General
Gardening Tips:
• March ushers in the spring season and it's time
to get your garden into shape. It's time to mulch and edge
your garden beds and fertilize your existing plants.
• We recommend fertilizing your trees and shrubs with
Barretta's custom blended plant foods. Use Barretta
Flowering Plant Food for all your flowering plants and trees
(azaleas, rhododendrons, hydrangeas, cherries and dogwoods)
and Barretta Tree & Shrub Food for all your evergreens
and deciduous trees (hollies, boxwoods, yews, maples and
oaks). Barretta's custom blended plant foods contain slow-release
nitrogen, sulfate of potash, iron and other micro-nutrients
for overall plant growth and development.
• For all your new plantings, we recommend using Barretta
Starter Plant Food at the time of planting. This will encourage
root growth and help get the plant off to a vigorous start.
• Flowering cherries, peaches, plums and pears bloom
this month. Add one of these early spring bloomers to your
garden.
• Prune roses and cut back liriope and ornamental
grasses before new growth begins.
• If needed, now is the time to spray fruit trees,
roses and other trees and shrubs with a dormant spray. Dormant
spray should only be applied if the temperature is above
freezing. Dormant sprays are recommended if your plants
had a problem the previous year. Examples include hemlock
woolly adelgid, pine bark adelgid, eyounomous scale, spruce
mites and other pests. Since some dormant sprays are for
insects (Dormant Oil) and others are for diseases (Lime
Sulfur), and still others combine the two, we recommend
that you speak with one of our plant specialists about the
appropriate control for your particular plants.
• Plant pansies, violas and primroses for early spring
color in the landscape.
• Fertilize bulbs with a slow-release fertilizer such
as Barretta Flowering Plant Food as they emerge.
• Summer blooming bulbs such as gladiolus, cannas
and dahlias are now in stock.
• Divide and transplant perennials if needed. Barretta
has thousands of varieties of perennials to choose from
with fresh shipments arriving this month.
• Apply Preen, Amaze or Cockadoodle Doo 100% Organic
Corn Gluten Meal Earth-Friendly Weed Control to garden
beds to prevent weeds from germinating.
• J&P Roses are in stock at both Barretta Garden
Center locations. Plant now for beautiful color all summer
long.
• Plant early vegetables such as onion sets, rhubarb,
asparagus, lettuce, spinach, kale and potatoes.
• Start caladiums in pots indoors for deck and patio
color after danger of frost is over.
• It's time to start seeds indoors for summer annuals
and vegetables such as tomatoes, peppers, impatiens, zinnias,
etc.
Lawns:
• March is a great time to get your lawn into shape
by liming, seeding, fertilizing and preventing crabgrass
and other weeds. Basic tips are provided here, but for more
in depth instructions, please pick-up a copy of our brochure,
"Guide to Year Round Lawn Care" or see a member
of our staff.
• Seed the lawn with a good quality grass seed that
is suited for the conditions of your lawn.
• Fertilize your lawn with one of Barretta's custom
blended lawn foods. We recommend Barretta Premium for
your spring application. If you are seeding the lawn, we
recommend Barretta Select. Both of these products contain
slow-release nitrogen, sulfate of potash and Granusol Iron.
• If needed, lime the lawn to raise soil pH. Lawns
prefer a pH range of 6.2 - 6.8. If your tests show a level
lower than 6.0, or you have not limed the lawn in the past
two years, you should lime at the rate of 50 lb. of lime
per 1,000 square feet of lawn area. This will raise the
pH 1Ú/2 point. If you need to apply more lime, wait
six weeks between applications.
• Prevent crabgrass in the lawn by applying Crab-Ex
(Dimension) or TEAM (if not seeding) or a product containing
Tupersan (if seeding) in late March or early April.
• If you are not seeding, you can also prevent broadleaf
weeds in the lawn by applying Portrait in March.
House Plants:
• Feed houseplants with a good quality indoor plant
food such as Jack's Classic (water-soluble powder) or Osmocote
(slow-release granular).
• If needed, re-pot root bound houseplants to a larger
pot. Barretta stocks a full line of containers, including
terra cotta, wood, concrete, ceramic and plastic. Use Barretta
Potting Mix when repotting houseplants.
• Check the leaves of your houseplants for insects
or any other problems. If needed, bring in a representative
sample and one of our plant specialists will diagnose the
problem and recommend the appropriate control.
Additional Information:
For more information to help you garden more easily and
successfully, stop in the garden center and pick-up a copy
of the following bulletins:
• Spring Lawn Care
• Crabgrass Control
• Grub Control
• Deer Resistant Plants
• Fruit Tree Spray Program
• Preparing Vegetable or Flower Beds
• Moss and Algae in Lawns
• Pest Appearance Timetable
• Mulch, Soil & Stone Coverage
• Proper Planting Instructions
March Reminders:
• Barretta Garden Center's free informational seminars
continue through March on a wide variety of gardening topics.
Classes are held at both locations each Saturday morning,
so be sure to pick-up a full class schedule.
• Spring is upon us so make an appointment with one
of our landscape designers to make plans for a beautiful
spring landscape.
