MICHELLE WILLARD, Post Staff Writer
Posted: Sunday, March 8, 2009 8:38 am

Spring hasn’t sprung yet, but now is the time to get your yard, garden and flowerbeds ready for the warm season.

UT/TSU Agricultural Extension Agent Mitchell Mote said this time of year isn’t about hard and fast dates as much as it is about wintry weather.

“Frost dates aren’t set,” he said, adding the chance of a freeze decreases the closer we get to May. For example, April 10 has a 50 percent chance that it could frost, while April 23 has a 90 percent chance that it will not frost.

He also said to look out for sales on gardening tools at local hardware stores this time of year.

With that in mind, get out your gardening gloves and prepare to get dirty with the Top 10 (11, because cabin fever has set in) dates to keep your garden and yard looking its best.

March
- The majority of cool-weather vegetable crops, like mustard, spinach, onions, Irish potatoes and radishes, can be planted in early March if the ground isn’t frozen.

- But before you get out the tiller, make sure it’s up to snuff by giving it and all your motorized tools a tune-up.

Mote recommends changing the oil, freshening up the gas, changing the air filter and sharpening the blades on the lawnmower before taking it out for its first spring spin.

- Early March is also a good time to fertilize woody plants.

Give your ornamental shrubs and shade trees the food they need to make it through spring.

- Now is also a good time to prune.

“This is the best time of year to do that,” Mote said, adding you can prune your fruit trees once the new growth starts, perennials until you see new shoots and all trees before the leaves return.

“When you can see better, you can make better decisions about what to remove. … It’s just a lot easier to do when you can see,” he said.

- Before you start planting for the season, it’s a good idea to have a soil test done especially if it’s a new bed, Mote said.

A basic soil test analyses the pH-level, as well as other nutrients like phosphorus, potassium, calcium and magnesium. Then a suggested fertilizer program can be developed according to the soil profile.

Mote said soil tests at the Extension office cost $7, and a representative sample is needed to develop a complete fertilizer program.

- Once you’ve got all the early March tasks checked off the list, it’s time to fertilize cool season grasses, like fescue and blue grass, with nitrogen. It’s best to get the fertilizer down by March 15.

- In late winter to early spring, crab grass is getting ready to pop up in your lawn, Mote said. So, when forsythia bushes bloom, get crap grass preventatives out on your lawn to keep it healthy and happy.

April
- Mote said to remember April 15 as the last day to apply spring fertilizers to your lawn. He said lawns should be fertilized lightly twice in the spring and once in the late summer.

- Mid-April is also a good time to plant summer blooming bulbs, like gladiolas, lilies, irises and dalias, once freeze warnings are passed, he said.
You can even continue to plant them at two-week intervals so they’ll bloom throughout the summer.

- Late April and early May is the best time to plant warm season crops, like tomatoes, squash and peppers.
Just wait until the last threat of a frost has passed. Mote said most people say May 1 is a good date to look for, but late April works just as well.

June
Once everything it planted and growing, you don’t have to wait for your homegrown produce. Just visit the Rutherford County Farmer’s Market every Tuesday and Friday.

This year the market will open at its new home at Lane AgriPark on John Rice Boulevard.

Michelle Willard can be contacted at 615-869-0816 or mwillard@murfreesboropost.com.