March Gardening Guide
This month’s guide is a momentous one, it completes the first year of my monthly gardening guides (hoorah!). March is a lovely month to have an anniversary (of sorts) as there is so much new growth popping up everywhere with an exuberant amount of excitement for new things to come.
March can be a very busy month in gardening without you needing to actually be in the garden. Seed sowing in March can set you up for a beautiful and tasty year ahead and will likely be frustrating and rewarding in equal measures. If you’re new to this gardening malarkey, my biggest and most reassuring message will be ‘plants die’. Simple. Even the most experienced of us aren’t successful 100% of the time – from poor germination to not watering because you forgot your seedlings exist just for a little too long and not being able to bring them back. **it happens.
Don’t let any of those set backs stop you from trying again. All you’ve lost is the cost of a few seeds and your time, however what you’ve gained is the knowledge from that experience which is vastly more valuable than a handful of seeds.
Just about every year I say I’m not going to start any (or many) seeds, yet every year I end up falling down the rabbit hole of my favourite seed websites and buy a ridiculous amount. If you have excess seeds or are in need of seeds, you should pop along to my seed swapping event this weekend (Saturday 16th March 24) being held at the Scartho Community Garden (Waltham Rd, Scartho, Grimsby DN33 2PY). It’s the 2nd year I’ve held this event and was so pleased with how the first event went down. Just bring along any excess or unwanted seeds, pop them in the relevant trays and have a root through to see if there’s anything you’d like. It’s a completely free event for the community and I’m so looking forward to seeing you there.
In the meantime, if you are wanting to get out into your garden, here are some things you can be getting on with this month…
Cut back your butterfly bush
It’s time to cut back your buddleja to stop them getting out of control. Prune back to a low framework of stems which will flower later in the summer and be filled with butterflies.
Get out your hoe
It’s a good idea to do your weeding early on before those weeds take control. You are welcome to feel smug if you mulched in the Autumn as you likely don’t need to do any weeding at all.
Mulch now (if you didn’t do it in the Autumn)
Once you’ve done that bit of weeding, you can cover your borders with a good layer of mulch to make your life easier for the rest of the year. Be mindful not to mulch on top of emerging perennials so as not to drown them under the mulch.
Give birds a drink & a snack
Freshen up your bird bath and any bird feeders you have by cleaning them out to help prevent avian disease spread. Top them up with water/bird food and keep them filled throughout the year to ensure they don’t waste precious energy visiting your garden without reward.
Sow peas outdoors
You might not be a big vegetable grower, but peas are a good cross over into the ‘edimentals’ category in my opinion (edible and ornamental). They’re quick growers, have beautiful flowers and you get the best peas you will have ever eaten in your life from the plants.
Hold off on your hydrangeas
Wait until late March to prune your Hydrangeas if you can – this helps to protect the plant from frosts. Pruning too early can expose it to potential damage. However, if you’ve already done it, don’t worry, it should be fine, but may need an extra prune if there is any frost damage to occur.
See you on Saturday 10-11 for the epic seed swap.