Gardeners Checklist: Here Is What to Do on the Week of March 10

By Ron Kujawski

* Examine woody plantings around your home to see if any are overgrown. That could explain why visitors can no longer find the front door to your house. This situation often arises when you buy a young plant and fail to consider its mature size. Some overgrown or crowded plants can be rescued with careful pruning at this time of year. With overgrown multi-stemmed deciduous shrubs, cut about one-third of the tallest and oldest shoots back to ground level. If some remaining stems are still too tall, cut these back to a side branch or bud.

* Don’t delay any longer starting seeds of onions, leeks, celery, and shallots indoors. Shallots can be started from seed but I prefer to plant them as bulbs directly into the ground in April. I save some shallot bulbs from each year’s harvest for the next season’s crop. Onions too can be planted from small bulbs called sets.  Sets have to be purchased new every year. The only advantage of growing onions from sets is that they yield an early harvest. However, onions grown from sets do not store well, so I prefer to start onions from seed.

* Start seeds of cabbage, cauliflower, and broccoli indoors. Unless you’re planning to host a major cabbage festival this summer, don’t start too many seeds at once. Stagger sowings at two- or three-week intervals through spring to have a continuous harvest through summer and fall.  I like to start about six seedlings at each sowing. 

* Start seeds of Dianthus (cottage pinks) indoors. Though many perennials started from seed do not bloom in their first year of growth, this one usually does. Try starting other perennials such as Coreopsis and Echinacea from seed. Be patient. Perennials often take two to four weeks to germinate. Starting perennials from seed will give you a lot of plants for only a little money.

* Start these annuals indoors now: ageratum, alyssum, China aster, calendula, cosmos, annual dahlia, nasturtium, nicotiana, petunia, annual phlox, snapdragon, statice, and scabiosa.

* Cut a few shoots from witch hazels, now in bloom, and bring them indoors for a colorful and fragrant bouquet. Be careful not to destroy the natural shape of the plants when cutting shoots.

* Stay off lawns until soils have dried. Tromping on soggy lawns leads to soil compaction, which is a common cause of weed problems, moss, and thinned turf.

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Too often I come across gardening publications that include the words “secrets to a successful garden.” Well, guess what! There is no secret. Just ask anyone who has gardened in sandy soil, or heavy clay soil, or very acidic or alkaline soil, or poorly drained soil, or just plain crappy soil. Successful gardening is all about the soil, and that’s no secret. We’re still several weeks away from being able to prepare gardens and landscape sites for planting but this is a good time to evaluate our soils. Two factors that I pay cthe losest attention to are soil pH and soil organic matter levels. Soil pH, a measure of soil acidity or alkalinity, can easily be determined using a pH test kit (available at your local garden center), collecting soil samples and sending them to the University Soil Testing Lab or taking them to a soil test clinic sponsored by Master Gardener Associations. Soil pH is important because it controls to a large extent the availability of plant nutrients and the activity level of beneficial microbes in soils. Test results will determine if your soils need to be amended with limestone or sulfur. Soil organic matter is important because it affects the capacity of soils to hold moisture and plant nutrients, influences soil structure and drainage, serves as food for soil microbes, and is itself a source of plant nutrients. Now is the time to start thinking about sources of organic matter for addition to your soils.

Ron Kujawski began gardening at an early age on his family's onion farm in upstate New York. Although now retired, he spent most of his career teaching at the UMass Extension Service. He serves on Berkshire Botanical Garden’s Horticulture Advisory Committee. His book, Week-by-Week Vegetable Gardener’s Handbook, is available here.