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The last few garden maintenance jobs that must be done in March are fairly obvious but bear mentioning none the less. Lawns need to be looked at as they are starting to grow again and time can usefully be spent raking to remove thatch and moss before starting to mow. When you do start to mow, make sure the blades are set quite high for the first few cuts and rake off any cuttings if you don’t catch them in a box or bag on your mower. You should also look to see if any areas need some care by way of reseeding or turfing and prepare the ground accordingly.

It’s a good time to check over your Pond as well, check over all the pond ‘electricals’ like pumps, lighting systems and filters. Give any other water features Continue Reading »

Continuing our garden maintenance theme now that Spring is in the air and the garden is crying out for colour, it’s time to turn your attention to ensuring that you get  your hardy annuals going by sowing them either in pots, trays or modules.  Sweet Peas can be started off too, I generally nick the seed coating to give them a start or soak them for a few hours to soften that hard outer shell.  Whilst you are busy sowing you should also start off your Summer bedding plants if you are intending to grow them from seed.  If you are going to sow in the early part of March then put them in a heated propagator or sow under glass to give them some protection from the frosts you can still get – we had an incredibly hard frost yesterday morning.

It also time to topdress your containers with some fresh compost and maybe put some fertilisers on the bulbs that are beginning to peep through now.  I also like to try and get a mulch onto some of the borders before the weeds start springing up.  I shall be using some of the material that we shredded last year when chopping down some trees, it has broken down quite well and is ready for use now.

Talking of trees it’s time to check any shrubs and trees planted last autumn and firm them in.  It’s also time for one of my favourite jobs – pruning.  I’m a great believer in hard pruning to get a plant to be the way you want it to be.  My definition of a weed is any plant that isn’t where you want it or doesn’t do what you want so I wield the secateurs with some ferocity.  At this time of year I will be looking over my summer flowering shrubs and late flowering clematis amongst other things such as climbers which have run riot over the year.  I won’t be touching my spring flowering shrubs til after they have finished flowering but they too will get a serious hair cut in due course.

I’m not a great fan of evergreens and conifers but if you do have them in your garden this is the time when you should look to move any that need a change of scenery as part of your garden maintenance plan.

March will soon be upon us and it is the time of year when there are lots of jobs to do and the weather is fit to get out into the garden and enjoy doing them.

Fruit and Vegetables need your attention at this time of year and you should be busy preparing the seedbeds for later use by clearing them and maybe covering them with polythene or fleece to warm up the soil in cooler areas to give your seedlings a head start. In milder areas you can certainly start to think about sewing some crops outdoors, at the very least you should be sowing some seeds in the greenhouse for later use. Certainly early potatoes can be planted. Things like Shallots, onions and garlic can be planted along with Asparagus (my favourite!)

In the greenhouse it is time to sow peppers, tomatoes and other salad veges, celery and artichokes can be started off now as well. If you have blossom coming on some of your stoned fruits such as apricots, nectarines and peaches they will need to be protected from stray frosts – like the heavy one we had last night. A good mulch and feed will do them good at this time of year as well. Any pruning of soft fruits needs to be completed as well.

Most of my winter vegetables are coming to an end now but there are still a few parsnips, some Purple Sprouting (my second favourite) and Kale in the garden. I have some spinach that has overwintered quite well too and we are still picking that. I must admit to beginning to crave the fresh new salads of the spring too though we’ll be eating the last of the winter sprouts and cabbages first.

It’s a time of year when I love looking at the nursery catalogues as well, thinking about all the things I want to put in the garden, more and more I find myself looking at the websites as they have such a lot of extra information, like Gardeners Choice. They are an excellent source of ideas and information for any gardener.