gardening jobs in March

annie123 · 28 February 2008 at 9:34PM

Sorry its getting longer but March is a busy month in the garden:D
As its March this weekend thought I would post now incase anyone needed some ideas.

Here is a list of things that can be done this month, weather permitting..could be snow or t shirt weather, we never seem to know what we're getting :rolleyes:

General gardening

Clean greenhouses and frames. Check that mowers and tools are in good working order and ready for the season ahead.
Tidy ponds and plants…mind the frogs
Order plug plants
Prune mahonias after flowering. This will encourage a succession of new replacement shoots to grow up from the base.
The stems of dogwoods, willows, hardy fuchsias should also be pruned back hard this month to encourage fresh, brightly coloured new growth.
Prune roses
Cut down tall stems on Buddleia davidii to emerging shoots lower down the plant, shaping the shrub to control its size.
Lift and divide congested clumps of perennials or plant new ones. Divide snowdrops
Sprinkle general-purpose fertiliser along the base of hedges and around trees and shrubs, followed by a generous mulch of rotted compost
Finish planting bare-rooted fruit trees by the end of March. Container-grown trees can be planted out at any time of year. plant a new hedge
Plant tubers now in trays of moist compost, barely covering the top.
Trim winter-flowering heathers with shears to remove flower-heads and to shape the plants. Take care to remove only the blooms, never cutting back into old wood.
Seed sowing plans should now be in full swing to raise the summer's bedding plants and tender vegetable crops,
Watch out for weeds...hoe off small ones now, or you will regret it later!

Kitchen garden

Many vegetable crops can be sown this month, especially in mild areas with light soil, including: broad beans, carrots, parsnips, beetroot, bulb onions, lettuces, radish, peas, spinach, summer cabbage, salad leaves, leeks, Swiss chard, kohl rabi, turnip and summer cauliflower. Be guided by the weather, and sow only if conditions are suitable
Tomatoes,,,Many varieties can be grown outside in summer, with some even thriving in patio pots or hanging baskets. Tomatoes are easy to grow from seed, so start sowing now to raise indoor varieties grow on a windowsill. To raise outdoor varieties, sow later in March, potting on as plants grow. Plant them out in early June. Sowings can be made in April, but plants will flower and fruit far later than those that were sown earlier.
Home-grown strawberries are a welcome summer treat and runners planted now should flower in order to fruit this year.
Set out seed potatoes in trays and stand in a cool, bright position for shoots to form. Early varieties can be planted in March, but plant main-crop potatoes later in April.
Plant shallot sets in March, spacing them at 15cm (6in) intervals in rows 30cm (12in) apart. When the conditions have warmed up in late March, onion sets can be planted out into a firm seedbed.
Cover rhubarb with forcing jars or old buckets to exclude light and encourage long tender stalks.
Sow Celery seed in pots in the greenhouse during March and April to raise plants that you can plant out from May to June.

Wildlife gardening

Put up nesting boxes for birds
Top up bird feeders and put food out on the ground and bird table
Keep the bird bath topped up and clean bird baths and tables
Introduce frogspawn to your pond if you don’t have any
Put out hedgehog and badger food if you are luckey enough to have them
Make your pond more wildlife friendly by making sure wildlife can get in and out safely
Put out log, twig and/or rock piles to create shelter for wildlife
Build a compost bin while you still have time!
Sow or plant a wildflower meadow
Buy and hang a bee nesting box

Realised I dont know much about friut and herb gardening only ever had few things ie:apple and peach trees, strawberries and mint etc very basic.
If anyone else has info on herb and fruit gardening this month then please add here.

Please visit the links sticky at the top of this forum, there are some great links there, one I find very interesting is the garden organic link which has helpful ideas for each month for fruit and herbs

What are you doing in your garden in March?

happy gardening everyone:D

jamanda · 28 February 2008 at 9:54PM

1. Can't clean greenhouse - am growing spring cabbage and carrots to see if you can. Looking OK so far, and have had salad leaves through winter. Thanks for list though - will go through it.

Jack's_mummy · 28 February 2008 at 9:56PM

Thanks Annie.

For us (me and DS) it will be seed sowing and more seed sowing.

I have been holding him back for months (he is only 3) from wanting to sow all the seeds we have LOL Soon I can let him do it:j He'll be happy once the tomato seeds go into pots

Ice_2 · 29 February 2008 at 2:11AM

thanks

annie123 · 29 February 2008 at 4:32PM

Ice wrote: »

thanks

hes so cute, welcome to help in my garden anytime

sammy_kaye18 · 29 February 2008 at 5:36PM

thank you

Im off to wilkinsons tomorrow to get my pots for planting, and fingers crossed i can dig out my hanging baskets form the spare room - i brought them in the sale last year nd put them in there safe - never did see the blighters again - oh well more jobs for tomorrow

Kantankrus_Mare · 29 February 2008 at 5:48PM

Its my first year of having a greenhouse this year and i have sown some seeds the last few days and they are sitting snug in the airing cupboard awaiting to germinate.

What do I do when shoots start coming through? Do I remove plastic lid and move straight to greenhouse or keep them indoors.

Any advice would be a great help.

V_Chic_Chick · 29 February 2008 at 6:26PM

It's incredible. I've actually done some outside gardening (i.e. not sowing seeds indoors) before everything is due to be planted out and I'm in a panic

I've actually got a load of weeds out of the veggie patch, removed last years bamboo canes and bean remains (I found I accidentally saved 7 runner bean seeds which have been out all winter, in their dried up pods

). I even put the chickens out on the newly-cleared patch

annie123 · 29 February 2008 at 7:12PM

Kantankrus_Mare wrote: »

Its my first year of having a greenhouse this year and i have sown some seeds the last few days and they are sitting snug in the airing cupboard awaiting to germinate.

What do I do when shoots start coming through? Do I remove plastic lid and move straight to greenhouse or keep them indoors. Any advice would be a great help.

What are you growing?

As soon as you see the first shoots bring them out onto an indoor window sill. Too cold to go straight into a greenhouse from an airing cupboard.
I prop my plastic lids up during the day to allow air to circulate, cuts down on dampening off problems.
They shouldn't be dry but if they are stand the tray in water until the soil is wet, this will stop the seeds from being disturbed.

HTH

Lotus-eater · 29 February 2008 at 8:04PM

V_Chic_Chick wrote: »

It's incredible. I've actually done some outside gardening

I've actually got some work done today as well (before the wind and rain came), Feb has really been a good month this year to get out there for me, usually I have a pain of a time getting my clay soil ready before I need it.
Its just been so dry.

JWF · 1 March 2008 at 9:41AM

We've received a load of seeds for various tomatoes, peppers and herbs. Now all I need to do is put up my (free) greenhouse and get cracking. I fear I also have some digging to do too, shame its been far too wet for most of the winter to do much on my clay.

gardening jobs in March

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