This Week in the Garden: March 1, 2025
March has arrived…finally!
We have come through the worst of what winter is likely to throw at us (fingers crossed) and emerge into March, hopeful and ready for action in the garden. The daffodils are starting to emerge in the orchard meadow and I’m starting to see tulips pushing up through the bark along the front walkway, always an encouraging sign! The first weekend in March was sunny and fairly warm, perfect for getting out into the garden and doing some spring cleaning and digging.
We grew a TON of cosmos and zinnias last season and I left them in place without cutting down and removing so that the birds could feast on the seed heads through winter. You can watch them in action on The Fairly Quiet Gardener YouTube channel here: Birds Feasting on Zinnia Seed Heads
Now that we’re through winter and emerging into spring, it was time to start cutting down (keeping the stems and stalks for the compost bin) and removing the little root balls. I ended up with a ton of plant material that would’ve take ages to break down if left fully intact and ages to chop up with hedge shears or a machete. Thankfully, I was able to use a new chipper/shredder for the job, and boy did it do the job! It turned a very large pile into about one collection bag’s worth of finely shredded material to add to the compost. This will break down and incorporate into the compost very quickly. I could smell the lavender trimmings that were at the bottom of the pile from another day and, interestingly, the dried stems of the chrysanthemums smell quite nice too.
I found some decently priced little boxwoods, several bare root roses, and two hydrangeas at a garden center that will be planted out into the garden this weekend (if the wind doesn’t blow us all away!). I’ll probably turn that into a bit of a Day-in-the-Garden video. I would guess that you’re all as excited as I am that warmer weather is on its way and that March has finally arrived!
