OK, Texas gardeners, we are back in business this past year. March signifies the end of freezing temperatures and the commencement of our spring planting frenzy, so there is much to keep us occupied. Stay focused with this month’s checklist — but keep in mind to always check with the regional garden experts for your area’s final average frost date before placing tender annuals or vegetables.
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Steve Masley Consulting and Design
Plant vegetables and herbs. Get your herbs and veggies in the floor for months of harvest. Chard, collards, cucumbers, eggplant, pumpkins, summer squash, tomatoes, tomatillos and endive will counter nicely this season — look for healthy (free of pests and diseases) 4-inch pots at the local nursery. Herbs such as artemesia, chives, lemongrass, mint, oregano, rosemary, sage, sorrel, thyme and santolina may also be implanted. Bear in mind that mint will aggressively take over a backyard, so consider planting it while it is still in its plastic nursery pot to maintain its origins from spreading too much.
J. Peterson Garden Design
Plant annuals and perennials. Now’s the time to get your vibrant flowering plants to the floor or in your containers and pots. Annuals such as coleus, cosmos, pentas, torenia, zinnia, cleome and gomphrena may be implanted, but make certain that you know whether your small transplant such as sunlight or shade best before digging in. Perennials such as salvia (Salvia spp), Mexican mint marigold (Tagetes lucida), esperanza (Tecoma stans), purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea), pink skullcap (Scutellaria suffrutescens) and black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta) are all fantastic choices for our Texas heat.
Impressions Landscape – Design
Plant bulbs, shrubs and trees. There’s still time to plant shrubs and trees as long as the weather isn’t too warm, so aim for earlier in the month when this is on your own to-do list. These larger landscape plants may, theoretically, be implanted during winter months, however you will need to tend to them more carefully since they acclimate. Bulbs like elephant’s ear, cannas, caladiums, daylilies and irises could be planted now for lush summer foliage.
The Todd Group
Fertilize your yard. Texas lawns generally need to be fertilized twice a year (spring and fall). Start looking for a lawn fertilizer with a 3-1-2 or a 4-1-2 ratio. The numbers represent the amount of nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus in that specific fertilizer; Texas lawns don’t need a high centre number (phosphorus). Follow directions on the bag to avoid overfertilizing, which could actually damage your yard. Water well after fertilizing.
Liquidscapes
Aerate your lawn also. When you haven’t aerated your yard in a few years, now’s the time. Lawns get compacted by foot traffic, pets and kids playing, which makes the dirt hard. Grass roots have a challenging time growing in compacted soil, and aeration is a way to loosen it up. Rent an aerator from the regional home improvement shop and check out the manufacturer’s guidelines when operating the machinery. Top-dress the yard having 1/2 inch of mulch then and water well for a healthy yard.
Laara Copley-Smith Garden & Landscape Design
Sow seeds. Get a head start on your summer vegetables and flowers by right sowing seeds to the backyard — it is much less costly than buying transplants. Vegetables such as beets and beans can be sown earlier in the month, but wait till the end of March to sow chard, collards, corn, cucumbers, pumpkins, summer squash, black-eyed legumes and endive. Figurines such as sunflowers, gomphrena, marigold, moon vine, nicotiana and morning glory may be planted this season also — sow more seeds than you feel you might desire, since you can always thin them since they sprout if they are too thick. Not all seeds will germinate (sprout).
Jocelyn H. Chilvers
Watch out for pests and diseases. With the arrival of spring, you can be certain some unwanted garden guests will make an appearance. Bugs like aphids, thrips, grasshoppers and whiteflies can do real damage to new transplants. An insecticidal soap or spray will usually work, but do be sure that you know the great bugs from the bad ones before you treat. Plant diseases like powdery mildew generally make their introduction in the spring also, so have your fungicide available or use an organic alternative such as cow’s milk at a spray bottle.
Entire your backyard cleanup. You really don’t need to start gardening in April supporting the curve and playing catch-up, so make certain your outdoor spaces are cleaned up and ready to go through then. Rake up leaves and set them in the compost pile, pick up and dispose of garbage, clean up your pots, eliminate outdated potting soil and eliminate any dead plant material. Ensure that your tools are cleaned, oiled and sharpened, and your irrigation system is more effective and free of fractures and leaks.
Inform us How are you preparing your Texas backyard for spring?
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