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Gardening tasks to accomplish in March, other classes and eventsBy Tara McKnight Texas AgriLife Extension Service agent, horticulture, Wichita County Texas Here is a list of items that can be done in the month of March. --Still, be careful when planting flowers, you never know if it is going to freeze again. With our temperature extremes lately, it is better to be safe than sorry. You don't want to plant your entire landscape with flowers for the spring just to have them freeze out and you to have to replant them. --Pruning of evergreens and summer flowering trees and shrubs should be completed in early March. Prune spring flowering trees and shrubs as soon as they finish blooming. --Start hanging baskets of petunias, ferns and others for another dimension in landscape color later this month. --In North Texas there is still time to plant seeds of your favorite annuals in flats to be transplanted out-of-doors when danger of frost is past. --Select and order caladium tubers as well as geranium and coleus plants for late April and early May planting. Do not plant caladiums until soil temperature reaches 70 F. --Fertilize roses every 4 to 6 weeks from now until September. --Beware of close-out sales on bare-root trees and shrubs. The chance of survival is rather low on bare-root plants this late in the season. Your best bet at this time of year is to depend on container-grown or balled-and-burlapped plants for landscape use. Upcoming classes and events Wichita County Master Gardeners will be hosting the Burkburnett Garden Seminar March 8 from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. The seminar will be held at Central Baptist Church, located at 814 Tidal in Burkburnett. It is open to anyone interested in knowing more about vegetable gardening, using ornamental plants in containers, some great perennials for our area and organic pest control. Admission is a suggested donation of $5 per person, which will benefit the Burkburnett Grace Ministries. Speakers are: Tim Hunter, agronomist for SAFB; Katherine Smith, Smith's Gardentown Farms; Martha Davis, River Bend Nature Center; and Rex Bristol, Burkburnett Garden Club. A plant swap will also be available to all who are interested. Bring a plant to swap for another. Sundance Irrigation CEU's with Jerry Lewis as the instructor will be here on March 14 and 15 to give two classes for anyone who is interested in the opportunity to receive some irrigation CEU's. The class on March 14 will give you 8 CEU's toward the following licenses: Backflow, Irrigator, Customer Service Inspector, Water Operator, Water Treatment and Waste Water. This class will be held at the Texas AgriLife Extension Office in the Courthouse Annex at 600 Scott, Suite 200 in Wichita Falls. The class on March 15 will also give you 8 CEU's toward Backflow Prevention Assembly Tester License. This class will be held at City Parks Maintenance and Cemetery Office at 204 Van Buren in Wichita Falls. The annual gauge accuracy test is included. These classes will be from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m., for both days. Each class will cost $125. To register for one or both courses you can go to www.irrigationtraining.com or call 1-800-828-9275. Space is limited, so register today. Pre-registration is required and classes are subject to cancellation if the minimum of participants is not met. Your garden and landscape questions are always welcome. You may either contact me at our county Extension office, 940-716-8610, or by e-mail, tcmcknight@ag.tamu.edu. You are always encouraged to visit the Wichita County Master Gardner website at www.overthegardengate.org. Another great website to visit for very useful garden hints and answers is http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/. This article, along with every article, will also be featured on www.joetomwhite.com 24 hours a day under county agents.
Date: 8/8/08 Advertisement
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