March is a good time to fertilize trees and shrubs. The warmer temperatures mean the sap is beginning to flow up from the roots into the shoots where the buds are beginning to swell. Fertilizer applied now will be taken up by the plants and used as they leaf and flower buds begin to swell and develop into flowers and stems.

For winter flowering shrubs like camellia and forsythia, prune after they have finished flowering to control height and width.  I have a camellia bush that is still flowering; therefore, I usually don’t do a lot of pruning on this plant, except to keep it from shading out some of the other plants in that same area.  It doesn’t take much pruning to keep the shape of the plant so I usually take an afternoon and make a dozen cuts or so to keep the plant in check.

Early spring flowering plants like azalea also need to be pruned AFTER they have flowered, so let them be a little leggy now with the intent of taming that growth after the flower display is complete. I, for one, will appreciate that, as I don’t have many spring flowering plants in my garden, so I have to enjoy the beautiful flowers in the yards of my neighbors.