This has felt like the longest winter EVER (although I probably say that every February). The very fact that I am sharing March gardening tips puts a smile on my face as I realize we’re ever so closer to spring at the Inn at Honey Run!
In the unpredictable month of March, spring gardening tasks are often limited by snow cover, ground defrosting, and muck that follows. Squeeze these tips and tasks in whenever you have a chance to work through your spring gardening checklist.
- Cut back ornamental grasses and other early blooming/remerging perennials and ground covers. Cautiously cut back and loosen winter mulches of other perennials and roses
- Finish up any dormant pruning of trees and shrubs — prune for structure, removing diseased, broken, or storm damaged branches — before new growth begins
- Spring bedding plants, like pansies and toadflax (Linaria), can be planted now
- Set up or clean nesting boxes for bluebirds and other cavity nesting species
- Allow soil to dry before working and/or tilling. Tilling/compacting soil when wet severely devastates soil structure.
- Get your garden journal and camera ready to record bloom times, what works, what doesn’t, timely tasks, and other such notes
- Sow annual poppy seeds now
Note: These tips and tasks based on gardening in Zone 5.
If the weather doesn’t cooperate to let us to start our spring gardening in March, here’s a list of methods I’ve been researching and planning for you to explore if you wish:
- Herb Spirals
- Sheet Mulching
- Bokashi composting method
- Monarch Waystations
- Keyhole gardens and other permaculture related material