Gardening in March involves much preparation
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Gardening in March involves much preparation March is a very busy month for Montana gardeners. A brief summary of things we can do now is: plant lettuce and spinach in cold frames; plant/prune cane fruits, fruit trees, deciduous trees; plant evergreens as soon as ground thaws; plant rhubarb, strawberries, asparagus, sea kale, and artichokes; weed and clean borders, plant perennials, sow seeds of hardy annuals and biennials outside; sow seeds of tender annuals and vegetables inside. Clean pansy beds and manure them; cover cold frames at night and admit air during the day.
Vegetables
Late in the month, begin to harden off cool loving vegetables (from a January sowing) in frames. Sow indoors: broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, kale, kohlrabi, head lettuce, artichokes, Brussels sprouts, Asian cabbage, greens, peppers (finish peppers early in the month). Start tomatoes also. Late in the month direct-sow outdoors: asparagus, beets, arugula, carrots, celery, chervil, chives, cilantro, dill, fennel, collards, mache, fava beans, cress, kale, kohlrabi, leeks, lettuce, mustard greens, rhubarb, turnip greens, onions, parsley, peas, radishes, scallions, spinach and Swiss chard.
As soon as weather permits plant: asparagus roots, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, garlic, shallots, lettuce, onion sets and plants, horseradish, strawberries and Jerusalem artichokes. Finish sowing herb seeds this month.
Flowers
Begin dividing perennials as soon as the ground is thawed. Direct sow outdoors: annual alyssum, pinks, sweet Williams, stocks, rose campion, wall flowers, lychnis, lupines, lavateras, columbines, valerian, polyanthus, auriculas, Canterbury bells, cynoglossum, hollyhocks, honeysuckles, rockets, honesty, fox gloves, snapdragons, sweet peas, poppies, larkspur, cornflowers, nigella, lavatera, valerian, poppies, kiss-me-by-thegarden- gate and dill. Fruit Fertilize (spread organics), plant and prune fruit trees, blackberries, raspberries, grapes, currants and blueberries. Clean strawberry beds and make new beds. Fertilize (spread organics) on strawberries and asparagus. Clean up after pruning fruit trees; remove dead wood, dropped fruit, and inspect trunks for egg masses. Spray Bordeaux mix on fruit trees that suffer from fire blight after carefully pruning out affected wood. (Cut 6 inches below signs of infection, sterilizing pruning tools between cuts with alcohol, or a 10 percent bleach solution.) Spray superior oil on dormant trees (before leaf out). Wait three weeks after dormant spray if you decide to spray lime-sulfur (use caution) as a fungicide on roses, lilacs, dormant shrubs, fruit trees and evergreens.
Trees, shrubs and roses
Plant evergreens, roses and other shrubs during March. This month is the very best time of the year to move or plant evergreens. Wait until April to prune roses as canes often die back from late frosts if cut too early. Dress your roses with Epsom salts now, and apply wood ashes, compost, manure, alfalfa meal, bone meal, kelp meal, and other organic amendments to rose, perennial, fruit and vegetable garden beds.
