To do this month—March

Some shrubs and trees take best to pruning in late winter/early spring.  Fruit trees and some heavy “bleeders”, trees who usually have quite a bit of sap, such as yellowwoods, benefit most from this.

You may notice some green popping up if you have spring bulbs. This is good and normal: it is an old wives’ tale that flower bulbs can’t take freezing—that’s why they appear so early—they can take anything nature dishes out to them, except overly warm weather.  An extended warm period in spring can seriously shorten bloom periods, and unfortunately there is nothing we can do about it; just enjoy them (and the warm weather) while they last.

What can be blasted are magnolia buds and camellia flowers; because we are at the edge of their hardiness and they bloom so early, they have not evolved to withstand a cold snap after they start to open.  Again, nothing to do but hope it doesn’t happen next year.  There are hardier forms being developed, so if you’d like to put one of these in and are worried about this, let me know, and I can steer you towards hardier forms.

Warmer March days are also good for weeding (yes, weeding) and other spring clean-up chores.