Dirt-Stained Hands: Notes from a Northeast Gardener
 
MORNING GLORY GARDENS MARCH NEWSLETTER
What to do in the March Garden
 
 
It's been a long, difficult winter, and we're all eager to traipse through our gardens and get a jump on the season. What's there to do, you say? How about:
  • Spread fertilizer. Yep, just broadcast it on the snowy, soggy ground. Use a basic 5-10-5 or Milorganite. For evergreens, use an acid fertilizer such as Holly Tone
  • As bulbs peek up, gently dig in a bit of bulb fertilizer around the leaves.
  • Pick up the sticks scattered across your yard & put them in your brush pile.
  • Prune. Remove crossed or damaged branches, and reshape shrubs.
  • Tuck back into the soil any frost-heaved perennials.
  • Cut back ornamental grasses and perennials you didn't get to last fall.
  • Hack buddliea down to 18".
  • Find, repair and oil tools & equipment.
  • Start seeds of cool-weather annuals such as cole crops, stock, & snapdragons. Be sure to keep seedlings very close to a cool light source to avoid leggy plants.
  • Pot up bare-root, overwintered geraniums; harden off. 
  • Cart your winter compost to the regular pile.
  • Lay in a supply of potting soil for your patio pots.
  • See my gardening blog www.colleenplimpton.blogspot.com for ongoing gardening information

 

Seedlings
 
 
 
Thoughts & Plans
 
Spring is an excellent time to plan your ideal garden.  You could:
  • Start a garden journal to track ideas.
  • Clip pictures of flowers, shrubs and trees you'd like to try. 
  • Take a class. I'll be teaching at the New York Botanical Garden, ww.nybg.org/edu,  the New Canaan Nature Center and Bethel Continuing Education. continuingeducation@bethel.k12.ct.us
  • Go on Garden Tours. The Garden Conservancy lists many of the best private gardens, nation-wide, which are open on certain days, for a modest cost. One of Bethel, CT's finest gardens, that of Paul Young is on the tour this June 7th.  Visit gardenconservancy.org for more info.
  • Join a Garden Club. You'll get to talk gardening, take interesting field trips and learn new techniques.
Garden Diaries
 
 
 
 
 
Something to Keep in Mind:
 
 
If it's time to have a fresh pair of eyes on your garden, or if you need help to plan the plot of your dreams, call me for some coaching time. I'll walk your property with you, answer your questions, give advice and counsel, & suggest plant material.  Within a few days you'll receive a personal e-mail from me encompassing all that we discussed. Rates are reasonable, and there's no time like early Spring to start making your garden wishes come true!
 
Sincerely,
 
Colleen Plimpton
Morning Glory Gardens
Morning Glory Gardens
16 Starr Lane
Bethel, Connecticut 06801
203-743-9700