"I love spring anywhere, but if I could choose, I would always greet it in the garden."
Ruth Stout
Hands On Garden Education Session - Saturday, March 11, 9:00 - 11:00 am
"There are no gardening mistakes, only experiments." Janet Kilburn Phillips
"Gardening is an exercise in optimism.
Sometimes, it is a triumph of hope over experience."
Marina Schinz
News That You Can Use
What to Fertilize
Fertilize your important shade trees if needed.
Fertilize asparagus beds early in March before spear growth begins.
Before planting your vegetables (pre-plant), fertilize and lime your garden as recommended by your soil test.
_______________________________
"An optimistic gardener is one who believes that whatever goes down must come up."
Leslie Hall
______________________________
What to Plant
Small fruit plants (strawberries and blackberries), grape vines, and fruit trees before bud break.
March is a great month to plant trees, shrubs, ground covers, perennials (iris, peony, phlox) and rose bushes.
Cool season vegetables (beets, carrots, cabbage, kale, lettuce, onions, Irish potatoes, radishes, and spinach) should be planted now, before our temperature turns hot.
What to Prune
Spring flowering plants like forsythia, spires, and flowering quince after the flowers fade.
Prune roses before buds break. (Some of the roses in the church memorial garden have already started growing new leaves.)
Rejuvenate pruning of evergreen shrubs such as ligustrum and needle point hollies.
Lawn Care
To control crabgrass in lawns, apply recommended pre-emergence herbicides.
To establish turf grasses (both warm and cool season grasses) in mid-March tip just prior to dogwood bloom.
Propagation
Divide perennials such as ferns, herbs, and dianthus. They would be a great gift to your friends at The Giving Garden.
"I cultivate my garden and my garden cultivates me." Robert Breault
Let's Go Fly a Kite!
Bring your kite to the garden
Saturday, March 18, 10 am - 12 pm
We have plenty of windy open space for everyone!
Come alone, with a friend or family member(s) .
Children supervised by an adult are welcome!
“Half the interest of a garden is the constant exercise of the imagination.”
Mrs. C.W. Earle, Pot-Pourri from a Surrey Garden, 1897
Thank You, Boy Scouts of America!
We’re grateful for all that the Boy Scouts have done for WFPC and the Community Garden. BSA Troop 5 was founded in 1926, making it one of the oldest BSA troops in NC. Troop 5 is part of the Occoneeche Council BSA, which encompasses 12 counties in NC. WFPC has been fortunate to have actively sponsored Troop #5 for the past 30 years. Current membership includes 40 scouts and 15 adult troop leaders from throughout the community.
Troop 5 has shown its gratitude for WFPC’s sponsorship by giving back in many ways. Scouts have participated in the spring clean up of the church campus for the past 8-10 years. Each fall, they mulch the preschool playground, and help older church members with yard work when needed. Scouts have done a lot of work in The Giving Garden, including mulching and digging planting holes on the slope of the Edible Forest, planting and harvesting vegetables, and building picnic tables for the garden. Several Troop 5 Eagle Scout projects are prominent on the WFPC campus, some of which have greatly contributed to the beauty, scope, and efficiency of The Giving Garden.
The Occoneechee Council’s 2023 Eagle Scout Banquet will be held on March 18 to honor 356 scouts who earned the rank of Eagle Scout in 2022. John Ackerman, WFPC Elder and Eagle Scout, will be awarded the National Outstanding Eagle Scout Award at this ceremony for his contributions to his community, country, and church.
For more information about BSA Troop #5, please contact WFPC at 919-556-7777
“The more help a person has in his garden, the less it belongs to him.” W. H. Davies
Recipes
Asparagus, Collards, Spinach, and Sweet Potatoes are in Season in the Piedmont
“Essential advice for the gardener: Grow peas of mind, lettuce be thankful, squash selfishness, turnip to help thy neighbor, and always make thyme for loved ones.” Author Unknown
