Gardening In March

Today was so busy in the garden that I decided to take a break from the series I'm writing on pest control to share several ways you can enjoy your garden in March. Of course, I live in Pennsylvania so you may be ahead of us (if you live in the south) or you might have to wait a few more weeks (for those of you in the north). In any case, you don't have to wait till Mother's Day to play in the garden. Here are several things you can do now.

1. Prepare your soil for planting. This is me and my daughter raking out the soil in her raised bed. It's too early to plant her flowers yet we we're just getting it ready.

2. Clean out your perennial flower and herb beds. You can rake out all the dead plant material from last year and get  a head start on weeding.

3. Divide perennials and share with a friend. When plants like lilies and hostas are a few inches tall, it's a great time to divide them to thin them out. I dug some out of my bed to share with my neighbor.

4. Rake off some of the mulch off of the garlic. If you're lucky enough to have a garlic bed, now is a good time to thin off the mulch. I like to leave some on though to help retain moisture and keep down weeds.

5. Plant cold hardy flowers. Now is a fine time to plant a few specialty flowers like Helebore and Pansies that don't mind the cold. 

6. Any time of year is a great time to start composting but today was the day my wonderful husband made me this awesome bin. (it's on it's side in the picture). Seriously, everyone should get into composting. 

7. Enjoy the spring flowers that you planted last fall. 

8. Plant Spring veggies and put up rabbit fencing to keep animals out. You can read my post on spring vegetables Here. Erecting a fence is a great way to keep rabbits from mowing down your lettuce. 

Well, that's what I've been up to. Feel free to post about how you spend March in the garden at your house in the comments below.