Things to Do In March In Your Garden

It may still be rather chilly in March but the growing season will soon start with a vengeance and you will be flat out, so now is the time to prepare your garden for the coming season. Here are just some of the jobs you should be doing in the garden in March:

Jobs in the Vegetable Garden:

• Spread compost or manure onto your vegetable beds and/or dig in green manures that have been in the bed over the winter months.
• Remove any weeds that have popped up and prepare beds for seed planting.
• Chit first early potatoes and towards the end of the month plant them outdoors.
• Plant alliums such as onions, garlic and shallots as long as soil is not waterlogged or frozen.
• Direct sow such plants as carrots, lettuces and radishes under cloches in more southern or protected, warmer areas.

Jobs in the Fruit Garden/ Orchard:

• There is still time to plant some fruit trees before they burst into leaf in the spring.
• Plant rhubarb crowns or mulch existing plants with compost or manure.
• Plant bare root raspberry canes before you run out of time.
• Cut autumn fruiting raspberry canes to the ground to encourage new canes to grow.
• Feed blueberry plants with an ericaceous plant feed.

Jobs in the Flower Garden:

• Plant your summer flowering bulbs in beds, borders and containers.
• Plant bare root roses and prune existing bushes to encourage strong new growth.
• Now is the time to plant or re-pot some hardwood cuttings from last year.
• In the south, March can be the time to plant out hardy annuals.
• This is a good time to cut back and prune a number of different shrubs.

Jobs Under Cover:

• Sow annual flowers for planting out in June.
• Sow brassicas and other vegetables for planting out later.
• Direct sow a variety of plants and vegetables in the greenhouse or polytunnel.
• Plant first earlies in your covered space to get the very earliest of first early potatoes.
• Bring strawberry plants under cover for an earlier crop.

General Garden Jobs:

• Prepare the ground to give it time to settle before sowing lawn seed or lay new turf.
• Re-cut lawn edges and mow as and when it becomes necessary to do so.
• Top dress all your containers and garden bed areas with organic mulches and composts.
• Take the chance to maintain paths and patios before weeds take over.
• March is a good time to create a new garden wildlife pond.