Gardening - March 2017
with Mark Smith
After the cold and very wet months of January and February , I am hoping that March will be that turning point of warmer , drier weather . Your pansies might not have performed like they used to because of the wet weather , but primulas and spring flowering bulbs will have , so stock up with those , to give much needed colour for this time of year . Now everything is starting to show signs of life in the garden , it ’ s good practice to put a handful of general purpose fertiliser around the base of your new and semi-new plants .
There will be a huge selection of planted baskets and containers available to buy in garden centres this month , if you do not have the know how to plant your own this saves you the effort and also saves buying extra plants and compost . You don ’ t need to buy that wilted bunch of flowers from the petrol station .
General Garden Maintenance
• Refresh alpine gardens with new grit and replace any old plants that may have died over winter .
• Re-fill any bird feeders with new seed or nuts and provide fresh drinking water .
• Check borders for emerging weed seedlings and hoe them out .
• Weather permitting , tidy up the lawn by trimming new edges with a half moon and give the lawn a cut setting the blades on high .
• Dig in plenty of home-made or nursery bought compost into borders ready for planting herbaceous perennials or summer flowering bulbs .
• Buy summer flowering bulbs such as gladioli , lily and eucomis now .
• Lift and divide large clumps of herbaceous perennials and swap them with your friends .
• Prune hard back last year ’ s buddleia stems to ground level .
• Last chance to prune roses back to new shoots .
• Feed and mulch rhododendrons , azaleas , pieris and camellias with ericaceous ( acidic ) plant food and compost .
• Sprinkle fertiliser over flower beds and around shrubs and roses
• Check your garden for plants that did not make it through the winter , look in nurseries or garden centres for “ bargain plant ” areas these can sometimes have more than 50 % off .
In the Allotment or Vegetable Patch
• Sow vegetable seed , it ’ s cheaper than buying bigger plants . Crops from vegetables often produce more than you can use , so again swap the surplus with friends or family . Nurseries and garden centres will have a growyour-own section with seeds , trays , compost etc to get you started .
• Sow the following crops outside or under cloches : carrots , beetroot , broad beans , salad onions , cauliflower , cabbage , Brussels sprouts , spinach , leeks , lettuce , rocket , coriander , mixed salad or stir fry leaves , radish , turnip , peas , lettuce and Swiss chard .
• Spread a layer of sulphate of potash fertiliser around fruit trees and soft fruit .
• When they appear , spray new leaves of peaches and nectarines with copper fungicide to reduce or prevent peach leaf curl .
• Sprinkle cabbages and other brassicas with pelleted chicken manure or blood , fish and bone .
• Check fruit trees for suckers or grass around the truck and remove , also put a handful of garden lime around the base of the fruit tree .
• Plant early seed potatoes outside in rows , in large pots or potato bags .
In the Greenhouse
• Buy your summer bedding “ plug ” plants now , they are cheaper than buying a “ finished ” plant from a garden centre later in the year .
• Sow dwarf French beans in a large pot for an early crop in June .
• Sow tomatoes , cucumbers , peppers and other greenhouse crops in a heated propagator
• Plant up a strawberry hanging basket and leave in the greenhouse for early crops .
• If the weather gets warmer look out for whitefly and red spider mite , and treat at once with a suitable pest control .
• Continue sowing summer bedding plants such as marigolds , tagetes , verbena , zinnia , nicotiana and dahlias in the greenhouse .
March sees the start to a very exciting gardening year , here are three plants that you should manage to find a place for in your garden .
Magnolia Stellata : ( Star Magnolia ) A beautiful compact shrub with dark green glossy leaves and masses of pure white “ star ” shaped flowers in spring before the foliage appears . Ideal for a garden with limited space as this variety will only reach about 3 to 4ft .
Forsythia Intermedia When this shrub flowers it feels like the start of spring . The warm bright yellow flowers appear before the leaves so it makes an impressive show . The taller varieties including Lynwood and Spectabilis are more available but there are new compact growing varieties such as Mini Gold which are suited to smaller gardens . Forsythia makes a great feature plant but also makes a fantastic informal hedge . It grows happily in full sun or partial shade and in a well drained soil or heavy clay .
Ribes Sanguineum : Or the common name flowering currant , not to be mistaken for fruiting currant also ribes . This deciduous shrub is one of the easiest to grow with little or no care . For an abundance of flower it likes full sun in a well drained but moist soil . The drooping flower buds start in late March until late April . The varieties to look out for are ribes King Edward Vll , scarlet or White Icicle , white . Like forsythia this also makes a good informal hedge .
Please please keep emailing in your questions to mark . smith2013 @ icloud . com OR phone Markeaton Garden Centre 01332 292554 ….. and ask for me .
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