March has a long To Do List for us!
March is here and Spring is finally in sight! This month we’ll be making all the final preparations for the spring and summer growing season. In this month’s column, we’ll talk about those preparations and more.
Lawn Maintenance
Before you begin the lawn maintenance season, it’s a great idea to first check/replace the vital parts and fluids of your mower. Here are some of the things you should check.
1. Spark Plug – unscrew your spark plug from the engine, being careful to not damage the plug as you take it out. Once you do, examine the plug for corrosion and residue. If it’s pretty dirty, replace it. Take the plug with you when you go to buy the replacement.
When you put the new plug, be careful not to overtighten the plug as you screw it in.
2. Idle/drive cable – this cable and the transmission cable (on some self-propelled models) should be checked for integrity. If you observe frayed wire, then replace the cable.
3. Gas – I advise to empty the gas tank if you didn’t use a product like “Stabil” in the gas over the winter. Condensation forms on the inside of your gas tank through the winter months. This results in condensation mixing in with the gas. This is not good for the engine. It is best to either use a product like Stabil which helps the condensation problem or empty the tank and put new gas in.
4. Oil – If you haven’t changed your mower’s oil, it is best to get that done before using the mower again. Empty the oil from the mower and replace with new oil. It is best to use an oil that is specifically designed for lawnmower engines.
5. Mower blade – It is best to remove the blade this time of year and sharpen them before they start cutting grass again. I advise sharpening them a few times each season. If you are uncertain how to do this, you can take the blade to most mower shops and they will do it for you for a small fee. If your blade looks damaged, then go ahead and buy a new one to replace it.
6. Nuts and bolts – Look over your mower good to check all the nuts and bolts to make sure they are fastened properly. The vibration of a mower can cause a bolt to loosen. Tighten them back down as needed.
If you can perform these tasks prior to beginning the new mowing season, your mower should hold up well over the entire season!
7. The season’s first mow should happen the first or second week of March. For the first mow, we want to mow it short. Do not scalp the lawn, but mow it shorter than usual. Doing this achieves two things: 1) your turf will come out of dormancy faster as sunlight is allowed to hit the soil surface, heating up the root system of the grass, and 2) Weeds will grow in March and the worst thing we can do is allow those weeds to seed out and create more weeds. So keep it mowed this month even though your turf may not be growing much.
Landscape Maintenance
1. Cut back the ornamental grasses. Ornamental grasses can look awesome, but if you don’t cut them back you may have trouble keeping them so nice. So many times the center of an ornamental grass dies out and you’re left with blades surrounding a vacant center. Triming them back to begin the growing season gives that center more sunlight, and a better chance of redevelopment.
2. Trim those Roses! It is best to trim roses when it is not hot. So this is a good month to trim them as March stays relatively cool. Remember to trim at a 45 degree angle with roses. With hybrid shrub roses, a shrub trimmer can be used.
3. Hydrangeas – cut them back or no? It’s a choice but it is important to know the result of the choice before you do. While Hydrangeas tend to look a bit unsightly coming out of winter dormancy, if you cut them back you may end up with fewer blooms and wait longer to see those blooms. What looks like dead stems coming out of the center are not actually dead. The plant will reclaim those stems and the first blooms of the season will come from these stems. And they’ll come out sooner than if you trimmed.
4. If you have Live Oak trees, March is the month of the Live Oak molt, where the tree will shed every single leaf it has while growing new ones at the same time. This makes for a messy march and can interfere with your turf’s emergence if the leaves are left standing on the lawn. This period will last about three weeks. It is best to gather the leaves weekly and not wait until it’s over to collect them. You would be amazed at how many leaves they will drop.
5. Do NOT hack your Crape Myrtles!! I know, I know, you’ve seen this done to Crape Myrtles every year for decades. But the science says that cutting them back severely as we see (hence the term “hack”) prevents the tree’s limbs from development and maturing. Due to that issue, the limbs can become easy to break in the spring thunderstorms. Trim Crape Myrtles just like we trim all other trees.
6. It is best not to trim Oak trees from March through June. This is the period of time where Oak Wilt is spread and having fresh cuts on a tree leaves it exposed to this disease. There is a decent chance that trimming your Oaks during this time would not result in Oak Wilt. But why risk it? The wise move is to forego the trimming until after June.
Spring flowers!
Don’t do it. Just don’t do it. Not until April 1 or after!
I have seen too many times homeowners buying $300-$500 in annual flowers, prep the beds and plant them, and a week later they’re dead because we had a hard frost. Wait until April 1 or after to plant those annuals as by that date we’ve seen our last frost. Relax and watch them grow!!
Sprinkler check
I’ve said it for several months this cold season, I’ll say it again. It is good to test your sprinkler system to make sure all heads, drips, etc, are operating properly. Turn on each zone, taking a few minutes to observe any issues, and correct those as you go. Doing this now goes a long way in making the spring and summer more successful.
