Welcome to Garden Zone, a monthly newsletter for anyone interested in gardening. ​​It's produced by Extension Master Gardener volunteers in Mecklenburg County. View in your browser March Garden Tasks Spring is on the way! The spring equinox occurs March 20, however, the central area of North Carolina is not home free from frost until sometime around mid- April. Here are things to do in March to get ready for warmer weather. ✳️ Fertilize your perennial beds; slow-release organic fertilizers work best. ✳️ Divide and replant daylilies, hostas and peonies when new growth is 1-2 inches high. ✳️ Cut back plants that were left for winter interest, including grasses and seed heads. Also, cut back dead and old foliage from ferns and liriope monkey grass before new growth begins. ✳️ Deadhead daffodils when the blooms fade, but allow the foliage to die back naturally to store nutrients for the next growing season. Pansies benefit from deadheading, as well. ✳️ For vegetable gardens, plant cool season crops – like lettuce, kale, spinach, broccoli, cabbage and carrots. Start tender vegetables, like tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers, indoors. ✳️ For lawns, fertilize cool-season lawns like tall fescue. Don’t fertilize again until September. Be sure to add pre-emergence herbicides by the time dogwoods bloom. Gardening in a Changing Climate: Reduced Chilling By EMG Alden Picard As plants evolved to the climate of their native range, so too did they evolve strategies to ensure successful reproduction. Many fruit trees and crops require a period of cool weather to signal the end of dormancy and initiate bud break. This is known as a “chilling requirement” and is measured in hours exposed to lower temperatures. Approximately 42 degrees. Beginning in the fall, fruit trees keep an internal count of hours exposed to these temperatures. Once this requirement is met, a seasonal que triggers the plant to break dormancy. This is a biological strategy used by plants to protect tender leaves and blossoms from spring freezes and cold snaps. The fluctuations in temperature and the reduction of winter chilling hours associated with climate change in the south can have adverse impacts on fruit crops growing in your gardens and orchards. Chilling requirements are not limited to fruit trees however. Plants like blueberries, blackberries, and strawberries are all susceptible to changes in chilling hours. As winters warm in North Carolina, we are likely to see a reduction of chilling hours leading to unpredictable harvests of many “traditional” fruit crops. Inadequate chilling can prevent fruit and nut set, leading to little or no fruit production. According to NC State, gardens throughout North Carolina receive around 1,000 chilling hours annually and the recommendation is to plant fruit varieties that require a minimum of 750 chilling hours. It is important to consider that as our winters warm, the average annual chilling hours North Carolina receives ten, twenty, or even fifty years in the future will likely be significantly less. When selecting fruits to plant, especially trees that have the potential to produce well into the future, this is an important factor to consider. Nut trees like pecans which have a lower chilling requirement and tolerate warmer climates are a great alternative. Figs are another great choice. Not only do they require low maintenance, they also tolerate a warmer climate and require fewer chilling hours. One thing is certain. Winters are warming more rapidly than any other season in North Carolina. Extreme low temperatures are becoming less frequent but more erratic and unpredictable. This is what gardeners are facing and will continue to face across our state. Accounting for future change, and planting a diversity of nontraditional fruit crops will help mitigate these impacts while building climate resiliency into your landscape. https://www.wunc.org/environment/2022-04-25/winter-in-the-carolinas-was-warmer-than-normal-driven-by-climate-change https://union.ces.ncsu.edu/2021/01/fruit-tree-chilling-requirement/#:~:text=This%20period%20is%20referred%20to,can%20lead%20to%20crop%20loss . https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/north-carolina-production-guide-for-smaller-orchard-plantings Photo courtesy of Intern Charlotte Ramirez Meet *Several* Master Gardeners! By EMG Amelia Russell Nancy Andretti, Jennifer Joiner and Lisa Livingston, newly-certified Extension Master Gardeners, are revitalizing the North Mecklenburg gardening scene! Frequently found at the “Ask a Master Gardener” booth at the Davidson Farmer’s Market, they enjoy the community of gardeners in the area as well as their insightful gardening questions and the precocious children that they meet each week. This month we will meet Nancy Andretti and Lisa Livingston. Challenged by the clay soil after moving from Indiana, Nancy Andretti learned soil amendment practices with the help of her father, who always had a large garden. Her grandmother had rows of peony bushes, which influenced her love of gardenia, hydrangeas, roses and camellia. She loves cut flowers and the fresh joy that is found by brining nature into the house. She was inspired to become a Master Gardener by her friend Lisa. Her favorite thing to grow is camellia, which have so many varieties that the camellia in her yard bloom year-round. Passionate about lawns and lawn-alternatives, Lisa Livingston was inspired to become a Master Gardener by all of the Master Gardeners she has met over the years. In 2022 the time was right for Lisa to begin her Master Gardener journey. She loves the beauty of gardens, getting to know people in the community, and the hands-on learning that comes with being a Master Gardener. She aspires to become a better steward for the environment and to inspire others to do the same. Her favorite plants are boxwoods and hydrangeas. Photo courtesy of EMG Amelia Russell Edging a new garden By EMG Rebecca Jones​ When winter skies darken and the wind howls, one of my favorite things is to plan a new garden while sipping hot, orange-spiced tea. Indoors. I love curves! When finally outdoors, rather than just eyeballing the shape of the bed, I use a garden hose to create the curved edge. Others may prefer rope, heavy twine, sand, chalk, lime, or flour. The method of actually creating the edge, manual or mechanical, is personal preference. A half-moon spade runs about $30. Gas or electric edgers/trenchers are $100 and up. Time and sweat equity are considerations as well. These are the steps I use with a half-moon spade. Outline established, make the first cut straight down at a 90-degree angle. Lift the edger, reposition in whichever direction you’ve chosen and repeat. When pleased with the shape, deepen the cut to between four and six inches, keeping the angle at 90-degrees. Reverse position, so you’re standing in the bed facing out. Decide the trench width. Make wedge cuts at a 35 – 45 degree angle to the depth of the outside one. Remove and compost the soil/grass wedges. Sharpen the grass edge with garden shears or a grass edger. Seasonally repeat as needed. Mulch the bed two to three inches deep and continue with a gentle slope into the trench, preserving the 90-degree edge. Visually appealing, this crisp delineation from lawn to garden accentuates the “breathing space” mulch provides, leading the eye to the beauty of your new garden. Photos courtesy of Funky Junk Donna and Melissa Buntin Move Over Invasives, here come the Good Guys! By EMG Jean Wilson Ficaria verna, (Lesser Celandine) or (Fig Buttercup) Lesser Celandine is a very attractive plant non-native plant that many of you probably have in your gardens. It grows about 8” tall and has smooth roundish leaves with a heart-shaped base and yellow flowers in early spring. The plants start as a rounded clump but spread like a weed both by seed and by tubers at the end of long roots! It grows so densely and rapidly that it forms solids mats of thick foliage and crowds out all the other plants that should be growing at the ground level of the forest floor. It particularly likes shadier moist areas along stream banks, so escapees are spreading along our greenways. You can try digging up small infestations, but you must take care to get all the branching bulblets that spread widely. Another option is spraying an herbicide during the late winter through the early spring, generally before native plants emerge. An aquatic approved glyphosate applied at a rate of 1.5%-2% is recommended if you are near a waterway. When you have gotten rid of your Lesser Celandine, there are many native low-growing plants with pretty spring flowers. ‘Green and Gold’ has yellow flowers and leaves that stay green through the year. It makes a great ground cover. The white flowers of Bloodroot are spectacular in the spring and would be another good choice. An interesting thing about Bloodroot is that their seeds are spread by ants. Photo courtesy of EMG Jean Wilson March’s Favorite Holiday By EMG Sylvia Hindman ​ St. Patrick’s Day is almost here! And, if you would like to give someone a lovely holiday gift, you will find ‘shamrocks’ at your local florist or grocery store. But are they really shamrocks? While no one knows for certain, most believe that St. Patrick taught the lesson of faith, hope, and charity using a common three-leaf clover plant. Nowadays, the false shamrock plants you purchase are often members of the Oxalis genus including purple ‘Oxalis triangularis’ or green wood sorrel ‘Oxalis stricta.’ These attractive plants can continue to be grown as a houseplant placed in a sunny window. However, they can easily be transplanted outdoors in sun or part shade where they will spread into flowering clumps. Now, how about a little Luck of the Irish? Well, occasionally there is a genetic anomaly in the common three-leaf clover plant and a four-leaf clover suddenly appears. The ancient