March is here and a good time to get back outside and prepare garden beds and lawns for the spring.

Perennial Beds

Add 2- 4 inches of organic mulch — fine bark, pine straw, chopped leaves or organic fertilizer like cottonseed meal, blood meal, or compost to your beds. Divide clumps of summer and fall blooming perennials and apply fertilizer when new growth appears.

Lawns

Resist the urge to put out fertilizer until the ground temperature warms up to 65- 70 (usually late April). If applied too early, the roots will not absorb the nutrients, and it will just be a waste of time and money.