Home Gardening jobs March gardening jobs

March gardening jobs

Time to venture outdoors and enjoy spring

Here are your March gardening jobs, with added links if I have more information on the subject. Last month’s tasks are mostly still relevant if you’ve fallen behind or the weather’s been bad. For the ideas behind how and when we do gardening tasks, visit the Gardening Jobs page.

Week 1

This is the start of the main sowing period (March-May) for hardy annuals, half-hardy annuals and vegetables. Judge by the weather, the conditions and what protection you can provide. Seeds will rot in freezing or waterlogged conditions. Try starting crops off in modules in a cold greenhouse, cold frame or propagator, then harden off to be planted out. IF IN DOUBT, PUT IT OFF!

Seed sowing is one of the most important March gardening jobs. Try these in modules/pots in an unheated greenhouse: broad beans, leeks, lettuce, rocket, coriander, peas and Swiss chard. Sow sweet peppers, chillies, tomatoes, cucumbers, aubergines, celery and globe artichokes in a propagator.

Packed-out propagator March gardening jobs
Packed-out propagator

Sprinkle granular fertiliser around clumps of spring bulbs.

This is the best month for planting roses in heavy soils or in cold areas. Don’t plant a rose where one was grown before, otherwise, it may suffer from replant disease. Feed plants with a granular rose fertiliser as they come into growth. Prune established bush and standard roses as they start growing but before leaves unfurl.

Plant onion sets in modular trays of compost, raising plants under cover to plant out later.

Onion Rumba sets March gardening jobs
Onion Rumba sets in modules

Dig compost into borders (if workable) to improve water retention. Clean up fallen branches and leaves as you go. Hoe bare areas of soil on dry days to remove weed seedlings.

Keep feeding the birds and put up nesting boxes.

Buy and plant shrubs and perennials as soon as possible. It gives them time to get their roots established before the growing season – drought and heat kill more first-year plants than the cold.

Roses Leah Tutu and Sweet Honey with new Astrantia Buckland divisions, March gardening jobs
Roses Leah Tutu and Sweet Honey with new Astrantia Buckland divisions, March 20

Cut back ornamental grasses and other herbaceous perennials to make way for the new growth. Lift and divide large clumps of hosta, or any other hardy perennial with a crown. Plants infested with couch grass and other perennial weeds should be lifted so the weeds can be removed. Improve the soil by digging in organic matter before replanting.

Add copper rings to pots to protect plants from slugs and snails.

Cut off old leaves of hellebores to expose the flowers and remove hellebore leaf spot.

Hello Hellebores March gardening jobs
Hello Hellebores, January 31

Continue to deadhead winter-flowering pansies. Watch out for downy mildew and black spot. Remove any infected leaves and destroy badly affected plants.

Aphids can multiply rapidly. Protect sweet pea plants, as they can get sweet pea viruses, which are transmitted by the sap suckers.

Plant deciduous hedging plants, shrubs, trees and climbers.

Clematis Mme Julia Correvon March gardening jobs
Clematis Mme Julia Correvon still blooming at the end of October

Cut back late summer and autumn flowering (group 3) Clematis, if not done last month. Cut to the lowest pair of strong buds above ground level, then mulch and feed.

Prepare seedbeds, covering them with polythene or fleece to warm up the soil before sowing. Try to avoid digging in wet weather – work from a plank of wood, to avoid compacting the soil. Try not to fall off.

Prune back stems on pot-grown overwintered fuchsias, and place them in a well-lit, warm spot to re-shoot. Pot them on in fresh compost and start feeding six to eight weeks later.

Buddleja, July 17
Buddleja davidii

Last chance to prune late-summer flowering deciduous shrubs, such as Buddleja davidii, Caryopteris clandonensis, Ceratostigma, Hydrangea paniculata, Leycesteria, Lavatera, Perovskia, hardy fuchsia, and deciduous Ceanothus. Shrubs such as Eucalyptus gunnii and Cornus sanguinea cultivars can be cut back very hard to deepen the stem colour and keep them manageable.

If you have seedlings and cuttings in the greenhouse, make sure they are getting the maximum light, or they will become weak and leggy. Turn them once a day.

It’s your last chance to plant bare-root fruit trees, and ideally container-grown ones too. Apply a mulch around fruit trees, nuts, and bushes as long as the ground isn’t frozen and repot or top-dress container-grown fruit.

Potatoes
Chitting potatoes in an egg box

Continue chitting early and maincrop potatoes.


March gardening jobs – Week 2

Divide clumps of herbaceous perennials that you want to propagate, those that have become too large or are flowering poorly. Divide hostas before they come into leaf.

Plant strawberry runners in hanging baskets to grow in the greenhouse for an early summer crop.

Pot up or plant out strawberry runners
Pot up strawberry runners

Prune out old stems of elder (Sambucus) to promote new growth from the base.

March gardening jobs are about planning for the future. Plant summer-flowering bulbs, such as Gladioli, Tigridia, Galtonia, Eucomis, Anemone, lily and Acidanthera. Prepare the soil first, to make sure that drainage is enough to prevent the bulbs from rotting. If in any doubt, wait.

Repot established Agapanthus into slightly larger containers. Plant begonia and Gloxinia tubers in pots.

Polar Ice Agapanthus, June 24
Polar Ice Agapanthus

Mulching with a deep layer of organic matter helps to condition the soil, suppress weed growth, insulate plant roots from temperature fluctuations, and conserves soil moisture.

Feed borders with a general-purpose fertiliser, such as Growmore.

Propagate dahlias from tubers. Pot them up in multi-purpose compost so that the old stalk is just above the surface. Water and place in a frost-free, light place. Once fresh shoots have grown to 7.5-10cm, cut them off with a knife. Dust the ends with hormone rooting power and push them into a pot with cuttings compost. Place in a propagator or plastic bag until roots appear.

Peach dahlia
Peach dahlia, Harrogate Autumn Flower Show

Roses will benefit from feeding with a granular rose fertiliser as they come into growth. One of the most important March gardening jobs is to finish pruning established bush and standard roses before leaves unfurl.

Mulch raspberries, blueberries, cranberries and lingonberries with well-rotted farmyard manure (not mushroom compost as it is too alkaline).

Untie canes of blackberries and hybrid berries that have been bundled together for winter, and train into arches before the buds burst.

Glorious red kale
Glorious red kale

Feed crops that have stood all winter, such as kale or chard.

Start preparing runner bean supports and trenches for sowing (in May) or planting out (in June).

Sow seeds in modules/pots in an unheated greenhouse: broad beans, leeks, lettuce, rocket, coriander, peas and Swiss chard. Sow sweet peppers, chillies, tomatoes, cucumbers, aubergines, celery and globe artichokes in a propagator.


Yellow Bouquet lily
Bouquet lily. Picture; Sue Welford

Week 3

Sow dwarf French beans under glass in a large pot for an early crop in June.

Plant lily bulbs in pots to transplant into the border.

Sow hardy annual flowers where they are to bloom if your soil is workable, such as Calendula, Nasturtium and Nigella. You can also sow them in modules if you have space in an unheated greenhouse to give them a faster start.

Snowdrop time
Snowdrop time

Divide and/or plant bulbs-in-the-green, such as snowdrops (Galanthus) and winter aconites (Eranthis hyemalis), if not done last month.

Check whether containers need watering. Sheltered pots can miss out on rainfall. Pots and tubs benefit from topping up with fresh compost.

Check autumn-sown sweet peas and apply mouse and slug controls if necessary.

Sweet pea Harrogate Gem
Sweet pea Harrogate Gem

Feed trees, shrubs and hedges with a balanced fertiliser (such as Growmore or blood, fish and bone), sprinkling it over the root area before hoeing into the soil surface.

Delay pruning spring-flowering shrubs until after they have flowered. Don’t prune slightly tender evergreen shrubs (such as Choisya, until April), but do tackle hardy types. Remove reverted green shoots on variegated evergreens.

Cacti should be kept dormant until spring is definitely underway, then increase watering and feed to bring it into active growth.

Honeysuckle
Honeysuckle

Overgrown climbers can be renovated. Deciduous varieties will be at bud burst now, so you can tell which growth is dead and alive – suitable for Lonicera (honeysuckle), Hedera (ivy) and rambling roses.

On mild days, open vents and doors of greenhouses to reduce humidity and help prevent disease.

One of the easiest March gardening jobs (and easiest) is aAply a nitrogen feed to plums, cherries, cooking apples, pears and blackcurrants.

A beautiful sight in blossom - plum Lizzie March gardening jobs
A beautiful sight in blossom – Japanese blood plum Lizzie on March 25

Prune blueberries and apply sulphur chips to beds of blueberries, lingonberries and cranberries if needed.

Sow 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 and Swiss chard.


March gardening jobs – Week 4

Plant first-early potatoes in sacks, as long as you can protect the haulm from frost.

Minnow
Daffodil Minnow

Cut the spent heads off narcissus and daffodils, but leave the leaves to die back naturally.

Sow wildlife-friendly flower seeds where they are to flower, such as honesty or verbena to encourage insects.

Sow summer bedding plants in a heated propagator or under glass.

Primula Moonstone divisions, January 8 March gardening jobs March gardening jobs
Primula Moonstone divisions

Divide hellebores and polyanthus-type Primula after flowering.

Top dress spring-flowering alpines with grit or gravel to show off the plants and to help prevent stem rots.

Improve the drainage of heavy soils by working in lots of organic matter.

Hosta before bud break March gardening jobs
Hosta before bud break

Continue to protect new growth on lilies, delphiniums and hostas, etc, from slugs and snails.

Get herbaceous perennial supports in early, so that the plants grow up through them – I use sturdy twiggy branches. Adding rigid supports later looks unattractive. Crisscrossing strings from hidden or posts works well, allowing stems to grow up in the gaps between strings.

Prunus species (ornamental cherries, plums and almonds) are vulnerable to silver leaf if pruned before midsummer, and should not need routine pruning if planted with enough space for their eventual size.

George March gardening jobs
George eating ribbon grass as fast as it grows in the pond

Remove netting placed over the pond to protect it from leaf fall. Divide marginal and bog garden plants if overcrowded. Contain vigorous perennials by planting in aquatic plant baskets and top with a layer of gravel. Cut back old marginal vegetation.

Protect fruit blossom from frost, but make sure insects can reach the flowers or else hand pollinate them.

Switch to a summer feed for all citrus trees and increase watering.

Strawberries March gardening jobs
Ripe for the picking

Pollinate strawberry flowers under glass by brushing over them with your hands. Plant out cold-stored strawberry runners.

Plant onions, shallots, garlic, Jerusalem artichoke tubers and asparagus crowns if the soil is workable.

March gardening jobs updated 2024