March
Lawns:
- Grass will start to grow so give the lawn its first cut of the year. Set the blades high.
- Rake (scarify) the lawn to get rid of debris, dead grass and moss
- Aerate badly drained areas of the lawn with a hollow tined fork
Roses:
- Prune Hybrid Tea (large flowered) and Floribunda (cluster flowered) Roses and then give them a feed. Shrub Roses and Ramblers should not be pruned in the spring as they flower on the previous years’ wood. However, they still benefit from a feed.
Perennials:
- Herbaceous plants or cottage garden plants will start to grow if they have not done so already.
- Fork a general purpose plant food or some chicken pellets around them then apply a mulch such as garden compost, composted bark or bark chips to keep the moisture in and the weeds down.
Clematis:
- Finish pruning Clematis. How this should be done depends upon which group your Clematis falls into. Feed after pruning and mulch.
Summer Bulbs:
- Buy summer flowering bulbs, corms and tubers, such as Gladioli, Dahlias, Begonias, Crocosmia and Lilies.
- Gladioli can be planted in the second half of the month.
Summer Bedding Plants/Patio Plants:
- Sow hardy annuals outside towards the end of March.
- Sow half hardy annuals in the greenhouse, on a window sill, in a conservatory or buy young plants to grown on.
- Pot Pelargoniums and Fuchsias into fresh compost.
Vegetable Patch:
- Broccoli, Cabbage, Kale, Parsnips, Peas, Radishes and Spinach can be sown outside and then covered with cloches.
- Plant Onion sets and Shallots.
- Put Seed Potatoes in a cool, light position to chit (sprout). Plant early varieties towards the end of the month.
Fruit Garden:
- This is the last chance to plant bare root fruit trees into well prepared soil.
- Mulch trees and bushes to keep the soil moist and weed free.
- As Rhubarb pushes through cover with an up-turned bucket to exclude the light to encourage the plant to produce pink shoots.
- For an early crop, bring potted Strawberries into the greenhouse, water and feed.