In Your Garden Now
Surely it can only get better!! So let's hope we’ve seen the last of the cold, snowy weather that we had in February as March is the start of the main sowing season for vegetables outdoors and another busy month for gardeners. Flower seed sowing is at its peak this month. Attention to early flowering bulbs and roses is needed. And preparation for lawns can get under way, depending on weather conditions of course! Also the garden may need a tidy up after the bleak winter months and as weeds start growing.
General
- Begonia tubers should be planted in trays and once roots have formed, plant into 10cm (4”) pots.
- Seed of summer bedding plants such as petunia can be sown in heated propagators.
- Now is an ideal time to sow tomatoes, aubergines, sweet peppers and chilli.
- Melon seed can be sown one to a 8cm (3”) pot on their side using a multipurpose compost, with a germinating temperature of 19ºC (66ºF).
- Cuttings of fuchsia and coleus 5-8cm (2-3”) long can be taken for rooting, insert into gritty compost and place in a warm position.
- As the days become warmer allow more ventilation but remember to close vents at night.
- Flower beds can be prepared so that they are ready for sowing hardy annuals during late March through into April.
- A general fertiliser should be sprinkled around trees and shrubs, and along hedges, then give a generous mulch of well-rotted compost.
- Around the base of roses, fruit trees and shrubs a mulch of garden compost can be spread.
- Houseplants and ferns can be potted on into slightly larger pots.
- Flowers on fruit trees should be protected on frosty nights but during the day it is ideal for the covers to be removed so insects can get to the blooms.
- Winter digging may not have been completed by gardeners who have heavy soil due to the amount of rain which fell during autumn and beginning of winter, therefore, as conditions begin to slowly improve any opportunity available may have to be taken so that any outstanding preparations can be finished.
- Cloches and frames can be washed, inside and out, with soapy water removing any build-up of dirt which will allow full light to pass through glass and plastic at this time of year.
- Clean paths, paving, patios and steps with a pressure washer or chemical cleaner.
- If not already done, make sure garden tools and mowers are checked over for the coming season.
Fruit
- If you haven’t already done so, there is just time for planting raspberry canes.
- Rhubarb can be forced by covering the crowns with either large pots or buckets.
- Both small fruit trees and soft fruit should be given a feed at this time.
- Strawberries can be grown in pots giving a bumper crop, and so that the picking season lasts longer why not grow two or three different varieties.
- Any branches damaged by birds on apple and cherry trees should be pruned.
Flowers
- Sweet Peas can be planted in sunny borders remembering to tie stems onto supports which will encourage quicker climbing and flowering.
- Summer bulbs including lilies and gladioli can be planted out.
- Once flowers fade on winter-flowering heathers they should be trimmed, lightly cut back but not into old wood.
- Pruning of roses should be completed as soon as possible, remembering to remove any dead, diseased or damaged stems.
- Summer flowering clematis should be pruned back to just above the lowest shoots.
- Congested clumps of snowdrops can lifted and separated.
- Lifting and dividing of any perennials that couldn’t be attempted in the autumn due to heavy soil can be done now.
- Soil should be prepared now for the sowing of hardy annuals in April.
- Fuchsias, whether bush or trailing, in their pots that may have been kept over the winter will more than likely have lost their leaves, and these should be cleared away just in case pests such as whitefly are present. If conditions have been severe the main stems may have died back and it will be difficult to see whether they have survived, however, this should become apparent by keeping the compost slightly moist along with conditions beginning to warm up, then any dead stems should be pruned back. When they begin to grow strongly, watering can be increased along with weekly feeds being started, and, they could also be potted up.
Vegetables
- Time to prick out tomato seedlings.
- By forking over light soils, and incorporating organic matter, preparation will be ready for plantings and sowings.
- Sow celery seed in pots during March/April placing them in the greenhouse which will produce plants for planting out from May to June.
- Indoor tomato varieties can be sown now in a heated greenhouse. To encourage quick germination sow in a heated propagator, or on a windowsill.
- For raising outdoor varieties sow later in the month and pot on as plants grow, then plant out in early June. If sown in April plants will flower and fruit later than those sown earlier.
- Onion sets should be planted 10-15cm (4-6”) apart, with the tips just showing above soil level. To prevent onion fly cover with fleece.
- Shallots can also be planted out now, spacing at 15cm (6”) intervals in rows 30cm (12”) apart.
- For a continuous crop sow spring onion seed every six weeks from now until the summer.
- Once conditions are suitable crops such as leek, pea, lettuce, radish, broad bean, parsnip and early carrot can be sown.
- Container grown herbs should be repotted using fresh compost, or the top 8cm (3”) can just be replaced with fresh compost.
- For the development of seed potatoes, place the tubers with eye facing upwards in tray/s that are in a cool, bright position.
- Green manure that was sown last autumn should be dug in, but first lightly go over the surface with a sharp spade then turn the soil over to bury it.
Trees & Shrubs
- Any moving or replanting of trees and shrubs should be carried out before they come into full growth.
- It is best for bark and foliage shrubs to be pruned, also take any cuttings.
- Container trees should be repotted or top-dressed.
- Lavatera and hardy fuchsias should be pruned back to live wood.
- Hedges can be planted at this time by spacing the plants evenly, planting holes should be more than large enough for plant roots, then add some planting mixture to the soil before filling in.
Lawns
- Make sure mower blades are set so that just 13mm (½”) of grass is cut the first time.
- Areas for sowing new lawns in April should start being prepared.
- Replace lawn edges that may have worn away or crumbled by using a sharp half-moon edging tool.
- Control perennial weeds by digging out the roots or using a weedkiller containing Glyphosate.
- Should moss be a problem on the lawn, Moss Killers can be applied at this time.
Ponds & Birds
- Should algae appear which turns pond water green it is best to see if the oxygenating plants in the pond begin to do their job by starving the algae of food.
- As milder spells arrive fish can be given some food.
- Now is the time to remove pond heaters so that they can be cleaned and put away until next winter.
- Plant debris should be cleared away from around the pond.
- Use a net to scoop out leaves that have fallen into the pond.
- As the weather is still frosty and the ground frozen, keep putting food out for the birds.
- Ideally peanuts could be put out but it may be best to put them in mesh feeders to avoid young birds choking on any large pieces.