Jane Follis’s Monthly Gardening Newsletter
MARCH is finally here. I begin to get really excited at this time of year. The bulbs are shooting up, the primroses line my path to the office and each morning I see something new pushing its way through the earth.The clocks go forward in just over a week which mean longer hours of daylight.
My apologies for sending this out somewhat later than normal, but my father has just undergone major heart surgery and I have been preoccupied with daily trips to London and organising his after care. After a shaky start and a bout of kidney failure (which resulted in dialysis for five days) I can now report he is in a care home just around the corner from me and has started to get back on his feet ? quite literally!
SEASONAL TIPS
March is one of the busiest times in the garden, but due to the cold snap we are having some jobs will have to wait a little longer. The days can be lovely and warm, but the nights can still bear some very harsh frosts.
Continue to cut down the stems of perennials and clear the borders of weeds. If you didn?t do it last month, now is a good time to sprinkle a blood, fish and bone fertiliser around the roots of all plants and hedges and top up the borders with a mushroom compost mulch. (Country Supplies 01494 562406).
Cut back, almost to the ground, any shrubs grown for their winter bark such as Cornus (dogwood) and willow. This will promote growth. Larger shrubs and roses can also be pruned back. Remove dead, weak and straggly shoots from roses and shorten the less vigorous shoots by about a half. The newer shoots should be reduced by about a third. Always cut back to a healthy OUTWARD pointing bud ? this encourages the rose to grow outwards rather than inwards and gives the bush a far better shape.
Tie in any climbing roses. I have started using Flexi-tie as it is more durable than string and doesn?t cut into the stems as wire does. www.flexi-tie.co.uk.
Begin to cut the grass regularly. Set the mower to high for the first few cuts. This is a good time to scarify the lawn using a spring-tined rake. Top dress with a general fertiliser.
Stake herbaceous perennials. At the moment there will only be the slightest growth at the bottom of the plant, but by staking at this time it saves a lot of trouble later when the plant will grow quite vigorously in a very short space of time. There are plenty of attractive stakes available in garden centres. It would be worth investing in some. If anyone needs any advice on this subject, please do contact me and I can come out and show you what you need to do.
This is a good time of year to split perennials. Gently fork around the root and lift the entire clump. Using two spades, back to back, cut through the roots and divide into smaller clumps. Discard any old bits from the centre and tease out any persistent weed roots, such as couch grass. Decide on where you want to re-position them and re-plant. If you have no space, pot them up and save them for the next village fete, or school function. Plant stalls are always very popular.
Plant summer flowering bulbs, such as Alliums, Lillies, Agapanthus, Nerines, gladioli, Camassia, Freesia, Galtonia, Crinum, Leucojum, Zantedeschia and Ixia.
Prune summer flowering shrubs.
This is a time when it is not just the plants that are putting on growth, there will always be the weeds. If you have any persistent problems, with bind weed for instance, one of the best remedies is to buy a systemic weedkiller and a paint brush. Although laborious, if you go out every time you see a new leaf coming through and paint it with the liquid, it should kill not just the weed, but also the root system.
With spring on its way there are other predators coming to life, just waiting to chomp their way through any new leaf growth – slugs and snails in a nutshell. I am against using pellets which can be damaging to pets, birds and children. My son had to have his stomach pumped at the tender age of two having decided the blue things were ?very tasty Mummy?. There is an alternative. If you visit www.organiccatalogue.com they offer an advanced slug killer at
