For those living in the North the March winds can do more damage to plants than the hard freezes of winter. Right now plants are moving from a dormant to an active state. Growth impulses take place, not in the roots, but in the buds, which are exposed to all changes in temperature. Azaleas, forsythia, and other early - flowering shrubs become active with the slightest rise in temperature.
Chill, drying winds can harm unprotected plants. Be careful, therefore, about uncovering plants too soon; many will have started growth. Sudden exposure at this time could be disastrous. Uncover gradually, leaving some protective covering until the new growth becomes a little more hardened.
Digging and soil preparation can begin just as soon as the frost is out of the ground. If the ground is at all workable, get your plowing or digging started. Light, sandy soils can be put into shape sooner than heavier soils.
Nearly all gardens need lime. If quantities of organic matter are used it is absolutely necessary. It neutralizes acids in the soil which result from decomposition of organic matter and other causes, thereby aiding bacterial action. Heavy clay soils are more friable (easier to break up) and their structure improved. Lime supplies plants with calcium; a lime deficiency in the plant will mean a deficiency in food value.
A heavy soil receiving quantities of organic matter requires from 40 to 50 pounds of lime to 1,000 square feet, or 2,000 pounds to the acre. A medium loam requires 30 pounds of lime, and a light, sandy soil, 20 to 25 pounds. This refers to agricultural lime, not to hydrated or builders lime. Agricultural lime can be used with seed, manure and most additive fertilizers without harm. Not so the other kind. Lime is best spread on the surface of the soil after the initial preparation, and worked into the surface. If you have doubts about
adding lime to your soil, test your soil for acidity. Send a sample to a private laboratory or utilize the services of your state agricultural experimental station.
In milder areas the first sowing of beets, carrots, radishes, turnip, spinach, and cabbage can be made. Rows spaced 12 to 20 inches apart are suitable for most crops. A little superphosphate in the bottom of the row will aid germination and initial growth. Onion sets or seeds can be planted now, too. Seeds produce the best onions but require a rich soil and more attention. Early peas of the smooth-seeded type may be sown now; the wrinkled type may be sown a little later.
Sow hardy annuals... sweet peas, cornflowers, larkspur, and poppies. Sweet peas need good soil preparation. The seeds are sown down the center of a foot-wide trench which is dug 18 inches deep and the soil mixed with compost. After sprouting, the seedlings are thinned out to stand 6 inches apart. Then wire, string, or twiggy branches are supplied to support the climbing vines.
If you dont sow larkspur, annual poppies, California poppies and sweet peas early so they can make their major growth in cool weather, you might as well give them up.For those living in the North the March winds can do more damage to plants than the hard freezes of winter. Right now plants are moving from a dormant to an active state. Growth impulses take place, not in the roots, but in the buds, which are exposed to all changes in temperature. Azaleas, forsythia, and other early - flowering shrubs become active with the slightest rise in temperature.
