March Garden Checklist

We’re finally coming into spring! March in the garden is like nature’s grand opening act. As winter bows out, our green spaces come alive with the promise of new beginnings. Grab your gardening gear because it’s time to dive into March’s playbook – where seeds become starts, blooms being to unfurl, and the garden turns into a peaceful haven. Ready to roll up your sleeves and join the springtime garden party? Here’s my March garden checklist. Let’s get planting!

March Garden Checklist

• Plan – Plan – Plan
  • I know, I know. We spent all winter planning and dreaming about our gardens but now it gets real. Where do we want to start? What plants, flowers, and vegetables are we most excited about? How much time do we have to dedicate this season? What vegetables and flowers should we start indoors and when? How much room do we have? All these questions are pretty important to think about before we get out there. (Hardiness zone, frost, and soil health are big items to consider this month before getting started.)
• Buy seeds and tubers
  • I get carried away every year with the amount of seed packets I buy. Same with dahlia tubers. A lot of small farms start their seed and tuber sales in march. Instagram is your friend when looking for local flower and veggie farms that sell tubers and seeds.
• Get your soil ready
  • Have you ever tested your soil? It can be pretty helpful in making sure your plants, vegetables, and flowers are getting all the nutrients they need.
  • Add organic material (ie:compost) let it work its magic. You can usually get this from your local nursery, big box stores in bags (this can add up quick though depending on how much you need), and sometimes even the local landfill will sell compost and topsoil.
• Spring Cleaning
  • There are some flowers that I like to leave over the winter and March is when I clean them up. My perennials that I left for the birds like Black-eyed Susans, Cone-flowers, and Rudbeckia. I also prune my Panicle and Smooth (Incrediball and Annabelle) Hydrangeas right about now while it’s still consistently below freezing at night. We’re getting close to where it’s almost too late so get on it if you haven’t. Roses can also be pruned if you haven’t taken care of that during the winter.
  • Take out your garden tools and give them a good once over. I check for rust and make sure things are sharp and ready to go. This also means I have to find all the tools I lost or misplaced in the fall. Whoops.
  • When the weather is consistently in the 50s during the daytime, carefully rake out the left-over leaves and let your perennials get some sun on their little buds
• Water if you haven’t had much rain
  • We’ve had a few light rainy days here but nothing great and the trees need more that, especially as they are waking up. I try to deep water my trees a few times in March. Keep an eye on potted plants and flowers outside as they will need more watering as it warms up.
• Cover flowers if there is frost in the forecast
  • I try to keep an eye on the weather this time of year and protect my beloved tulips and other flowers from frost. Even primroses and pansies could do well to be covered at night if it dips below freezing. You can use a towel or a blanket or frost cloth if you’ve got it.
• Start fertilizing
  • Certain plants like azaleas, rhododendrons, and pieris are ready to be fertilized as they start getting ready to bloom. I will also fertilize my shrubs (ie: boxwoods) this month.
• Weeding
  • The easiest way to control weeds is to get ride of them when they are tiny, and especially before they have had a chance to flower. It’s so much easier to go out on a nice day and hand pull or lightly hoe up weed seedlings, than to wait when they have spawned their seed all over your garden for next year. Plus they are a lot easier to pull.
• Get your spring front porch ready
  • The stores usually have bulbs ready to bloom and primroses and pansies for sell this time of year. If you don’t have a plan for your front porch, pick up some of these flowers and a pot and get planting. In a month they will be bursting and your entire neighborhood will be envious. Check out my Pinterest board for ideas on spring pots and front porches.
• PLANT!!!!
  • We’ve waited so long! Roses, climbing vines, shrubs, and even trees can all be planted now. This is a great time to get them in the ground and let them get established before the summer heat comes.
  • Depending on where you live, March is also a great time to start peas, spinach, arugula and other cold loving veggies outdoors.
• Start seeds indoors
  • Check out my post HERE if you’re new. Some of the seeds I like to start now are my herbs, spinach, Brussel sprouts, radishes and cauliflower. I also like to get my marigolds and some zinnias started indoors in March.