March Garden To-Do List for the Pacific Northwest

March is a tremendous month for garden inspiration . There are so many changes we begin to discover here in the Pacific Northwest . The cold wet day of winter are still around , but the amount of daylight addition , and so does our ability to be out in the garden . Early spring fugacious plants such as reticulated irises ( Iris reticulata , zone 5–8 ) , daffodil ( Narcissusspp . and cvs . , Zones 3–9 ) , and masses of snowdrops ( Galanthus nivalis , Zones 3–8 ) are on full display . Their bright , gay colors awaken our sleepyheaded winter senses and remind everyone that spring is here . While it is still a plastered fourth dimension of year , there are many thing that can be tackled now in the garden . Here are a few task that will keep your garden bet proficient and your unsatisfied wintertime organic structure active .

Cut back old perennial growth

March is when I start doing my perennial layer work . I ’ve used a few dissimilar methods in my garden and my clients ’ gardens with great success . I wish to go out all the premature year ’ growth on perennial until other springtime . During winter , the old development help protect the crowns of the plants from freezing temperature and occasional snowfall . It also provides a place to overwinter for louse , which in turn supply food for birds . In March , I ’ve begin doing the “ chop and drop ” method in my perennial bed . Instead of entirely remove the nutrients of the previous year ’s growth , I put it back into the garden beds . Simply chop the one-time perennial stuff down to 2 - to-4 - inch segments , and leave it in the garden to further decompose as natural mulch . To create a neater and more uniform visual aspect , and to prevent leaves and stems from being scattered by the wind , I like to cover this fabric with a thin layer of compost 2 to 3 inch abstruse . It will all become with child natural compost as the growing season proceed .

Lift and divide snowdrops

If you love wintertime - blossom snowdrops , now is a great fourth dimension to raise and divide them in your garden . This method acting of division is call “ division in the green . ” Lift and divide your cluster after the prime come out to slice but before the leaf whole disappear . This is really the right fashion to increase your garden ’s collection , as snowdrops do not grow as well from fall - implant dormant bulbs . This is also a bully way to increase your collection if you have some of the rarer and harder - to - find cultivar or metal money such as the multipetaled ‘ Flore Pleno ’ , the larger gargantuan Anemone quinquefolia ( G. elwesii , Zones 3–8 ) , or the broad - leaved green snowdrop ( G. woronowii , Zones 3–8 ) .

Cut back Group 3 clematis

Italian clematis ( C. viticellaand cvs . , geographical zone 4–11 ) and scarlet clematis ( C. texensisand cvs . , Zones 4–8 ) are in Group 3 . This group is cut back in late winter to a couple or two of buds , approximately 8 to 12 column inch from the ground . Since this radical flowers on new wood , the flowers will typically be at eye level when they bloom in summer . If you have a very large specimen or want a clematis to cover a large area , you’re able to leave pruning Group 3 until later , but be aware that the flowers will be higher on the vine than if you prune them in the wintertime . I have a endearing ‘ Princess Diana ’ clematis ( Clematis texensis‘Princess Diana ’ , Zones 4–9 ) that I maturate through a large tree diagram paeony ( Paeonia suffruticosacv . , Zones 3–8 ) . Group 3 clematis are not bad for originate on little trees and bush , especially if those plant life bloom sooner in the time of year . The later - blooming clematis will append summer interest group to a tree and shrub that has already flowered .

Prune or correct winter-damaged evergreens

Our evergreen shrubs and tree diagram take a beating when we get the occasional wintertime snow here in the Pacific Northwest . Now is the time to care any wintertime damage before the newfangled outgrowth bulge out . There are really two options to repair the wintertime hurt . you may just remove the damage branch(es ) from your plants , or you may tie the branches with natural garden twine to even up them back into shape . The natural twine will not be visible inside the bush and will entertain the limb in position for the grow season . Best of all , it will slowly disintegrate , palliate the need to polish off it after the repair study is completed .

Start sweet pea seeds

If you are a newfangled nurseryman or have a young nurseryman in your household , now is a keen time to start angelical pea plant ( Lathyrus odoratus , yearly ) . There are so many to choose from in nurseries and garden center . take between heirloom varieties , brightly coloured varieties , and to a great extent sweet-scented smorgasbord . As a monitor , make certain to soak your seeds for a few hours or overnight to ensure that they rehydrate before planting . If you stagger unmediated seeding for the first few weeks of March , you will be reinforce with loads of bloom that start in May and last to June . ensure to time out your seeding schedule so that many are blooming for Mother ’s Day in May .

— Jason Jorgensen is a landscape designer in Seattle .

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March Garden To-Do List for the Mountain West

March Garden To-Do List for the Northeast

March Garden To-Do List for the Northern Plains

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i.reticulata

While we’re still surrounded by dormant trees, shrubs, and perennials, March brings a swath of flowers from early spring bulbs such as ‘Katharine Hodgkin’ reticulata iris (Iris reticulata‘Katharine Hodgkin’, Zones 5–9).Photo: Jason Jorgensen

I like to keep perennial material that has been removed in the garden as a natural compost.Photo: Jason Jorgensen

Galanthus - Snowdrops plants

If you lift and divide your snowdrops every year, you may have a carpet of them blooming before you know it.Photo: Jason Jorgensen

Clematis viticella ‘Polish Spirit’

‘Polish Spirit’ clematis (Clematis viticella‘Polish Spirit’, Zones 3–11) is one Group 3 clematis that should be pruned back significantly, since flowers bloom on new growth.Photo: Michelle Gervais

snow on evergreens