Traditionally this is the windy month. March winds can do some damage but they are useful in drying out the ground so that it is ready for the spring planting. Broad beans can certainly be sown now and so too can Brussels sprouts, carrots, kale, leeks, onions, parsnips, peas and radishes. Onion sets and shallots should be planted now and Jerusalem artichokes can go in. Seed potatoes should be purchased as soon as possible so that they can be chitted ready for planting out as soon as it gets a little warmer. More tender vegetables such as cucumbers, tomatoes, marrows, courgettes and sweet corn will need to be sown in the greenhouse now so that they are ready for planting out during May. Bedding plants such as antirrhinums, calendula, marigolds, nicotiana, stocks and phlox can be sown in the greenhouse, and plants of pansies and primroses can be planted out in the garden borders, tubs containers and hanging baskets now.
Grass will need regular cutting now but at this stage it should not be cut too short. Treat lawns with moss killer now and beds and borders in the garden should be weeded and mulched.
March is a very good month for planting trees, shrubs, conifers, fruit trees, climbing plants, alpines and herbaceous perennials. It is also the last month for planting bare-root plants such as hedging plants and raspberry canes. Perennial plants that have become too large can be lifted now and divided prior to re-planting and those perennials which have been left in the borders should be cut back. This is the month to prune roses and the late-flowering clematis. Shrubs such as cornus (dogwood) will need to be cut back hard and so too do the autumn-fruiting raspberries. The gooseberries, caryopteris, buddleias, deciduous ceanothus, pyracantha and wistaria can be lightly pruned now. Now is the time to start to take cuttings and some shrubs can be propagated from layers.
January this year was so mild at times that some shrubs thought that spring had arrived and they started new growth; should we get severe frosts during March these plants will be damaged unless protected by covering with garden fleece. Now is the time to start protecting hostas from attack by slugs; a little sharp grit around the plants will help. Summer-flowering bulbs such as gladioli can be planted now and daffodils should be dead-headed as soon as the flowers die down. Gardens should be full of spring bulbs in flower now, and forsythias, chaenomeles, and some of he early prunus trees should bring that breath of spring to our gardens too. Chipperfield Horticultural Society has its first flower show on 2 April. Do join them and help make the show a success!
Terry Simmonds