Temperatures are getting warmer and the spring winds are blowing away the danger of frost. Flats of gorgeous spring color are arriving daily to our stores. Here is your monthly checklist for your gardening guidance. The key to gardening success is to purchase plants that are ideal to plant now in South Texas and North Texas. Make sure to start your yard and garden off with the right “root”! Fulfill the needs of new plantings and established plants with the proper care like soil prep, weed control, fertilizer application, spring blooming plants, and more. Use our Texas Gardening Checklist for March to guide your spring gardening and keep it as a reference.
Spring is a great time to start planting flowers in Texas, especially in March when temperatures begin to warm up. Some of the best flowers to plant in March include Geraniums, Begonias, and Petunias, which can add beautiful pops of color to any garden. However, the exact timing of planting flowers in Texas can vary depending on the region. As a general rule, it’s best to wait until after the last frost before planting any spring flowers. By paying attention to the weather and selecting the right flowers for your area, you can create a stunning spring garden that will thrive throughout the season.
What vegetables can you plant in March in Texas?
March is the time to start planting gardens full of your spring-blooming favorites, vegetables like tomatoes or peppers, blooming shrubs, spring flowers, and more! For your vegetable gardens, start planting beds full of cool-season vegetables. Vegetable varieties like leafy and root crops should be planted earlier in the month when the soil temperatures are generally cooler. Cool-season vegetable plants include selections like Swiss chard, lettuce, turnips, beets, collards, kale, cauliflower, and spinach. Leafy greens grow best in open, ground-level areas with loose, nutrient-rich, and well-draining soils like Calloway’s Organic Compost.
Going the organic way? Calloway’s Organic Compost stimulates beneficial microorganisms necessary for plant growth. It also helps balance the aeration and hydration ratio within your soil, creating soil that is lighter and drains well for healthy root systems, while allowing beneficial bacteria, fungi, and earthworms to flourish. This combination of organic material creates thriving, healthy and beautiful gardens.
Planting herbs is always a great idea, especially now that the weather is getting warmer! They can help fill your garden beds and container gardens with flavor. Choose from herbs like oregano, thyme, rosemary, chives, cilantro, parsley, and lavender.
Warm season vegetables can be planted in March. You may need to wait until late in the month if you are in central Texas, but the weather forecast may prove otherwise! The general rule of thumb is to wait one to two weeks after the average last day since killing frost. Ensuring the danger of frost has passed will help protect your warm season vegetable garden. Warm season vegetables consist of beans, corn, squash, cucumbers, melons, peppers, and tomato plants.
When planting gardens full of warm season veggies, you can choose plants for containers, in your vegetable beds, or display your edibles as ornamentals with your bedding plants and spring blooming shrubs. Plant like a master gardener and make sure your vegetables are planted in an area that receives plenty of full sun. It is also important to be sure to water your vegetable beds. You can fulfill the water needs of your vegetable plants by applying water slowly and deeply to help the root system grow strong. If watering a container garden, make sure there is a proper drainage hole so the water can soak through the root system and out the container.
What spring color can I plant now in Texas?
To enjoy your cool season annual flowers longer, March is the perfect time to plant now! Choose from blooms like geraniums, petunias, snapdragons, stock, and sweet alyssum. Get instant results when you add a pop of cool color to refresh your landscape plants or container plants.
Warm season annual color should be planted one to two weeks after any overnight freezes. Select from a variety of gorgeous annuals like marigolds, impatiens, begonias, zinnia, and coleus. As we near the end of the month, watch for options to add like pentas, lantana, purslane, moss rose, and angelonia as they arrive in stores! Sign up for Blooming Rewards® to be in the know about what’s in store, specials sales and discounts on plants and other gardening products! Plus, receive points for every dollar you spend!
Add fullness with size and color in your landscape with blooming shrubs and perennials like azaleas or hibiscus. Regardless of what you are planting, always remember to choose plants with similar sunlight requirements, like full sun or partial shade, and water needs. Bloom times can vary which will create an ever-changing garden, all year long.
Annual color needs a well-draining soil like Calloway’s Premium Flowerbed Garden Soil or Calloway’s Premium Container Potting Soil. Calloway’s Premium Flowerbed Garden Soil is ideal for your garden area or flower garden. It contains special ingredients that saves and regulates water levels in your soil. It does so by absorbing excessive water when it is plentiful, and then releasing that water back into the soil as needed. In addition, Calloway’s Premium Flowerbed Garden Soil lightens soil with expanded shale and coco fiber, composted fines and peat moss that conditions soil. Plus, a slow release fertilizer is included to give your plants a great start.
Calloway’s Premium Container Potting Soil is made from the highest quality ingredients to create lightness in the soil. With the addition of water retaining crystals, Calloway’s Premium Container Potting Soil provides the ideal balance of air and water to foster healthy root growth for thriving plants. It is ideal for use on all potted plants and container gardening. Maintaining the proper level of soil moisture is key to enjoying vibrant and healthy spring growth.
When should I start my spring lawn care?
It is time in Texas to create your new lawn. March is the month to lay fresh St. Augustine and bermuda sod. Wait another month to plant seeds to grow green bermuda grasses and wait to plant zoysia grass from sod.
For established lawns in North Texas, there still may be some remaining weed growth to control. Deter spring weeds and suppress weed growth with Bonide® Weed Beater Complete. Bonide® Weed Beater Complete attacks your weed problems in a couple ways. It contains a post-emergent which is what suppresses the weeds in your lawn, including crabgrass and many varieties of broadleaf weeds. It also contains a pre-emergent, preventing the production of new weeds in your lawn. Treat your lawn two times a year, during the spring and the fall. In South Texas, apply Nitro-Phos Barricade® Pre-emergence Herbicide. Nitro-Phos Barricade® contains selective turfgrass and landscape herbicides that prevent the germination of undesirable weeds. Perfect for Houston homes.
Another option is a more direct solution. Spray visible weeds with Bonide® Weed Beater Southern.
To start spring off right, make sure to mow your established lawn. Mowing will strip away the winter-killed stubble. March is also the time to start feeding your lawn. For your North Texas lawn, you may need to wait until later into the month to let the temperature outside heat up a bit more.
To feed your lawn in Texas, our fertilizer recommendations depend on if your lawn is new or established. The different types of lawns have different needs. First, focus on reviving the soil with Soil Mender® Turf Mender. Work into the soil surface to help with planting new grass and it can help repair damage or bare spots in landscapes. Soil Mender® Turf Mender contains a rich blend of nutritional, aged humus mixed with essential supplements to strengthen soil and sustain turf.
For new lawns, apply an even layer of Calloway’s Premium Lawn Food as label directions instruct. Our 21-5-10 formula provides your lawn with triple controlled release nitrogen, trace elements, and iron to establish strong roots with lasting, green color. This lawn food is specially blended for Texas lawns, with a precise mix of nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium, and micronutrients recommended by the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension. Our specialized formula includes Sure Release, Fx Iron®, and Aqua Turf®. Sure Release allows for season long feeding, with a slow release cycle that will last for weeks beyond most fertilizers. Fx Iron® is an environmentally friendly source of iron. It helps keep your grass green without staining concrete surfaces. With Aqua Turf, you can ensure better water penetration into the soil.
For established lawns, use Calloway’s Premium Lawn Food Phosphorus Free. Calloway’s Premium Lawn Food Phosphorus Free is the ideal fertilizer for established lawns that have been fed three or more times, with extra iron to create a deep emerald green. The 21-0-0 formula contains triple controlled release nitrogen, as well as vital iron and micronutrients. Our Phosphorous Free formula was carefully developed by Calloway’s Nursery Professionals according to the exacting standards of Texas A&M AgriLife Earth-Kind® recommendations.
When you are done with your March fertilizer applications, water lawn and water plants with a hose, rainfall, or irrigation systems. Follow the label instructions as listed on your fertilizer bags.
What are the pruning tasks for March in Texas?
Clean up your plants from the winter season and prune spring blooming shrubs, vines, trees, and more! When you prune spring plants or perennials, you are creating room for new growth. Give your evergreen shrubs a little attention to start the season off fresh. They need to be pruned before new leaves and growth can begin. You can prune as much as 25% of the plant if you trim each of the branches. Spring flowering shrubs and vines can be pruned when the plants finish blooming.
Trees can be pruned as a form of maintenance to remove low hanging and dead branches. Avoid any pruning contact with oaks during spring to lessen disease infestations like oak wilt fungus.
What do I feed my spring blooming shrubs, trees, and plants?
For successful gardening, you need to feed your plants. Annual flower gardens, summer annuals, and spring blooming plants like begonias, petunias, and periwinkles, need Calloway’s Premium Flower Food. Our 12-4-8 specialized formula contains nitrogen, Fx Iron®, phosphate, and other key ingredients to help your spring plants bloom with big, bold, and lasting color! Use as directed! Ideal for flowerbeds, container gardens, and hanging baskets.
Feed your spring blooming shrubs with Calloway’s Premium Flowering Shrub Plant Food. Use on all flowering shrubs like azaleas, camellias, gardenias, hydrangeas, and more! You can feed new plants or an established bed area. The rules are a little different with azaleas. The schedule to fertilize starts only after the initial bloom drop. The 9-3-6 formula contains nitrogen, Fx Iron®, calcium, sulfur, water soluble manganese, and other key ingredients to help your spring blooming shrubs grow with bigger, bolder blooms.
Feed your trees with Calloway’s Premium Tree & Shrub Plant Food. Our new and improved Tree & Shrub Food helps your plants grow with more vibrant foliage! The 16-4-8 formula contains a controlled release nitrogen, Fx Iron®, and other key ingredients needed to ensure your trees and shrubs are fed everything they need for healthier growth. Great for new plantings or established trees, shade trees, and shrubs!
Go the organic route with Calloway’s Natural Lawn & Garden Food. With a 10-3-1 formula containing nitrogen, phosphate, and soluble potash to help produce better results for your lawn. Our natural garden food contains COFFEE-K™, an activated organic matter product made with GeoJava’s™ real coffee grounds and it is infused with Sigma Agriscience Biologicals™ to create a living environment for beneficial microorganisms to flourish! It also increases soil organic matter, provides beneficial fungi and bacteria, and promotes organic Chelation of iron. Apply 4 times a year to help your garden thrive.
Great for lawns, vegetable gardens, and landscaping beds.
How can I control pests in March in my Texas garden?
Since we did not have a very cold winter here in Texas, it is a good idea to start to treat your landscape for pest control and insects. Apply Bonide® Insect Control Granules. This pesticide was specifically designed for flowerbeds and vegetable gardens, protect your lawn and garden from bugs like ants, soil grubs, ticks, flea beetles, chiggers, chinch bugs, sod webworms, and more. The soil penetrating formula will deter insects for up to 3 months.
Applying mulch to your garden and bed area, will not only naturally deter pests like mosquitoes, but mulch will also complete the look of your landscape. Mulches will give your plant’s roots protection from the outside elements and keep the soil moist for healthy growth. Gardeners love Calloway’s Premium Organic Cedar Mulch for its lovely scent, gorgeous color, and its natural insect repelling qualities. Calloway’s Premium Organic Cedar Mulch provides your garden with an elegant red-gold finish that is eye-catching and functional. Mulch reduces water use by preventing evaporation and allowing the plants to absorb water at a steady rate. It also regulates soil temperature protecting delicate root systems, and reduces weed growth. Cedar mulch also helps repel insects and provides a pleasant fragrance!
Stop by our garden nurseries near you for all your planting needs! Questions? Ask one of our Texas Certified Nursery Professionals available at our store nearest you!
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ref: purdue.edu , bonide.com
