Get It Growing: Set your March gardening activities

Published 11:50 am Wednesday, March 4, 2015

We’re back!

Welcome back to “Get It Growing” written by Washington State University-certified Master Gardeners! “Get It Growing” will appear weekly from March through October.

The first article of the month will review gardening activities typically done during that month and will highlight plant clinics, seminars and other related events offered locally.

If there is a gardening topic you would like addressed, call the Gazette news department and put in your request.

Join us and “Get It Growing!”

Plant clinics

Clinics resume on March 21. Bring your gardening questions to the courthouse in Port Angeles on Mondays from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. beginning March 21. Master Gardeners will be there with answers. Plant Clinic helpline: 417-2514,

Seminars

Brown Bag seminars are held on the second and fourth Thursdays from noon-1 p.m. at the courthouse commissioners meeting room, 223 E. Fourth St., Port Angeles.

March 12: Growing Spaghetti Sauce (Barkhuis)

March 26: Comparing Tomato Growing Methods (Rosenberg, Williams and English)

Sequim Soroptimist Garden Gala

Presentations by Master Gardeners, March 21-22, at the Boys & Girls Club, 400 W. Fir St., Sequim. Join us!

Gardening activities

• General: Fertilize rapidly growing plants with a low-nitrogen fertilizer; do not over-fertilize. Pull annual weeds or cut off flowers to prevent reseeding. Plant seeds. Do not plant or transplant anything in freezing temperatures, which still can occur in early March.

• Flowers: Complete rose pruning and fertilizing. Divide and transplant summer-blooming perennials such as Shasta daisies, coral bells, astilbes, day lilies and asters.

• Shrubs: Apply ammonium sulfate to camellias, azaleas, heaths, heathers and rhododendrons; use fertilizers in moderation and only if there are signs of nutrient deficiencies. Prune spring-blooming shrubs after they bloom to preserve this year’s flower buds.

• Trees: Prune landscape trees in April. Pruning encourages growth and unexpected cold weather can damage new growth.

• Fruit trees: If aphids and other pests have been a past problem, spray with dormant oils before blooms appear. If scab has been a problem, apply fungicides to apple trees as the leaves separate and again at 7-10 day intervals until weather dries.

• Vegetables: Dig garden beds deeply when they are dry enough to be worked. Add compost and fertilizer. Sow cool season vegetables like beets, chard, lettuce, onions, peas, potatoes, radishes, spinach and turnips directly into the garden. Start tomatoes, peppers and eggplant indoors under lights. Transplant February cabbage-family seedlings from the cold frame to outdoors.

• Trellises: Cut back vines to the ground or reshape them, including wisteria, purple-leaf grape, honeysuckle and kiwi. Clematis that blossom early should be pruned after they bloom; clematis that flower in summer should be pruned in late winter/early spring before they put on new growth.

• Lawns: Dethatch and aerate when the lawn is moist but not soggy. If thatch accumulates at the soil surface more than

½ inch, remove it to provide proper penetration of air, water and plant nutrients. Dig out or spot treat perennial weeds. Rake and over-seed bare spots with seed mix such as perennial ryes and turf-type fescues, and add ¼ inch compost to settle the seed in and to give it a good start. Install new lawns. Grasses need at least 6 inches of well-drained soil with 2 inches of compost tilled in.

Contributions from Judy English and other Washington State University-certified Clallam County Master Gardeners.