If you’re like us, you cannot wait to get outside and get gardening! The cool, damp weather has hung around too long, but there’s lots to do in preparation for blue skies ahead. Here’s what you need to get done this month.
Check out our March Garden Guide for more tips and remember that trees, shrubs, and perennials can be planted 12 months out of the year! The only difference is the amount of water they need depending on temperatures & wind!
1. Wrap Up Your Clean-Up
If you still have pruning and clean-up to do, there’s still a little time! Cool temps have delayed the burst of Spring growth a bit. Overwintered perennials like Lantana, Salvias, and Roses need pruning now – cut them back up to 50%.
2. Plant Your Fruits and Veggies
It’s time! We are thrilled to have a big healthy selection of Spring veggies and fruit trees this year. We haven’t seen peach and plum trees this nice in several seasons. One thing we recommend for all plantings, including veggies and fruit trees, is Nature’s Blend compost – the closest thing we’ve seen to ‘magic in a bag’! One bag can amend about 12 sq ft of clay or sandy soil.
3. Bring Back the Birds, Bees, and Butterflies!
Now is a great time to incorporate plants into your garden that attract & feed the birds, bees, butterflies, and other pollinators. They need your help finding food and shelter, and you need their help pollinating your blooming plants, increasing your veggie production, and eating bad bugs. Bees are drawn to most anything with a bloom but some fav’s are Gregg’s Mist Flower, Esperanza, & Lantana. Butterflies love Butterfly Weed, Salvias, & Mexican Flame Vine. Native plants like Turks Cap produce berries for birds, and Hummers love Duranta, Mexican Honeysuckle, & lots more!
4. Feed New Plants Now, Established Plants Soon
New plantings need a good start with a good organic plant food. We love BioTone, PlantTone, and Hastagro. Add BioTone to your soil when you plant, then use PlantTone once a month and supplement with Hastagro about every 2 weeks to continue feeding throughout the season. For established plants, wait to feed until they are actively growing – typically mid/late March or early April.
5. Flowers for Right Now
Nothing says Spring like planting flowers! The best choices this month are Petunias, Marigolds, Begonias, and Geraniums. These love the warm days and cool nights of our early Spring. Popular late Spring/Summer flowers like Vinca, Moss Rose, and Zinnias will start to arrive in April as temps stay warmer.
6. Apply Pre-emergent Now + Wait to Fertilize Lawns
Lawns are still mostly dormant and not yet actively growing. Now is the time to apply pre-emergent weed control before the weeds start growing. We recommend Dura Turf Crab Grass and Weed Preventer. Hold off on watering – water once a week at most, depending on rain. And wait to fertilize lawns until you see enough growth to mow your lawn regularly, typically late March/early April. We recommend Medina Growin’ Green or Gill Lawn and Garden Food.
Check out our March Garden Guide for more tips!
-Debbie
Mary says
I am new to your online service and love all the wonderful tips and advice!
Darlene says
What perennial flowering plants do you recommend for pots that get full sun in the morning? My deck on the canal faces south east. All my flowering plants in the pots died in the freeze. I want to plant those that will flourish in the salt air, and full sun.
James Gill says
Drop a Samba portulaca hanging basket into a pot, and you’ve got a winner. Lantana is good also, grows native on the island.
Julia says
My bauhinia orchid tree , which was just getting ready to bloom, took a hard hit from the frost. I see some cracking &oozing on the tree and the leaves and thin branches are all brown & dry. Can it be saved?
James Gill says
My guess is you will need to cut it off at the ground, and it will probably regrow from the root.
Cynthia says
Ixora, not icons. Silly spell check.
James Gill says
How about your eggs Ora? Yeah, Siri gives me fits! Sad to say, I haven’t seen any ixora growing back from the roots, like most tropical shrubs are. Hopefully yours will be the exception.
Cynthia says
Thanks for the tips on what and how far to cut back. What about my icons? Same as plumbago, cut back to the ground?
Donna Buchanan says
My beautiful Passion flower vine bloomed until a week or so before the freeze. Afterwards it was totally brown and appeared dead. I cut the vines back to about 2 feet. I haven’t seen any signs of life yet. Any chance it survived? If not, do you have any? I really miss it.
James Gill says
You will not see any growth off that 2 feet of stem above ground, but I expect you will get healthy growth from the root system once the soil warms adequately.
steve says
My guess is all oleanders will need to be pruned to the ground, and that there will also be a high demand for St. Augustine due to freeze loss. Regarding St. Augustine, are there any new varieties that you recommend? What about carpetgrass or zoysia for this area of Texas?
James Gill says
I have seen many oleanders dead close to the ground, and only 1 that still showed life a few feet up. So mostly prune to 12″. No new varieties of St. Augustine, but most St. Augustine lawns are not having any loss to freeze, should look about the same in April as they did last fall. Just need the soil to warm up for green up. Do not start regular watering until then. Carpetgrass is a no, zoysia is a yes.
Jay Gardner says
James, how do we know if our Norfolk pines are dead from the freeze or not? they have turned brown all over; are they toast or might they have survived? to be honest with you, I’m not a fan of them, just would like to know if I need to cut them down now because of the special pick up by the City
James Gill says
I do not think norfolk pines will survive. But only way to know is to wait.
Walter tracy says
When do you recommend pruning bougainvillea in pots and in ground ? Thank you.
James Gill says
I think bougainvillea in pots are likely dead. Bougainvillea in the ground should come up from the ground, cut back totally.
Lisa Golab says
Should we start pruning off the dead stems on lemon trees?
James Gill says
I am waiting to see where I get healthy new sprouts (hopefully) and then will prune.