What to do in the garden in March
January February March April May June July August September October November December
Zone 1
❄️ Zone 1 · Min −51 °C · Northern Alaska, Yakutsk, Siberian far north. Almost no outdoor growing season.
- 🌱 Start tomatoes and peppers indoors (12 wks before planting)
- 🌱 Sow fast brassicas indoors: kale, kohlrabi
- 💡 Increase light to 18 hrs/day as days lengthen
- 📖 Finalize planting calendar for the 60-day window
Zone 2
🥶 Zone 2 · Min −45 °C · Interior Alaska, Northern Canada, Norilsk.
- 🌱 Start tomatoes and peppers indoors (12 wks)
- 🌱 Sow brassicas: kale, broccoli, cabbage
- 💡 Maintain 16 hrs light; pot up onion seedlings
- 🏠 Inspect hoop house structure before spring
Zone 3
🌨 Zone 3 · Min −40 °C · Winnipeg, Northern Minnesota, Surgut. Very short season (90–120 days).
- 🌱 Start tomatoes and peppers indoors (10–12 wks)
- 📦 Inventory seeds; order what's missing
- 🔧 Repair tools and cold frames; check grow lights
- 📖 Plan crop rotations on paper
Zone 4
🌧 Zone 4 · Min −34 °C · Minneapolis, Calgary, Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg. Season ≈ 140 days.
- 🌱 Start tomatoes, peppers indoors (10 wks)
- 🌱 Sow onions, leeks if not done in February
- 📦 Check seed inventory; top up what's missing
- 🔧 Prepare raised beds if soil is workable
Zone 5
🌥 Zone 5 · Min −29 °C · Chicago, Montreal, Moscow, Helsinki. Season ≈ 160 days.
- 🌱 Start tomatoes and peppers indoors (8–10 wks)
- 📦 Inventory seeds; order any missing varieties
- 🔧 Repair tools, cold frames, and grow lights
- 📖 Plan crop rotations on paper
Zone 6
⛅ Zone 6 · Min −23 °C · Denver, Toronto, Warsaw, Oslo, Kyiv. Season ≈ 180 days.
- 🌱 Start tomatoes, peppers indoors (8–10 wks)
- 🫛 Direct sow spinach and peas outdoors
- 🌿 Sow phacelia as early pollinator cover crop
- 🧅 Plant onion sets outdoors late month
Zone 7
🌤 Zone 7 · Min −18 °C · New York, Berlin, Strasbourg, Grenoble, Seoul. Long season ≈ 200 days.
- 🥔 Plant potatoes and onion sets outdoors
- 🫛 Direct sow peas, spinach, carrots, beets
- 🌱 Start tomatoes/peppers indoors if not done
- 🌾 Sow oats + field peas as quick cover crop
Zone 8
☀️ Zone 8 · Min −12 °C · Seattle, Paris, Lyon, Toulouse, Lille, Amsterdam. Near year-round growing.
- 🍅 Transplant brassicas; sow warm crops indoors
- 🌸 Direct sow poppies, phacelia, sweet peas
- 🥔 Plant potatoes outdoors
- 🍅 Start tomatoes indoors (transplant April)
Zone 9
🌞 Zone 9 · Min −7 °C · London, Bordeaux, Marseille, Nantes, Rome, Madrid. Year-round outdoor growing.
- 🍅 Transplant tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers outdoors
- 🌽 Direct sow corn, beans, squash
- 🌾 Terminate winter cover crops; turn in biomass
- 🌿 Plant heat-lovers: basil, aubergines, melons
Zone 10
🌴 Zone 10 · Min −1 °C · Nice, Lisbon, Athens, Southern California, Southern Florida. Subtropical.
- 🌶 Transplant aubergines, sweet peppers, okra outdoors
- 🌽 Direct sow corn, beans, squash, cucumbers
- 🌾 Sow buckwheat before rain season
- 🍅 Plant tomato transplants — harvest by May–June
Zone 11
🌺 Zone 11 · Min +4 °C · Hawaii, Hong Kong, tropical coasts. True tropics, frost-free year-round.
- 🍌 Plant tropical crops: taro, plantain, sweet potato
- 🌿 Sow cowpeas as nitrogen-fixing cover crop
- 🍅 Transplant tomatoes and peppers
- 🌸 Install tree guilds and food forest layers
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