March is an unpredictable time in the garden. Between rains, tackle weeds (if you can) without compacting the soil.
If you planted a winter cover crop, prepare the soil by digging the plants in and incorporating “hot” manures. It will take about three weeks before the bed will be ready for planting, longer if it is cool.
If you are keen on planting potatoes, plant healthy tubers starting mid-March. Look for "seed potatoes" at the nursery, which are certified disease-free and sold specifically to produce more potatoes. Read the label to find out if they are an early, second early or main potato and remember to label your planting area with the variety.
Food Gardening
- If you planned a straw bale garden, it's not too late to prep your straw bales!
- Start seeds indoors for warm season veggies such as cucumbers and squash.
- In our area we need to wait until the soil is warm to plant tomatoes. While it is getting late, start tomatoes, peppers and eggplants indoors from seed.
- Plant cool-season, early veggies such as greens, Swiss chard, lettuce, and brassicas (including broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, kales).
- Plant peas, and root crops such as beets, radishes, turnips and carrots, from seed directly in beds.
- Plant cool-season herbs such as fennel and dill. Cilantro can be planted directly from seed in beds.
- Plant bare root fruiting vines, such as blackberries and raspberries.
- Transplant perennial edibles such as artichokes, rhubarb and asparagus crowns.
- If you planted asparagus crowns, resist harvesting spears the first two years and lightly harvest the third year to encourage strong growth. While a crown is considered a year old, harvesting early may give you smaller harvests.
Flowers
- Transplant cool season annual flowers, such as pansies. nasturtiums, foxgloves and sweet peas.
- Transplant California wildflowers and poppies, but set them out on a cool day.
Fruit Trees
- It's time for winter pruning, which encourages growth.
- If you picked up new bare root fruit and nut trees, get them planted before the end of the month.
- Pick moldy or damaged fruit on and below the tree and throw away diseased leaves to minimize the chance of pests and diseases overwintering in your garden, which affect next year’s harvest.
- Dormant season treatments are important since they will not kill beneficial insects. One spray controls many orchard pests. With our variable weather, one way to adjust is to watch fruit trees for bud break. Bud break occurs when new buds begin to open. These buds may open to become leaves, flowers, or twigs. Between bud break but before they blossom, apply a final dormant oil spray. Do not spray when the tree has leaves, which can experience leaf burn
- Fertilize citrus trees.. Citrus in containers generally require less fertilization.
Seasonal Maintenance
- Remove weeds in your garden before they flower and set seed so the population remains manageable. Take care not to compact the soil and damage the underlying soil structure.
- Have you noticed gopher activity after the heavy rains? Early spring heralds gopher breeding season but the rains have disturbed their habitats. If you want to start to manage your gopher population now, it will pay dividends later in the year. For tips, read our Integrated Pest Management presentation from last spring.
- For planted areas, or preparing fallow beds, suppress weeds while amending your soil by adding compost and mulch to help retain moisture, and/or sheet mulch. Keep mulch at least 6" away from tree trunks and plant stems. Read UCANR publication Mulching for Landscapes and this guide to applying mulch.
Evergreen Tips
- Sterilize planting containers if you are reusing them. Wash with mild soap and water to clean. Disinfect planting containers with a 10% bleach solution, meaning 1 part bleach to 9 parts water.
- Sterilize your pruning tools regularly to not spread disease.
- Managing pests: We encourage Integrated Pest Management, ongoing strategies to manage pest damage. Direct, regular observation is a good practice. For example, carefully check kale, cabbages and broccoli for aphids or caterpillar activity. Take a flashlight tour of your garden at night to catch slugs, snails and other critters you might not see otherwise!
- Remove diseased plant material (or discard in your green waste can) to keep your garden as disease free as possible. Do not add diseased plant material to your home compost or leave them in your garden beds. Some pests and diseases can overwinter.
- Make repairs and seasonal adjustments to your irrigation system.
- If you need help determining how to deal with pests or disease, you can submit a help line request, with photos, if possible.