Digitalseed: March

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Southern California Garden Guide
for the
Month of March

March is a prime gardening month here in Southern California. The colors of the early-blooming flowers such as freesias, sparaxis, daffodils, and grape hyacinths and, unfortunately, the emergence of weeds (especially if you neglected to mulch in January) are a clear sign that Spring has come to Southern California. The weather is often a mixed bag - from gray and rainy days to balmy afternoons filled with mellow sunshine.
This is the start of one of the busiest planting times of the year. You can now plant almost anything from seeds to citrus but wait a month or two to put in tropicals: They'll do better in the warmer weather. Now is the time to plant all sorts of permanent plantings such as trees, shrubs, vines, summer annuals, some cool-season and most warm season vegetables, and herbaceous perennials.
This is probably the best month to plant perennials which are in good supply at the nurseries about now. True, they can be planted in the fall or winter but in March they waste no time: They grow fast and strong and seem to bloom almost instantly.
The warmer temperatures combined with the still frequent rains brings out the snails in full force. If you find large holes in foliage and slime trails in your flower or vegetable beds, handpicking the snails (after dark with a flashlight) is an effective control. Beer traps also work fairly well (non-alcoholic beer works best). However, the easiest and most effective way to control snails is to use some easy-to-make wood-board snail traps. Just take a flat piece of wood and attach two 1-2 inch runners on one side to elevate it. Place the trap in your garden, the snails will hide under the wood after the sun comes up. Now all you have to do is flip the trap over every morning and stomp on the snails. Leave the smashed snails on the underside of the trap: they attract more snails.

New Plantings

Gladiolus. Plant a few gladiolus every week until the end of March to get a continual bloom through the summer.

Citrus & Avocado Trees. Plant citrus, avocado, and other subtropical trees now so they have maximum time to become established before the cool winter temperatures arrive.

Vegetables. You can still plant some cool-season vegetables such as broccoli, lettuce, cabbage, and kale. Start planting warm-season vegetables such as beans, summer and winter squashes, and early tomatoe varieties. Wait until April to put in heat-lovers such as later tomatoes varieties, peppers, melons, eggplant, and okra. And, of course, you can plant year-round crops such carrots, beets, swiss chard, and radishes.

Potatoes. A good method of planting potatoes is to dig a bed a foot deep. Fill the bed with 3 to 4 inches of compost and soak the bed well. Place your seed potatoes in the bed and cover with another 3 to 4 inches of compost. Studies indicate that you may get a larger crop if you plant whole seed potatoes. If you prefer to cut up your seed potatoes make sure you have at least three eyes per section. As the plants grow, mound compost around each plant until the bed is filled with compost. The best way to water potatoes is to give them occasional deep waterings.

Warm-Season Flowers. Sow seeds of summer annuals such as aster, bachelor's button, cleome, cosmos, marigold, nasturtium, nicotiana, statice, sunflower, and zinniain in flats or directly in the garden .

Garden Maintenance

Citrus Trees. If you live inland, you can now start to fertilize your citrus. If you live near the coast (or any frost-free area), continue fertilizing your citrus. Mature citrus trees need about one pound of "actual" nitrogen per year. Split the fertilizer into equal portions and apply once a month (or every other month) until June.

Fuchsia. Fuchsia bloom only on new wood so continue to pinch back in order to have bushy plants with lots of flowers.

Peaches. Apple, apricot, peach, and plum trees routinely set more fruit than the tree can ripen. Twist off extra fruit when they reach about marble-size. Leave two of the largest and healthiest young fruits on each 12 inches of stem.

Perennials. If perennials such agapanthus, asters, bellflowers, callas, cymbidiums, daylilies, rudbeckia, Shasta daisies, penstemon, and yarrow are crowded and last year's blooms were sparse, it's time to divide them. Dig up each clump so that the rootball comes up intact. Wash or gently shake off excess soil, then cut into divisions with a sharp knife. Each division should have plenty of roots and a few leaves. Replant immediately.

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Southern California Garden Guide for the Month of March

New Plantings

Garden Maintenance

Southern California Garden Guide
for the
Month of March