March
The spring growing season and spring winds begin this month. About
15% to 20% of our rain falls in March, and a freeze is still possible.
Many plants are in bloom and available at nurseries. This is truly the
beginning of the gardening year. It's also the beginning of the
wildflower season, time to enjoy nature's garden as well as your own!
Wildflowers
California's wild garden begins blooming in March. Blue Ceanothus cover
the hillsides. Manzanita, while not as showy from a distance, blooms now
too. Of course, wildflowers begin their colorful spring display. Click on
the photo of the California Poppy to go to the wildflower page.
This is the beginning of the spring planting season. Plant trees,
shrubs, herbs, perennials, and ground covers. On the coast, you
can still plant cool season annuals and cool season vegetables.
Continue to plant summer bulbs like gladiolus.
Spring Planting
Prepare planting beds; cultivate down to about one foot and add organic amendment, especially for vegetable and flower beds.
Starting plants from seed is easy. There are many more choices in seeds than there are in nursery jumbo packs. Start seeds of summer flowers and vegetables for planting in April or May. Seeds and cuttings will grow faster if they have warmth.
Plant and divide perennials (crowns and roots) -- daylilies, coreopsis, chrysanthemums, Shasta daisies, columbine, yarrow, bergenia, heuchera, penstemon, agapanthus. Select gallons, quarts or jumbo packs.
Select flowering shrubs and trees. Prune and fertilize after bloom. When planting, dig a hole twice the diameter of the root ball but not deeper. Firm the soil you put back into the hole. For most woody plants there is no need to add amendments to the backfill soil.
"Feed the Shoot" -- Fertilize trees and shrubs, fruit trees at first
leaves, ground covers, roses, strawberries, citrus. Use a nitrogen
fertilizer to promote healthy growth during the spring growing season.
Most plants need to be fertilized only two times a year -- once in
March with a nitrogen fertilizer and once in September with a complete
fertilizer. Be aware that many natives and plants from other regions
with similar climates do not need fertilizer.
Fertilize Now
Fertilize lawns this month to get them growing again. Lawns deficient in nitrogen are very suseptible to rust and red thread fungus diseases during the cool months of spring.
Mow and fertilize established ground covers -- ivy, vinca (periwinkle), hypericum, gazanias, cape weed, red fescue, fragaria (wild strawberry).
By March, most plants are their peak of growth. This includes weeds.
Dandelions are growing everywhere. If your neighbor has dandelions,
you will have them too. Broadleaf weeds are easy to control with spot
spraying. There is no need to resort to weed-and-feed products that
deposit herbicides over your entire lawn.
Weed Control
Weed-B-Gon or Trimec control most broadleaf weeds. Trimec and some other weed killers contain the same chemicals as Weed-B-Gon plus Dicamba. Be careful when using Dicamba near shallow rooted trees and shrubs. It can be absorbed through the roots and damage the plant. This is another reason to spot spray weeds -- to minimize the amount of chemical needed to control the weeds.
Oxalis is not controlled by those commonly available herbicides, but there is help. Turflon will kill oxalis (and kikuyugrass). You may need to ask your gardener to apply it for you. Remember, gardeners must be licensed by the State of California to apply pesticides for their customers. You can buy Turflon in pints, but you need only a fraction of an ounce to mix a gallon of spray.
Control weeds in planting areas while they are still small. Apply a pre-emergent herbicide to established planting beds. As with fertilizer, apply again in September to prevent weeds year 'round. Be sure to cultivate or water the granules into the soil, or spray on a liquid formulation.
Fungus diseases are most serious during the cool and rainy months, and
they are easily controlled. You must act quickly when you notice them.
Diseases and Insects
Red thread is a disease that causes brown spots in your lawn. On close inspection you will see pink or red filaments on the brown blades of grass. The disease can spread quickly, but the cure is simple. Apply a nitrogen fertilizer to the lawn. Ammonium sulfate is inexpensive and effective.
Rust is also common during the cool seasons. Rust can turn large areas
of your lawn yellow or orange. Rub the grass with your fingers or a
white cloth. The orange fungal spores will rub off. Rust is also easily
cured by fertilizing. The grass will outgrow the rust. It will be gone
after a mowing or two. In the photo, you can see some fertilizer in the
form of prills. Prilled fertilizer is easy to apply with a hand
spreader like Scotts HandyGreen.
Another fungus you may notice is slime mold. It sounds bad but is really harmless. You will notice clusters of small round spores on your grass. They may be white, brown, orange or black. Just sweep them off with a broom. The fungus itself lives in the soil, not on the grass plants.
Look for the first signs of insect and disease problems -- snails, slugs, aphids, scale insects, psyllids, earwigs, mildew, rust, black spot. Be sure to apply snail bait when you put in bedding plants. Snails can devour entire plants overnight. Ants are active now. Check your plants to see if ants are crawling up and down the stems. Spray if they are. Ants will protect aphids and scale and other insects that produce honeydew.
So many plants bloom in March, it is not possible to list all of them.
Nurseries are full of plants in bloom. Make your selections now while
you can see the flower color.
In Bloom In Spring
Look for Carolina Jessamine, (Gelsemium sempervirens), in
landscapes and in nurseries this month. Its a delicate looking vine that
does well on a trellis. It grows best in full sun with regular watering.
It has light green leaves and bright yellow, tubular flowers in March
and April. It's a member of the Loganiaceae: the plant is
poisonous.
Rhaphiolepis indica is the pink India Hawthorne. These plants come in light or dark pink. Buy the plants in bloom to get the shade of color you want. Rhapiolepis umbellata is the white Yedda Hawthorne. Both species include dwarf forms for smaller spaces.
Azaleas are at their peak in March. They look their best if you take
the time to remove the flowers as they fade or are ruined by a heavy
rain. Select azaleas while they are in bloom. Azaleas need an acid soil
that contains plenty of organic matter. Add at least 50% pre-moistened
peat moss or other organic amendment to the soil. Don't fertilize
azaleas until they finish blooming in May. That's the time to prune
and fertilize.
Rhododendron indicum is the Belgian Indica
Azalea. These usually have double flowers and do best with some shade.
The sun azaleas are the Southern Indicas, also in full flower this
month.
Many plants are putting out attractive new leaves this month. Photinia x fraseri is now in flower and has bright red new leaves. Xylosma congestum is the versatile Shiny Xylosma. It new leaves are bronze. They will turn to a very nice light green as they grow. This plant has inconspicuous flowers, but it is one of our very best foliage plants. Ligustrum japonicum 'Texanum' is the dark green Waxleaf Privet. Its new spring leaves are light green. Privet will bloom next month if you haven't pruned off all of the flower buds. Each of these plants make attractive hedges, either sheared or natural.
Lady Banks' Rose blooms this month. It only blooms in the spring, but it is popular because it's covered with large clusters of tiny roses. It has no pests and no thorns. No wonder it's so popular.
Some of our best xeriphytes bloom in March. These are the drought tolerant plants that are being used more widely in modern landscapes. They are wise choices considering the rising cost of water and the inevitibility of a drought sometime in the future. Rosmarinus officinalis is the popular Rosemary. It comes in many forms, from upright shrubs to prostrate ground covers. Colors include pink, white and blue, blue being the most popular. Echium fastuosum is the striking Pride of Madeira. It has foot long flower spikes in many shades of purple and blue. Rockrose is a tough and attractive shrub that has a place in any garden. Included in the database is Cistus ladanifer, the Crimson-Spot Rockrose.
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© 1997 by Jim Clatfelter
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