Mzzz B's Garden Blog for March

Rain and mud

Well, will we ever have a dry spell , or is it going to keep on raining ? It seems gardeners are really experiencing the effects of climate change.
There are lots of spring flowers looking great at the moment- photographs of hellebores, white Thalia narcissi, primroses, pink corydalis, spirea, and magnolia stellata, and small cherry Kojo-no-mai. This cherry tree would be ideal for a small garden ,it grows to 1 metre and has spring flowers and good autumn colour.
. All we need is some dry weather!!

There are lots of jobs to do in the garden but, even our dry sandy soil is so wet and claggy it feels impossible to do quite a few of the jobs that need to be done at this time of year.

So, as much as possible try not to tread on waterlogged soil, as this will lead to compaction. You can use a board to stand on, but it may be best to grow things on in pots in a greenhouse, cold frame or your windowsill and plant them out when the ground does start to dry out.

Perhaps these are the jobs you can do without compacting the soil!!

• Cut dogwoods, and willows down to the base to promote vigorous new growth.
• Plant lilies and other Summer flowering bulbs in pots.
• Feed Ericaceous shrubs like rhododendrons azaleas, camellias and pieris with an Ericaceous fertilizer, and if you have yellowing leaves, try watering with a dilute feed of Epsom salts- it worked magic on a mahonia in a pot.
• Tidy up borders, as much as you can, removing established and newly germinating weeds,
• Sow tomatoes, chillies sweet peppers and aubergines in pots in a heated propagator.
• Sow lettuce, parsley, celeriac, and celery indoors to transplant later.
• Protect greenhouse sowings of beans, peas, sweet peas from hungry mice, by placing holly leaves around pots and plants- this has certainly worked with mine after two lots of sweet peas were ravaged by mice! This year however they have eaten my broad beans!
• Mow lawns once you can get onto them without paddling. and cut edges with a half moon cutter- its amazing how smart this makes the garden look.
• Keep feeding the birds as the breeding season gets underway.
• Cut back winter flowering jasmine to encourage flowers for next year.

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