March 2008 Garden Tips

March 1. Pansies are here! Stop by and pick some up for early season color in your pots, beds and planters. Ranunculous, Primrose and Fruit Trees have also arrived.

March 2. Seed or reseed your lawns this month. Keep grass seed continually moist until it germinates. Mow grass when it is three inches high. Avoid using chemical weed control until after grass has been mown three times.

March 3. Choose from our outstanding collection of hedge shears when choosing a tool to trim summer flowering shrubs such as: Caryopteris, Hypericum and Spirea. Don’t forget to also cut back your ornamental grasses. Primex carries shears from Gilmore, Bahco and Fiskars.

March 4. Primex carries tickets for the Philadelphia Flower Show. The show runs from March 2nd to the 9th, this year’s theme is ‘Jazz It Up!

March 5. Summer flowering bulbs are here! Stop in early for the best selection to be planted outside after May 15th.

March 6. Reduce insect population on trees and shrubs with Bonide All Seasons Horticultural Spray Oil. Horticultural oil should be sprayed on a still day when temperatures are above 40 degrees Fahrenheit.

March 7. Cool season weeds are now appearing. To control, cut the tops off of wild onion, wild garlic and Star of Bethlehem and spray with Spurge Power or Speed Zone.

March 8. DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME BEGINS. Turn your clocks forward, one hour, at midnight. Primex is open today from 9 am – 4 pm. Spring hours begin tomorrow:

Mon– Fri	7:30 am – 6:00 pm
Saturday	8:00 am – 5:00 pm
Sunday	10:00 am – 4:00 pm

March 9. PRIMEX IS OPEN TODAY!

March 10. Houseplants will start putting on new growth in reaction to the longer days, remember to fertilize with the appropriate Jack’s Classic fertilizer.

March 11. You may divide summer or fall blooming perennials as soon as new growth is noticed. Use Espoma Bio-tone® Starter Microbial Plant Food or Master Nursery Root Master B-1 to stimulate new root growth on divisions.

March 12. Continue to feed the birds with Lyric Bird Seed, they depend on you and will return to feast at feeders

March 13. Start preparing the vegetable garden for planting as soon as the ground is workable. Plants will benefit greatly from the incorporation of Bumper Crop, Ocean Forest Organic Potting Soil, organic humus or mushroom compost.

March 14. Fertilize your spring flowering bulbs with Espoma Bulb-tone.

March 15.
Primex Rewards Member Double Points Day.

March 16. Pick up a shamrock plant from our greenhouse in honor of St. Pat.

March 17. St. Patrick’s Day! Time to plant your peas and onion sets.

March 18. Spring clean-up may begin on a pleasant spring day. Completely remove winter mulch from garden beds, remove weeds and debris from gardens. Use Preen or Corn Gluten to prevent weed seeds from germinating. Mulch beds with Right Dress licorice root or bark mulch.

March 19. You may start planting and transplanting trees and shrubs as soon as the ground is workable but before the buds have begun to swell. Use Rootmaster B-1 Root Stimulator or Espoms Bio-tone® Starter Microbial Plant Food to help prevent transplant shock and to stimulate root growth.

March 20. First Day of Spring Sale: 20% off your entire purchase today only! (Some exclusions apply)

March 21. Use Bonide Fung-onil to control apple-cedar rust on apples and crabapples. Spray at bud peak.

March 22. Test lawn soil. If pH is below 6.8 add lime.

March 23. Spray azaleas with Fung-onil as leaf buds emerge to control bud and petal blight.

March 24. Transplant seedlings started early in flats into peat or plastic pots and fertilize them with Neptune’s Harvest Organic Fish & Seaweed Fertilizer 2 – 3 – 1.

March 25. Prune your roses as the leaf buds begin to break, fertilize them with Espoma Rose-tone.

March 26. Fertilize acid loving shrubs and trees like azalea, rhododendron, pieris, holly and dogwood with Espoma Holly-tone.

March 27. Begin major lawn renovation work. Remove debris, dethatch, aerate, lime, seed and fertilize.

March 28. Start tender, summer flowering bulbs indoors, this includes canna, caladium, gloxinia and tuberous begonia. These are tender bulbs and should not be placed outside until after May 15th.

March 29. Don’t forget to dead-head spent blooms of spring flowering bulbs. When bulbs are finished blooming fertilize them with Espoma Bone Meal.

March 30. You may start some annuals now in the cold frame; try alyssum, baby’s breath, morning glory, nicotiana, salvia, snapdragon and verbena.

March 31. Fertilize trees and shrubs with Jobe’s Fertilizer Spikes. Fertilize perennials with Espoma 5 – 10 – 5 or Bone Meal.