What To Do In The Garden This March

March 1, 2019

In our gardening calendar we have officially arrived in Autumn. Here are some jobs to keep you out of trouble in the garden this month.

Feed & Fert

Now is the time to trim, feed and mulch your hedges. Nothing looks better than a sharply defined hedge in a garden. Trimming now will mean the new growth will harden off before winter.

Love Your Lavender

Got lavender? Now’s the time to cut it back by a third. If you don’t, it gets leggy and woody. Cut at least two thirds of the new growth back into the old wood. This leaves new shoots below the cut, which is next season’s new growth. I know it is hard when it looks so lovely, but you have to be cruel to be kind.

Autumn is nature’s best planting time, so if you want to add something new into your garden, dig plenty of compost through your soil and get planting. Just remember to water new plants deeply at their roots every few days. Add general fertiliser around the garden to obtain that extra flowering and encourage growth - and don’t forget your citrus too.

Love Your Lawn

This warm weather is an ideal time to makeover your lawn. Sowing now means your new grass will be well established before the winter chill hits. I like the “Weed & Feed” combo products, which kill weeds and fertilise at the same time. Wait a couple of weeks to let the weed killer do its thing, then bare patches in the lawn can be filled with “Lawn Mix” to a maximum depth of 30mm. Dampen the soil then sow the lawn seed, raking or lightly topdressing (scattered layer of lawn mix over the top of the existing lawn) with more Premium Lawn Mix afterward. Lightly water in the dry days following.