March Notes from the Studio

An audio tour of the plots over the last month with what to do in yours.

I’m out of the studio and this month, I am taking you round the garden; cockerel and windy polytunnel sound effects included! Talking about unlocking the garden and preparing for Spring.

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What to do in March

Busy, busy, busy with jobs - seed sowing and preparing the ground for planting.

1. Planting trees, shrubs and perennials.

   The last month to do this. Otherwise they won’t get time to establish before the hotter drier weather. Still time to get them bare rooted or root balled for the most cost effective way of buying and quickest establishment. Whilst you are at it, order and plant shrubs and perennials.

   

   How many trees can you get in a family sized car?

2. Dividing late summer perennials

   I am busy replanting the long borders around the walled garden. Whilst I weed, I am lifting and splitting echinops, persicaria and asters, a returning a small piece of the original plant back in position. Lift your plants and drive a spade through the centre of the plant. Split into good chunks 1L sized pieces, if not smaller.

   

   The long border as I am weeding and editing the planting. In the foreground is a pile of plants I lifted and divided.

3. Cutting back perennials

   Continue to cut down old leaves and stems from last years growth and allow the new to emerge.

4. Mulching

   Spread compost around the base of shrubs and trees, beds, borders, anywhere you think it is needed.

5. Weeding & clearing beds

   Perennial weeds are most easily bought up now, whilst growth is slow and the soil is damp. Still haven’t got to mine yet in the long border - fingers crossed to get it all done next week. Perennial weeds will go on my ‘dirty’ pile and left to rot for a year or two. I might use this compost at the bottom of big pots or planters where I am not too worried if there are perennial weeds germinating (easy to remove).

   I am clearing the ‘productive’ beds now in anticipation of moving the dahlias and planting out annuals. If a bed is clear, without a crop to be sown or planted immediately, sow some green manures now.

6. Border Edgings

   Still edging the walled garden grass beds. The trimmings can be tossed upside down in a pile and left to decompose. This creates great loam to mix in with my potting composts.

   

   The poor rose bed was neglected. I have reclaimed this by edging the grass (saving the grass lumps for topsoil) and planted garlic (reduce blackspot and for my pestos and pizza obvs) with clover as a green manure.

7. New Lawn and paths

   Cardboard has been laid in larger spaces to kill of grass for beds and weeds for paths. I am sowing grass seed now - the paths will need about 6 weeks until they can be walked on (come back in early May!)

   

   In the new design, I am creating a small grass terrace among the flowers. `you can see the tiny 2m of lawn I am going to grass over (where the chairs are) but the new beds wrapping around mean that I loose very little space over all but gain much in atmosphere and joy!

8. Hardy Annual Seed Sowing.

   Continue with hardy annual seed sowing but I will wait until early April to sow half hardy annuals. Hardy seeds I am growing include - cornflowers, agrostemma, calendula and nigella. For the rest of the list, and everything I am growing, have a look here.

Little and often (see growing without a greenhouse)

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Harvesting

Shrubs - Amelanchier (about to blossom), chaenomeles, forsythia, Kerria (might only be me, but I love kerria), emerging physocarypus, particularly the golden one as it looks so good with narcissus.

Perennials - Hellebores, artichoke leaves, euphorbia, polyanthus, wallflowers, epimedium.

Bulbs - Leucojum, iris reticulata, narcissus (so many now), muscari, tulips, fritillaria persica.

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Dividing and planting dahlias - more next month

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