"Tips to help you with your March Poplar Bluff gardening schedule." by Master Gardener Nancy

Make clean cuts leaving no stubs, and it is best to sterilize the tools between cuts with a bucket of water with a small amount of household bleach, especially if you pruned out diseased wood. Dormant trees and shrubs can be pruned to remove diseased or broken branches and to also shape. Do not prune spring blooming plants, like azalea. Don’t leave stubs on trees, prune back to the branch collar. This ensures that the wound will callus back to the woundwood. (for proper pruning techniques, please visit this site from the Forestry Service. Also add lots of other organic matter into the top 12 inches and water it in. Sow seeds for warm season annuals and frost tolerant perennials indoors now. There’s still time to sow cool weather vegetables. Feed your cool-season lawn. Set up your coldframe so it will be ready when your seedlings are ready to transplant outside. Divide and replant your summer and fall blooming perennials while still dormant. Prune your roses and also plant your bareroot roses now. Continue feeding the birds and wildlife.