Setting The Stage For Spring by Tim Flood

This is an article written by Tim Flood our plant guy at the nursery. Lots of great info.

Although it may seem like winter at the beginning of the month, by the end of this month, you could be planting! It’s almost impossible to give you any absolute dates or schedules because of the changeable weather that happens during the month of March, but here are some things to keep you busy this month:
Planning your new landscape, existing landscape re-do, or addition of an outdoor room or water feature, a must! Call me so we can get things started.
Pruning of some shade trees can be done now, as long as you are able to see the structure of the plants, as they are still dormant. Oak trees can be pruned only until the end of March, then stop pruning Oaks after that. (Birch, Maple, and Walnut trees should NOT be pruned in March or even April, --you should wait until May to prune them. Pruning of fruit trees and grapes should be done now before new growth begins.
Pruning of some shrubs can be done now too. McKay Nursery has prepared an excellent DVD showing how and what to prune when. Call and get your copy today! Or Buy ONLINE! It will show you the different pruning methods, including renewal pruning (where you remove the largest, oldest stems of a shrub like a Viburnum or Dogwood down the ground, and allow the new young stems to sprout from the base, and let the plant take on its most natural form). Remember that some plants should not be pruned until AFTER they flower (like Lilacs, Forsythia and Mockorange). I can also stop by and go through it with you.
Dormant oils sprays can be applied just before buds begin to open to control insect pests that overwinter on fruit trees and other plants. Be sure to spray dormant oils when the temperatures are above 40 degrees, and follow label directions carefully. We sell Gordon's Dormant Spray.
A great time to apply soil sulphur to the root zones of plants that require a lower soil pH like Rhodendrons, Clethra, Fothergilla, and macrophylla Hydrangeas (like Endless Summer). March is not typically a good month to fertilize just yet, April will be better. Purchase yours today at our store!
Later in the month, as the temperatures warm, you may be able to pull some of the mulch away from your roses. Be sure to wait to prune roses until they just start to grow, which may not be until early April. Weather will be the deciding factor as to when you can prune them. Be patient and don’t rush it.
Ornamental grasses (and the perennials that remained up over the winter months) should be trimmed back to just a few inches very late in the month – just before they would start to grow. Cool season grasses will begin growing first, and the warm season grasses may not start to grow until late May or even early June, so be patient (especially with the warm season grasses). Purchase professional shears from our fine selection.
Be careful about working up the soil in your gardens when they are too wet, as you can damage the soil structure for the rest of the season, but as soon as the soil has dried out enough – you can start to plant cool season flowers (pansies and violas), and vegetables (lettuces and cabbage family plants).
The official color of the year is HOPE. Pantone (Pantone 14-0845) calls it Mimosa Yellow, but whatever you call it, yellow is the color of hope, warmth, positive energy and radiant optimism. Be sure and include Hope into your new landscape.
Check your landscape for rodent or rabbit damage. Any stems that have had the bark eaten off all around the stems will kill that stem above the damage done. You can trim those stems out and most plants will sprout from beneath where the damage was done. If the bark was eaten all around the base of a tree, that tree will not survive. If the rabbits or deer shortened up your Spiraea plants, it just leaves less for you to prune.