10 Sonoma County Spring Gardening Tips
March is upon us, meaning spring has almost sprung in Sonoma County, and with that comes a new opportunity to plant the flourishing garden of your dreams. Whether you have a greenest of thumbs, prefer floras and fauna, or would rather just get your veggies from the produce section and enjoy them on a manicured lawn, we have tips for all of you budding horticulturists (pun intended).
March can continue to be rainy in Northern California. Because of this, plants may need careful monitoring, and need an according amount of supplemental water.
Watch out for snails! They are hatching in the garden now, and can be harmful to your plants.
During wet and cool conditions is the perfect time to dig up and replant any plants without causing transplant shock. Rake away leaves and mulch to let spring flowering bulbs and perennials push through, and then assess what may need replanting.
This is a great time of year to add trees and shrubs to your landscape. But take note of how large the tree or shrub will grow; you don’t want to plant something that will take over the area!
Give strawberries and raspberries an early start in well drained beds and containers, positioned in areas that will get 6-8 hours of sunlight a day.
Apple trees and prune trees will still need to be pruned come March. A good tip for this is, in addition removing dead branches, remove vertical branches as well, as they do not produce fruit, and eliminating these will allow sunlight to pass into the interior of the trees.
Now is the time to plant veggies from seed, including lettuce, spinach, radishes, peas, and other cool season crops.
When sowing radishes, spinach, beans, and peas, do so in wide rows. Scattering seed in a 6 to 10 inch wide band will yield more produce per square inch.
Newspaper and mulch can help discourage unwanted weeds. Layer mulch on top of newspaper to choke off any unwanted vegetation. By the end of the season, the dead vegetation, along with the newspaper, should have become compost. Tip: do not use colored newspaper, as it could be toxic.
Talk to a local gardener, seed grower, or neighbor to see what works best in your area. Not all gardens are the same; your surrounding community can help you to see your garden to fruition (again, pun intended).
