What to plant in March (and the top gardening jobs this month)
Gardening in March: As spring approaches, the weather warms up, the days get longer, and focus turns to planting and sowing. Turn your attention to planting bare-root roses, herbaceous perennials and hedges just in time for the warmer weather – these structural plants are the backbone of any summer garden.
Cut back old growth
If you haven't cleared away the dead stems in your garden from last year's perennials, now's your last chance. 'Pruning is a great way to keep your shrubs looking healthy come spring,' says Jamie Shipley, gardening expert and managing director of Hedges Direct. 'March may be the last chance to get the job done before new growth begins, so it’s one thing to get ticked off your list.'
Expert gardener and author, Sarah Raven, agrees: 'Cut back anything that you may have left over winter for wildlife, frost protection, or simply because you didn’t get round to it. Removing old foliage will make way for new spring growth and to keep your borders full of life.'
Roses can also be pruned now. 'Train climbing roses into a fan shape; horizontal branches produce the most flowering shoots. Cut out some of the oldest branches. Shrub roses can be cut back to around 8ins (20cm) from the ground to just above a healthy bud,' says Angela Slater, Hayes Garden World's gardening expert.
Divide plants
Keep an eye out for plants that you can divide. Look out for any congested clumps of perennials such as persicaria, geraniums, daylily and iris – in fact, pretty much anything with lots of stems.
Top tip: Dividing a plant will keep it healthy and enable you to double your stock!
Prepare to sow
'Plant your dahlia tubers in pots undercover,' says Sarah. 'Dahlias are one of the stars of the summer garden, offering fabulous flowers to cut time and time again throughout summer and autumn. We wouldn’t be without them at Perch Hill.'
If you've already done your winter digging, you only need to make final preparations to get your soil ready for sowing. Hoe off any weeds, take out any stones or bits of old roots and rubbish, sprinkle a light coating of general-purpose organic fertiliser over the area, and rake the surface down, leaving a seedbed the texture of cake crumbs.
Sarah advises sowing different flower seeds that are often not available as plants – 'it’s an affordable way to enhance your garden,' she says. 'Cosmos is perfect to sow at this time of year, with plenty of varieties to choose from. I love 'Purity' for its clean, simple white flowers or 'Rubenza' for rich, jewel-toned colour in pots.'
Sarah also recommends sweet pea seedlings: 'Height and scent are quintessential features of summer gardens and sweet peas are a lovely way to get that look. Plant them in March and you’ll have climbing teepees covered in fragrant, colourful blooms by June.'
Jamie suggests prioritising hardy annuals like sweet peas. Hardy annuals are flowers which carry out their lifecycle within one season or year and are most tolerant of light spring frosts. Try poppies, sunflowers and Centaurea cyanus (cornflowers) – they're ideally best sown between March and May.
Fruit and vegetables
'This is the time to be sowing vegetable seeds and placing in an unheated greenhouse or cold frame,' says Angela. 'Check the sowing conditions as some may need to be placed in a heated propagator, such as tomatoes, aubergines, chillies and cucumbers.'
Sow lettuces, tomatoes, salads and cauliflowers under cover. Outside, you can sow peas, carrots, beetroot, summer and autumn cabbages, herbs, leeks, spinach, turnips, spring onions, broad beans, Brussels sprouts and parsnips.
This is also a good time to start planting out early potatoes, onions, garlic and shallots. Permanent crops, such as asparagus and strawberries, can also be planted now.
'Most vegetables grow best in rich soil and you can enrich yours by adding things like bark, manure and grass clippings,' advises Chris Bonnett from GardeningExpress.co.uk.
lettuce 'Mixed'
Gardener's Delight tomatoes
Salad Leaves 'Speedy Mix'
Cauliflower Seeds - Cheddar F1
Pea Seeds 'Alderman'
carrot 'Early Nantes'
Beetroot 'Boltardy' (Globe)
Cabbage Seeds - Greyhound
Herb Collection
Blue Solaise
Spinach Seeds 'Perpetual'
Turnip 'Sweetbell' F1 Hybrid
Spring Onion 'North Holland Blood Red'
Bean (broad) 'Aquadulce Claudia'
Brussels Sprout Seeds - F1 Brigitte
Parsnip 'White Gem' (National Trust)Pastinaca sativa
Parsnip 'White Gem'
Bare-root roses
March is the latest you should plant bare-root roses. These are usually purchased by mail order and arrive, as the name suggests, not in a container but with their roots exposed, so it's very important to get the plants into the ground as soon as possible.
Roses appreciate well-drained, rich earth, so pile in plenty of well-rotted manure or other soil improver before you plant.
Rose Plant - Belle de Jour
Summer bulbs
'As spring settles in, the soil will be warming, making it a good time to plant bulbs so that they're ready for summer, giving you a beautiful and bright garden for entertaining,' says Chris.
Plant summer bulbs such as gladioli, crocosmia, lilies and agapanthus outside. You can pretty much forget about them once they're in and they'll be a wonderful surprise once August arrives.
Gladioli
Scented Lily Collection
Agapanthus 'Dokter Brouwer'
Small space? This is what you should focus on in March
If you're short on outdoor space, here are several plants you should focus on this month:
Hardy plants: Blossom (e.g. Magnolias, cherries, clematis montana)
Flower garden: Lupins, delphiniums, hollyhocks, foxgloves
Bedding plants: Dianthus including P'ink Kisses'
Grow your own: Herbs, strawberries
Wildlife
Bees will start to emerge from their winter homes, looking for new places to nest. To welcome bees into your garden, sow or plant pollinating plants such as lavender, foxgloves or euphorbia.
You can also create a safe haven for insects with a bug hotel. You can buy one or make your own: all you need to do is find a sheltered spot and then fill with pots, pipes and natural materials. Follow our guide on how to make a bug hotel in five easy steps.
National Trust CJ Wildlife Apex Insect House
£25.00 at nationaltrust.org.uk
Solitary Beehive
Lucky Ladybird Dwelling Garden House
£11.99 at notonthehighstreet.com
Look out for box blight
'Box blight is a disease that affects box hedging plants, caused by fungal infections,' says Jamie. 'This results in the leaves of plants turning brown and eventually falling off.'
To prevent and control box blight, do the following:
Dispose of infected leaves: White spores on the underside of leaves could indicate an infection. Remove and dispose of them immediately.
Disinfect pruning tools: Disinfect any tools that have come into contact with infected plants to prevent potential spread.
Keep on top of pruning: Pruning once a year will provide better circulation to your plants, reducing the risk of disease, which thrives in damp conditions.
Lawn care
As temperatures rise in mid-March, you may notice your grass growing faster. 'You can begin mowing again but cut lightly and keep the grass fairly long to keep moisture in during the warmer months,' says Jamie. Ensure that temperatures are mild enough, as mowing with any signs of frost on your lawn could cause unnecessary damage when your grass is most vulnerable. This could result in brown, withering grass or it could die. 'Mowing should only be required every two weeks in March and April, rising to once a week in May,' he adds.
And one more thing... Slugs
Although pests like slugs and caterpillars are around all year, their activity increases during the warm and wet weather of spring. 'Pests are a particular problem in spring as they can kill your new seedlings, destroy new growth in plants and create holes in delicate leaves,' explains Jamie. Read our guide on how to stop slugs eating plants in your garden.
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