Month by Month Gardening Calendar - 03 March

What to do in the garden in March

It's almost spring, the garden is starting to come alive and bloom again after a long, dark winter and we have much more sunlight to look forward to due to the clocks going forward at the end of the month, giving us all some extra sunlight to get the garden ready for the changing seasons.

You can expect a mix of weather conditions through March, some days you'll find mild sunshine and others you'll find rain and heavy winds, as always use the optimum weather days to get any outside jobs done. Remember to keep on top of weeds, catching them while they are young is much easier than once they have established. 

Keep on top of any pest control from March as they will begin to show an interest in your greenhouse plants as the temperatures warm up.

Ornamental Garden:

• A general fertiliser could be applied over borders if felt necessary.
• Lightly rake lawn if mild and not waterlogged to remove moss.
• Remove any dead, diseased or damaged growth from trees and shrubs.
• Finish mulching if not done in autumn.
• Put manure/rose feed around all roses and check for dead, diseased or dying shoots.
• Deadhead bulbs regularly.
• Now is a good time to plant: new perennials and summer-flowering bulbs.
• Re-pot or top-dress all containers.
• Weed regularly.
• Edge / define all borders if not done already.
• Plant roses.
• Sow hardy annuals for summer colour.
• Repair damage to lawns if necessary.
• Harden off hardy annuals sown under glass.
• Cut back any remaining growth from herbaceous / grasses leftover from the winter.  
• Divide summer-flowering perennials like astrantia, hemorocallis, hosta, coppice dogwoods/willows etc. if not done before now.