Things to do in March
Sunday, March 2nd, 2008
In like a lion and out like a lamb - while early days in March may well still feel like the middle of winter, by the end of the month it should be all systems go in the garden.
There’s plenty to do this month, including overhauling shrubs, starting off your vegetable crops and trying out ways to make your garden wildlife-friendly. Here’s our list of seasonal to-dos for March:
- Cut the grass - we bet you’ve missed this, haven’t you? Grass is likely to be one of the hardiest and most successful plants in your garden, and yet it still needs care and attention. Time to get it into shape for spring.
- Prune back heathers and lavenders ready for the new growing season.
- Shrubs will also benefit from a pruning - get some advice here.You can also take the opportunity to take some hardwood cuttings - advice here - and to apply fertilizer and mulch.
- Get your pond into good shape since frogs and toads will soon be along to start spawning. Skim off any winter debris and divide any plants around the margins that are getting a bit dense.
- Apply environmentally pest control - unfortunately it’s not just the plants that are waking up, but the slugs too. Consider using the used skins of halved oranges and grapefruits to control them - more tips here.
- Sow half-hardy annuals including petunias, french marigolds, salvias and nicotianas, indoors.
- Now’s a good time to get your new roses planted - read some advice from the RHS here - and also hardy shrubs such as fuscias, conifers and lilies.
- Sow vegetables outdoors - possible crops include broad beans, beetroots, Brussels sprouts, summer cabbages, leeks, lettuces, hardy peas and radishes - see this BBC article for advice.
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Tags: March, Seasonal to-dos, spring gardening