March in the Deep South Texas Garden

Huisache, citrus, and yuccas are all blooming in the Lower Rio Grande Valley so it's high gardening season around here!   Here's my guide for March gardens tasks in deep south Texas:Rose growers prune around Valentines Day:  If you grow modern hybrid roses, cut them back to 18-24”.   Antique or “found” roses are simply pruned to fit the space; try not to remove more than 1/3 of any cane (or branch).   Do not prune spring-blooming climbing roses until after they bloom.   If course, remove any dead canes.  f

• If adding roses to your landscape is in this years plan, this is the last best month to do that!    Any existing roses should have been pruned in February.     The main exception is spring-blooming, climbing roses.   Wait to prune them until after they bloom. 
• If you haven't cut back your woody shrubs that have been looking leggy, do it in the next week or two.   Some, such as Firebush (Hamelin patens), Thyraxis, Shrimp Plant, Porter Weed, Turk's Cap , Carissa I cut almost to the ground.   Others, such as lantana, LIttle John bottlebrush, and Vitex,  I try trim back 1/3 of the over-tall branches.   This encourages branching making for a fuller, lusher plant. I shred most of the shrubs that I trim with my beloved electric chipper/shredder.    It makes a wonderful fresh mulch.    The one change since this photo is that everyone using it wears safety glasses!   But as you can see, it is easy enough for a supervised child to feed.   
  
   
• Trim back or divide ornamental grasses.  
• Cut poinsettias down to 12 inches.   After this, encourage branching by pinching out new buds after each three leaves.   
• Continue to collect and shred leaves for ground cover and to compost.   My electric shredder is below.  It is a string shredder and works well for the cost.   But, the next time I will buy one with some metal blades.   I do love the ease of an electric appliance.  Right now, I either shred and chip where I'm going to use the leaves or mulch OR I do it over a sheet and carry it to its end home. 
  
• This is a great time to apply a layer of compost and / or mulch to all your planting beds. 
• March is a wonderful month to replant large pots with either a mass of one item or a mixture of different items.    Be sure to refresh the potting soil when your replant.   

PLANT: 

• Trees:   The best time to plant shade trees in the LRGV has passed.  The stress of high winds and high temperatures could  negatively effect any tree planted now.  If it is possible, it is best to wait until next October or November to add trees to your landscape.  
• Palm Trees:  A palm tree is a monocot or grass that thrives with warm (okay, HOT) temperatures.   Now is beginning the best months to plant palm trees
• Shrubs:  Plant all shrubs.  
• Vegetables:  green beans, radishes, peppers,  summer squash, tomato, zucchini.    
  
• Herbs:  basil, catnip, dill, fennel, lavendar, mint (in a pot to contain the roots), mustard, oregano, parsley, rosemary, thyme.  
• Flowers from seed:  ageratum, alyssum, calendula, dianthus, geraniums, kalanchoe, larkspur, snapdragons, stocks, sunflowers, vinca (periwinkle), zinnia. 
• Flowers from transplants: dianthus, ice plant, geraniums, kalanchoes, marigold, petunias, ruellia (Mexican petunia), salvia, sunflowers, zinnia
• Flowers from cuttings:  geranium, ice plant, kalanchoe, ruellia
• Rose bushes
• Vegetable Planting Date Sources:  Texas Extension Service and the Old Farmers Almanac .

FERTILIZE:

• Roses.   Include a systemic insecticide if you grow grafted roses.   Found or Antique roses are supposed to take care of themselves. 
• Acid fertilizer for your acid loving plants like gardenias. 
• Add some inches of high-quality compost to your vegetable beds before you plant.  
• After trimming, I like to apply a few inches of compost around shrubs. 
• Fertilize daylilies for bigger blooms.  

Is It Spring Yet?

With the warm winter we are enjoying, its tempting to take on Spring gardening tasks, like pruning, earlier than we should.   Cutting back your woody ornamentals does a couple of things: it tells the plant it's time to begin growing again and it leaves them susceptible to freeze damage.    Check the last freeze date in your area before beginning to prune   When I searched online for the last freeze date for Harlingen, I got anything from January 31 to February 17.    Tradition is that when the mesquites begin to leaf out, winter is over.

I'm biding my time by brushing up on pruning best practices - both online and with Doug Welsh's Texas Garden Almanac

The articles in this month-by-month guide are organized by when they are most pertinant.   All the information and advice is science-based.   Reading the month's chapter just prior to that month reminds me what to be aware of in my garden.  

Back to pruning . . .   There are multiple reasons to prune a plant

• to control its size
• for the plants health
• for better flowers and fruit
• and to train it into a particular shape, such as an espalier. 

Check back for some specific tips on proper pruning.  For now, exercise patience and wherever you live, wait until the chance of freezing weather has passed.

Time to Prune Roses

As I was listening to Neil Sperry's radio show this morning, he reminded me that it's time to prune roses in the Rio Grande Valley. He says that roses are best pruned before they put out their first spring flush. When I checked today, over half of my roses had swollen buds.

I only grow a few roses and they are all antiques. On the patio are pots of 'Margaret Merril' (above) and 'Gruss an Aachen'. They receive a half-day of sun (along with a full day of our strong Valley winds), yet they bloom for months. Pictured at left, 'Adam', is a short climber with double salmon-pink blooms. Believed to be the first of the Tea roses, it dates back to 1838. My 'Adam' had a number of blooms today before I took the pruners to it.

Before you begin pruning, make sure your trimmers are nice and sharp. Remove the dead and diseased canes first. Now, you will want to remove 1/3 to 1/2 of the remaining growth. Choose a bud that points to the outside of the rose bush and make an angled cut slightly above it. When you prune, more time should been spent deciding where to prune than actually pruning. Take your time and you will end up with a nicely shaped rose.

All of my roses are continual bloomers. If you have a rose that blooms once a year, you will want to wait until after it blooms before you prune. According to the Antique Rose Emporium, "roses that bloom but once annually are best pruned after they have bloomed. Their flowers come from wood that has been hardened over a winter".

Rose trimmings are the only plant materials that never go into the compost pile. I either place mine in the garbage or burn them in the chiminea.

If you want to read more about pruning and the care of roses, the Peninsular Rose Club has detailed instructions on their website.