It’s the most wonderful time of the year! As is often the case, we step into March in a flurry of pollen, which many Georgians call “The Pollening,” which follows “Third Winter.”
So let’s load up on our antihistamines, refill our neti pots, and jump right into what to do this month in the garden. (If you’re a TL;DR person and you have already purchased your summer veggies from the closest Big Box Store, skip down to PLANTING.)
Shear those (broadleaf) hedges! Boxwoods, hollies, distylium, and other broadleafed evergreens are ready to be sheared and shaped. Any broadleaf evergreen that isn’t scheduled to bloom in the spring or early summer can be pruned. Fathers around the city can gleefully exert their will on another living thing in what might be the suppressed need to control something in their environment without it talking back at them.
If your conifers are growing, you may prune them now as well, but ONLY if they have new growth.
Continue to spray sulphur on plants that have had insect issues in the previous years.
Trees, shrubs, perennials, and lawns will all benefit from a top dressing of screened compost.
Lawns can be dethatched and aerated as well. If you spread winter rye, you may mow it to 1” now.
Mulching should be on your agenda soon. If you don’t normally mulch, consider starting this as a habit. Not only does mulch save you time and energy on weeding, it also improves soil quality. Many of my more particular clients prefer we remove last year’s mulch and replace. For those of us who are interested in sustainability and being economical (I was trying to figure out a way to combine economical and ecological into one word, but just couldn’t do it) lay your new mulch on top of the old. Not only is it less work, it also preserves your new mulch for a longer period of time.
PLANTING
I’ve seen a few posts on NextDoor and received messages from neighbors and clients itching to plant.
Cool season plants like lettuce, kale, carrots, beets, and others can still be planted. Dormant perennials and hearty trees and shrubs can also be planted. But almost everyone really wants to know about their tender herbaceous plants; tomatoes, basil, peppers and the like.
Short answer: it is too early to plant. Our last frost date is April 15th. This isn’t our average or mean average last frost date. This is the actual last frost date. We haven’t had frost after tax day. In my 23 years here in Atlanta, we have had many frosts on the 15th.
Long answer: Planting tender herbaceous plants before the last frost date doesn’t behoove you or the plants. As we approach the equinox, the soil temperatures are actually cooling where the air temperatures are warming. Tender herbaceous plants, like many herbs, and certainly any non native solanacea (tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, tomatillo, etc) are understandably going to be unhappy with cool air temperatures, but they are going to be downright petulant if the soil temperature is cold.
Petulant tomatoes! What does that even look like? A tomato that has been planted in cold soil will actually refuse to grow for a while. The cold soil will prevent root hairs from growing, and if root hairs aren’t growing, their dying. Root hairs are the drama kid of the plant anatomy. They are either exuberant, pushing madly through the soil, or languishing with their root hair hands across their brows, crying “I literally can’t even!” And then they die. So when soil temperatures and air temp are perfect, the tomato has to grow new root hairs. And they will prioritize root growth over vegetative or (more importantly) flower/fruit growth.
I can hear you thinking “Ok, Joshua. If it’s the wrong time to plant these things, why do the Big Box Stores sell them, huh? They wouldn’t steer me wrong. They want me to succeed. What do you have to say to that, Mr. Smartypants horticulturist?”
Profit. That’s what I have to say.
We run out, buy our favorite ‘maters, then pop them in the ground the first weekend of March and say “Stupid horticulturist. He doesn’t know anything.” And then we get freezing temps the second weekend of March and have to buy those plants all over again. And the CEO’s laugh. No, it’s true. They laugh. They laugh at those who bought the tomatoes twice (or three to four times if you’re really stubborn), and they laugh at the horticulturists who are basically Cassandras warning everyone that the big wooden horse is full of frost.
And then you know what they do? They stop selling tomatoes around the middle of May and start trying to convince you to buy Halloween or (even worse) Winter Holiday décor. In May. Pools haven’t even opened yet and they are trying to convince us to snap up inflatable Santas and wicker deer. Meanwhile, you want a nice fried green tomato sammie, but all you have is a rosemary shrub trimmed up like a Christmas tree, bedecked in red ribbons. This is creating a false demand for tomatoes in February/March.
I digress.
I’m not saying don’t buy those tender herbaceous plants. In fact, do. Quickly. I went all year last year without Thai basil because I waited too long, and my home made pho mocked my choices with every spoonful. Buy them, but don’t plant them unless you can protect them. If you have already planted them, find something to cover them with when frost is in the forecast. You can even set a few dark stones around them to help harvest radiant heat. If you have them but haven’t planted them, set them outside during the day but pull them in on cold nights.
You can also set them in a garage. If you have a cold frame, be vigilant about popping it open during the day. I once forgot to tell my husband to open the cold frame while I was at a conference and came home to 8 trays of steamed vegetable and ornamental plants. Sad and smelly.
Lastly, don’t forget to enjoy your garden. Every time you connect with your garden, you’re connecting to a part of yourself and nature.
Alchemy Gardens and Design 