March: Works On The Site

2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38

March loves to be mischievous: it will suddenly get warmer, streams will run, primroses will hatch, then suddenly clouds will suddenly come, it will snow, cover the ground, frost will hit. It would seem, what kind of work can there be on the site? You have to sit at home, wait for the weather to “settle down”. In fact, you can, of course, wait, but there is something that needs to be done in March

Treating trees

After the snow has melted, special attention should be paid to the trees, more precisely, to their bark. Take a close look at all the trees in your garden to make sure the bark is not damaged or cracked. Treat all wounds that you find on trunks and branches with garden varnish, then wrap with several layers of film. Do not remove the tape from the film until the onset of stable heat, as the warm sun during the day and frost at night can lead to the appearance of new cracks.

If hollows appeared in the trees, then you also need to get rid of them. This is not difficult to do. First of all, you need to clean the hollow of dead wood, disinfect (you can simply treat it with copper sulfate), then pour a mixture of brick chips with cement mortar into the hollow.

Pruning and grafting

On any fine day, you can do tree pruning, including simply forming a crown, thinning it, removing frostbitten, dry and diseased branches. Process the cut site immediately, you can paint over with ordinary oil paint.

At the same time, the planned vaccinations can be made, because the earlier this operation is carried out, the faster and without the more painful the grafted material will grow together with the stock.

Destruction of pests

In March, it's time to do this, since it is too early for harmful insects to wake up and have time to harm the plants. First of all, it is advisable to install trapping belts, then check if there are any dried fruits left from last year, if there are any, remove them, and also remove leaves that have not flown around.

It is advisable to cover the soil in the near-stem circles, as well as under various bushes, with a dense and thick layer of straw, manure, humus. This will create an obstacle for pests wintering in the ground, it will be extremely difficult for them to get out, which will lead to their death.

Whitewash

Well, immediately, after pruning trees, removing last year's fruits and leaves, it is advisable to start whitewashing the trees. Thus, you will protect the trunks from sunburn.

We carry out feeding

After thawing the ground, we choose a fine day so that, according to the forecast, there will be no precipitation in the coming days. Then carefully sprinkle saltpeter on the surface in the dosages indicated on the package. Why is it important that there is no rainfall? Saltpeter dissolves very quickly and, together with sediments, will easily and quickly penetrate deep into the ground, most likely below the roots. And this means that we will spend feeding in vain, and the plants will not get nutrients. It's the same with urea. It also dissolves easily. Please note that when feeding with urea, it must be lightly covered with earth, you can simply mix it with the soil using a rake.

The second feeding is carried out at the stage of budding, also either with saltpeter or urea. If the first time you fed with saltpeter, then fertilize the second time with urea. And vice versa.

We remove the covering material

March is the time when you need to free your plants from additional protection from the cold. First of all, you need to free young trees from excess soil if you additionally added their roots for the winter.

Then gradually, as it warms, remove the covering material from the rest of the plants, including the rose bushes. But do it gradually, at first just open for a few hours, then for the whole day, finally, completely remove the covering material.