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March is like a breath of fresh air for those of us who live and breathe for the time we get to spend outside, particularly in the garden.
Read on below, and explore 29 great March gardening ideas for you to keep busy with, including various chores and DIY projects:
1. Start Seedlings Indoors (For Your Spring Garden)
Get a head start on your garden by starting seeds indoors. This is especially important if you live in a cooler climate. At any rate, unless you plan on buying starter plants, or using clones, you’ll need to start seeds at some point – so it might as well be this month.
2. Prune Trees and Shrubs (in and Around the Garden)
March is the perfect time to prune trees and shrubs before they start growing new leaves. If you have hedges, it’s a great time to get that trim job out of the way this month as well.
3. Plan Your Spring Garden Layout
Take some time to plan out where you want to plant everything. This will help make sure that your garden is organized and efficient.
4. Clean Up Your Flower Beds (or Garden Beds)
Remove any debris from your garden beds, including dead plants, fallen leaves, and weeds. Afterward, you’re ready to straighten up your landscaping plants and add some new ones – especially colorful flowers.
5. Test Soil pH in Your Garden (or Containers)
Test the pH of your soil to ensure that it’s suitable for growing healthy plants. If you’re new to pH testing, don’t get worried – it’s really simple once you get your hands on a pH test kit.
6. Add Compost or Fertilizer to Your Garden
Adding compost or fertilizer to your soil to improve its quality and provide nutrients for your plants is best done early in the year. Hence, March is the ideal time to do so if you didn’t get it done in January or February.
7. Plant Cool-Season Vegetables
March is a great time to plant cool-season vegetables like onions, lettuce, peas, and spinach.
8. Start a Compost Pile (or Build a Bin)
If you don’t already have a compost pile or compost bin, now is the perfect time to start one! Alternatively, take the time to learn more about composting if you’re new to gardening.
9. Plant Potatoes Ahead of the Heat
If you plan on growing potatoes this year, March is the perfect time to get them in the ground. If you wait much longer than this month, your potatoes won’t have enough time to grow to their optimal size.
10. Install Drip Irrigation in Your Garden
Drip irrigation can be an efficient way to water your plants while conserving water. Consider installing some this spring if you are tired of lugging buckets of water or a garden hose all over the place.
11. Build Raised Garden Beds (or Revitalize Old Ones)
Raised garden beds can be a great way to maximize space and make gardening easier. In March, it’s time to clean them up and get prepped for the year. Or, if you don’t have any yet, consider building raised beds this month.
12. Install Trellises or Supports for Climbing Plants
If you’re growing climbing plants like tomatoes, peas, or cucumbers, make sure they have something to climb on. Setting up a trellis is best done early on in the year, so these plants have time to establish themselves and climb.
13. Mulch Around Trees and Shrubs
Mulching around trees and shrubs can help conserve moisture and suppress weeds. Otherwise, you’ll be stuck with extra weeding or trimming duties all year long.
14. Divide Perennial Bulbs and Replant
March is a good time to divide perennials like hostas or daylilies if they’ve outgrown their space. If you don’t have any yet, it’s a great month to plant some.
15. Transplant Seedlings Outdoors (into the Garden or Containers)
Once your seedlings have grown strong enough, transplant them into your garden beds outdoors. March is a great time to get your first crops into the ground.
16. Trim Back Ornamental Grasses
Trim back any ornamental grasses that may have died back over the winter months. This helps kick them into growth mode.
17. Clean and Sharpen Garden Tools
Make sure all of your gardening tools are clean and sharp before using them for the season ahead. You’ll be sorry if you’re stuck with dull and dirty tools all year!
18. Set up Birdhouses or Feeders
Encourage birds into your garden by setting up birdhouses or feeders in strategic locations. March is a great time to do so – that way you can sit back and watch them all year.
19. Redress Soil in Potted Plants
Even potted plants need a little more TLC from time to time than simply sunlight and water. March is a great time for redressing and revitalizing the soil of your container plants. Don’t have potted plants yet? Check out this guide on picking the perfect gardening containers.
20. Till Your Garden and Add Soil Amendments
If you plan to do a lot of gardening this year, consider tilling the garden and adding soil amendments in the spring – preferably by the end of March. For those who are looking for the best lightweight tiller, we recommend reading up on the Sun Joe and Earthwise electric tillers.
21. Do DIY Projects (or Finish Last Year’s Unfinished Projects)
DIY projects and gardeners go together like bread and butter, or peas in a pod. That said, March is the perfect time to start a new DIY idea or finish last year’s half-done projects.
22. Clean and Sanitize Hydroponic Growing Machines
Whether your home hydroponics are indoors, or outdoors, chances are, your system could probably use a good cleaning and sanitizing. If you don’t already have a hydroponic garden, consider building one, such as a DIY DWC system or an Ebb and Flow system.
Don’t want to run your utility bills up? Consider building a DIY system using the kraty hydroponics method.
23. Mow the Lawn (Edge Around the Garden and Raised Beds)
Depending on where you live, March may be one of the best times to mow the lawn in and around the garden as well as do some trimming and edge work.
24. Bring Outdoor Trees Back Outside (From Overwintering)
Growing potted trees is fun and rewarding, especially if they are fruit trees. That said, it’s time to bring them back outside for the year when March rolls around.
25. Clean Up and Organize the Greenhouse (or Build/Set Up One)
If you’re into gardening like we are, you probably either already have a greenhouse – and March is a great time to clean and organize it. Alternatively, consider building a DIY greenhouse, or installing a greenhouse kit.
26. Set Up a Yard or Garden Pond (or Add Fish to an Old One)
Do you have a garden pond? If not, why not? Building a DIY yard or garden pond this March is easier and cheaper than you might think!
27. Build a Playhouse (or Revitalize Your Old One)
For those of us gardeners who have kids that enjoy playing outside around the garden, building or revitalizing a DIY playhouse is a great idea for March.
28. Reorganize Your Garden Shed (or Build One)
Every gardener worth their salt has a garden shed, and march is a great time to clean it up. Alternatively, you can build a DIY garden shed if you don’t currently have one!
29. Build a DIY Gazebo (or Revitalize Your Old One)
Building a DIY gazebo is one of the greatest March DIY projects – once you get it up, you can enjoy the garden in style.
A Final Word About March Gardening Ideas
We hope these ideas help inspire you as you tackle your gardening tasks this March!
Do you have additional ideas to add to our list or advice for our readers?
Let us know what you think in the comment section! We’d love to hear what you do in the garden in the month of March.
Thanks for reading – good luck with your gardening, chores, and DIY projects this month!
Suggested Reading: 12 Best Things to Plant and Grow in March
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