March Garden Notes for the Gulf South
March is the month everyone loves to garden - the weather is usually nice, not too hot, and everything looks fresh and green! There is a lot to do - so it works out very well.
This is a good time to plant a number of things, including the last of your roses. All kinds of tropicals and subtropicals can be planted after the fifteenth or so, as well as summer blooming annuals and perennials such as periwinkles, impatiens and begonias, and of course summer bulbs such as caladiums. Ground covers are easily established at this time.
Insects will be invading heavily now and it's probably a good idea to spray camellias and azaleas when they finish blooming. You can use the same mix of oil spray and 1 teaspoon Malathion or Orthene on any other evergreens with aphids. Roses will need spraying with fungicide every week or so and possibly Orthene as well - or you can try this mix, 1 tablespoon baking soda plus 2 1/2 tablespoons Sunspray Horticultural Oil mixed in 1 gallon of water for an organic spray.
Lawns need attention now too - a good cutting, thatching and raking of old clippings will help. You can seed, sod or plug bare spots - but it's best to wait until April to fertilize.
Everything else can be fertilized now with 10-5-15 with 12% sulfur and 2% iron. Established roses need to be fed monthly starting now, but wait until after new roses complete their first bloom.
You can dig and divide winter blooming perennials now as well as liriope, aspidistra and such. It's a good time to propagate tropicals and evergreens.
All this should keep you outside and busy this month. Don't forget to use plenty of compost and mulch for beautiful beds of annual color!
