What to Do in Your Central Texas Garden (March 15–April 1): Pruning Citrus Trees, Spring Perennial and Vegetable Planting, Lawn Care Tips
Welcome back, gardening friends! In this episode of the ATXGardens Podcast, landscape consultant and certified arborist Colleen Dieter walks you through what to do in your Central Texas garden during the second half of March—a time when spring growth is accelerating and gardens across Austin are waking up quickly.
Recent spring rain means weeds, vegetables, perennials, and lawns are all starting to grow rapidly. This episode covers weed control, citrus tree care, fruit tree pest prevention, perennial planting, warm-season vegetables, and spring lawn maintenance so you can stay ahead of the busiest part of the gardening season.
Let’s dig in.
🌾 Weed Control: Spring Weed Explosion
With warmer temperatures and recent rain, weeds are growing fast across Central Texas gardens.
Common weeds appearing right now include:
Cool-season weeds
Sticky weed
Hedge parsley
Rescue grass
Clover burrs
Grass burrs
False dandelions
Warm-season weeds
Bermuda grass
Johnson grass
The key to controlling weeds is removing them while they’re still small.
Colleen recommends keeping the right tools handy, including:
Hoe
Digging fork
Fiskars Uproot Weeder
Japanese hand weeder
Hori Hori garden knife
If removing a weed is difficult, there’s usually a specific tool designed to make the job easier.
🌿 Moving Plants Outdoors
If you overwintered plants indoors or in a greenhouse, it’s now safe to move them outside.
The long-range forecast for Central Texas no longer shows freezing temperatures, so tropical and tender plants can safely return outdoors.
Once plants move outside:
Watch watering closely as temperatures warm
Monitor sun exposure as spring sunlight intensifies
Make sure containers drain properly
🍊 Citrus Tree Care: Pruning, Feeding & Repotting
Late March is the ideal time for citrus tree care in Central Texas.
This includes:
Lemons
Oranges
Limes
Tangerines
Satsumas
Kumquats
Citrus Pruning
Prune citrus trees to create an open vase shape that allows:
Better airflow
Improved sunlight penetration
Reduced pest pressure
Focus on removing:
Branches growing toward the center
Crossing branches
Areas with tightly packed leaves
These dense areas are common hiding spots for pests like:
Whiteflies
Aphids
Scale insects
Spider mites
Always clean pruning tools between plants with rubbing alcohol or disinfectant to avoid spreading disease.
🍊 Citrus Rootstock: Watch for Trifoliate Orange
Many citrus trees sold in Texas are grafted onto trifoliate orange rootstock (Poncirus trifoliata) because it improves cold tolerance and disease resistance.
However, if a freeze kills the top of the tree, the rootstock may begin growing from the base.
Signs you’re seeing trifoliate orange instead of your original citrus tree include:
Leaves that grow in groups of three (trifoliate)
Very large thorns
Small, extremely sour fruit
If this happens, the new growth won’t produce the same fruit as your original lemon, lime, or orange tree.
Colleen has included photos below so you can learn how to identify trifoliate orange rootstock in your own garden.
Feeding Citrus Trees
After pruning, Colleen recommends feeding citrus with:
Liquid humate soil drench
Espoma Citrus-tone fertilizer
Compost top dressing
Light mulch layer
Later in the season, fertilize again using:
Medina HastaGro liquid fertilizer
Citrus trees are heavy feeders, especially when grown in containers.
Repotting Citrus Trees
Container citrus should be repotted every two years because potting soil breaks down over time.
When repotting:
Remove the tree from the pot
Replace old potting soil with fresh potting mix
If you want to keep the tree the same size, you can root prune by removing the bottom 25% of the root ball before repotting.
🌳 Fruit Trees: Pest Prevention & Grafting Season
March is an important time for fruit tree pest prevention.
If your fruit trees are setting fruit, watch for pests such as:
Plum curculio
Fruit worms
Maggots
Protection options include:
Spraying with Take Down Garden Spray (pyrethrin + oil)
Covering fruit with micro-mesh bags or orchard socks
If spraying, apply treatments at these stages:
After about 85% of blossoms drop
At shuck split (when the papery flower covering opens)
10–14 days later
Using fruit protection bags can reduce the need for repeated spraying.
Grafting Season
Late March is also fruit tree grafting season in Central Texas.
This often coincides with the time when Texas mountain laurels finish blooming.
Colleen recommends the book:
Fruit Tree Grafting for Everyone by Susan Poizner and Steph Muma
Gardeners can also learn through Central Texas Seed Savers grafting workshops.
🌾 Perennials, Bulbs & Ornamental Plants
Spring growth is underway for perennials, bulbs, and ornamental grasses.
Now is a great time to:
Finish trimming winter damage
Divide overcrowded plants
Transplant spreading perennials
Plant new perennials and groundcovers
Be cautious when planting in beds where bulbs were planted earlier. Some bulbs take a full year to emerge, so it’s helpful to mark their locations.
🥕 Vegetable Garden: Warm-Season Planting
The vegetable garden is now transitioning fully into warm-season crops.
Cool-season crops still okay to plant
Strawberries (transplants)
Swiss chard (transplants)
Warm-season vegetables to plant now
From transplants:
Tomatoes
Eggplants
Peppers
From seed:
Beans
Corn
Cucumbers
Summer squash
New Zealand spinach
Malabar spinach
Magenta spreen
Adding compost before planting helps improve soil fertility and structure.
🌿 Herb Garden: Warm-Season Herbs
Now is the perfect time to plant warm-season herbs from transplants, including:
Rosemary
Oregano
Thyme
Lavender
Lemon balm
Catnip
Lemongrass
Mint
Basil can be planted either from seed or transplants.
Colleen also recommends planting sunflowers, zinnias, and cosmos to attract beneficial insects and pollinators.
🌱 Lawn Care: First Mowing of the Season
Late March is an important time for spring lawn care in Central Texas.
First mowing of the year
Set mower to the lowest setting
Bag clippings
Remove winter thatch
This is the only time Colleen recommends mowing low and bagging.
After this first mowing:
Set mower to the highest setting
Leave clippings on the lawn
Mow regularly during the growing season
Spring Lawn Fertilization
After mowing, fertilize with an organic fertilizer such as:
Sustain 8-2-4
MicroLife 6-2-4
Water it in using:
Medina Plus Soil Activator
Homemade compost tea
These products help feed beneficial soil microbes that support healthier turf over time.
🌼 Sponsor
This episode is sponsored by http://ATXGardens.com .
Colleen offers personalized landscape consultations to help homeowners understand, maintain, and improve their Central Texas landscapes. Consultations can also be gifted to new homeowners.
🔗 Links & Resources Mentioned
Dutch Push Hoe: Berry&Bird Dutch Hoe, Stainless Steel Head with Wooden Handle Weeder, Women Heavy Duty Garden Tool for Weeding and Cultivating
Stirrup Hoe: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08JPMV7N8?tag=atxgardens-20&linkCode=osi&th=1&psc=1
Fiskars Uproot Weeder: Fiskars 3-Claw Stand Up Weed Puller Tool, Gardening Weeder, Hand Weeding Tool with 39" Long Ergonomic Handle with Easy-Eject Mechanism
Japanese Handy Weeder: KUISUN Japanese Weeding Sickle Nejiri Gama - 11 inch Compact & Sharp Hand Hoe for Effortless Weed Removal in Gardening
Hand pruners: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0001IOYYE?tag=atxgardens-20&linkCode=osi&th=1&psc=1
Short handled loppers: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0007LXTPU?tag=atxgardens-20&linkCode=osi&th=1&psc=1
Liquid Humate: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0036FKH04?tag=atxgardens-20&linkCode=osi&th=1&psc=1
Espoma Citrus Tone Fertilizer: https://amzn.to/4llVABO
Hasta Gro Fertilizer: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00YF3MJXY?tag=atxgardens-20&linkCode=osi&th=1&psc=1
Fruit Tree Grafting For Everyone by Susan Poizner: https://amzn.to/4uqrmSc
Central Texas Seed Savers Newsletter: https://www.centexseedsavers.org/
Take Down Garden Spray: https://amzn.to/4qTJMbc
Maggot Barriers to protect fruits instead of spraying: https://amzn.to/4aB6wY *NOTE: you need string or twist-ties to use these, they don’t come with a way to close them.
Consulting at http://ATXGardens.com
Sustane 8-2-4 Lawn Fertilizer: https://amzn.to/4sEXgbY
Microlife 6-2-4 Fertilizer: https://amzn.to/47o58GI
Medina Plus Soil Activator: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0063Y9G3Y?tag=atxgardens-20&linkCode=osi&th=1&psc=1
🌼 Stay Connected
For more Central Texas gardening guidance, visit http://ATXGardens.com , follow Colleen on Instagram @ATXGardens_, and subscribe to the ATXGardens Podcast for seasonal, science-based gardening advice tailored to Austin and the surrounding region.
