March 3,2020
Hi Gardeners
Note: Sorry there is some weird thing going on with the text size this week I can't seem to fix. Some paragraphs are larger font than others with no apparent cause.
After a beautiful sunny 50-degree day yesterday it’s cloudy
today but mild. When I went to the barn
this morning great flocks of geese were flying north, honking all the way. That’s
a good sign. The doves are cooing, and the cardinals singing so the spring
hormones are rising.
I have lots of snowdrops in bloom but haven’t found any
crocus in bloom yet. I expect to see some soon though. I took a little tour of
the gardens looking for the new things I planted in the fall to pop up but not
too much is showing yet. I’ll start spring clean up this week and remove some
of the deeper leaf mulch.
It is a messy time of year with mud everywhere. When you
have 3 dogs going in and out (and me) it’s hard to keep the floors clean. There
are big muddy ruts in our driveway and the path to the barn is all mud too. But
this will pass and soon all will be green again. Can’t wait.
This week I intend to clean out my little lean-to greenhouse
on the south side of the barn. I need to get the pole pruner and trim the
wisteria off the roof first so light can get in. I did that last year, but you
wouldn’t know it. I need to replace most of the plastic this year. There’s a heavy-duty
plastic netting covering the sides because it used to be a chicken coop. I just
staple plastic on the inside frame over it. I use clear shower curtain liners
from the dollar store. They are cheap and last a couple years.
I just use the little greenhouse to start a few seeds and
keep any plants I buy too early safe from frost. It’s not heated so I don’t
start seeds until April. I’ll probably pot up the summer bulbs like dahlias and
put them out there to get a head start.
It’s also time to start fertilizing the indoor plants. I use
a water-soluble fertilizer at half strength every other week. The plants will put
on a growth spurt now and some will begin blooming again so a little fertilizer
is much appreciated.
Hey – are you looking for hand sanitizer and can’t
find it? Just put a flask of whiskey in your pocket (or vodka if you are at
work). Rub the booze on your hands to sanitize them and you are good to go. We won’t run out of liquor, I’m sure.
You can also mix rubbing
alcohol with aloe vera gel to make a hand sanitizer but that isn’t as
interesting.
March Gardening
Most gardeners are itching to get outside in the garden in
March. I know I am. But remember in garden zones 5 and 6 spring may be coming
and going in March and during a warm spell it’s easy to get carried away and
get too far ahead of the season. There is plenty you can do in the garden, but
some things still need a bit more time before it’s the “right” time to do
them.
You’ll want to take it slow anyway, so you can warm up those
muscles and avoid injuring yourself in the first warm days of spring. Alternate
your gardening activities so some groups of muscles don’t get overused. And
remember the sun is getting stronger so use sunscreen and eye protection.
Maple syrup time
Why not experiment making some maple syrup this spring? In
my area the maple trees are being tapped for maple syrup now. The best time to
make maple syrup is when days are sunny and above freezing, but nights fall
below freezing. Once leaves start appearing the syrup season is over.
Here’s something a lot of people don’t know. While maple
trees, particularly sugar maples, offer a sap high in sugar that makes
distinctive tasting syrup, many other trees can be tapped for their sap and the
sap made into syrup. In Alaska they make
syrup from spruce trees, in some states syrup from birch is made. Birch syrup
is made after maple syrup in some places because the sap flow starts later.
Black walnut tree sap also makes a good syrup.
Hardware and garden stores now carry simple maple sugaring
kits in some areas. You need a plastic or metal tube that taps into the cambium
layer of the tree, just under the bark. Most people now attach that tube to plastic
tubing that runs into a container with a cover. The cover keeps out animals-
like deer. Sap has to be collected daily. It takes 10 gallons of sap roughly,
to make a quart of maple syrup. Here’s a
source for more information.
If you are considering making syrup from the sap of any
trees do it outside. The steam produced
from boiling sap leaves a sticky residue on walls and ceilings. You use a candy
thermometer in the sap and try to keep it boiling at around 219 degrees. Wide stainless-steel
pots that allow more surface room for steam to escape from the syrup are best. People
use turkey fryers now to make syrup- that seems like an excellent use for them.
Electric or gas sources of heat are much easier to adjust than old fashioned
wood fires. Grills and camp stoves work
well. Sap needs to be stirred, especially as it nears the syrup point so you
will need to be close by while the sap is boiling.
Pruning
Pruning fruit trees and grape vines can still be done. Get a
good pruning manual and follow the directions. You can get pruning information
at your County Extension office also. Pruning your fruit trees and grape vines
makes your plants healthier and more productive.
It’s a good time to prune oaks, yews, poplars, willows,
honey locust, katsura, sycamore and some other trees. Take out all winter
damaged limbs, crossing and rubbing branches, and thin and shape if needed. Don’t
prune maples, birch, beech, or walnuts if the temperature is above freezing as
it will cause heavy sap loss. Do not prune pines.
Don’t prune fruit trees that are kept just for spring
flowers, such as ornamental cherries and crabapples at this time. Do not
prune trees or shrubs you want spring flowers from, like redbuds, dogwood,
magnolias, forsythia, lilacs, azalea, rhododendron, witch hazel, weigela, spiraea,
flowering quince, and daphne. Pruning now will remove the flowers.
Clean up
Check for and repair winter damage (if possible) from
rodents and deer. Look at the bottoms of
tree and shrub to see if the bark has been chewed. If a tree or shrub is totally girdled, (the
bark is eaten off all around the tree) it may die. Some shrubs and even trees
may return from the roots. You’ll want to give damaged shrubs and trees extra
water and fertilizer as new growth begins to help them recover.
Grafted trees, such as most fruit trees, will not respond
with growth like the old tree, they come back from rootstock that is generally
undesirable for fruiting. You’ll want to remove those trees.
 |
| Girdled trees- rabbit damage |
If you didn’t cut down your herbaceous perennials, (plants
whose upper parts died over winter), you can do that cleanup now. Remove old stalks and seedheads. Use caution
when cutting back mums. Leave the stems several inches above ground to avoid
damaging buds on the lower stems. Work
with all plants carefully so as not to damage emerging sprouts or pull them
from wet ground.
When you remove dead stems you may want to add a marker to
let you know where perennials are until they have emerged. This is so you won’t
dig into them or otherwise damage them until you can see them.
Woody and semi-woody perennials should not be pruned just
yet in zones 6 and lower. This includes roses. The ends of stems have hardened
over the winter, or died back, and are protecting buds farther down the stem.
If you cut them back in March a cold snap may kill buds much farther down than
you want. Instead wait for mid to late April in zones 6 and lower when the
weather is a bit milder to prune woody plants.
Those in zone 7 and higher can now prune off dead rose canes
and dead stems on woody perennials without worry.
Don’t be in a hurry to remove any protective mulch you put
over plants such as strawberries. If the weather gets quite warm you can remove
some of the mulch but leave it close by and be prepared to re-cover plants if a
cold snap is coming.
If the vegetable garden wasn’t cleaned up in the fall you
can do that now. Remove all old debris
to avoid insect and disease problems in the coming year.
You can remove any sprouting weeds and cut down seedling
trees which sprouted in the wrong places.
Soil improvement-fertilizing
If the ground isn’t frozen it’s a good time to get a soil
test done. You’ll get your results faster than if you wait until later in the
spring. Soil tests should be done when you are gardening in a new location, if
your plants didn’t do well last year, or if you haven’t done a soil test in a
long time. Collect your soil sample and let it air dry if it’s very wet before
sending it to the lab.
One of the sure signs spring has arrived is the mud. Don’t get in your garden when the ground is
still wet, this compacts the soil and will seriously affect the root systems of
plants. Walking on and moving equipment across wet lawns will leave unsightly
ruts and make you curse while mowing later in the spring.
Compost and aged manure can be placed on beds. Just be careful not to leave ruts or compact
the soil when moving loads of material.
Because of “frost laws” in the spring heavy truck loads of mulch, soil
or soil amendments may not be allowed on roads leading to your house in March
so plan accordingly. Frost laws are set by each county, call your county road
commission to see when they apply in your area.
If early bulbs are up and the ground isn’t frozen, you can
apply a granular slow release fertilizer around them. This helps insure bigger
bulbs and more blooms next year. Granular slow release fertilizer can be
applied around spring blooming shrubs and trees also.
Planning and building
Lay out new beds and remove sod before it gets growing.
Build and fill raised beds if the ground beneath them is unfrozen and dry
enough to walk on. It’s a good time to measure your landscape if you are
planning changes or additions.
You can build or put up gazebos, sheds, trellis’s, planters,
decks, swings, benches and so on. Move rocks into place. Excavate water
features. It’s a good time to put up fences. You may want to build row tunnels
or other plant protection. Repair and paint fences and other structures.
You can renew the mulch around beds and on paths. It’s a
great time to establish new paths, and mulch around trees.
Planting
Sow grass seed- yes even if it still snows sowing grass seed
is fine. Just make sure that your ground is dry enough you don’t leave large
footprints or spreader ruts in the soil. The ground should not be frozen when
you apply the seed and you should be able to prepare a good seed bed before
sowing the seeds.
If the weather is balmy gardeners may even be able to plant
a few containers of cold hardy annuals like pansies or flats of sprouted spring
bulbs for early color. The garden shops in your area will be offering such
goodies if the area and weather are suitable.
You can plant dormant bareroot plants as long as the ground
isn’t frozen. Snow and cold weather
after planting won’t hurt dormant plants that are hardy for your area.
You can plant crops like lettuce and radishes in coldframes
or under row covers in zones 6 and lower and in the garden in zones 7 and above.
Near the end of March, you can start plants like cabbage, tomatoes and peppers
inside in a warm place. If you like peas you can sow them in the garden in
mid-March if the ground is unfrozen.
There is still time to plant seeds of perennials inside in
flats or pots. You can pot up tuberous begonias and calla’s and start geranium
and coleus cuttings.
Other garden chores
Apply dormant oil sprays. A dormant oil spray is part of the
good pest management program for fruit trees. It can be applied when the
weather is above 40 degrees but below 80 degrees.
You can scrape and clean any surface that’s going to be
painted when the weather is warmer. Get the mower out and sharpen the blades. Make
sure it’s in good repair before the mad spring rush to mower repair shops
begins. Clean garden tools and buy new ones if needed.
It’s an excellent time to clean, paint or put up more
birdhouses. You will want to have most bird houses in place by April. Keep an
eye out for returning orioles and hummingbirds and have their feeders ready to
put out. I usually put out jelly for orioles in early April here. I watch
reports of where people are seeing hummers and as soon as I see they are in
Michigan I put out nectar feeders for them.
Seed
Starting- Dampening off disease
If your seedlings suddenly fall over or
look like the stem is pinched and blackened, they probably have dampening off-
a common name for the presence of several fungus diseases that affect seedlings.
Other symptoms include seedlings looking yellow and black spots on stems and
leaves. Seedlings may turn into ”stumps”.
 |
| Seedlings with dampening off. Picture UMN Extension |
Sometimes people think something has
damaged or cut off seedling stems. It may look as if something flattened seedlings
in an area of a flat. Dampening off usually happens when seedlings are small,
with only one or two sets of true leaves, but it can happen at any stage. Dampening
off can infect and kill seedlings quickly, people are often amazed that
seedlings that looked healthy one day are a shrunken mess the next day.
Fungal diseases may also cause gray
mold on the potting medium surface or on plants. These fungal diseases are
common, and the fungal spores can be carried by wind, insects, contaminated
soil or pots, humans and many other things. Dampening off also occurs on seedlings
grown outside but is more common on seedlings started inside.
Once the
seedlings are infected with dampening off there is no cure. A few seedlings
survive dampening off infections, but most will die, and the disease quickly
spreads. When you notice it the best thing to do is to remove the plants with
the disease and dispose of them.
There are some anti-fungal solutions
that some commercial growers drench the soil with to help prevent dampening off,
but the home seed starter probably won’t want to use these. Home remedies of
garlic oil, cinnamon, chamomile tea, tea tree oil, red pepper and other things have
not been proven scientifically to help and may even cause more problems. Use
at your own risk. These things are used to prevent fungus infection, not cure
it.
To help prevent dampening off use clean containers and
sterile seed starting medium for seed starting. Do not use garden soil or
compost. Garden soil and compost may contain disease organisms that will infect
seedlings and their nutrition quality is almost always unknown. Yes, these can
be sterilized, (spread on a cookie sheet in a thin layer and bake at 160
degrees F for 30 minutes) but this is a time consuming and smelly process that
only works for small batches of soil. Also do not re-use seed starting medium
that plants once grew in without sterilizing it.
If you reuse containers that other plants have grown in,
they must be sterilized in hot water with bleach added (1-part bleach to 3
parts water). All soil and other debris
must be removed first. If you repurpose food and other containers that have
been used, they must be washed in hot water and soap and have no remaining food
residue or product in them.
Growing your seeds in several small containers rather than
all in one flat or container may keep you from losing all the plants since you
can quickly remove the infected containers and make changes if needed to keep
other containers from being infected.
If dampening off disease is in one corner of a large flat,
you can try removing that section but if it appears in a small container you
should dispose of the whole container of seedlings. Don’t re-use the container
until it is scrubbed and disinfected with bleach.
To help prevent dampening off, let the soil surface dry a
bit between watering. Watering from the bottom and keeping leaves dry can help.
Some professional growers use a light layer of fine gravel (parakeet grit, baby
chick grit) or diatomaceous earth on the soil surface after the seedlings
sprout to keep the soil surface drier.
Good air circulation can help. Many people use a fan blowing
gently over seedlings to increase airflow. This dries the foliage and soil
surface. Solar radiation seems to help. Seedlings exposed to sunlight and not
artificial light seem to have fewer problems. This may be because the suns heat
also dries the soil. But keeping plants too warm can harm their growth, so
raising room temperatures may not help, unless your conditions are below 60
degrees.
Open plastic or glass covered containers if heavy moisture
develops on the sides and top. If you are using a small greenhouse and water is
dripping from the ceiling and sides, you need to increase air circulation. Wet
foliage is more prone to fungal infection.
Dampening off is a common cause for failure when starting
seeds inside. Gardeners should be meticulous in cleaning planting containers
and only use sterile seed starting medium for the best chances at healthy
seedlings. Sometimes even the best methods won’t prevent dampening off though. When
you dump those infected plants consider it a learning moment and don’t give up.
Just clean thoroughly and start over.
March almanac
March 8th begins daylight
savings time. Spring those clocks ahead 1 hour. We keep
talking about keeping the time the same all year round, but nothing ever gets
done about it. I personally like daylight
savings time because I am not a morning person. I like more gardening time in
the evening.
The full moon
in March occurs on the 9th and is called the Worm moon, because
earthworms once more make worm casts on the soil surface, or Sap moon because
the trees begin to produce sap again. The moon perigee is the 10th –
so close to the full moon it might be a good day to expect a storm. Moon apogee
is the 24th.
The most
important date for all gardeners in March is, of course the first day of
spring. It’s March 20th. That’s the date when the length of the day
and the night are about the same, the spring (vernal) equinox. Actually, in
Michigan, the length of the day will be 12 hours and 10 minutes. The length of
the day will be 12 hours, 42 minutes on March 31st. Meteorologically
though, March 1 is the start of the spring weather season.
Other
important dates and holidays in March are: 7th – Employee
Appreciation Day, the 8th is International Women’s day, the 12th
– Girl Scout Day and Plant a Flower Day,
the 13th is National popcorn
day and the 14th is National Potato chip day and Learn about
Butterflies day.
The 15th
is the Ides of March. In ancient Rome
this was the beginning of the New Year and also of spring. The 17th is
St. Patrick’s Day and the 18th is the Goddess of Fertility day. The
19th is National Poultry day, if you want some information about
backyard chickens why not buy my book- Raising Chickens for Dummies. The 20th is Alien Abduction day
and the 22nd is Earth Day. The 25th is National
Agriculture day as well as National Pecan day and National Waffle day. The 30th
is National Doctors day.
March is
Irish American month as well as National Women’s History month, National
Nutrition month, National Peanut month, National Craft Month and National
Frozen Foods month. It’s also National Reading month and I encourage you to
read up about gardening and plants in general.
March’s birth
flower is the daffodil or jonquil, the birthstone is aqua marine. Here’s a link
to an article on growing daffodils.
Springtime is the land awakening. The March winds are the
morning yawn.
Lewis Grizzard
Kim Willis
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permission.
And So On….
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