regularly.

Pest Activity
With weather getting warmer, gradually pest will emerge and make life difficult for you. Ensure that you have pesticides as well as fungicides. Aphids, thripes,leaf miners, mealy bugs all are about to invade. Ensure that you observe your plants closely, especially new shoots, underside of leaves and base of flowers. This will ensure that pest is controlled before it does any significant damage. Observation is gardener's best tool.

Deadheading
If your annuals have bloomed, It does not mean that job is over, you can keep them blooming for longer, if you regularly deadhead. Ensure all faded flowers are removed so that plants puts its energy on more blooms.

Once plants like snaps & barbatus are though with flowering you can cut them back for some more blooms.

Harvesting
Be ready to harvest veggies such as Tomotoes, Chillies, Garlic if planted earlier and cool season annuals such as Daiken, Spinach, Mustard.

Save Tubers
Save tubers such as Rununculus & Anemone once they have finished blooming and foliage is drying out.

General Jobs
1) Be-ready for re-fertilizing plants such as petunias for a longer season.

2) If possible make available shade for your delicate plants.

3) Water requirements in terms of amount, time required for watering as well as frequency will now gradually increase manifold.

4) Divide Perennials such as Mums & Canna.

5) Apply lime to your tree base to protect against insects.

6) Weeding. Spring also means lot of weeds coming up especially in Lawns.

7) If you practice mulching. Make available requisite material.

8) Re-pot plants that require larger pots.

9) Stake taller annuals to avoid flopping due wind/rain/weight.

10) If you have moved your shade plants into partial sun, place them back to a shadier spot.

11) Plant summer bulbs.

Will update if i remember something else. Members help us too......

[alirazaq]

Thanks farhan for your detailed and to the point advice. I will keep in mind all these things........Yar you should start a blog on gardening. You have accurate knowledge and good grip on the language. Give it a try plus you can get advice from khabab.

[Munir]

Hats off to you, Farhan,for an instant & elaborate response to my proposal. Hope this information will be prominently posted on the Blog for ease of reference & also kept updated, as & when necessary. God bless!

[Farhan Ahmed]

@Alirazzaq...i already do have a blog, but it appears that Gardening Pakistan surpasses it due to interactive & educational nature.

[Muhammad Arif Khan]

@Alirazzaq...i already do have a blog, but it appears that Gardening Pakistan surpasses it due to interactive & educational nature.

Thank you for educating us

[Farhan Ahmed]

@ Sir Arif......

Important aspect of March/spring is comparatively milder climate which makes it the best time for gardening( Optimum Temperature range of 15-25 C).
Therefore maximum gardening activities can be undertaken in this period before summer arrives.

Therefore one can plant trees & shrubs as well (other time is fall which is somewhat similar to Spring).
It is also the time to plant Roses.

Many plants/Trees/Shrubs will show active growth, rather maximum growth in comparison to any other time of the year. Therefore fertilization should be done for almost all plants. Feed your hedges such as Garnetti, Sanatha and nanthra so that they quickly catch up after the slumber of winter.

Get your pruning/shearing tools ready as in a while your structural plants will require training.

This is also the time for training your trees/shrubs. When new shoots appear, you can choose which to keep so that trees/shrub go in your desired direction. Thereby deciding very early the growth direction. In this way plant energies would not be wasted.

After winter, you will have some debris/litter in your garden. This could be in form of leaves or dead twigs etc. Clean-up the garden.
You can use this for compost.