Northeast Gardener's March Checklist

Swings of temperate weather have attracted patches of exposed ground, liquid puddles and tender expanses of sand which freeze and thaw, but winter’s grip is still with us. On mild days it’s possible to get out into the landscape, but it’s important to go slow and approach spring chores with a cautious eye as moist soils may be compacted — so select a dry day to start cleanup.

Two significant tasks lie ahead this past month: pruning trees and shrubs, and cutting back perennials. Tools, equipment and gear that I use for these jobs include hand pruners, loppers, secateurs (long-handled cutting shears), a cart or wheelbarrow, a huge tarp and a pair of muck boots. Gloves are essential also.

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Susan Teare, Professional Photographer

Look for early bulbs. They can be tough to see if they’re scattered over a significant area, but they create a big impact after months of color deprivation. Shown here’s reticulated iris (Iris reticulata), among the very earliest passing bulbs to look throughout the leaf duff and debris of summer time.

Susan Teare, Professional Photographer

Squill or scilla (Scilla siberica) is just another early bloomer native to Europe and Asia that may naturalize in a woodland or open meadow. It’s one of those true blues which we hold so precious. Order a quantity late in fall to plant in a mass for the best effect.

Other early bulbs to look for include snowdrops and crocuses.

Paintbox Garden

Cut, haul, dump. I know these aren’t particularly beautiful phrases, but this really is the work that lies ahead, so make sure your tools are in order and pick up some additional tarps in the hardware shop to collect cuttings.

I sharpen my Felco pruners to make certain they’re in great working order. Garden centers which take the Felco tool lineup frequently sell sharpening kits which may prolong the life of your pruners and make them good as new.

Say goodbye to grasses. That I shear all decorative grasses in my gardens into the ground or cut them down to approximately 6 inches; this includes based clumps of maiden hair grass (Miscanthus spp), tall feather reed grass (Calamagrostis x acutiflora ‘Karl Foerster’), native little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium ‘Blaze’), fountain grass (Pennisetum alopecuroides) along with the wonderfully vertical purple moor grass (Molinia caerulea ‘Moorhexe’) — which I’ve in a vegetable garden flower border. I drag cuttings onto a tarp into the dump pile (the easiest way) or load them onto a cart.

Paintbox Garden

Keep the lights on. I love to use evergreen roping on the picket fence during the cold and wrap little white lights around the greens. In another week or two I will remove the roping and throw it to the garden mulch pile, but I will continue to keep the lights set up, because they’re pretty and I don’t wish to restring them this fall.

Think about adding little lights to a arbor, fence, pergola or ornamental tree; string them before perennials push from the ground.

Burpee

Stock up on seeds. You’ll get spring fever with all the seed displays in shops today. Most plants require six to eight weeks to mature (or to crop if edible), and also you must factor in 10 to 14 days for seeds to germinate. Whether you are using a greenhouse or cold frame, or are direct sowing, consult your calendar and work backward from your last frost date.

Arugula is fast and simple (commonly referred to as rocket, due to its speed of expansion) and likes cold weather. Direct sow it on your garden as soon as the soil can be functioned, and you’ll have zesty greens in around five weeks.

The best way to start a vegetable garden from seeds

Renee’s Garden

Plan ahead for healthy eating. Lettuces are cold hardy and could be started soon indoors, then transplanted into the vegetable garden after being hardened off. Shown here is a beautiful heirloom buttercrunch out of Renee’s Garden called ‘Kagraner Sommer’ that looks as though it would make a perfect spring supper, lightly dressed with walnut or olive oil.

Look for unusual lettuce varieties to grow from seed. I’m planning to develop lamb’s lettuce or corn salad (called mache in France), as it’s among the first edible greens of spring.

Burpee

Shop catalogs. Every year I develop zinnias, and I really like looking at all the varieties available in plant catalogs. Shown here is one I’m likely to start in the greenhouse following month, Zinnia ‘Zahara Double Fire’, accessible from Burpee. It’s resistant to infections and droughts, grows about 18 inches tall and blooms all summer before the frost, and it looks stunning in the vegetable garden border with Helenium ‘Moerheim Beauty’ (zones 4 to 2) and a few chartreuse coleus.

Burpee

Another yearly I’m eager to try from seed is Salvia ‘Blue Bedder’, an heirloom related to the perennial Texas blue blossom, which grows 30 inches tall on well-branched plants and generates masses of heavy blue-purple flower spikes all summer long. Cold-climate gardeners know how valuable salvias could be in mixed plantings, and this one is going to look great with virtually anything.

Hummingbirds love salvias, so await them should you plant a fantastic amount in a sunny bed.

Paintbox Garden

Visit a flower show. Nothing beats the winter blues such as visiting a flower show. This month you will find many all over New England, starting with the Flower and Patio Show in Worcester, Massachusetts, along with the Vermont Flower Show (both March 1 to 3). The Boston Flower & Garden Show follows (March 13 to 17), along with the Original Western Massachusetts Home & Garden Show (March 21 to 24) and the Seacoast Home & Garden Show in Durham, New Hampshire (March 23 to 24).

Paintbox Garden

See gardens while on vacation. Lately I traveled to Key West, Florida, and was inspired by this superb mosaic wall in a garden I visited. It reminds me to think about just how visual art can frequently make a landscape more layered, more interesting, more quirky. If you are going somewhere warm this month, then look about for inspiration (but make sure you purchase your seeds before you go).

Tell us Are you currently preparing your Northeast garden for spring?

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