Springtime is delightful anywhere, but especially on the Coast! Fruit trees are blooming, perennials are popping up and native azaleas are showing fabulous color along the riverbanks, ponds and maybe even in our gardens. What a glorious cacophony of visual beauty!
To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow. So, let’s get outdoors and enjoy spring weather as we smell the newly tilled soil, run our fingers through the dirt and get planting!
As you savor this new, vibrant season of watching the world come back to life, here are some tips to keep in mind:
- Plants started indoors in February now can be moved outside. Many plants can be directly sewn, as the soil has warmed up sufficiently to promote germination. Solanaceous plants like tomatoes, peppers and eggplant, usually planted early indoors, also can be transplanted. Although March 1 is the last frost day in South Mississippi, there’s still a chance of light freeze. Watch weather forecast closely and protect young plants.
- After the hard freeze and snow of January, tender, tropical plants may have died, and more hardy shrubs and trees may have been injured. If you haven’t already, you may cut back damaged plants.
Notice any new growth appearing now, maybe from the base of the plant or further up on the stem or branch? Cut just above this new growth to allow the plant to recover from winter’s freeze. Fertilize shrubs and mulch to help curtail weeds and conserve moisture.
- March is a good time to transplant perennials that may need separating. Plants growing in crowded conditions are subject to less flowering and more disease. Move them to another flower bed. Have too many of one variety? Share them with a friend, neighbor or garden club.
- Amendments added to new or existing beds should be watered and allowed three weeks to get established before introducing new plants. Soil microbes are at their highest numbers in newly amended beds; this process fights your plants for nutrients.
- Research has shown annuals thrive best when a slow-release fertilizer is added to surrounding soil at planting. Only use liquid fertilizer as needed later in the season as plants start to lose vitality.
- Herbs can be planted now for a long season of production. Be aware that some herbs do best in cooler weather. I was always disappointed when my dill would bolt before my cucumbers were large enough to pickle! To solve that problem, I harvested my dill early and either froze or dried it for use when (and if) my cucumbers were ready. Parsley is another example; it goes to seed when temperatures start to climb. Harvest throughout the growing season and save for later use.
