Gardening Notes

March

• Dead head early flowering bulbs.
• Lift and divide summer flowering perennials.
• Begin your lawn care programme:
• Rake to remove debris
  • Apply moss killer
  • Start cutting
  • Maintain edges
• Cut back ornamental grasses.
• Prune Roses.
• Continue pruning fully hardy late – summer flowering shrubs.
• Protect new shoots from slugs, particularly herbaceous plants and clematis.
• Sow half hardy annuals.
• Prune buddleia. Be tough and don't worry about losing some new shoots. Cut off all of last year's 6ft wands with secateurs, and use either loppers or a saw to produce an open-centred framework of older branches. Bolder cutting means later flowers but a much more manageable bush.
• This is the perfect time to be planting evergreens and evergreen hedges, as the ground is warming up and roots are active again. If a root ball is dry, soak it in a bucket first, until the bubbles stop, before you plant. If the weather is very windy over the next couple of months, water again. Top-heavy plants, e.g., hedging cypresses, may require a stake or cane.
• Aphids are waking up under glass. Watch all those cuttings on kitchen window sills and see they are not a breeding ground. Pick them off by hand or spray with soapy water.
• It’s a good time to sow grass seed. Prepare the soil well first, when it is dry, forking through the top few inches and breaking it down with a fork to make a fine tilth. Level it carefully with a rake, and take off any stones.  Don’t dig deep or it will settle unevenly. If the area is big, stand on a plank to get to the middle: it stops compaction.
• Bare patches in the lawn can be repaired by overseeding them now.