Third Nav - Monthly Gardening Guide
 

 

 

 

Things to Do in March

 March is the start of a new growing season and it will pay to be prepared.

 

Planning ahead for this years vegetable garden.

 

     Not long from now we will be outside getting our gardens ready for another year of sweat, tears, and vegetables, and with the proper preparation tired backs and lack luster crops can be a thing of the past. In the April edition of the Ag News we will be covering garden preparation, garden techniques, and planting schedules that will limit the stress and hard work behind home vegetable gardening.

     Ag News can be picked up at the CCE Allegany/Cattaraugus Buildings and in select stores across these counties. If you have trouble locating a copy of Ag News or would like more info about it contact Kabel Kellogg @ (716)699-2377 ext.125 or kck57@cornell.edu.

 Yellow Spotted Salamander

 If you are out in a wooded area or near small ponds soon after a steady rain, look for the elusive yellow spotted salamander (up to 6" long!). This "mole-type" salamander emerges for a short time in early spring after a steady rain (http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/narcam/idguide/ambymacu.htm).

*It's Spring cleaning time (for the yard and landscape, that is)! Rake up leaves and winter debris (which are loaded with phosphorus) away from paved surfaces and storm sewers.

*Now is a good time to cut down ornamental grasses and perennials that remained in the garden as winter interest.

*Prune blueberries and raspberries to increase air circulation and reduce stem and leaf disease problems (http://www.fruit.cornell.edu/Berries/genprodhtml/berrycult.html).

*Continue to prune shade trees, fruit trees, and summer flowering shrubs (http://www.treesaregood.com/treecare/pruning_young.aspx). Remove damaged or broken branches.

*Get soil samples ready for pH testing, or full lab analysis, and beat the late spring rush.

*Try to keep off your lawn when it is wet or frozen to prevent damage to grass plants. More lawn care help: (http://www.gardening.cornell.edu/homegardening/scene1799.html).

*Turn your compost pile. Add manure to speed the decomposition process. More information at Cornell Composting: (http://compost.css.cornell.edu/Composting_Homepage.html).

*If you have maple trees in your yard try making your own maple syrup! Sugar Maple, also known as Acer Saccharum works best, but you can also tap Red Maple "Acer Rubrum", Silver Maple "Acer Saccharinum", and Norway Maple "Acer platanoides".

*More information on Maple Syrup and New York State Maple tour can be found at (http://maple.dnr.cornell.edu/).

*Check seed packets for sowing dates for veggie and flower seeds. The last frost date in our area is usually the last week in May to the first week in June. Count back from this date. See Cornell's vegetable growing guide for tips on specific vegetables (http://www.gardening.cornell.edu/homegardening/scene0391.html).

*Always use sterile growing mix for starting seeds; this reduces problems with damping-off fungi. Sterilize used potting soil in the microwave, 90 seconds/2.2 lbs.

*Horticultural oil applications at dormant rates are usually applied March through early May, depending on what plants need to be treated and weather conditions. Check product labels and call the office for further details.

*Northern parts of the state have experienced TREE DEFOLIATION. About every 10 years Forest Tent Caterpillar populations can build up to the point that they eat every leaf on forest and shade trees. Look for egg masses (shiny, dark brown egg clusters about 1 wide wrapped around small twigs) on maple, cherry, crabapple, and apple trees. Prune or scrape off.

*Resume a fertilizer schedule for your indoor plants.

*Now is a good time to air-layer houseplants such as dracaena, dieffenbachia, and rubber plants; especially if they have grown too tall and leggy.

*If bird feeding is a favorite activity, consider planting trees or shrubs that provide good cover and small fruits for your feathered friends. Crabapple, hawthorn, holly, and dogwood are all good choices. Learn more from Cornell's Lab of ornithology (http://www.birds.cornell.edu/programs/AllAboutBirds/AttractingBirds/Landscaping/).

 

 

March Pests and Diseases

March's Pests

*During dry summers, Dutch Elm Disease (DED) kills many American Elms (Ulmus Americana) in the wild and along roads and highways. Due to dry conditions and compacted soils, these trees succumb to the disease quickly. Trees in better soils may not be affected. However, roaming bark beetles or potential root grafts (the

two means of DED spread), can still threaten healthy trees. Eliminate wild, dead, or diseased elms now that are within 700 feet of trees to be protected. Specimen trees showing yellowing or wilting foliage this summer should be treated immediately by a certified arborist.

*Watch for Multicolored Asian Lady Beetle (MALB) as they come out of their winter hiding places (http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/br/lbeetle/). There are no pesticides registered for control of lady beetles. They emerge on warm days in winter and early spring and gather around windows and lights. The Agricultural Research Service of the USDA has reported that Camphor (sold in drugstores as a gel) repels lady beetles when used with a light trap. Long term control is achieved by sealing the cracks or crevices in siding or rooms that face south

(http://muextension.missouri.edu/explore/hesguide/housing/gh5936.htm). For more information on ladybeetles go to this website: (http://www.nysipm.cornell.edu/publications/ladybird/default.asp). For now, collect the beetles and release them in a protected spot outdoors. They will help keep your garden free of aphids and other soft bodied insect pests.

*Black Knot is a fungus that grows on plum and cherry Trees

(http://plantclinic.cornell.edu/FactSheets/black_knot/blacknot.htm). All of the growths should be cut off or remove the entire tree if it is too extensive. Branches should be pruned 8-12" beyond the fungus. Sterilizing your pruners between cuts will help prevent infecting new wood as you cut. Do not leave a branch stub when pruning, but cut back to the next closest twig or branch. The black knot fungus gall (the hard black growth) takes two years to develop. In the first year it just looks like a swelling or split in the branch. If you do not cut these out, more galls will develop. You can still cut them out this year. Try to get to them before the leaf and flower buds open.

*The Striped Skunk becomes active from mid February to March when their breeding season begins. They will begin to search for protected places, such as underneath porches and decks, to make their den. 6 to 7 young (kits) are born in May or June. Seal possible entry points before they become a home. If you are uncertain whether an entry site is active, watch for two days. Place newspaper in the hole or staple cardboard over it. Use live traps (baited with marshmallows and molasses) if there is activity in and out.

*VLB egg sites. Inspect twigs of Viburnum for Viburnum Leaf Beetle egg laying sites. Prune off infested twigs and dispose of (http://www.entomology.cornell.edu/Extension/DiagnosticLab/IDLFS/VLBfactsheet2003.html). Leave one group of eggs to monitor egg hatch and larvae development as one of Cornell's Citizen Scientists (http://www.hort.cornell.edu/VLB/). Select tolerant Viburnum varieties such as Mapleleaf, Wayfaring Tree, and Blackhaw Viburnum. Resistant varieties include Burkwood, Fragrant, Korean Spice, Judd, Doublefile, Leatherleaf, and Sieboldi

Viburnum.

Disclaimer - This publication may contain pesticide recommendations that are subject to change at any time. These recommendations are provided only as a guide. It is always the pesticide applicator's responsibility, by law, to read and follow all current label directions for the specific pesticide being used. Due to constantly changing labels and product registrations, some of the suggestions given in this writing may no longer be legal by the time you read them. If any information in these recommendations disagrees with the label, the recommendation must be disregarded. No endorsement is intended for products mentioned, nor is criticism meant for products not mentioned. The author and Cornell Cooperative Extension assume no liability resulting form the use of these guidelines.