March is the beginning of spring weather, and the time to improve and enjoy your garden has arrived!

Now is the time to go for a walk around your yard, and see what may need  to be done.  Consider the following suggestions as you walk around!

Pruning:  Check all your trees and shrubs for damage from ice and snow storms.  Shape evergreens and remove dead and damaged wood from shrubbery.  Cut down Ornamental Grasses to about 3-4 inches, remove old stems from Red-Twig Dogwoods and Hydrangeas.  Cut back summer blooming shrubs such as Buddleia, and Spirea.  Thin out and prune back Roses.

Plant deciduous trees, such as Cherries, Flowering Apples, and Magnolias, before they bloom, and shade trees such as Maples, Birches and Zelkovas before they leaf out.

Gutters and Grading:  Ice can damage gutters.  Check your gutters for low spots, and clear out any debris. Then attend to regrading around the house to prevent water from coming in or collecting in low spots.

Transplant large deciduous shrubs, such as cut-leafed Japanese Maples as soon as the ground is workable in mid March

Edging, Mulching and Feeding:  Edge your flower beds and add ‘Garden-tone’, or 4-6-4.  Feed roses after removing any mulch piled up against the stems. Edge shrubbery beds, and add double shredded hardwood bark mulch as needed.  Feed azaleas, and rhododendrons if not done in the fall.

Grass Seeding:  This is the time to fix those bare patches in the lawn.  Scratch the surface, add lime and starter fertilizer, spread the seed, back rake it in, and roll the seed into the ground with a roller.  Cover lightly with salt hay.

Vegetables:  As soon as the ground has dried to a moist consistency, work in compost, manure and  organic fertilizers, design your layout, and plant seeds of Lettuce, Spinach, Beets, Chard and Radish.  Plant peas every two weeks from March 15th to April 15th.

Wildflowers:  For a spectacular display in the summer overseed an annual wildflower mix into an existing wildflower garden.  Hardy flowers such as Larkspur, Silenes, and Hesperis can also be seeded directly into flower beds.

Call Creative Landscapes today to set up an appointment with one of our Landscape Designers, or please fill out our appointment request form.