The last freeze date for the Austin area is usually March 15 (many years it is much earlier) so your gardening can really take off this month. If you have not done so, finish your winter cleanup. 

Bedding plants, once abundantly available in 2” 6-packs, are being grown in 4” or larger containers. In today's ‘instant result' society, that's not such a bad idea. The larger plants provide color faster, and are easy for growers and retailers to keep watered. We have taken to using lots of succulents in sun areas and variegated plants for shade and mixed areas. Plants like coleus and variegated ginger provide color instantly, last all season, and one isn't dependent on blooms for color. Be sure to remember to feed beds when fertilizing. Keep beds weeded.

Cut grass short (newest research does not recommend scalping) and apply fertilizer. We use and recommend Lady Bug, developed by John Dromgoole of the Natural Gardener. It is an organic product, the first such product especially formulated for southern turf grasses. For more information on this product please give us a call. 

This is weed time in Austin. The best defense against weeds in grass is frequent mowing (weekly), good watering techniques, and appropriate fertilization. Be patient, hot weather usually kills off many of the weeds. Keep in mind, any plant growing where you do not want it is a 'weed'. Although Austin stores still sell chemical pre-emergent weed-controls, we do not use nor recommend them. Spot treating and persistence are the best weed-controls. During the 2004/2005 season we used corn-gluten, an organic method of pre-emergent weed control. No good deed goes unpunished; the corn-gluten did not work well for us and the cost was prohibitive.

We do not recommend Weed and Feed products, which are appearing in increasing numbers on the market. Unfortunately, Weed and Feed products can kill desirable plants if misapplied. If you do use a product such as this, avoid applying beneath the drip lines of trees. (The drip line is the area around a tree, defined by where water runs off the leaves. Most trees have root systems equivalent to the spread of its branches.)  Although many products claim they are safe, years of experience lead us to be wary. Watering and rain cause these products to leach down to the water table, where they eventually end up in creeks, rivers, and drinking water.

This is a good time for planting trees and shrubs. You can establish a good root system before the dreaded heat of Austin summers. 

We try not to plant any bareroot stock or balled and burlap plants and recommend this practice as well. Use container grown plants. 

March is Live Oak leaf and Oak bloom season.  Between the leaves and the weeds, March is a a messy month. Be patient and have your rakes and antihistamines ready!