March
Fruit and veg:
- Cover your crops with netting to protect them from pigeons
- Give your veges protection from wind
- If you want to propagate your fruit bushes take hardwood cuttings from fruit bushes now.
- Prepare the area to plant asparagus in spring by removing weeds and digging over the soil and adding compost
- Look through your catalogues and order onion sets and seed potatoes
- If you have any new fruit trees, bushes or cane fruits , plant them now
- Start planing next year’s crop rotation
- To get the best out of your large fruit trees next year, prune them now. This will control their shape, size and increase their productivity
- Prune out about a quarter of old stems from currant bushes
- Lift, divide and replant large clumps of rhubarb into soil enriched with well-rotted manure
The flower Garden
- Prune your Wisteria, cutting back summer side-shoots to 2 or 3 buds.
- Prune rose bushes while they are dormant, cutting back to just above a bud, removing any crossing or dead branches.
- Plant bare root roses now in a sunny position for spectacular summer colour.
- If you’re looking for a more unusual plant, try Alstroemeria (Peruvian Lily).
- Cut back old foliage from ornamental grasses before growth begins – to within a few centimetres of the ground.
- Cut down old stems of perennial plants like Sedum, – being careful of any new growth emerging.
- Remove and compost old Hellebore leaves, which will allow the flowers to show through.
- Cut back damaged, diseased and old stems of brightly coloured willows.
- Remove faded flowers from winter pansies to stop them setting seed.
The Vegetable garden:
- Harvest parsnips and leeks.
- If you’re growing early peas, warm up the soil with a cloche for a few weeks to prepare for sowing.
- Try growing your own mushrooms with an indoor kit.
- Start chitting (sprouting) early potatoes – stand them upright in a module tray or egg box in a bright cool frost-free place.
- Potatoes can be grown in containers under cover for a very early crop (Charlotte potatoes are good variety). You can use any old compost bags for this.
- If you’re growing potatoes in an unheated greenhouse, protect them with horticultural fleece when it’s cold.
- Remove yellowing and dead leaves from winter brassicas as they may harbour pests and diseases.