• Plant a tub with pansies, bulbs, perennials and primroses to brighten your front door; remember tender annuals don't go outside until after Mother's Day.

• Apply manure or compost to rhubarb, strawberries, roses and veggie beds (remember to avoid manure where potatoes will be planted as manure can cause scab on potatoes).
• Dig in Fall Rye or other cover crops that you added to your veggie gardens in fall if you haven't already done this.
• Cool-weather veggies go in now including -arugula, broad beans, collards, corn salad, kale, Oriental greens, peas, radishes and spinach. Our robust veggie starts are generally in stock by early March.

• March is the month to feed your garden. Trees, shrubs, hedges, roses, perennials, vines, and small fruits can all be fertilized now. We stock a large selection of organic fertilizers which we know you will love! Our bulk 'Organic Mix ' Fertilizer makes it easy and it is great for just about everything and is available in a large sack or small amounts by the pound. Not sure what to use or how? Ask us and we will show you:)

• Rhododendrons, azaleas, heather, camellias, hedges and other acid-loving plants can be fertilized with Evergro Rhododendron & Azalea Food for big vibrant blooms and lovely deep green foliage (and the acidifying that they need).

• Plant new trees, fruit trees, shrubs, roses, perennials, pansies, small fruits hardy herbs and cool weather veggies. Include bonemeal, peat moss (or Coir) and manure or your compost when planting and don't forget to water new transplants frequently and we recommend Liquid Root Booster. 

• Hold off trimming down bulbs such as tulips and daffodils until the foliage is yellowing as this process is feeding the bulb for next Spring.

• Prune *summer-blooming clematis back to about 3'. Leave Spring blooming varieties of clematis to prune, if necessary, after they flower as you would cut off the buds if you pruned these now.

• Prune roses when the daffodils begin to bloom (usually mid-March) and fertilize them with rose fertilizer and 1/4 cup of Epson Salts.

• Prune spring-blooming shrubs such as Forsythia, magnolia and lilac after flowering.

• Weed gardens before the weeds have a chance to flower and go to seed.

• Compost or manure can be added to flower beds now.

• Purchase summer flowering bulbs, roots, and tubers such as dahlias, lilies, hostas, glads and plant them as the packages recommend. Generally, the winter-hardy types like lilies and hostas are planted after March 1st and non-winter hardy types like dahlias and glads are planted after April 1st.

• Begonias are started indoors from February on but do not get transplanted outdoors until after Mother's Day (same as most annuals).

• This is the time of year that the large shipments of new plants arrive and there is just about always something new at the Garden Centre! Drop-in and we will show you!

• Control Moss in lawns if necessary (You will need two days of dry weather after it has been applied).

• Thatch lawn to remove thatch in older lawns and dead moss in lawns recently treated with moss control (10 days after moss control).

• Lime lawns in preparation for fertilizing about two weeks later.

• Feed the lawn with a good quality Spring fertilizer. We like BC-made Garden Pro 32-4-8 as it is made for our specific growing conditions.

Shauna Lambeth ©

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