The March Garden by David Y. Goodman UF/IFAS Marion County Master Gardener
T
he spring drives me on like a shot of espresso and a cattle prod. Everywhere there are things that need doing. Grass to cut, trees to feed, seeds to plant, beds to dig, weeds to pull, mulch to drop, and watering to do. And speaking of watering, this is when things get tough. The warm weather tells your plants “grow!” and at the same time, our lack of rainfall says “stop!” I’ve lost some good plants by letting them dry out in spring while I was out of town or caught up in work. Mulch, rain barrels, and shade are your friends. Bare ground loses water rapidly. The answer to protecting a tree from drought stress might be as easy as planting some good groundcover around its base and applying a good layer of mulch. If you’re trying to maintain a lawn, now is the time to fertilize. Organic amendments are available, though expensive. There are alternatives to grass,
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however. I once saw a lovely driveway island planted with variegated sweet potato vines. No mowing—and you could eat plenty of roots in the fall. Be sure to feed your trees this month, particularly your fruit trees. Proper nutrition lowers drought stress and improves yields. My favorite amendments include compost, cow and chicken manure, and weed teas. To make a “weed tea,” simply fill a bucket or barrel with some water and drop in your soft weeds and trimmings. The weeds rot away into liquid compost, providing a good-bacteria- and nutrient-rich broth that is an effective, not-too-strong organic fertilizer. Be sure to use weeds that have not yet seeded. In the forefront of many minds right now is the vegetable garden. Time is running out. Last month was the month for peas, broccoli, cabbages, and other cool-weather veggies— this month it’s time for watermelons, beans, squash, corn, cucumbers, and okra, too, if you’re into that sort of thing. One interesting crop for this area is cassava. Known as “yuca” in Hispanic cuisine—and more familiarly to others as the source of the desert “tapioca,” Cassava (Manihot esculenta) thrives in our hot summers and requires little care. A root vegetable, it grows from stem cuttings placed in the ground in
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March. They rapidly shoot to the sky, reaching as high as 12’ before frosts knock them out. In fall, you simply chop down the tall, spreading canes with a machete and dig up the base of the plant to uncover the roots, which can then be peeled and boiled or fried. Make sure you cook them well, though, since they contain cyanide that needs to be cooked out before consumption. The leaves are high in protein and can be cooked like collards, though I think they taste even better. Keep an eye on your ornamentals and edibles in March since the bugs are on their way back. One way to avoid getting too pestered by insects is to interplant different varieties rather than going for mass plantings. A wide range of plants growing together is less attractive to pests than a monoculture—this phenomenon is something we should already observe from nature. Just stop by the side of a weedy gully and start counting the species—you’ll be amazed by the diversity. Planning your landscape and garden the same way will create a web of species with different pests, different nutritional needs and different benefits … you’re bound to have success in one area even if you fail in another … and no matter where you look, you’ll find lots of green. God bless—and happy gardening!
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