March Gardening Tips
LAWN CARE
Apply ferti•lome Crabgrass & Weed Preventer plus Lawn Food now through the end of April. This is the first step in the Family Roots Nursery ferti•lome Lawn Care Program.
Our basic program includes five applications—four fertilizers and an insect control.
Our program ensures a beautiful green lush lawn all season long. Also ask about our application services and how you can save even more in our garden center. March and April is a good time to seed or overseed your lawn. Expect the seed to germinate more slowly than in the fall because of cooler soil temperatures.
Another potential problem with spring planting is weed competition. To reduce weeds use Hi-Yield Crabgrass Preventer plus Lawn Food with Tupersan. Tupersan is the only pre-emergent weed control that can be used on newly seeded lawns.
TIME TO GET “GROWING”
This month, vegetable gardening moves into full swing. Plant seeds of beets, lettuce, peas, radishes, spinach and turnips. Use a floating row cover secured loosely over the seedbed. This gauze-like material provides a greenhouse environment for seeds to germinate more quickly and reliably. It also protects against light frosts, birds and insects while it allows in sunlight and moisture It’s also time to put out cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower plants. Use a floating row cover for these vegetables, too. Allow enough slack in the material so plants can push it up as they grow. Leave the cover on to prevent cabbage worms from eating up your crop.
Other vegetables to plant now include asparagus, garlic, rhubarb, potatoes and onion plants or sets. Asparagus and rhubarb are planted as perennial roots. They don’t produce the first year and harvesting the second year will be limited.
Both garlic and onion sets are bulbs. They may be planted 1 -2 inches deep and about 3 inches apart. Onion sets are generally used to grow green onions. Use onion plants to grow larger slicing onions.
Potatoes are traditionally planted around St. Patrick’s Day, March 17th. Prepare seed potatoes by cutting them into 1½ to 2 inch pieces, each with one or two good eyes (buds). Allow the cut pieces to heal (or dry) for several days before planting. Plant the pieces eye up 3 to 4 inches deep and 12 inches apart.
All these vegetables will benefit from loose, well drained Soil. Water all transplants with ferti•lome Root Stimulator or Blooming & Rooting to get them off to a good start and ensure higher yields.
TREE AND SHRUB CARE
This is your last chance to use a dormant oil spray for overwintering mites and insects. Spray while plants are still dormant, choosing a day when the temperature stays above 40 degrees for 24 hours.
To prevent infection of Cedar apply Rust (also Hawthorn Rust) spray April through May at 7-10 day intervals. Use ferti•lome Liquid Fungicide or ferti•lome Liquid Systemic Fungicide. Early spring is a good time to prune most trees and shrubs (wait to prune early flowering shrubs like forsythia, white spirea, lilacs, or quince until after they bloom). Pruning coupled with fertilizing will help plants flush out and fill in even better. Fertilizing with ferti•lome Thee & Shrub Food now is the also the best defense against insects and diseases; a healthy plant can withstand attacks much more readily.
When dealing with water sprouts (the weak, fast growing suckers commonly found on crabapples, maples, plums and other trees) pruning alone only make the problem worse, as more sprouts grow back. The solution is to prune first, let suckers start to grow, then spray them with Sucker Stopper. This ready-to-use product is designed to be applied on the shoots to kill them and keep them from regrowing.
Early spring is a great time to transplant trees and shrubs, giving them time to get established before the heat of summer. Always follow proper planting instructions to give your plant the best start. Use ferti•lome Root Stimulator when planting new trees and shrubs; and when transplanting existing plants from one location to another.