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Peter’s Gardening tips for March

By Peter Mills Mar 1, 2024

March has come in like a lion so let's hope it leaves like a lamb!

Whilst the temperatures have been fluctuating recently, we have seen some warmer weather during February and our gardens are beckoning us to come out again!

The month of March is ‘fickle’ and the coming weeks are always unpredictable in terms of temperatures.

Snowdrops are coming to an end, daffodils are popping up and showing colour along with crocuses, primroses are beginning to bloom and quite a few Queen bumblebees have been spotted along with the odd butterfly on a warm day. Birds are pairing up looking for nesting sites and the start of the dawn chorus has begun!

Spring usually arrives by mid-March and the frequent sunny days provide the opportunity for an increasing range of gardening tasks. It’s time to get busy preparing seed beds, sowing seed, cutting back winter shrubs and generally tidying up around the garden.

Jobs to do and some I have been tackling:

  • Walk the garden with pen and paper, record and photograph where possible what has been happening after the winter months, this may help if you want to split snowdrops etc and re-site.
  • Check damage to shed roof, trellis, loose climbers with broken stems, moss control in the lawn, algae on the path
  • Check the state of your lawn. If ready, you can make the first cut with the blades set high.
  • Prune roses, apples, pears and wisteria.
  • Herbaceous plants can be dug up and split.
  • Plant roses, fruit trees and bushes.
  • Rake up twigs, leaves and detritus.
  • Clean birdbaths and feeding stations if you haven’t already done so
  • Put up or clean out nest boxes for the birds.
  • Tickle over borders with a border fork
  • Mulch herbaceous plants and roses.
  • Set about weeding – they pull out of the ground very easily when the ground is wet and after frost in the ground.
  • Start sowing indoors – tomatoes, peas, broad beans, sweet peas, peppers, aubergines, some will need a heated propagator or a minimum temperature of 16 – 21ºC to germinate – check packets for timing of seed sowing and temps, some require constant night and day heat.
  • Buy your seed potatoes, shallots, onion sets and seeds.
  • Check all machinery, book a service and sharpening and a good old clean up, wire brush and oily rag.

I know the weather is a bit up and down at the moment and a lot of gardeners want to get on with seed sowing and ground preparation. Seeds won’t germinate in the cold wet soil, so please be patient.

How to prune a Hydrangea

Perhaps a job to be done at the end of the month when there is no chance of a frost – here I show you how to prune a very overgrown hydrangea.

Gardening is an excellent activity for individuals of all ages, but it can be particularly beneficial for people over 50 years old. Take a look at these key benefits of gardening for your health.

Enjoy the big outdoors whatever the weather and armchair gardening too.

Happy Gardening!

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Peter Mills

Peter has spent his life gardening, working in garden centres and advising in all aspects of gardening, wildlife, and bio-diversity in horticulture. He managed Clandon Park Garden Centre in Surrey at the age of 23 and was a gardening radio presenter with the BBC. This continued for 15 years, running live broadcasts from Chelsea & Hampton Court Flower shows, South of England & Surrey County shows. Now self-employed, Peter works on a wide variety of gardens from private to large estates and also concentrating on consultancy and advisory work to fellow gardeners. He works with the RHS Gardening Advice team at Chelsea, Hampton Court, Wisley Flower shows and is an RHS External Gardening Advisor

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