Breaking ground

THIS MONTH

We had a taste of spring, and it is amazing how fast our gardens responded. Some bulbs and the flowering quince, camellias and winter honeysuckle are all in bloom. But now we may be back to winter. This roller-coaster of a winter can’t end soon enough for me.

Pay close attention to the weather. If we don’t get rain, water your plants, particularly prior to a cold snap. Moisture in the ground and in your plants helps them resist damage.

Many of us have winter-damaged plants, and everyone is ready to start pruning. Wait.

Some of the damage may be leaf burn; those leaves can fall off and the plants can still bloom.

(My rosemary is rebounding and beginning to bloom on stems I thought were dead.)

Hydrangeas don’t look great, and many gardenias were burned too. If they were damaged, we won’t have many blooms this summer, but let’s keep our fingers crossed and give them a chance to begin to grow. Same rule applies to azaleas. Give them a chance to grow and bloom, waiting to prune when you know for sure what’s dead.

Enjoy whatever blooms do make it.

There is still time to prune all those plants we normally prune in February. Get it done. Late pruning isn’t going to hurt, but in the case of flowering plants, if you prune after they leaf out, it delays the blooms.

Wait until after bloom to prune spring-blooming plants.

All fruit trees, roses and ornamental grasses need pruning every year.

Some summer-blooming shrubs, including butterfly bush, summer-blooming spirea and caryopteris, should be pruned every year. If you don’t prune these, they get leggy and don’t bloom as well. Other summer bloomers should be pruned only if needed. These include crapemyrtles, althea (Rose of Sharon), abelia and clethra.

Start planting your vegetable garden. Cool-season crops can be planted, including all the greens, cabbage, potatoes, onions, lettuce, broccoli and radishes. If you planted a late fall crop, some of those plants are rebounding now as well.

If your winter annuals survived, they are beginning to grow and even bloom. Fertilize them and enjoy the time they have left before planting summer bedding plants next month.

Many nurseries have a few pansies, dianthus and even early petunias to add a little bit of color to the landscape.

As spring bulbs bloom, a little fertilizer will help them. Let the foliage grow for at least six weeks after they bloom so they can set energy for next year’s flowers.

MARCH LESSON

While the jury is still out on many plants, we have seen winter damage, including split stems, dried top growth, dead flower buds and dead limbs on plants.

Splits in the stems of shrubs and trees usually occur during the transition from fall to winter or from winter to spring. When the sap is flowing and we get cold too quickly or too late, the stems can freeze and then the outer bark splits.

Let plants begin growing, but as you are pruning this spring to early summer, you will need to prune out these areas - unless you think the damage is superficial. These split limbs usually die with the onset of hot, dry weather.

Big-leaf hydrangeas with the colorful pink or blue flowers set their flower buds in late summer to fall for the following summer’s bloom. They usually look like dead sticks in the winter landscape, and this year some of them really are.

The top buds on hydrangeas produce the largest blooms, but even if they are damaged there can be buds farther down the stem that can bloom. However, if all the new growth on your plants begins at the ground line, you won’t have any flowers this year unless you are growing the re-blooming forms.

Give plants time to grow, but if you do f ind dead plants, take heart: There are many new ones to try. New plants are arriving daily at nurseries.

Janet Carson is a horticulture specialist for the University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service. Write to her at 2301 S. University Ave., Little Rock, Ark. 72204 or email her at

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