March
- Look for weed problems in your lawn, identify them, select the proper herbicide and apply at the correct time.
- Fertilize fruit trees with a slow-release fertilizer in early March.
- Do not prune spring flowering shrubs until after they have flowered.
- Prune roses. Remove all by 4-6 canes for big blooms. Leave more canes if you want fuller bushy roses. Make your pruning cut above an outward facing bud.
- Plant your cool season vegetables such as cabbage, broccoli, lettuce, spinach, potatoes, and radishes.
- Start your warm season vegetable plants indoors so they will be ready to transplant after danger of frost.
- Remove any old camellia blooms to prevent the spread of petal blight. You should also clean any dead blooms off the ground around the camellias.
- Be sure any newly planted shrubs receive adequate water.
- Daffodils are blooming now. If you want to use cut daffodils in your arrangements, remember to soak them in water by themselves for 4-6 hours before placing them with other flowers. The sap from the daffodil stem will clog the stem and water of other flowers if not presoaked.
- Resist the temptation to plant tender summer annuals until the danger of frost has past. The last frost date for Cumberland County is around April 10.
Visit the following web sites for more gardening information and helpful tips:
Urban Horticulture, NCSU
Extension's Successful Gardenersm
For informaton concerning this or other publications please contact Emily Revels, Extension Agent, Horticulture,
at (910) 321-6870.
Emily Lucas Revels
Created by Susan Johnson, System Administrator, January 2005
