Garden clubs say it’s time to spruce up for spring
In like a lion, out like a lamb? March serves as more than a transition month.
It’s also preparation time for the rites of spring: Greener grass, blooming flower beds and promising gardens.
“This is definitely the time to get ready,” said Jill Barger, a recent president of the Butler Garden Club. “A lot goes into it.”
Barger emphasized the importance of cutting ornamental grass early, pruning clematis plants and cutting back shrubs. Pruning clematis plants promotes reblooming.
Butterfly bushes and beauty berries can be pruned “6 to 8 inches from the ground this month,” Barger said. “I rake all of the grass, get out the thatch that’s in there. It rejuvenates the lawn.
“Raking the lawn also gets rid of the deer pellets. You want to mulch as early as you can, before the plants can wake up.”
Mulch should not touch tree trunks or the crowns of flowers.
Barger added that pruning and fertilizing hydrangea bushes and flowers, along with fertilizing roses, can be done in March as well.
Mary Reefer, of the Southern Butler County Garden Club, emphasized fallen branches; thick layers of wet, matted leaves; and dead annuals should be cleared from one’s yard and garden bed.
At the same time, last autumn’s fallen leaves and plant stems should not be removed.
“They have been a habitat for all sorts of wildlife over the winter, including important pollinators,” Reefer said. “Wait to do this until it is consistently 50 degrees or more to allow these beneficial insects to emerge from their winter hideout.”
Bare patches in the lawn can be seeded now to allow spring rains to do the watering.
When it comes to preparing gardens, seeds can be placed in pots and put out on a deck, as opposed to being planted in the ground too early.
“Deer and rabbits are very aggressive in their feeding,” Barger said. “Put seeds on a window sill and they will thrive with sunlight and water. They get little nutrition from the soil.
“Plant six weeks before the last frost of the spring.”
Reefer expects the last frost to occur around May 26. Gardeners should have some floating row covers, old sheets or towels ready in case of any unexpected frosts once plants have been set out. Plastic tarps should not be used.
Cool season crops (peas, spinach, lettuce, radishes, carrots) can be directly sowed. Benchmark for soil temperature is 50 degrees for these crops.
Soil temperature should be 60 degrees and above for warm-season crops like corn, squash, tomatoes and peppers.
Reefer suggests doing a soil test “to tell if your garden beds or lawns are lacking in any essential nutrients for healthy growth.” Those kits are available through the Penn State Extension website.
She added early spring is “a great time to top-dress your gardens with a couple of inches of compost or aged manure before the plants begin to emerge.”
Garden tools should be cleaned, sharpened and oiled. Lawnmower blades should be sharpened and the engine serviced.
The Butler Garden Club, which has 35 members, will celebrate its 100th birthday in 2029. It is the oldest garden club in Pennsylvania. The Southern Butler County Garden Club has 42 members. Both clubs meet once a month.
Karen Foust is a member of both clubs.
“We work together,” Foust said. “One club meets during the daytime, the other at night. Both do a lot of gardening work in the community and serve the public.”
Among the clubs’ activities are maintaining the community garden at Graham Park in Cranberry Township; working with the Cares Program out of Mars in filling bird feeders, bird baths and doing weeding; donating a Christmas tree to the Cranberry Township Municipal Center; and putting up Blue Star markers at VA centers to honor veterans, along with working with veterans in maintaining a vegetable garden at the VA hospital in Butler.
