March
- Prune trees and shrubs while plants are still dormant.
- Those that bloom early in spring should be pruned after flowers fade.
- Fertilize woody plants before new growth begins, but wait until after soil temperatures have reached 40°F. Two pounds of actual nitrogen per 1000 square feet should be broadcast over the entire root area.
- Remove winter coverings from roses as soon as new growth begins, but keep mulch nearby for protection from late freezes. Prune and fertilize as needed.
- Apply superior oil (dormant spray) to control scale insects and mites on landscape plants and fruit trees when tips of leaves start to protrude from buds.
- Remove tree wrap from trunks to prevent scalding due to overheating of bark.
- Bare-root stock should be planted before new top growth begins. Balled-and-burlaped and container stock can still be planted later in spring.
- Apply fungicide sprays to roses to control diseases such as black spot.
- Prune early spring flowering trees and shrubs after flowers fade.
March
- Rake to remove leaves, twigs, and trash.
- Mow lawn as needed. The first mowing should be slightly lower than normal to encourage green-up.
- Seed bare spots.
- Apply weed seed inhibitor to control crabgrass and weedvseeds.
- Fertilize in May using a 4-1-2 ratio of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium at the rate of 1 pound of actual nitrogen per 1000 square feet.
March
- Prepare garden soil for planting. Do NOT work the soil while it is wet. Soil should crumble when squeezed in your hand when it is ready to work. If soil forms a solid ball when squeezed in your hand, it’s still too wet.
- Follow last fall’s soil test recommendations for fertilizer and pH adjustment. (It’s not too late to soil test if you missed last year.)
- Start seeds of warm season vegetables and flowers indoors.
- Watch for blooms of early spring bulbs such as daffodils, squill, crocus, dwarf iris, and snowdrops.
- Remove old asparagus and rhubarb tops, and then side dress with nitrogen or manure.
April
- Plant cool-season vegetables and flowers as soon as the ground has dried enough to work.
- Harden off transplants before planting outdoors by gradually exposing the young plants to outdoor conditions of wind, brighter sunlight, and lower moisture.
- Plant or transplant asparagus, rhubarb, and small fruit plants such as strawberries and brambles. Divide rhubarb and replant, if last year’s planting produced seedstalks.
- Plant sections of certified, disease-free potato “seed” tubers.
- Remove winter mulch from strawberry beds as soon as new growth begins, but keep the mulch nearby to protect against frost and freezes and to help keep weeds under control.
- Remove weak, diseased, or damaged canes from raspberry plants before new growth begins. Remove old fruiting canes (if not removed last year), and shorten remaining canes if necessary.
- Prune grape vines to remove dead or weakened limbs, and repair support trellises as needed.
- Allow foliage of spring flowering bulbs to remain in place after blooms fade. Leaves manufacture the food reserves, which are then stored in the bulb for a repeat showing next year.
- Plant frost-tender plants after danger of frost is past for your area.
- Make successive plantings of beans and sweet corn to extend the season of harvest.
- Thin seedlings of earlier planted crops such as carrots, lettuce, spinach, and beets to their proper spacing.
- Harvest early plantings of radishes, spinach, and lettuce.
- Harvest asparagus by cutting or snapping spears at, or just below, the soil level.
- Harvest rhubarb by cutting or by grasping the stalk and pulling up and slightly to one side.
- To prevent bacterial wilt in cucumbers, control cucumber beetles, the carriers of the disease, as soon as plants germinate or are transplanted.
- Remove blossoms from newly set strawberry plants to allow better runner formation.
- Remove unwanted sucker growth in raspberries when new shoots are about a foot tall.
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