Rocky Mountain Gardener's March Checklist
Ride out fickle weather by forcing flowers, planning indoors and heading outside to spot blooming bulbs when you can
Jocelyn H Chilvers
January 1, 2000
I shift into full-time spring mode when the calendar rolls over to March 1. March can bring heavy, wet snow tempered by warm, sunny days. It's a great time to get active in the garden and savor the smell of damp soil and the colors of nature's awakening.
Enjoy the first of the spring-flowering bulbs. Be on the lookout for snowdrops, crocuses, chionodoxa (shown here), dwarf irises and more!
Force flowers from trees and shrubs into an early bloom. It's so hard to wait for those first flowers of spring to bloom. Bring a few branches indoors now and trick them into flowering early. Try crabapple or quince, hawthorn, forsythia, serviceberry or cherry. Here's how to force flowers:
• Select branches that are 2 to 3 feet long and have plenty of fat flower buds. (Flower buds are larger and rounder than leaf buds.)
• Make a 1- to 2-inch-long vertical slit in the cut end of each branch (to help with water intake) and plunge the branches into a deep bucket of water.
• Set the bucket in a cool room (60 to 65 degrees Fahrenheit) until the buds start to show color. This usually takes four to eight days.
• Mist the branches with water occasionally if the humidity is low.
• When the buds show color, you can arrange them for display in a normally heated area of the house.
The blooms should fully open in a day or two. To prolong the bloom time, keep the arrangement in bright, indirect light during the day and move it to a cooler location at night. Make a fresh cuts on the end of each branch every couple of days to help water absorption.
• Select branches that are 2 to 3 feet long and have plenty of fat flower buds. (Flower buds are larger and rounder than leaf buds.)
• Make a 1- to 2-inch-long vertical slit in the cut end of each branch (to help with water intake) and plunge the branches into a deep bucket of water.
• Set the bucket in a cool room (60 to 65 degrees Fahrenheit) until the buds start to show color. This usually takes four to eight days.
• Mist the branches with water occasionally if the humidity is low.
• When the buds show color, you can arrange them for display in a normally heated area of the house.
The blooms should fully open in a day or two. To prolong the bloom time, keep the arrangement in bright, indirect light during the day and move it to a cooler location at night. Make a fresh cuts on the end of each branch every couple of days to help water absorption.
Start seeds indoors. Warm-season veggies — like tomatoes, peppers and eggplant — can be started from seed this month and transplanted into the garden once spring is firmly under way. Prioritize seeding based on the number of days your chosen veggies will need to fully mature.
You don't want to start too early, though, or your seedlings will get root-bound and leggy, necessitating repotting. The trick is to find the average last freeze date for your area and start your seeds indoors six to eight weeks prior to that date. For example, the last freeze date for Salt Lake City, Utah, is April 22. Six weeks prior to that is March 11.
Wait a couple of weeks after the last freeze date to plant your seedlings outdoors. This will give the soil a bit more time to warm up. You can speed up this process by covering bare garden soil with black plastic or weed fabric to absorb and hold heat. Keep floating row covers handy to blanket your new transplants when weather threatens.
You don't want to start too early, though, or your seedlings will get root-bound and leggy, necessitating repotting. The trick is to find the average last freeze date for your area and start your seeds indoors six to eight weeks prior to that date. For example, the last freeze date for Salt Lake City, Utah, is April 22. Six weeks prior to that is March 11.
Wait a couple of weeks after the last freeze date to plant your seedlings outdoors. This will give the soil a bit more time to warm up. You can speed up this process by covering bare garden soil with black plastic or weed fabric to absorb and hold heat. Keep floating row covers handy to blanket your new transplants when weather threatens.
While planning your vegetable garden, try to incorporate companion plants for improved plant health. Good partners for tomato plants include members of the onion family, carrots, parsley, cucumbers, nasturtiums and marigolds.
Attract birds by setting up nesting boxes in your landscape. Early to mid March is the best time to get them established.
Start by researching the box specifications for the type of birds you want to attract. The size of the box, size and location of the hole, height above ground for placement etc. are all species specific. The National Wildlife Federation has some great information to help you be successful in creating a nesting box and observing the birds that use it.
Start by researching the box specifications for the type of birds you want to attract. The size of the box, size and location of the hole, height above ground for placement etc. are all species specific. The National Wildlife Federation has some great information to help you be successful in creating a nesting box and observing the birds that use it.
Cut back perennial ornamental grasses. Any herbacious plants left in the garden to provide winter texture and color can be removed now. Grasses in particular need to be trimmed to the ground soon to avoid cutting off the tips of newly emerging foliage; if they're cut the disfigurement will last all season. I like to use long-bladed shears like these, but you may prefer a string trimmer or even a chainsaw.
Shred your cuttings and debris and add them to your compost now, or stockpile everything to mix in later in the year. Maintain mulch around plants, especially roses, to slow premature growth and protect them from freezing.
See how to start a compost pile
See how to start a compost pile
Control weeds. March is a great time to get a jump-start on weed control. Small, newly emerging plants are easier to remove, and if you keep on top of the weeds through June, the rest of the season will be much more manageable. Attack bindweed and other perennials like Canada thistle, mallow, chicory, creeping bellflower, dandelion and grasses. Don't just pull the tops, however; use a bladed tool like the Japanese hori hori knife, shown here, to get deep into the soil and break off the roots.
Tackle Weeds the Natural Way
Tell us: Is your garden ready for spring?
Tackle Weeds the Natural Way
Tell us: Is your garden ready for spring?
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Great checklist! We might be a week or so behind you up here in Fort Collins...
If you're interested in garden design, check out Landcraft Garden Design London :
https://landcraft.co.uk/