TIMELY REMINDER FOR ~MJRCH 
“The best spring tonic is that which is taken by way of a spade” 
Copyright , 1923, Doubleday, Page Sr Co. 
Herein aTe listed the seasonal activities for the complete 
garden. Details of how to do each item may be found in 
the current or back issues of The Garden Magazine 
—it is manifestly impossible to make each number of 
the magazine a complete manual of practice. Ref¬ 
erences to back numbers may be looked up in the 
index to each completed volume (sent gratis upon 
request). The Service Department will also be 
glad to cite references to any special topic if 
asked for by mail, and also to send personal 
replies to specific questions; a stamped, ad¬ 
dressed envelope being enclosed. 
When referring to the time for outdoor work of any 
sort New York City (latitude 40) at sea level in a 
normal season is taken as standard; but at best dates 
can only be approximate. Roughly, the season ad¬ 
vances northward fifteen miles a day. Thus Albany, 
which is one hundred and fifty miles from New 
York, would be about ten days later, and Phila¬ 
delphia, which is ninety miles southwest, about 
a week earlier. Also allow four days for each 
degree of latitude, for each five degrees of 
longitude, and for each four hundred feet 
of altitude. 
B ITH the coming of March the gardener begins the new season’s 
outdoor activities in earnest and commences to put into ex¬ 
ecution plans matured during the winter’s lull. These first 
days of fresh diligence in gardening matters are in some ways 
perhaps the most zestful of the gardener’s year with the sun 
growing ever warmer overhead and the promise of all sorts of pleasur¬ 
able reward to come. He reaps best who thinks first, and the forehanded 
gardener is now ready to throw himself wholeheartedly into the actual 
working out of well-planned projects. June brings rich remuneration 
in vegetables, flowers, and beauty wherever skillful hands have worked. 
“Redding up” Shrubbery and Border 
Clean up the shrubberies, stacking the leaves in a large pile to rot. 
They will be useful next August for mulching. Burn all other 
rubbish in a smother fire, and use the ashes for fertilizer. 
Loosen the ground among the shrubs with a spading fork. Attend to 
the climbers round the dwelling, tying up any growths that have 
fallen out of place during the winter. 
Order any other plants of this class that may be needed. Late in the 
month remove the wind screen, and other temporary protection 
afforded choice shrubs and evergreens; likewise from Roses, 
bulbs, and flowerbeds. Prune and tie in all Rambler Roses, but 
leave Tea Roses until all danger of hard frosts is past—better 
to wait until the eyes begin to swell. 
As the crowns of the plants show through the ground, do any needed 
alterations and replanting in the herbaceous border. 
Plant deciduous shrubs, and trees. 
Trim grass edges as soon as conditions permit. 
Apply fertilizer to the lawns, top-dress bad spots, and reseed. 
Prune the late-flowering shrubs but leave alone the earlv-flowering 
ones until just after they have bloomed; which in a single sentence 
gives the governing principle for all ornamental flowering shrubs. 
Early bloomers flower on the wood made last year, late bloomers 
bear the flowers on new wood of this season. 
This is positively the last call for dormant spraying and for pruning. 
It is of little use to spray and spray again the fruit trees, if near-by 
ornamental shrubs infested with scale are left untreated. Be 
thorough. 
Old Vegetables Make Way for New 
As weather conditions permit uncover the Asparagus and Rhubarb. 
Sprinkle salt on the Asparagus bed, also nitrate of soda, using 
about 11 lbs. per square rod. 
Encourage Rhubarb into growth by placing barrels over the crowns, 
and banking round the barrels with hot manure. 
Dig all Parsnips, and Oyster plants that have been in the ground all 
winter, and store in a cold cellar. 
Whenever possible dig the vegetable patch, and endeavor to get a little 
deeper than ever before, to break up the hard-pan which cuts off 
the water supply during the growing season. 
As soon as the soil is dry enough to dig without sticking to the 
tools, plant all of the most hardy vegetables, without regard to the 
fluctuations of the thermometer. Plant thick and shallow at this 
time. 
Lettuce and Cauliflower pricked-off into frames to mature will be 
ready for the table some time ahead of outdoor plants. Sow 
Beans (String) in a frame where they will mature. 
Encouraging the Berry Bushes to Bear 
Last year’s wood of Gooseberries will yield the best fruit; therefore 
cut out all superfluous shoots, and trim the points only of those 
that remain. Keep the main shoots six inches apart, and the 
middle of the bush open. This will let light and air into the 
plants, and greatly facilitate picking the fruit. 
Red Currants may be “spurred-back” to a couple of buds; with a few 
shoots left longer for extension, if needed. Merely cut away 
exhausted branches of Black Currants and encourage basal 
growths to take their place. Spur back side shoots that are 
too numerous. 
Get at Raspberries and Blackberries that were not thinned out and 
headed back after fruiting last fall. 
Frames in Full Action 
The big job is to make up the main batch of hotbeds. Details of 
procedure appeared in last Month’s Reminder. 
Air on all favorable occasions frames that have been in use during the 
winter carrying ov^r plants; protection is still necessary on very 
cold nights. 
Transplant such plants as were started last month. Make sowings of 
Peppers, Eggplants, Tomatoes, Cucumbers, and Melons. 
Sow Annuals as required, such as: Annual Larkspurs, Snapdragon, 
Drummond Phlox, Pentstemon, Sweet-peas, and Verbenas. 
These require cool treatment when once they have started; avoid 
extremes. 
Continue to repair the coldframes, glaze the sash and have ready 
for pricking-off the young plants as needed. 
Deep frames with a northern exposure with 2-3 ft. of head room are 
useful for keeping bulbs in after the flowers have opened. Lay 
newspapers over the sash above Tulips on bright days. 
Air freely Pansies, English Daisies, and Myosotis wintered in frames, 
plant out into flowering quarters as soon as conditions warrant. 
Set out in the hotbed small plants of Pansies, Myosotis, Phlox, Hardy 
Poppies, Shasta Daisies, etc., from seed sown in January. 
Flower Seeds to Sow in Heat 
Sow Primulas for flowering next fall and winter (P. malacoides and its 
varieties are best sown in June). 
Sow Heliotrope and Centaurea gymnocarpa in a temperature of 50° 
for bedding out in May. 
Sow Schizanthus retusus. Transplant to flats, later pot and grow on 
in a cool temperature, rich soil, and good drainage. Pinch off the 
flower buds until required to bloom. 
Sow Clarkias and grow on to flower in six-inch pots. No pinching is 
necessary. Pick off dead blossoms and they will continue to 
bloom well through the summer. 
Sow Hunnemannia fumariaefolia in paper pots for summer flowering. 
Annual Gypsophila can be used in conjunction with almost any 
other flower for table decorations during the summer months. 
Make a sowing now in the hotbed for June flowering, again three 
weeks hence, and so on through the summer to keep up a succession. 
Chrysanthemums and Other Plants from Cuttings 
Pot up early rooted Chrysanthemums. Don’t leave them in the sand 
after the roots are an inch long. 
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