Things to do in your garden in March.
Taken from the Ontario Master Gardener Calendar
By John Hethrington, Master Gardener Emeritus
Past President, Master Gardeners of Ontario
Please contact John for more information!
Garden Tips: Things to do in, or for your garden in March 2026!
- WOW! What a winter! VERY COLD, but don’t worry about your plants, the feet and feet of snow will protect them! And no 'January Thaw'! It’s not all bad. When the snow finally melts, there will be lots of much-needed moisture deep in the soil. And, Wiarton Willy, on Ground Hog Day, forecasted an EARLY SPRING!
- To get a WHIFF OF SPRING, take in the Barrie Spring Garden & Home Show, March 7 & 8, 2026 from 10 AMto 5 PM at the Bradford Greenhouses Garden Gallery in Springwater, on Hwy 90, just west of Barrie, or east of Angus.
- After the 15th you can start tuberous begonia and caladium corms in pots, or in a tray of peat moss. Keep it moist, but not soggy.
- Plant brassicas, like kale, turnip and radish seeds plus hardy annual seeds indoors for late May planting outdoors.
- Start tomatoes, lettuce and other fast-growing vegetables from seed in late March to early April.
- Make a list of spring garden chores in the order they should be done, if you haven’t already done so.
- Order summer flowering bulbs and plants. Try www.botanus.com. Order or buy flower and vegetable seeds NOW for summer planting to get the best selection! They are in the grocery stores already.
- Check, repair and sharpen your gardening tools on a snowy day.
- Apply combination dormant oil spray to fruit trees and pest-prone shrubs when above-freezing weather permits.
- Bring Spring indoors. Start forcing branches of spring-flowering shrubs like Forsythia, if you can get through the snow to get at them.
- If you can find them, buy Narcissus bulbs now and grow them in gravel with water for spring flowers indoors.
- Prune summer-flowering shrubs and vines late in the month.
- When the snow is finally gone from your garden beds (maybe in April) and they are still damp, but before new plant leaves emerge, buy and apply triple-19 agricultural fertilizer liberally, but only to your garden beds. It’s available now at the Midwest Co-Op on Hwy 10 south of Markdale.
- Plan to plant a few native shrubs that have berries for the birds, plus pollinator perennials for the bees and butterflies.
- When the snow finally disappears, loosen up and dig-in any packed winter Mulch, and press perennials that the frost has heaved, back into place.
- Think about your garden and make a list of the perennials you could dig, divide and donate to the St. George’s Annual Plant Sale in Clarksburg, scheduled for Saturday May 30, 2026. Donate 15 or more plants and get an Income Tax deduction receipt for the value that your plants sell for.
- If there are any high school students out there who are interested in garden working in gardens after school this spring, plus during the summer months as well, (no gardening experience needed), please get in touch with me NOW! There are lots of jobs available. Contact John Hethrington casacarolejohn@gmail.com
John Hethrington,
Master Gardener Emeritus,
Past President, Master Gardeners of Ontario
Beaver Valley Probus Club