STRONGSVILLE, Ohio – Old Man Winter may be sticking around longer than some of us would like, but for gardeners this may be the perfect time to gear up for spring.
AJ Petitti, vice president of Petitti Garden Centers says the extra cool weather this March is nothing to worry about.
“The good thing is we haven’t had any big warm-ups,” he said. “If we had a warm cell before this and then we got the snow, then there’d be some risk there.”
Petitti expects this last blast of wintry weather will be the last of the season.
Now, people should asses their lawn and pick up any dead shrubs, tree limbs and grass.
Petitti also recommends pre-treating lawns with a weed preventer, which should last a 90 days and help save time with garden pests.
“Get everything cleaned up,” Petitti said. “It is time to start fertilizing your lawn, so if you haven’t put your Step 1 down, you want to make sure that you fertilize, you do your over-seeding, that’s all stuff you can start doing, either this weekend or getting into next week. It looks like the weather is going to be really favorable and starting to turn.”
While it may be hard to predict the chance of another snow, Petitti said plants that have been out this winter should be fine. Yet, he said it’s important to be patient and protect the newbies.
“The only thing you want to pay attention to, anything you go and plant this season, especially if it’s starting to get any kind of flower on it or any blossom on it, that’s what you want to protect,” He said. “You just want to get some frost cloth or just a regular bed sheet and tie that right over it and you’ll be in great shape and that’ll help protect it for that night, and once that night’s over, just go ahead and take it off and go from there.”