March is the beginning of the busy season in the garden, the job list lengthening as the daylight does too. Here are our top March gardening tips and what’s looking good at Earlswood Garden Centre right now…
Plants on sale now and looking good this month:
- Early Spring bedding packs (depending on the weather).
- New season roses now in.
- Heucharas.
- Dicentra – “bleeding hearts”.
- Vincas – good ground cover solution for banks.
- New season herbs.
Top March Gardening Tips:
Protect new spring shoots from slugs.
We stock several choices that are pet/hedgehog safe and certified for organic use.
Plant shallots, onion sets and early potatoes.
Plant summer-flowering bulbs. (Dahlias, Lillies, Begonias, Nerines etc).
Lift and divide overgrown clumps of perennials.
Discard the older central part and replanting the younger more vigorous outer sections.
Top dress containers with fresh compost.
Mow the lawn on dry days (if needed).
Cut back Cornus (dogwood) and Salix (willow).
This encourages young new shoots that always have the best colour.
Hoe and mulch weeds to keep them under control early.
Pot indoor plants into bigger pots if needed.
Gently knock the plant out of the pot and, if the roots are covering most of the compost, the plant will benefit from moving into a pot one or two sizes bigger. If they aren’t yet then wait a while.
Increase frequency of feeding using high nitrogen feed (Baby Bio) for plants grown for their attractive leaves and high potash feed (Miracle-gro) for those grown for their flowers.
Prune bush roses.
Cut back to 6-8″ from the ground and cut just above a bud, prune out any branches that are crossing to leave an open centre. Remove any root suckers as close to the roots as possible (neatly tearing them off discourages more). Cut out any weak, dead or diseased shoots.