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The Virtual Gardener Newsletter

For MGs Only

Things to do in March

Finalize your garden plans.

Start some vegetable and flower seeds indoors.

Put up bluebird boxes and clean out existing boxes.

Bring some branches indoors for forcing (forsythia, apple, willow, birch). Lay them in a bathtub of tepid water for a few hours to simulate a spring rain Then arrange them in a vase in indirect light.  Birch catkins shed lots of pollen. Birches, larch or tamaracks and willows don’t produce blooms, just leaves. 

Prune back houseplants. Be ruthless.  Repot and re root the cuttings. Check your houseplants over carefully for bugs like spider mites, mealybugs. Resume a fertilizer schedule of your indoor plants.

Prune shade trees, fruit trees, and summer flowering shrubs.  Remove damaged or broken branches.  Contact our office for advice on how to prune different trees and shrubs.

Turn your compost pile.  Add manure to speed the decomposition process.

Check for eastern tent caterpillar egg masses (shiny, dark brown egg clusters about 1” wide wrapped around small twigs) on cherry, crabapple, and apple trees.  Prune or scrape off.

To neutralize the odor of skunk, spray mix 1 quart 3 percent hydrogen peroxide with ¼ cup baking soda and 1 tsp. liquid dish soap.  Pour into a spray bottle.  Apply immediately on the area sprayed.  If your dog gets sprayed, work the solution into its fur, avoiding the eyes and mouth. March is the month when skunks become most active.

Slightly crack open a window if ladybugs are clustering around it.

Store all bulk food in air tight containers or store in the freezer.  Any food suspected of bug infestation, must be discarded outdoors, not in the kitchen trash can.

Clean and sharpen your gardening tools. For more information, click here.

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