It’s time to weed, prune and clean up your garden. You’ll thank yourself later

The first week of March may roar in with cold weather but the soft bleating of opening buds will be waiting at the end of this month.

The challenge is how to start the early spring garden chores such as weeding, pruning and planting without getting ahead of yourself and suffering a setback once the fickle spring weather decides to announce that winter is not yet over.

Weeding

For every small shot weed or emerging dandelion you uproot this week, you save yourself from hundreds of weed seeds spreading later on when flowers appear on the weeds.

You can pull or smother the smallest weeds, but dandelions and other weeds with long tap roots should be uprooted from the lawn and garden using a butter knife, hori hori digging tool or a stand-up weeding pole that extracts the dandelion, tap root and all.

Foodies will rejoice that the early spring and pesticide-free foliage of dandelion greens can be steamed or eaten raw in salads. Unopened dandelion buds can replace mushrooms in a stir fry.

There is a bonus to pulling dandelions in March: The channel that is left behind when you pull the deep root allows passage of oxygen into the soil and this helps to break up hard-packed earth for better plant growth.

Pruning and cutting

The second early spring chore is the pruning. Most roses benefit from being cut back by one third. Also remove any dead, diseased or damaged canes or branches on your rose plants.

This is the week (weather permitting), you also can cut back ornamental grasses that have turned brown over winter and coppice, or cut to the ground, overgrown shrubs such as butterfly bush or buddleah.

Cleanup

General garden clean up can begin if the ground is not frozen. If your beds contain the soggy remains of hosta foliage, daylilies or other perennial plants, start collecting the old brown foliage, fallen leaves and other garden debris to add to a compost pile. Early spring cleanup will leave less slug and snail eggs in your garden, and less hiding spots for these slimy pests.

Warning if your soil is wet: Standing or kneeling on wet soil can compact the soil particles, making it difficult for young roots to spread out. If you have clay soil, wait a few more weeks so that the soil can dry out before you start tromping all over.

Reader Q&A

Q. I have a dumb question. What is shot weed and why is everyone saying it needs to be removed in early spring? —Anon

A. Great question. Shot weed is a low-growing weed with leaves in a circular pattern with small white flowers that emerge from the center of the leaf whirl. It is called shot weed because once those flowers create seeds, they shoot them all over the garden, especially when the seed capsules are disturbed by a nearby gardener or animal.

Shot weed is a “new” weed (not a native) most often brought into gardens by hitchhiking in nursery pots, hidden under the leaves of new plants. Pull or use a mulch to smother shot weed before it has a chance to set seed. Check every new plant for tiny weeds before you bring it into your garden.

Marianne Binetti has a degree in horticulture from Washington State University and is the author of several books. Reach her at binettigarden.com.

This story was originally published March 4, 2023 at 7:00 AM with the headline "It’s time to weed, prune and clean up your garden. You’ll thank yourself later."