Mzzz B's March Garden blog

Mzzz B's March Garden Blog

Spring is definitely in the air, there are days when the sun is shining and you can feel its warmth, the birds are singing, alongside those grey days and frosty nights, that make you remember that winter is still with us for a while yet.

The spring bulbs are always a wonderful sight especially when the sun is shining. Crocuses just open up to suck in the sunshine, and daffodils( Tete aTete in a pot) echo it. We have been enjoying different iris reticulata this year which are stunning little irises with wonderful makings and deep vibrant colours( see Photos).

But the soil in Tattenhall is still very soggy and wet after all the rain we have had, and clay soil is easily compacted if you walk on it. So if you have to, try and use a wooden plank to spread your weight and stop you getting boots clogged up with wet clay!

It still too early to sow seeds outdoors as the soil is still too cold.

But there are lots of jobs to do at this time of the year, and then it gets busier!

• Finish pruning roses early in the month.
• Cut dogwoods, willows, Cornus and paulownia, 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 Ericaeous fertilizer.
• Tidy up borders, removing established and newly germinating weeds, mulch with garden compost.
• Plant new roses and other shrubs and climbers.
• Scatter general purpose fertiliser over flower beds and around shrubs, roses and hedges.
• Sow a early crop of carrots under a cloche to avoid carrot root fly, place the cliche on the soil for a week or so to warm it up.
• Sow tomatoes, chillies sweet peppers and aubergines in pots in heated propagator.
• Start hoeing veg beds as soon as weeds start to germinate, this shows the soil is beginning to warm .
• Sow lettuce, parsley, celeriac, and celery indoors to transplant later.
• Sow sweet peas in deep pots and keep them frost free
• 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!
• Mow lawns once they start back into growth, and cut edges with a half moon cutter.
• Keep feeding the birds as the breeding season gets underway.
• Cut back winter flowering jasmine to encourage flowers for next year.
• Give black currant bushes a high nitrogen feed.

For more in depth advice go to the RHS website.