The month ahead... March
THE MONTH
AHEAD
The beginning of March can still feel a lot like winter, but week of the third month, to the third outwards facing bud…’
warmer weather is almost certainly around the corner.
Snowdrops: Unlike most bulbs that prefer to be lifted for
Try to make the most of this time – in a couple of weeks division at the end of summer snowdrops don’t as they tend
you will be up to your ears in seed potatoes, onions and to dry out quickly and lose their viability. It’s best to lift and
germinating seeds. divide any congested snowdrops after flowering but while
Sow Greenhouse Crops: Start sowing your tender crops so
still in leaf – this is known as being in the green. Carefully
that they are ready for planting in unheated greenhouses
tease the clumps apart and replant the bulbs at the same
once the threat of frosts are over. Consider using an electric
depth they were before.
propagator or if you are lucky enough to have one - a heated
greenhouse or heated sand beds with soil warming cables.
Shallots and Onions: Onion sets can be planted out into a firm
Moving
seedbed when soil conditions have warmed up in late March.
Seed potatoes:
a shrub
Start chitting seed
potatoes from
You’ve been looking at
early March so
that shrub during the
they are ready in
winter – and you know
time for planting
you’ve planted it in the
out mid-April. Set
wrong place.
seed potatoes out Don’t just dig it up and discard it. If it’s not too old it can be
in trays and stand moved and March is just the right time of year.
in a cool, bright
Get prepared for the job and have a clear idea of how you
position for the
are going to set about it, rather than simply attacking it with
shoots to form.
a spade – and think about where you’re going to replant it,
Early varieties
to get it right this time. Also, it will probably be too big a job
can be planted in
to manage on your own, so have someone on hand to help.
March, but main-
crop potatoes will
Although it’s been a very cold winter, the soil should be
need to wait until
warming up a little and the shrubs will soon start to grow
April.
again. If you move a shrub now it will lose less water than
later on and should soon re-establish itself.
Vegetables: Start preparing seedbeds early. In mild areas
with light soil you can start off with broad beans, carrots,
parsnips, beetroot, lettuce, radish, peas, spinach, salad leaves,
leeks. Check seed packets for guidance and only sow if
conditions are suitable.
Dahlias: Plant dahlia tubers in trays of compost to
encourage shoots to grow, but remember to keep them in
a frost free position and not to water them until the new
growth starts to show.
Roses: March is
the traditional
time for pruning
roses. The old
saying for pruning
roses which states
that you should
prune your roses… You need to dig out as large a rootball as you can. Mark
‘…on the third
out a circle round the shrub that follows the spread of the
38
Country Gardener
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56