In Your Garden

MARCH

Start mowing- blades set to the highest setting.

Repot overgrown indoor plants that have outgrown their containers. .

Divide snowdrops. After flowering, lift the larger clumps with a fork and split into smaller sections or individual bulbs. Replant the bulbs at the same depth as before, then water and apply a layer of organic matter as a mulch.

Deadhead faded flowers by removing the seed pods, so that all of the plant’s energy goes back into the bulb. Allow the leaves to die down naturally. Feed bulbs in containers with a potassium rich tomato feed

Sow annuals in pots and seed trays on bright windowsills and in greenhouses. Sow thinly and keep damp. Pansies, snapdragons, petunias and lobelia give cheery displays.

Careful how you weed! As seedlings emerge, remove as many unwanted plants as you can by hand. Use a hoe in vegetable beds or other larger areas.

Cut back perennials by moving dead stems and withered growth. Cut close to the crown but take care to avoid new shoots. It’s best to leave Penstemons unpruned until next month.

Finish pruning shrub roses as early as you can this month before warmer temperatures initiate new growth. Remove dead, damaged or diseased growth and cut all remaining shoots by a third to a half.

If you have any trees or shrubs in the wrong location, dig them up with as much root on as possible. Replant at the same level taking care not to bury the stems. Mulch and water well. The younger the shrub or tree, the better!

Pot up Oriental lilies. Add about 20% grit for drainage. Plant 10 to 15 cm deep, with 5 cm between the bulbs.

Prune hydrangeas. Cut back mop head and lace caps to the first pair of buds below last year’s flowers.

Plant Dahlias into pots to start them off. Keep them free from frost.

March is the month to get your parsnips seeds sown and chitted seed potatoes sown - if you are fortunate enough to have a greenhouse. Once the weather warms up at the end of the month, you  can sow your carrots, beetroot, radish, and pea seeds outdoors in shallow drills.

Finish pruning fruit trees and bushes as early as you can this month. Prune out weak, damaged and diseased growth. Add 7 to 10 cm layer of well rotted compost or manure around the base of fruit trees and bushes to help feed them and retain moisture.

Try not to dig in wet weather as we’ve had so much rain this winter you don’t want to compact the soil too much. If working on wet ground is unavoidable, so perhaps stand on a plank of wood on the ground to avoid treading directly on the bed.