University of Vermont Extension
Department of Plant and Soil Science
Spring
News
Article
SOWING COLE CROPS AND OTHER MARCH
GARDENING TIPS
Charlie Nardozzi, former
Senior Horticulturist
National Gardening
Association, and
Dr. Leonard Perry, Extension
Professor
University of Vermont
Sowing
cole crops, planning your vegetable garden rotation, and pruning woody
plants
are some of the gardening activities for this month.
Start seeds of cole crops,
including broccoli, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, and cauliflower indoors
under
lights. You'll have transplant-sized plants in about 6 weeks, ready for
planting outdoors a few weeks before the average last spring frost
date.
To get a jump on the herb gardening
season, start seeds of basil, parsley, sage, and thyme indoors. Start
seeds in
flats filled with moistened seed-starting mix. Once the seeds
germinate, place
the plants under grow lights for 14 hours a day (timers make this easy)
and
keep soil moist.
As you begin planning and planting
your vegetable garden beds, remember to rotate crops: Avoid planting
crops in
the same family in the same spot more than once every three years.
Tomatoes,
peppers, and eggplant are in the same family; so are squash, cucumbers,
and
pumpkins. Many pests and diseases overwinter in the soil, so moving
plants
around can disrupt their life cycles and minimize your need for pest
and
disease controls.
Most trees and shrubs are best
pruned in late winter, after the coldest weather has passed. The
exceptions are
spring-flowering shrubs, such as forsythia, lilacs and azaleas, which
should be
pruned immediately after flowering. You can remove dead or damaged
branches at
any time.
Cut branches of forsythia, quince,
pussy willow, and other early-flowering shrubs for forcing into early
bloom.
Bring the branches indoors and place in a vase of water. They should
bloom in a
few weeks. Once pussy willows reach their peak, remove them from the
water and
allow them to dry; they'll continue to look great in dried arrangements.
Plant
begonia tubers in containers to get an early start. Plant them
hollow-side-up
in well-drained potting soil. Set them in a warm (70 degrees F)
location and
keep the soil moist but not soggy. Once you see growth --usually in 3
or 4
weeks -- place the pots in bright, indirect light. Wait to plant
outdoors until
all danger of frost is past.
Although April is the month to sow
seeds of many flowers, some take longer to mature and so should be sown
this
month. Flowers you may sow early in
March include dusty miller, geranium, heliotrope, impatiens,
osteospermum,
petunia, mealycup sage, torenia, verbena, and annual vinca.
Flowers
you may sow the middle to end of
March include ageratum, coleus, dianthus, ornamental millet, African
marigold,
ornamental pepper, annual phlox, rudbeckia, scarlet sage, and
thunbergia.
Keep in mind that seed catalogs and
packets often give "days to germination" which is the time for seeds
to sprout, not the time until they are ready to plant outside.
You can
find these times for the above
plants, and more, online (perrysperennials.info/consumer.html) in the
Vermont
Extension leaflets on Indoor Seed Sowing for Flowers (OH89) and
Vegetables
(OH90).
Other gardening activities for this
month include watching for and attending flower and garden shows,
visiting a
maple sugarhouse, and removing heavy winter mulch from perennials.
Return to
Perry's Perennial
Pages, Articles 