March Garden Checklist
By Kymisha Montgomery, CGC Urban Agriculture Coordinator
While we wait for consistent weather, the month of March presents a great time to get some things done indoors and around your garden. In case your green thumb is itching to be in the soil, here’s a checklist of tasks you could do now to prepare your garden for a successful growing season.
Clean Up
We’ve been experiencing some nice weather recently, and soon the temperatures will be consistently over 50 degrees—a perfect time to clear your garden of old debris because pollinators that may be overwintering in your garden will have had a chance to hatch out and leave their winter homes. If you haven’t cleaned your garden of debris during the fall or winter, now is a good time to get this task done. Clearing walkways and adding cardboard or mulch is also a great task to add to your March garden duties.
Make Repairs
If you noticed that your garden beds need a little TLC, now is a good time to conquer this reconstruction task. If you have tools or supplies in need of repairs, tackle those now, too.
Evaluate Your Soil
If you noticed some plants didn’t thrive last year or that certain crops experienced disease or deficiencies, now is a great time to submit a soil test. Contact your local extension office or the Hamilton County Conservation District and request a soil fertility testing kit.
Satisfied with your soil composition and just want to add some additional nutrients? March is a good time to add aged compost to your garden bed, too.
Get a Jump on Growing
Although the ground may still be a bit too cool to transplant some of our beloved warm weather crops, it’s a great time to grow and sow our cool weather crops. Here’s a list of some seeds that you can direct sow into the ground now:
Beets
Carrots
Celery
Chard
Onions
Peas
Parsley
Potatoes
Spinach
Turnips
Don’t forget to have your frost cover on hand just in case we experience an unexpected heavy frost.
March is also a good time to start seeds indoors for warm weather crops. Here’s a short list of some of the seeds I will be starting later this month:
Tomatoes
Eggplant
Peppers
As soon as the soil can be worked, this is a great time to plant bare root and container fruit trees.
Take Inventory
Making sure you have everything you need for your growing season is key for many reasons. You have what you need when you need it, and you can stay within the budget you set for your garden. If you’re like me, when I go to the garden store, I’m always leaving with a few extra items. Complete an inventory of your tools and supplies now.
Consider IPM (Integrated Pest Management)
As I look over my journal from last year, I notice which pests were frequent visitors in my garden so this year I can be prepared to evict them as soon as possible. March is a great time to start thinking about the how, when and where you will start your pest management process in your garden. I’m ready for you this year, aphids!