Gardening Guide - Jobs in the Garden in March

March 8, 2011 - PRLog -- In the Flower Garden - Below is a list of the jobs to do in the garden in March

If the soil is workable, dig in a 5cm (or more) layer of compost or well rotted manure into your beds to prepare for the growing season ahead. You can also work in a general purpose fertiliser such as pelleted chicken manure or fish, blood and bone.

Now is an ideal time to plant herbaceous perennials. Lift and divide established perennial plants now to improve their vigour and create new plants for your garden.

Sow your flower seeds now so they are ready for planting out in June.

Hardy annuals can be sown directly into the soil. Alternatively sow them in pots or module trays for planting out later in the spring.

Prune early-flowering Clematis once their flowers have finished and summer-flowering Clematis before they start into active growth - find out how using our clematis pruning guide.

Plant bare root roses.
Roses should be fed with a special rose feed as they come into growth.

Prune roses to encourage strong new growth. Remember to wear gardening gloves to protect from thorns.

Finish cutting back shrubs grown for their colourful winter stems such as Cornus alba and Salix cultivars. Cut them back to their bases.

Finish cutting back any dead foliage left on your perennials and ornamental grasses to make way for new growth.

Hardwood cuttings taken last year may need planting or potting on now.
Prune overwintered fuchsias back to one or two buds on each shoot.

Prune Winter Flowering Jasmine (Jasminum nudiflorum) after flowering to encourage new growth for next year's blooms. Cut back the previous years growth to 5cm from the old wood.

If you need to move deciduous trees or shrubs, now is the time to do it provided the soil is not frozen or waterlogged.
Trim winter-flowering heathers as the flowers disappear, to prevent the plants becoming leggy.

Keep an eye out for slugs as the weather warms; they favour soft new growth.

Plant summer-flowering bulbs such as Lilies and Ranunculus into beds, borders and containers.

Plant out any forced flower bulbs in the garden, such as hyacinths and daffodils which have finished flowering indoors.

Cut off the old leaves of Hellebores to remove any foliar diseases and make the spring flowers more visible.

Continue to deadhead faded flowers from your winter pansies to stop them setting seed. This will encourage flushes of new flowers throughout the spring.

Deadhead daffodils as the flowers finish and let the foliage die back naturally.

If any of your garden plants will need supporting this year, put the supports in now so the plants grow up through them. Adding supports afterwards is difficult and often looks unattractive.

Feed trees, shrubs and hedges with a balanced fertiliser by lightly forking it into the soil surface.

Cut out the top rosette of leaves from Mahonia shrubs after they have flowered to encourage branching.

Dead-head Hydrangeas before new growth appears. Cut to about one third of last season's growth.

Plant snowdrops in the green to brighten up your winter garden next year.

Begonia tubers that have been started into growth will start to produce new leaves. As leaves appear, pot them up individually.

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