garden faq’s

from martha to just margaret
I WAS BLESSED TO visit many of the nation’s finest homemade gardens for 15 years for ‘Martha Stewart Living,’ first as garden editor and then as editorial director. The places we published included my upstate New York home. Take a tour of how it looked then. Want to know more about me? Or read what Anne Raver said in June '08 in The New York Times, calling A Way to Garden “the best (garden blog) I’d ever seen.” Adrian Higgins of The Washington Post was as kind. And so was Martha, on her TV show. Thanks to all.

MARCH IS IF-AND-WHEN MONTH: I’ll do things on this list if and when the snow melts, the ground defrosts, and the muck it leaves behind starts to drain off and dry. If and when.

Which means I’m starting the month indoors this year, with a last pass through the seed catalogs; finishing up my bare-root and tuber orders (any berry bushes, strawberries, asparagus, roses, potatoes and sweet potatoes), and getting out the seed-starting gear to be ready in a couple of weeks.

HOARD CARDBOARD AND NEWSPAPER while you wait, to smother areas for new beds, or thwart weeds under fresh mulch in old ones.

WHILE INDOOR CHORES such as seed-sowing commence on schedule regardless of weather, outdoor chores sometimes wait until April. Caveat emptor: Be sensible and don’t muck around in too-wet soil or walk unnecessarily on sodden lawns. Love your soil, and protect it.

YOUR PLANT ORDERS should be in the mail, or heading that way. When things arrive, bare-root woody plants will take priority in planting.

TAKE A WALKABOUT (IF AND WHEN): Check to see if mulches are in place or heaved, or if burlap and other protectors have come loose. Once soil drains, dig perennial weeds. After some dry days, rake snow mold off lawns. Empty birds boxes of old nests.

MUCK OUT WATER GARDENS of fallen leaves and other debris at the earliest opportunity, using a net. Keep an eye out tadpoles and salamanders in every heap.

CUT DOWN ORNAMENTAL GRASSES before they sprout anew. Cut back old foliage of earliest bloomers like epimediums, or things that emerge fast and would then prevent easy cutback, like tall sedums. Cut back evergreen groundcovers whose leaves will fade when new crop pushes, including epimedium, hellebores, and European ginger (Asarum europaeum). More on these earliest of all garden chores.

SEEDS & VEGETABLES
STIFLE THE URGE to start seeds too early. Small, compact seedlings are better than older, leggy ones for transplanting. Only leeks and onions should be started indoors before mid-month. After that, the pace quickens: Sow cool-season crops such as broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, kohlrabi and Brussels sprouts mid-March, to set out six weeks later. (Tomatoes and other warm-season vegetables get sown here April 15. Patience! If you are already at tomato-starting time, read on.)

GETTING READY for seed-starting provides a distraction, and one could always order a few more packets to soothe the soul. Did you do your germination testing yet to see what leftovers are viable?

IF YOU HAVE A COLD FRAME, sow an early crop of spinach and lettuce. In fact, you can start spinach in the open ground if snow has melted.

AROUND ST. PATRICK’S DAY, or as soon after as soil can be worked (sometimes as late as the first week of April here), sow peas. Lettuce can follow shortly, along with radishes.

DON’T CULTIVATE till soil is beginning to be crumbly, not sodden, which might be April. When time, turn in several inches of compost and an all-natural, organic fertilizer rated for vegetables.

TREES & SHRUBS
PRIME PRUNING TIME for deciduous trees and shrubs (including fruit trees) is now, while they are dormant. Don’t paint wounds. Always use sharp tools, and be on the lookout for dead, damaged, or diseased wood and prune out. Remove suckers and water sprouts, too. My pruning FAQ is here.

WINTER DAMAGE is severe here this year from heavy, wet snow. As soon as it melts, assessing and correcting, if possible, will be my first order of duty.

PRUNE GRAPE VINES to no more than four fruiting canes with 7 to 10 buds apiece.

CUT OUT CANES OF raspberries that have borne fruit, and any thinner than a pencil. Shorten remaining young canes by at least a foot.

FORCE BRANCHES of spring-blooming shrubs and trees like pussy willow, forsythia, apple and cherry once buds begin to swell.

FLOWER GARDEN
FEED SPRING BULBS with an appropriate all-natural organic fertilizer as green tips push through the ground.

LIKE TUBEROUS BEGONIAS? Get them going indoors late March for setting outside late May. Start them in trays of moistened vermiculite, then pot up individually in a month. Grow in a bright, warm spot.

EASY ROSE-GARDEN groundcover: Scratch up soil under roses or elsewhere to sow sweet alyssum seeds as an annual flowering carpet.

ANNUAL POPPIES can also be sown now, right in the garden. Don’t disturb them during cleanup!

Get the rest of this month's chores.

The monthly A Way to Garden chores are based on my Zone 5B Berkshire MA/Hudson Valley NY location; adjust accordingly. If you are in a colder zone, refer to last month’s. Ahead of me? Have a sneak peek at the next edition.