Home Gardening

North Mississippi Gardening Tips
March, 2004

FLOWERS

Hey there! If you haven't gotten those flowerbeds in shape, you better get after it. Spring officially starts this month! Clean up any plant debris left from last year, hand pull those pesky winter weeds now before they go to seed, and divide perennials before the foliage fully emerges.

Hostas, daylilies, phlox, Shasta daisies and many other perennials can be dug and easily divided now. But work quickly. If we get bright, sunny days then foliage will pop out, and transplant shock will be worse if the foliage is fully emerged.

After you've cleaned up those beds and divided your plants (share some with a friend) it's time to put a little fertilizer out. Of course, the best way to determine what nutrients your soil needs to grow your plants is to take a soil test. Call your county Extension office for details and instructions on how to do this.

If you want a general recommendation use a slow release 12-6-6 fertilizer at the rate of 5 cups per 100 square feet. Replenish that layer of mulch and you are set for the spring show!

It's a little early to hit the garden centers to purchase those tender annuals. Remember that in our area of Mississippi we could have a freeze until the second week of April. Better to save your money and be safe rather than sorry. You don't want that last late freeze to zonk those tender annuals.

TREES AND SHRUBS

This is the month when pruning and fertilizing of trees and shrubs comes to mind. Stop! Don't prune or fertilize a thing until you think about the time of flowering of your plant. If it blooms in the spring (spirea, forsythia, azaleas, viburnum etc.) don't prune now or you will be cutting off flowers.

Trees and shrubs that bloom in the summer can be safely pruned now. Examples are crape myrtle, althea, and buddleia. Don't know when they bloom? Well, take a stroll around your garden and look at the buds on last year's branch growth. If there are rounded, fat, flower buds present that means it is a spring flowerer and you shouldn't be pruning now. If all you see is little pointy-headed leaf buds on the branches, it's ok to prune now.

Fertilize spring flowering trees and shrubs after flowering. Fertilize summer bloomers now. Use a 15-15-15 fertilizer on deciduous shrubs and an azalea/camellia acid fertilizer on evergreens. Use roughly 1/2 pound per three feet of the shrub's height for the 15-15-15. Follow the label instructions on the acid fertilizer. For trees, if you haven't done a soil test, a rough estimation of fertilizer would be to broadcast 1 cup of 12-6-6 slow release fertilizer per 25 square feet of canopy area.

LAWNS

Time to get out that lawnmower and begin mowing our crop of lawn weeds before seed heads are produced to perpetuate the weed problem for another year. Mowing lawn weeds in my still dormant Bermuda grass this time of year doesn't bother me one bit, but if it does you, mark your calendar now to apply that pre-emerge herbicide in September to your lawn to prevent the germination of winter annuals like henbit, annual bluegrass, chickweed and wild mustard. You can treat established winter annual weeds in dormant turf grass this month with post-emerge herbicides.

Late in the month apply a pre-emerge herbicide to prevent germination of summer annual weeds. Do not apply post-emerge herbicides to warm season grasses during "spring transition." In north Mississippi warm season grasses begin the spring transition to active growth in mid to late April into May. Post-emerge herbicide applications on warm season grasses are safe after May 15th.

Don't be tempted to fertilize your warm season turf grass before the middle of May. All you will be doing is feeding your weeds. Do fertilize your cool season turf grass like tall fescue and Kentucky bluegrass this month.

Contact your local Extension office to request a copy of publication #1322, Establish and Manage your Home Lawn. It contains an abundance of information on herbicide and fertilizer recommendations, turf grass or ground cover selection, disease and insect control and has a handy "maintenance calendar" to keep you on schedule.

VEGETABLES

If you're one of those early bird gardeners, you already have established transplants of cabbage, broccoli and the other cool season vegetables in your garden. If not, you still have time to set out transplants of these vegetables. The limiting factor is usually the weather and the wetness of the soil. You may be antsy to go, but the soil cannot be worked. That's a good reason to prepare those vegetable rows in the fall, or have your early vegetables in raised beds for easy planting.

Here are some optimum dates to have these vegetable seed in the ground: plant English peas until April 1, Irish potatoes and spinach until March 15, radish until April 25, mustard until April 10, and beets until April 5. Perennial vegetable such as asparagus, horseradish, and Jerusalem artichoke roots can be planted now.

Some people say we can't grow horseradish in Mississippi. I beg to differ. I have been growing horseradish for years, but I live in the extreme north part of Mississippi. Actually, I can just about spit into Tennessee from where I live. If you live in the northern tier of counties in Mississippi you should have no problem growing this flavorful root condiment. Plant in highly organic, porous, sandy soil so the roots will grow straight and be easy to harvest in August. Peel, grate those roots, add a little vinegar and salt and get ready to have a taste sensation! Oh, I almost forgot, this plant is invasive-any little piece of root left in the soil will sprout and grow. Select a corner of the garden away from other plants for your horseradish patch.

Lelia Scott Kelly, Ph.D., writes North Mississippi Gardening Tips monthly and is a Horticulture Specialist with the Mississippi State University Extension Service. Her office is in the North Mississippi Research & Extension Center, Verona.