Mzzz B's March Garden Blog

What a winter we have had.

But it has been surprisingly warm, despite the odd brief cold spell, and the garden does seem to be ahead of its usual schedule, but oh how wet everything is. If only we could have kept up with all those early spring jobs in the garden, instead of battling with the rain and wind. But I have been enjoying the fact that the snowdrops have held on, alongside the crocuses and now the daffodils are out, with the early tulips. The garden is springing into life, and so are the weeds. Number one task at this time of year is to get those little weed seedlings before they have a chance to grow and set seed, some like hairy bittercress do it very rapidly, as I noted in a dormant pot of hostas there is a whole load of bittercress flowers.
If you are worried about flooding and the impact it may have on trees, I have researched this and it seems that trees will survive if flooded in the winter when they are dormant, and can manage a week or two in the growing season, but any longer than that may cause damage. With planting schemes clearly this needs to be taken into consideration, but there are trees that relish a good wet environment, like some willows!

Jobs to do in March :
Protect new spring shoots from slugs – with the warmer winter there will be more around!
Plant shallots, onion sets and early potatoes – I always warm the soil for a few weeks with black plastic ad then plant the potatoes leaving the cover on again for a few weeks in case of late frosts. If you don't cover them make sure you earth up any new shoots.
Lift and divide overgrown clumps of perennials
Top dress containers with fresh compost
Mow the lawn on dry days – it has certainly done a lot of growing recently
Cut back Cornus (dogwood) and Salix (willow) grown for colourful winter stems
Hoe and mulch weeds to keep them under control early
Prune bush and climbing roses

Photograph of crocuses and in the background weed seedlings of speedwell waiting to be dealt with!