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Week of 3/14 – 20
March 14 – Once the snow has melted, take a walk through the yard with a wheelbarrow or big trash bag. Wear sturdy gloves, carry clippers and bring a rake. Clean up last year’s dead plant material wherever you find it. Also, haul out any debris or fall leaves that blew onto your property during the winter months.
March 15 – Impatient? Force branches of flowering shrubs into early bloom. Cut stems with swelling buds from forsythia, daphne, willow, flowering quince or cornelian cherry. Split the base of the stems about an inch to increase water absorption. Arrange them in lukewarm water and keep in a warm room.
March 16 – Some clematis vines need to be pruned now – the ones that you expect to bloom on new growth when summer arrives. Pull down last year’s tangled, dried-up growth and cut it away from the plant and cart it off. Then, simply lop off all the stems to within a foot or so of the ground.
March 17 – Celebrate St. Patrick’s Daty with your own green carnations! Simply buy some white ones, recut their stems and put them into a vase of water to which you’ve added several drops of green food coloring. After a few hours, if the color is too light, take out the flowers for a moment, stir in a few more drops of food coloring and return stems to the water.
March 18 – Keep a close eye on your fruit trees. Before the buds begin to swell, you may want to spray branch surfaces with dormant (heavy) oil. To be effective, the temperature must be over 45 degrees F. This mainly helps to control scale, but it thwarts other pests as well.
March 19 – Shop for new pots. The best selection is available early, before the crowds arrive. No matter how charming a container may be, don’t buy it unless it has at least one drainage hole. Idea: Perhaps you can nest a smaller pot in a larger one or poke or drill a hole in the bottom.
March 20 – Check out your garden’s soil. It may still be too soon to plant much, but it doesn’t hurt to get re-aquainted! Scoop up a handful and squeeze. If the dirt oozes moisture, it’s too soon. If it forms a ball that breaks apart when poked by your finger, it’s okay to sow early and cold-tolerant crops like peas and radishes.
SOURCE: Today in My Garden: 365 Tips for Your Midwest Garden. Copyright 2006. Available in the Arboretum Store.
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