SPRING CHECKLIST of Things to do in the Garden
By Mary Jane Bosworth
March, April and May are my favorite times in the garden. Everything is new and fresh and I am still full of energy and determined to do better than the previous year.
March
- It's time to plant cool season vegetables, such as peas, broccoli, cabbage, lettuce, spinach and root crops.
- Vegetables and flowers that you want to plant outdoors next month may be started from seed indoors at this time. These include tomatoes, eggplant and peppers as well as zinnias and cosmos.
- Before woody plants break dormancy, prune and apply dormant oil if needed.
- Prepare beds where vegetables will be grown when the soil is dry enough to crumble.
- Apply pre-emergent herbicides by the time dogwoods are in bloom.
- Deadhead spring flowering bulbs but leave the foliage until it is dry.
- After early flowering shrubs such as forsythia have blossomed, cut 1/3 of the oldest canes to the ground.
