What To Do In Your Southern California Garden in March

Spring has sprung, or has it just always been spring? This year really has been a mild and rain free (not good) winter, and I think both the plants and us humans are a little confused. Well, in any case I’m going to give you a list of chores for this month confused or not.

1. Fertilizing - By the end of the month you should be able to start your plants on their regular fertilizing schedule. Citrus, avocados, hibiscus, and bauhinia to name a few love a low nitrogen organic fertilizer. If you have a California Native garden or a California Native area of your bed, you don’t need to fertilize.



2. Check your mulch - If your planter beds have used up their mulch, it is time to replenish. bring it up to 3” deep. Your mulch will help you conserve moisture, control weeds, and it looks nice. California natives use shredded redwood bark (gorilla hair) or gravel depending on which types of plants you have.



3. Insects Control - You can handpick bugs off your plants, wash them off, or spray with organic insect controls. Another great option is finding the proper beneficial insect for your problem and add them to your garden. I actually found aphids on some of my iris two weeks ago! Early, yes but in this heat – you can see how they might be confused. I simply washed the iris off with water and so far I have not seen them return. (I didn’t even use soap).



4. Plan Ahead for Veggies - Don’t forget to add Tomatomania to your calendar their first event in SoCal is this weekend at Roger’s Gardens (Corona del Mar) and they run right through the end of April ending in Goleta, which I think is a great excuse to hit Santa Barbara! If you want seedlings but don’t want to take the trip to one of their events, you can email me at julie@thegrassisalwaysgreener.net and I’ll be happy to pick up some plants for you provided you live near me.

5. Irrigation Check - If you are in drought-prone areas (all of SoCal this year?) and you don’t have irrigation, you can add a simple drip-irrigation system. You can also install Hunter Precision nozzles or MP Rotators which conserve water. Even California Natives will need some water this summer because we had very little water in the winter when they needed it to store up for the summer. If you can supplement your native’s water through March you can really help them out, they become more resistant to summer drought if they are well-watered now.



6. More Veggie Prep - You can sow seeds for peppers, okra, lemongrass, and watermelons now.



7. Fruit Planting Tip - If you live in LA (city), OC, Ventura, or SFV you can plant avocados, papaya, and mangos. If you live in SCV you should stay away from those but planting guavas, citrus, persimmons, tabebuia, and tibouchina trees is fine. For a wonderful selection of subtropical fruits (and a lot of great information) visit Papaya Tree Nursery. (Call ahead to make an appointment).



8. Mark You Calendar - Plan on spending March 24, 2012 at Green Thumb with Elaine Giftos Wright and I for a Free Seminar at Green Thumb’s Spring Open House. Feng Shui In The Garden is our topic, and we’re going to help you learn how to use Feng Shui to add abundance and harmony to your garden. We speak at 10 am!

Enjoy refreshments, vendor's booths, children’s activities, tool sharpening. Take advantage of 10% savings on most items purchased in store during this Open House Event! rsvp@thegrassisalwaysgreener.net We’d love to see you there! Green Thumb is located at 23734 Newhall Ave. Newhall, CA 91321.

And..



Next week is my next Complimentary Teleclass, also called “Feng Shui In The Garden” (notice a theme?). Elaine and I will be giving a lot of great information that you can use in your garden. The call and the seminar will cover different things; so don’t be afraid to attend both!
This info on this call is good for any climate, any zone, anywhere! All you need is the desire to make your garden shine. Thursday March 15, 2012 at 6:30 pm PDT

Please take a look at this link for more information and to sign up for the call.

What To Do In Your Southern California Garden In March

Last year about this time I started a monthly blog post to remind you what to do in your garden each month. The year is now complete, so now I can start linking to my old posts. I promise that as I have new insights I will add them to your monthly reminders.

I hope that these reminders will help you to maintain your garden without having to give it too much thought so you can enjoy your time outdoors improving both your garden and your state of mind. I know that when I’m working in the garden I am much more grounded because feeling the earth between my fingers (and sometimes my toes) does wonders!

Last year at the end of March Tami Smight & I gave at talk at Green Thumb Nursery, so you will see that mentioned in my post – we are doing it again this year, but please show up on March 26, 2011 and NOT the date listed at the bottom of my last year's post… unless you are a time traveler and can go back to 2010 in which case we will be happy to see you at both events!

Thank you again for allowing me to reach into your life and give you a little shout out each week, I am so proud that I stuck to my gardening reminders and I hope you are proud of yourself as well! Click on the link for the March Reminders.

-Julie

For more on my designs visit my website

March In The Garden - Southern California

As promised, some reminders for you. Here are the things you should be doing in your garden this month.



Get ahead of the bugs by hand-picking, spraying with organic insect controls or using appropriate beneficial insects.



You can now begin your regular fertilizing schedule citrus, avocados, bauhinia, oleander and hibiscus need an organic low-nitrogen plant food. It’s warm enough for the soil in Southern California to release the nutrients to your plants.



Keep fertilizing on a regular basis all year and your plants will be happy… unless you have a California Native garden, then you should not fertilize at all. Compost is all that they need.



It’s mulching time again, use at least two inches of shredded bark to control weeds, and conserve moisture. If you have a California native garden use shredded redwood bark (gorilla hair). If you have desert natives you should use decomposed granite, pebbles, and/or rocks as mulch.



Plant avocados, papaya, and mango – if you live in LA, OC, SFV but NOT SCV. Guavas, Tabebuia, Tibouchina trees and other winter tender plants can also be planted.



If you live in SCV and you want a Papaya, you can plant it in a pot. You can get all your subtropical fruits from Papaya Tree Nursery or have me pick some up when I shop there!



You can sow seeds and plant seedlings for your cantaloupe, peppers, okra, lemon grass, watermelons, and mint (please plant your mint only in pots!)

Put Tomatomania on your calendar for late March or April – depending on where you want to go, check out their website for dates and locations. If you don’t want to make the trip contact me at julie@thegrassisalwaysgreener.net and I can pick up seedlings for you when I go.

In drought-prone areas, install simple drip-irrigation or mp rotator system to take care of summer watering needs. Preparation never hurt anyone. Even your native gardens may need supplemental water in springtime. Native plants benefit from supplemental water in February and March in years that we do not have adequate winter water. This will help your natives become more fire resistant and in the case of newer native plantings will ensure establishment of the plants.

You can feed your Ceanothus plant a little bit, normally I don’t suggest feeding natives but I’ve read that a little bit of bonemeal around the base of your plant is a good idea at this time of the year. Now is also a good time to mulch them. Some compost can do wonders. If any of your Ceanothus are summer blooming varieties, you can prune them in early March. Don’t prune your spring bloomers, or you won’t have any blooms!

Plan on spending March 27, 2010 at Green Thumb with Tami Smight and I for a Free Design Seminar and Green Thumb’s Spring Open House.



The Flow from Indoors to Outdoors: Learn from the experts! Julie Molinare and Tami Smight will offer design guidance on creating a “design flow” from indoor to outdoor design at the Green Thumb Nursery Spring Open House - 23734 Newhall Avenue, Newhall, Ca. 91321

Enjoy refreshments, vendor's booths, children’s activities, tool sharpening. Take advantage of 10% savings on most items purchased in store during this Open House Event! rsvp@thegrassisalwaysgreener.net We’d love to see you there!

For more informations about anything you read: www.thegrassisalwaysgreener.net