Mzzz B's March Garden Blog

Mzzz B's March Garden Blog.

So we have had summer, now back to winter! Not sure how the garden and the wildlife will react to this wonderful but worrying spell of hot weather, and frosty nights! Certainly it has been lovely to see the bulbs flowering, crocuses and daffodils just look so good in the sunshine, and the bees have been buzzing around collecting pollen from them. Flowering shrubs like this japonica have also been good in the sun.

But now we are back to what is expected in the UK , cold and wet!

So what are the gardening jobs for March:

• The warm weather may well have woken up the slugs so make sure you protect new spring shoots from slugs. A gardening friend gave me a tip, she cuts out the bottoms of plastic pots and puts them on top of vulnerable plants, this means you can direct a few slug pellets where they are needed, clearly you have to gauge the size of the pot to the plant, and split it down the side if you can't get it over the plant. It also provides a little protection from the weather, and you can direct your watering more precisely!
• This is the time to plant shallots, onion sets and early potatoes- cover the newly emerging shoots if frost is forecast. I like to cover the soil with black plastic so that it warms before planting potatoes.
• Lift and divide overgrown clumps of perennials, this is a good time to do this as the plants quickly grow at this time of year.
• Top dress containers with fresh compost- scrape off the top layer if you can and replace with new.
• Lawn mowing can start on dry days.
• Cutback dogwoods and willows for colourful winter stems next year. Other late flowering shrubs like buddleia can be pruned between January and March .
• Hoe and mulch soil to keep weeds under control, get an early start and you prevent them from re-seeding!
• If you have a pond start feeding your fish.
• Prune bush and climbing roses.
• Cut back ornamental grasses now they have started new growth.

The Royal Horticultural Society has a very good website which you can access, even if you are not a member, with more detailed gardening tips and advice.

Photograph: Chaenomeles japonica alba / white japonica.