Spring is knocking on the door, and for us garden lovers, March is when the real magic begins. As someone who’s spent decades with my hands in the soil, I can tell you that what you do this month sets the tone for your entire growing season.
You know how it feels—that first truly warm day when you step outside and just know it’s time to get back to the garden.
Whether you’re still brushing off the winter blues or you’ve been itching to dig in the dirt since January, these 13 tasks will give your garden the best possible start.
1. Soil Testing and Preparation: The Foundation of Garden Success
If you’ve been gardening for years, you might think you know your soil like the back of your hand. But trust me on this—a soil test is worth its weight in garden gold.
A proper soil test reveals what your garden is really craving. It checks for those all-important macronutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium) that your plants can’t live without. But it also looks at the micronutrients—those supporting actors like iron, zinc, and manganese that make all the difference in plant health.
Here’s what makes March perfect for soil work:
- The ground is thawing and workable
- You’ve got time before peak growing season
- Amendments can integrate gradually
Pro Tip: For those beautiful acid-loving plants like rhododendrons and azaleas, March is the ideal time to apply specialized ericaceous fertilizers. These plants have specific needs, and meeting them now means spectacular blooms later.
If you’re dealing with clay soil (and who isn’t in some part of their garden?), dig that compost down at least 1.5 feet. Your plant roots need those air pockets for healthy growth. A little extra effort now means stronger plants all season long.
2. Garden Cleanup: Clearing the Stage for New Growth
After winter’s quiet, our gardens need a good tidying. Think of it as setting the stage for spring’s performance.
Start by clearing out dead plant material from last year. Yes, even those seed heads you left standing for the birds (a wonderful practice, by the way). While they’ve served their purpose providing winter habitat for beneficial insects, it’s time for them to make way for new growth.
March weeding has a special advantage—the soil is usually moist, making those pesky invaders easier to pull with their root systems intact. Get them while they’re young and vulnerable!
Garden Wisdom: If you manage ornamental beds, now’s the perfect time to edge those garden borders. Clean lines not only look sharp but also help keep grass from creeping where it doesn’t belong.
When it comes to mulching, moderation is key this early in the season. A light 1-2 inch layer helps suppress weeds and retain moisture without keeping the soil too cool. You can always add more as temperatures warm consistently.
3. Tool Maintenance: Sharp Tools Make Happy Plants
Before you dive into the season’s real work, take a moment for your trusty garden helpers. Clean, sharp tools aren’t just more pleasant to use—they’re better for your plants.
Those pruners you put away last fall? They might be harboring pathogens that could spread to otherwise healthy plants. A simple solution of one part bleach to nine parts water will handle that problem nicely.
After cleaning, don’t forget to:
- Dry tools thoroughly to prevent rust
- Sharpen cutting edges for clean cuts
- Oil moving parts for smooth operation
Pro Tip: Ragged cuts from dull tools create entry points for disease and stress plants unnecessarily. Your roses will thank you for taking the time to sharpen those pruners!
For those with power equipment, March is maintenance month. Clean air filters, change oil, and sharpen blades on mowers and tillers. And if you use an irrigation system, check for leaks, clogs, or damage now—before your plants become dependent on it.
4. Strategic Pruning: The Right Cuts at the Right Time
March offers the perfect window for pruning many plants, especially those that flower on new growth. The timing is ideal—plants are still dormant but just about to wake up, which minimizes stress and optimizes healing.
There’s a clarity to pruning in March that you don’t get other times of year. With deciduous trees and shrubs still leafless, you can actually see what you’re doing! The branch structure stands revealed, making it easier to make those precise, strategic cuts.
Different plants need different approaches:
- Roses: Last call for major pruning
- Dogwoods, willows, and smoke bush: Cut to the base for vibrant new growth
- Ornamental grasses: Trim as new shoots become visible
Garden Wisdom: For overgrown shrubs needing rejuvenation, March offers the chance for more dramatic pruning. You can cut many shrubs back to 1-2 feet above ground level. Just avoid this approach with conifers—they typically don’t respond well to such severe pruning.
Always start by removing damaged, diseased, or crossing branches. Then shape while maintaining the plant’s natural form. Your careful pruning now sets the stage for healthy growth and abundant flowers all season.
5. Cold Damage Assessment: Patience Rewards the Gardener
If winter threw some punches at your garden, March is when you’ll take stock of the damage. Look for black, mushy tissue in herbaceous plants and splitting wood on shrubs and trees.
The temptation is strong to immediately clean up winter damage, but here’s where patience pays off. Those damaged portions, unsightly as they may be, actually protect the healthy tissue underneath from potential late frosts. Wait until all danger of frost has passed before pruning away affected areas.
Pro Tip: Gardens in transitional climate zones face particular challenges with March’s temperature swings. If you’re in USDA Hardiness Zones 5b or 6a, consider providing extra water to evergreens, broadleaved evergreens, and conifers during warm spells, especially if your autumn was dry.
6. Disease Prevention: An Ounce of Prevention
As temperatures rise, plant pathogens become active. March is your opportunity to implement preventative measures before problems take hold.
Start with a careful inspection of emerging growth. Look for discoloration, spots, or unusual growth patterns that might signal disease. Then practice good garden sanitation—your first defense against disease spread.
If you grow camellias, be extra vigilant about collecting fallen blossoms to prevent flower blight. This fungal disease spreads rapidly through wind-dispersed spores, but simple cleanup can make a world of difference.
Garden Wisdom: Never compost diseased plant material. Instead, bag it and remove it with trash (or burn it where permitted) to prevent pathogen spread.
Proper spacing and pruning also play vital roles in disease prevention by improving air circulation. Aim to thin dense foliage and remove crossing branches, allowing air to move freely through plants and reducing the humid conditions that fungi love.
7. Managing Ornamental Grasses and Perennials
After standing proud through winter, ornamental grasses need attention before new growth emerges. Cutting them back accomplishes several goals: making room for fresh growth, preventing woody, unproductive centers, and maintaining their beautiful form.
For the best results, cut grasses to within a few inches of the ground. If you prefer a gentler approach, try wearing gloves and raking through the clumps to remove dead blades without damaging new growth.
March is also perfect for dividing perennials—both to rejuvenate crowded plants and create new specimens for your garden (or to share with friends!). Plants like hostas, daylilies, phlox, and peonies benefit tremendously from division now.
Pro Tip: When dividing perennials, use a sharp spade or knife and ensure each division has adequate roots and several growth points. Replant immediately at the same depth as the original plant, water thoroughly, and consider a light mulch to retain moisture.
If you left perennial stems standing through winter (wonderful for beneficial insects!), now’s the time to cut them back as new growth emerges at the base. This not only improves appearance but reduces disease risk by removing potentially infected old growth.
8. Plant Propagation: More Plants, Please!
March offers excellent opportunities to increase your plant collection through various propagation techniques.
As plants begin putting on new growth, softwood cuttings become viable for many shrubs and perennials. These fresh green cuttings typically root more readily than hardwood cuttings taken later in the season.
For successful softwood cuttings:
- Select healthy new stems
- Cut just below a leaf node
- Remove lower leaves
- Dip in rooting hormone (optional)
- Place in light, well-draining medium
- Keep consistently moist but not waterlogged
Garden Wisdom: Division, already mentioned for perennials, is another valuable propagation method for March. It’s especially good for fall-blooming perennials before they invest energy in significant top growth.
For those with greenhouse access or indoor growing space, March is prime time for starting seeds. By starting indoors, you gain several weeks of growing time—particularly important for plants with longer maturation periods like tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants.
9. Pest Management: Early Action for Fewer Problems
As the garden awakens, so do various pests. Early intervention can prevent minor issues from becoming major headaches.
Begin with a thorough inspection, paying special attention to new growth, which often attracts early-season pests like aphids. Don’t forget to check the undersides of leaves and stem joints where pests frequently hide.
For houseplants that have spent winter indoors, March brings increased risk as days lengthen and conditions favor insect reproduction. Check carefully for spider mites, scale, mealybugs, and aphids.
Pro Tip: Try physical controls first—washing plants with insecticidal soap or simply spraying with water can dislodge many pests. For persistent problems, consider beneficial insects before reaching for chemical solutions.
In vegetable gardens, protective measures like row covers or cloches serve double duty—shielding early plantings from both cold temperatures and insect pests. Just make sure they’re secured at ground level so crafty pests can’t crawl underneath.
10. Seed Starting: Timing Is Everything
March represents a pivotal time for seed starting, both indoors and directly in the garden. If you haven’t started long-season crops like tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants yet, early March is your last call for optimal results.
For direct sowing outdoors, cool-season vegetables thrive with March planting—peas, spinach, kale, radishes, onion sets, and potatoes all prefer the moderate temperatures of early spring.
Garden Wisdom: Timing is critical for successful seed starting. Calculate your region’s average last frost date and count backward based on each plant’s specific growing requirements. Remember that the last frost date is a probability, not a guarantee—adding three weeks provides a safer margin for tender plants.
Whether starting seeds indoors or out, consistent moisture during germination is key. After seedlings emerge, adjust watering to encourage strong root growth and prevent damping-off disease.
11. Irrigation System Assessment: Water When and Where It’s Needed
As spring growth accelerates, plant water needs increase, making March ideal for assessing irrigation systems. For existing setups, check that connections remain watertight, spray patterns are correctly aligned, and timers function properly.
If you’re considering a new irrigation system, March is perfect for installation before plants develop extensive growth that might complicate the process.
Pro Tip: Consider water conservation strategies like drip irrigation, which delivers water directly to plant roots. This minimizes evaporation and reduces fungal disease risk by keeping foliage dry—particularly valuable for vegetable gardens.
When planning irrigation, group plants with similar water needs together, allowing for zones that can be controlled independently. Smart controllers that adjust based on weather conditions save water while still meeting plant needs.
12. Fertilization Strategies: The Right Nutrients at the Right Time
March is crucial for providing plants with nutrients needed for vigorous spring growth. As daylight increases and plants emerge from dormancy, they’re ready to utilize available nutrients.
Slow-release fertilizers are ideal this month, providing steady nutrition without forcing tender growth that could be damaged by late frosts.
Different plants need different approaches:
- Trees and shrubs: Apply fertilizer around the drip line, not against trunks
- Acid-loving plants: Use specialized ericaceous fertilizers
- Vegetables: Cabbage and brassicas benefit from nitrogen-rich options like pelleted chicken manure
Garden Wisdom: While March fertilization benefits many plants, timing matters for certain garden elements. For warm-season lawns, resist fertilizing too early—premature feeding can increase cold damage susceptibility and promote disease. Similarly, wait to fertilize houseplants until they move outdoors or show active growth.
13. Lawn Care Fundamentals: A Green Start
March represents a transitional period for lawn care, with tasks varying by grass type and climate. For cool-season grasses, remove winter debris including fallen branches and leaves that can smother grass and create disease-favorable conditions.
Perform cleanup on dry days to avoid compacting soil—walking on wet soil damages its structure and impedes grass root development.
For warm-season grasses like Bermuda, centipede, and zoysia, March begins the seeding window (extending through June). However, fertilization requires patience—wait until summer when these grasses actively grow.
Pro Tip: When dogwoods reach full bloom, apply pre-emergence herbicides to control crabgrass in lawns. For established winter weeds already blooming, consider mowing and bagging clippings to reduce next year’s weed population by preventing seed dispersal.
