My Top Gardening Jobs for March

I love wandering around my garden as we move into March, seeing all the Spring bulbs coming through. The crocuses and snowdrops are looking lovely, some daffodils are begining to bloom and I can see my other bulbs – tulips, bluebells, fritillaries and so forth starting to come through. It’s all so exciting! But this is no time to rest on my laurels. There are several jobs which I’ve got to get down to. Here are my top gardening jobs for March.

1.Mulching & Cutting Back

While I will often put a bit of mulch down in Autumn to protect tender plants over Winter, I like to do the bulk of my mulching now.

I do it at the same time as I cut things back; I like to leave the cutting back until now so that the insects and birds get the maximum benefit from the old stalks and seedheads over Winter.

It puts me in a very positive frame of mind too as, with all this cutting back and mulching my garden goes from shambolic to ship shape (well sort of) during the course of a weekend!

Why Mulch?

Mulch is so good for the garden. It gives a nutritional pep to your plants, it stops your beds drying out in the Summer. Mulch inhibits weeds (who doesn’t like that!) and insultates the roots of plants.

You can use a number of things as mulch – bark chippings, leaf mould, well-rotted farmyard manure, even crushed shells. This year I’ve used a mixture of things. Bark chippings, which I’ve not used before but wanted to try. I’ve also used a bit of Strulch and some farmyard manure because I had some left over.

I think Strulch is brilliant stuff. It’s made from straw and smells sort of marmitey! It costs more than other products but one mulch with it will last for two years. Also, it seems to deter slugs and snails – an important consideration for me as I have so many hostas!

Whatever you use, the trick is to:

• Mulch when the ground is wet, not frozen
• Weed the area first
• Put down a good two inch layer – it’s better to mulch half your borders to this depth, than to put one inch of mulch down across all of your borders
• Keep the mulch away from plant stems
• You don’t need to dig it in, the worms will soon come up and pull the mulch down, though I do a light forking of the area after mulching as I can’t resist!

2. Feeding Time

Whilst you are getting your borders ship shape, with all that cutting back and mulching, it’s the ideal time to give your plants a feed. I scatter general-purpose fertiliser over flowerbeds and around roses, shrubs and hedges in March. I will also put special feed down around the base of my box hedging and box balls.

You may recall that I also have two camellias in containers. They’re just about to come into flower and are gorgeous – but in my experience, very temperamental! They suffer from bud drop, which seems to happen to mine if I so much as look at them in the wrong way! If you want to know how to care for them, do check out my blog. How to care for camellias.

Anyway, they definitely need feeding now. But like other ericaceous shrubs, such as rhododendrons, azaleas and pieris they need feeding with an ericaceous fertiliser. I must get some tomorrow before I forget!

3. Mind the Gaps

Whilst admiring your Spring bulbs remember to make notes of where the gaps are. The spots that need more bulbs, and what the colours should be. If you forget to do this then, when you get to the Autumn and your Spring bulbs have died back, you’ll struggle to remember what was missing and where. So there will be a big risk that when you’re planting more bulbs, you’ll stick a spade where you shouldn’t.

I’ve done this so many times! I’ve lost count of how many bulbs I’ve accidentially dug up, or worse still skewered. So as part of my gardening jobs for March I’m definitely going to do this.

My Crocus Situation

I’m certainly going to need to look at my crocuses. You may recall that in the Autumn I planted a heap of bulbs, including a number of crocuses under an Ash tree. I went for Crocus Prins Claus, a February flowering purple and white variety, and Barr’s Purple which blooms in February and March. Well I’m thrilled to report that they have come up and are looking gorgeous. However, despite me scattering the crocuses, the planting looks far too regular. It’s a bit like a fairy ring around the tree – very pretty but not very natural looking! So, while the crocuses are up I’m going to mark the areas where further bulbs need to be planted, so that I can break up the uniformity.

4. Gardening Jobs for March include Summer Bulbs

It’s easy to forget that bulbs are not just for Spring. There are some lovely Summer flowering bulbs and now’s the time to start thinking about them.

Summer flowering bulbs are tender, so you don’t really want to be planting them until the risk of frost has gone. But for me, one of the big pleasures in gardening is the planning. And my gardening jobs for March therefore must include planning the Summer bulbs I’m going to go for.

There are lots of advantages to Summer flowering bulbs. They’re often tall, dramatic, exotic looking plants, but they don’t take up a lot of space. They’re brilliant for plugging a gap in a border. They inject a real burst of colour. They make lovely cut flowers and they also look brilliant in containers. So a garden of any size can have them. You just need sun.

The Fab Five I’m Considering

Here are some I’m considering (let me say again, I won’t plant them outside until the threat of frost is gone):

Gladioli – they look so exotic, yet are fully hardy. While they prefer full sun, I gather they can cope with partial shade. So I’m going to give some a go in my semi-shady bed. I’ve read that in the north you may need to lift them over Winter. I live in a pretty mild spot, but will research that nearer the time.

Crocosmia – these are actually corms not bulbs. I might put some more in my hot coloured bed. I love their arching sprays of flowers.

Agapanthus – I already have some growing at the front of my cottage, they look fab, but I’d like to increase my display. At the moment my plants are all blue, but I’m very tempted to add some white agapanthus Africanus Albus to the mix.

Calla Lily – I bought one as an experiment last year. It looked so architectural and lovely so I’d like more – although truth be told, I think they’d probably look better in a more modern style garden. My garden is all cottagey (some might say a bit wild). They’re certainly a great choice for smaller gardens or for growing in containers on patios or balconies. There’s a great range of colours available, and with large, simple flowers, they really have the wow factor.

Eucomis – as their name suggests, pineapple lilies really do look exotic. I fancy growing some in a container as they facinate me and I’ve not grown them before. I’ve read they look good alongside salvias and dahlias. I have some salvia cuttings which have flourished over Winter (Here’s how to take salvia cuttings in case you’re interested). So I may plant up a big container with Salvia and Eucomis together.

Sowing

If you’re itching to start planting seeds, feel free to add seed sowing to your list of gardening jobs for March. For instance, I fancy having a mini-meadow and March is a good time to sow native wildflower seeds in trays or modules. I don’t have a greenhouse and so I’ll keep these on a sunny windowsill until they’ve established.

My windowsills are going to be crowded as I may also grow some of the really dramatic annual climbers Black-eyed Susan to have something a bit different on my patio this year.

I’ve got some sweetpeas which I sowed months ago and ‘overwintered.’ But if you haven’t, then get your sweet peas in during March. Use nice deep pots – or loo rolls – as they have very long roots. And keep them in a sunny spot – a windowsill, greenhouse or heated propogator until all frosts have passed.

You can also start sowing hardy annuals directly outside in March such as California poppies and nasturtiums. I don’t like nasturtiums so will be giving them a miss and I’m absolutely rubbish at growing California poppies – don’t ask me why. But I do love the poppies, I have a few but want more, so I will keep trying.

These are my top gardening jobs for March. There will no doubt be many others.

Gardening Jobs for March – what else is on my list?

Weeding ‘obvs’ as my kids would say..to keep the little blighters at bay before the growing season truly kicks off.

Deadheading the daffodils – taking off both the flower and the seed head, though leaving the leaves completely alone.

Keeping an eye out for slugs and snails making a b-line for the new shoots coming up.

Planting up my peonies, when they arrive.

It’s actually my birthday today dear reader – well sort of as my birthday is Feb 29th, yes I’m a silly leap-year person! So my March jobs now also include planting up an amazing summer trough, which is a birthday present from Mr F-W. (He absolutely knows the way to this woman’s heart!!) It’s completely gorgeous. I truly feel I’m living up to my Blooming Lucky name today! xxx