Peter's Gardening Tips for March

A ‘False Spring’?

Wow!!  Another load of record breaking weather at the end of February – 21^c.  The sap is suddenly rising in trees, plants and bulbs are starting to appear - magnolias coming into flower…. daffodils, muscari, and crocus - a ‘False Spring’?   

Butterflies, bumblebees and honey bees are all flying and spring song from the birds and nests being built, extraordinary!!

However, it looks like things will calm down and get cooler, and so much damage can be caused by late frosts on tender growth.

As we head into spring, I am seeing a lot of problems as a result of last year’s drought.

Lawns with a lot of moss and bare patches where grass has died completely, dead wood in plants caused by die back as a result of the dry weather which is very apparent in roses, wisterias, rhododendrons, shrubs, conifer hedges and climbers - blind daffodils too.

There is also damage to camellias and magnolia buds eaten by squirrels, as well as tulips dug up and eaten by badgers!

The Trials and Tribulations of gardening….!

There’s plenty to sort out this month and into the next, with many jobs to do when you can:

1. Lawns: when the weather allows scarify, aerate and apply turf dressing with Vitax Growmore. Add grass seed to repair lawns if required.  
2. Plants & Shrubs: March is a good month to start feeding as the soil temperatures start to rise, the plants start to grow again and there is rain to wash in the fertiliser especially when you are ‘top dressing’ around existing plants.

I’ve been applying Vitax Q4 around flowering shrubs, trees and fruit bushes. If your hedges are looking a bit lack lustre then use Vitax Growmore.  

Box hedges will also benefit from Buxus Feed especially if you have been hit by box tree moth caterpillar or box blight, TLC is essential!!  

Don’t forget the roses too. Vitax Organic Rose Food will give you rich green foliage and lots of blooms.

If you have blind daffodils/bulbs it is now as the bulbs grow that they need liquid feeding, something like a high potassium fertiliser such as Vitax Tomato Feed.  

Take off old flower heads and seed heads.  Leave the foliage to die down naturally and stop feeding when the leaves wither and die.

3. Pesky Pests: Slugs are loving this wet weather!!  Vitax Slug Gone wool pellets will repel them from plants.  Vitax Slug Rid based on ferric phosphate is suitable for organic gardeners too.  

Quick tips

The last couple of weeks have been tempestuous with storms Freya and Gareth, as well as the unnamed ones which caused as much damage!!  Working in it was very tough….

1. Rake up twigs and detritus – a spring tine or plastic rake is great for this.
2. Cut the lawn with the blades set high - don’t scalp the lawn.
3. Check for damage to fences, loose posts, felt on shed roof and look out for broken branches on shrubs and trees/climbers – cut out damage and tie in.  Also check tree ties and supports aren’t too tight or loose.
4. Start indoor sowing of seeds in a propagator, tomatoes, peppers, aubergine, even mixed salad leaves and herbs like basil, dill, coriander and parsley.  
5. Plant onion/shallot sets, garlic cloves and broad beans. Try and clear weeds before they get too established and definitely before they flower and seed! 
6. Finish planting bare root/rootballed trees and shrubs this month, and don’t forget to use the Vitax Q4 Rootmore when planting. 

Pruning Jobs – Tools

Choosing the right tool for the job in hand is crucial and use clean sharp tools too, as this stops the spread of disease between plants.  

For trimming and dead wooding roses, wisterias, fruit trees/bushes you need a good pair of secateurs.  There are so many to choose from, I prefer the bypass type with a scissor action which cut cleanly.  The size of your hand is very important when choosing secateurs – try many types in your hand to see which is most comfortable and whether you are left or right handed. 

Use pruning saws for the larger stems and branches and there are a good selection available, both folding saws and fixed handled pruning saws.  Folding saws are easy to pop in your pocket of your coat/trousers and trug.  Fixed saws go into a holster attached to your belt and can be straight blades or curved, which give you more leverage.  

Spring Gardens

There are lots of fabulous spring gardens to visit now – National Trust and National Garden Scheme gardens.  Check out your local garden centre for a fresh, new range of plants, dahlia tubers, nerines, fruit bushes, veg plants and plug plants for you to grow on for hanging baskets, planters or borders.

Happy gardening everybody.

Peter

  About Peter Mills:

Peter has over 35 years experience in horticulture working in garden centres before becoming a radio gardening presenter with BBC Radio Southern Counties. Working as freelance consultant, Peter works with the RHS as an external advisor as well as trouble-shooting many gardening-related problems for a range of clients. A regular blogger for silversurfers.com, Peter provides ‘Top Ten Tips’ each month for VGW readers.