March means spring, even if it doesn’t always feel that way.

Take this month to prepare for the garden and enjoy last fall’s efforts as spring bulbs begin to emerge. Complete tasks that were left unfinished or incorporate a new one such as having your soil tested or adding a compost bin.

It’s the start of a new gardening season, so enjoy. Walk in the woods and notice buds swelling, flowers peeking out under leaf litter and the return of migrating birds.

Here’s what you need to do in the garden this month:

Indoor plants

h Start summer-blooming bulbs indoors now. Plant caladiums, elephant ears, tuberous

begonias, agapanthus and cannas in small pots filed with a moist, soilless mix. Keep warm until new growth starts, and then move them to a sunny south exposure or under grow lights. After all danger of frost has pas-sed, gradually introduce the plants to outdoor conditions over a two-week period.

h Start new houseplants by taking cuttings of softwood tips or leaves, or by air-layering or dividing plants.

h Fertilize indoor plants with a weak solution of a balanced (low formulation) or an organic fertilizer as plants start new growth.

h Repot houseplants, especially orchids after they have flowered and have become rootbound. Always replant in a pot an inch larger than the old one. Use a sterile soilless mix for houseplants and a fir bark potting medium for orchids.

h Continue to care for gift plants. Azaleas need bright light and evenly moist soil. Remove spent flowers to encourage the plant to keep blooming. Move them outdoors after the middle of May to a semi-shaded location then bring back inside before a frost in fall.

h Primrose plants can be composted after flowering or planted in a shady, well-drained location. They will go dormant in the heat of the summer, but with mulch to protect the roots, they often return the next spring.

Trees and shrubs

h If aphids, scale or mites were a problem last year, consider a dormant oil spray. Dormant oil sprays cover the pest and have a low toxicity to the tree. Oils reduce pest populations by smothering the pests, so thorough coverage is important. Weather conditions also are critical for sprays to be effective. Temperatures must be at least 40 degrees with no chance of a freeze or rain within the 24 hours following the dormant oil application. Avoid applying on a windy day or spraying plants that will react negatively to the spray. Plants that might not tolerate dormant oil include: arborvitae, beech, red maple, Japanese maple, sugar maple, smokebush, blue spruce and blue cultivars of junipers and yews. Dormant oils cover the glaucous coating of blue-tinted evergreens, leaving the foliage green, and destroys one of the best ornamental features of the plant – its blue-colored needles.

h Prune fruit trees in early March before buds open.

h Sterilize pruners in between cuts to prevent the spread of disease. Use a 10 percent solution of bleach or a dip of rubbing alcohol; always wipe the solution off the tool before using.

h Prune dead wood first, then suckers and waterspouts. Prune out crossing limbs and rubbing branches that can form wounds on the tree’s bark. Cut out branches that are growing toward the interior of the plant.

Flowers

h Sow seeds for warm-season annuals and vegetables to transplant in the garden in late May. Follow directions on the seed packet and use a sterile soilless or seed-starting mix. Most transplants require six to eight weeks to develop before they can be planted outdoors.

h When starting seeds indoors, a light source is essential. Place the light a few inches above the plants to avoid seedlings stretching for light. Poor light levels and waterlogged soils can cause weak seedlings which are subject to falling over and diseases.

h Once seeds have sprouted and formed a second set of true leaves, thin seedlings and transplant them into a soilless mix in small cell packs, peat pots or clean, sterile plastic pots.

h Prune to the ground any ornamental gras-ses and perennials that were left for winter interest.

h Carefully press back perennials that heaved out of the ground during the winter.

h Pull leaf litter away from emerging perennials and avoid damaging tender new growth.

h Prune autumn-flowering clematis vines back to 12 inches from the ground.

h Prune roses when forsythia starts to bloom. Always cut at a 45-degree angle above a healthy bud that is angled away from the plant’s center. To reinvigorate hybrid teas and grandiflora roses that were not pruned in fall, cut the roses back to 12 inches from the ground. Prune out any blackened, dried out, broken or dead canes. Shrub roses can be pruned by removing dead wood and lightly cut back to shape.

• Nancy Clifton is a horticultural writer for the Chicago Botanic Garden.

source : www.dailyherald.com