What to Do in the Garden in March
A bursting Brassica bed in the Sunshine Community Gardens, 2020.
Trust me on this and take heart: no matter how your winter months went or what state it’s in now, your garden will come to life this month. Spring is on the way!
NOTE: I originally wrote this garden guide after the 2021 freeze when my garden was devastated. I've left it mostly untouched as a reminder that we enter into this month in wildly different places every year depending on what kind of winter we went through. Here’s a brief recap since I started this site, so you can understand what that means.
2021: Devastated and destroyed after the February freeze
2022: Warm weather with occasional micro-freezes that did their own damage to crops that hadn’t been hardened off properly with consistent colder temps.
2023: More of that, leading to a garden canvas in March that was a mix of blank, brown spaces and emerging green.
2024: Maybe every four years we get a perfect winter? This year’s had a steady pace of gradually colder days so crops could get stronger and build resilience. Brassicas and other cold crops are happy as are lettuces and spinach, now in their moment.
I read over February’s post about how most Texans don’t have to endure true winters and almost wept. Who was that innocent child? I hope you and your loved ones fared well through the winter storm that devastated the entire state just two weeks ago. My house was out of power for almost sixty hours. The kitchen where my seedlings were got into the low 40°s and most of my tomato starts died. Even the ones that survive seem cautious, their leaves curled under protectively. I see so much on social media about how to manifest the results you want by setting intentions boldly. In that spirit, in January, I pronounced we’d have the biggest tomato harvest ever (!!!!) and launched a seed pack designed to produce harvests early so that we’d avoid the heat that comes early to Texas. I thought we just had to worry about the heat. I realize that I am not powerful enough to conjure a devastating storm over most of the country, but I was reminded of that old saying, “Man Plans and God Laughs.” Oh life.
March is a beautiful time for Texas bluebonnets and redbuds. When you see them, you know spring will be here soon.
So much of this month’s To Do’s will vary depending on how extensive your garden was before the freeze. You may not have finished all the clean up involved after the hard freeze or perhaps you hadn’t really started anything so you now have a blank canvas. This time last year, my garden was green and lush. The snapdragons, delphiniums, nasturtiums, and calendula were all in bloom. Many of my perennials were already green with new growth. My brassicas were huge and getting mature, which is when you really need to control caterpillars. My borage was already blooming, buzzing with bees. This year, I'm grateful for what was still dormant when this freeze hit. Anything that had started to sprout growth was punished for it. The garden is largely brown. The flowers mostly survived (RIP nasturtiums), but their blooms are delayed. The perennials will surely regrow as the snow protected the roots, an extra blanket of insulation over the frost protection. When you feel despair, remember this: Spring is coming! It happens this month, right around the full moon, which is known as the Worm Moon because the worms are returning to the surface of the soil after diving deep for winter. March comes with the fastest rate of temperature increase out of the entire year. The average high temperature climbs from 68° to 77° over the next 31 days.
March Garden Tasks
Start fresh. Focusing on what we can plant this month will help cope with what we lost. We still have an opportunity to grow cool season spring crops. If you have been lucky with your seedlings, you can start setting your tomato babies out and by the end of the month, your peppers. Give them a full week to harden off. Make sure they are protected from squirrels when you do so, no good getting your heart broken twice. You may still need to protect them from cold if the temps dip. You can sow your zinnias, cosmos, and other summer annuals mid-month. Fill in the spaces of what was lost with new crops and flowers to love. It is okay to feel grief for the seeds you sowed that never got to grow to their harvest or bloom. Loss has been a big part of the last two years, even the garden felt it. All we can do is begin again and take the lessons we were gifted with to new plantings.
Fertilize trees, shrubs, & perennials Trees and the perennials that survived the winter freeze should be rewarded. They will need extra energy to recover and grow. Treat perennials with a seaweed foliar spray. If you have Sagos or palms that have turned brown from the cold, giving them this nourishment is crucial. Top dress with two inches of compost around their drip line. This goes for any young trees or evergreen shrub. Prune your survivors! Give them a pleasing shape that offers a robust and stable frame to grow from. Your perennials will astound you at how their growth varies in their first years. The coneflowers that were only a foot high all last year will suddenly burst up to three times that in their second spring. Most perennials don't reach their full height until year three. Fertilize citrus trees with high nitrogen fertilizer like Citrus-tone. Your poor loquats have been through it!
Get your slightly sinister spring garden hat now available in new colors!
Turnover beds of crops you lost. If you suddenly have a lot more space in your garden, get them ready for spring crops. You can prep your future tomato beds with whatever leaf matter you still have in the yard. Tomatoes don't need high nitrogen levels but they love the humus of well-rotted leaf mulch.
If grass is your thing, spring is the best time to get started. If you want to add grass to areas of your yard, late March is the ideal time to start Habiturf®. Sod like zoysia will be very successful if laid in March and kept hydrated. Turfgrass should wait until April to be sowed. If you have an established lawn, topdress with a few inches of compost and feed with a high nitrogen, slow release fertilizer. Aerate your lawn every 3-5 years. Don’t do this while your grass is dormant. You may need to wait until April.
The snails and slugs will be out in the cool days of early spring. Even record snow and ice can’t stop them.
Be pro-active against pests & weeds. If cutworms are a problem, wrap stems of new transplants with newspaper. In normal years, we’d be seeing more caterpillars as brassicas get older, their resistance to pests fades and overnight they may become infested with cabbage loopers or army worms. Hopefully, the one benefit of a weeklong freeze is that we will have less pests this spring. Still it pays to be proactive with BT application on your brassicas or give up on them entirely, letting them go to flower until you need the space to plant something else. Stay on top of weeds in your spring garden as you don't want them robbing your new seedlings of space and nutrients. The Japanese created the best weeding tools. I cannot recommend enough a Hori Hori knife and a hand hoe for weeding. Both are highly satisfying to use and are low cost, high quality tools to add to your tool bucket.
A sharp hori hori knife is serrated and strong. It also has measurements on the blade so you can use it to space plantings or gauge depth.
As Brassicas age into maturity, their defenses against pests decreases. Either be aggressive with BT application or harvest what you want and let old brassicas become trap plants for caterpillars.
Be proactive against both powdery mildew and pests like aphids & whiteflies with bi-weekly foliar applications of this insecticidal soap spray.
Letting broccoli flower will attract bees and pollinators to your garden. Plus the flowers make a lovely garnish!
What to Grow in March (ZONE 8B)
SEEDS (Early March)
Carrots
Peas
Potatoes
Turnips
Asian Greens
SEEDS (All Month)
Alyssum
Beans
Beets
Coreopsis
Corn
Cucumber
Nasturtiums
Summer Squash*
SEEDS (Late March)
Southern (aka Black-Eyed) Peas
Watermelon
Cantaloupe
Sunflowers
Zinnias
Cosmos
Gomphrena
Morning Glory
Moonflowers
SEEDS OR TRANSPLANTS (Early March)
SEEDS OR TRANSPLANTS (All Month)
Catnip
Chives
Parsley
Swiss Chard
Dusty Miller
Moss Rose
Pansies
Violas
TRANSPLANTS (All Month)
Feverfew
Oregano
Thyme
Sage
Rosemary
Mexican Mint Marigold
All Mints
Lemon Balm
Snapdragons
TRANSPLANTS (Late March) PROTECT FROM SURPRISE FROST
Tomatoes
Eggplants
Peppers
Malabar Spinach
Tomatillos (you need at least two)
Impatiens
Asters
Lantana
Pentas
Lemongrass
* You can plant summer squash, just don't get attached to it. Plant early, harvest as much as you can, accept that the SVB will claim it unless you grow it in a tunnel.
The most exciting time to garden is just around the corner. Flowers are coming!!!! If you’ve never grown flowers before in your vegetable garden, I encourage you to try them this year. You will thank yourself later I promise you. Gardening this month means enjoying the lovely weather before it gets super hot and literally sowing the seeds for future joy and color. ♥︎
