March is the real start of the gardening year when we can sow seeds outdoors and enjoy a rich carpet of blooms from the bulbs we planted last autumn. As gardens wake from winter sleep, shrubs such as camellia and rhododendrons should be bursting into leaf and bloom to welcome a new spring, Drifts of Cyclamen coum will be blooming and Hybrid Hellebores will be hiding pretty faces. Weeds sprouting up will give a very clear indication that the soil is warming up and ready for cultivation. All you have to do is keep those weeds under control to leave space for the decorative and productive plants.
FLOWER BORDERS
It's the start of spring and plants need to be fed so that they have the strength and purpose to put on new growth, foliage and flower buds. Clever gardeners realise that slow steady feeding is much better for sturdy, healthy growth rather than an instant burst of Growmore energy that quickly fades away. That's why there are plenty of slow release plant foods on the shelves of your garden retailer. For balanced nutrients that are released for up to six months use Miracle-Gro or Osmocote Controlled Release Plant Food. For ease of application Miracle-Gro Shake & Feed comes complete with a shaker dispenser so you can sprinkle the required granules onto the soil surface. They will feed plants for up to three months so a further application may be needed for repeat-flowering plants such as fuchsias, delphiniums and sweet peas.
After your trees, shrubs and herbaceous plants have been fed it is well worth mulching the soil surface with a layer of organic material such as well rotted garden compost, Levington Farmyard Manure or Levington Soil Conditioner & Mulch. This layer needs to be about 5cm (2") deep all around the root area to help keep weeds down and retain soil moisture.
Preparation for additional summer bedding flowers needs to continue with more sowing of seeds and pricking out of seedlings. The soil outside is still too cold for sowing seeds of hardy annuals, but tender plants can be sown indoors and placed on a warm windowsill. Buy quality seed compost such as Levington Seed & Cutting Compost or Levington John Innes Seed and use fresh seed trays. Your garden centre or seed catalogue will be bursting with seed packets that are very enticing. Check the resulting plants are going to be the right height and colour for what you have in mind and sow thinly. Packets of Busy Lizzie, nemesia, French marigolds, penstemen and petunia need to be sown soon.
CAMELLIAS AND RHODODENDRONS
Given a little spring warmth camellias should be in bloom and rhododendrons ready to burst into flower, depending on their variety. These early-flowering shrubs are particularly showy but can easily be damaged by frosts especially when early morning sun gets on the petals while frost is still occurring. To minimise this problem, plant in a woodland shady spot or keep them in pots so they can be moved around the patio.
If your soil is natural acid then you will know about it as local parks and gardens will be filled with rhododendrons and azaleas where they thrive without much effort. Unfortunately most of us have soils that are alkaline in nature and these tend to lock up any iron in the soil so that this vital element cannot be taken up easily by the roots of ericaceous plants. Without extra iron the leaves of rhododendrons, azaleas and ericaceous plants gradually turn yellow and the plant struggles to produce flowers and grow. To counteract this tendency you need to provide iron in an absorbable way that won't get neutralized by the alkaline soil. The solution is to feed your plants regularly and to dose the soil with chelated iron.
The chelated iron is easily supplied either from a sachet of Sequestrene Granules or Sequestrene Plant Tonic. The Sequestrene Granules are applied direct to the soil surface and gently worked into the top few centimetres. The Plant Tonic is a soluble pick-me-up that also improves the colour and vigour of the plants. For plants that need encouragement to grow and flower then regular applications of Miracle-Gro Ericaceous Plant Food applied both over the leaves and around the roots every few weeks during spring and summer will provide all the vital nutrients for growth and bud formation plus chelated iron to prevent leaf yellowing.
Timely Tips
Remember that there are plenty of other shrubs that appreciate regular feeding with Miracle-Gro Ericaceous Plant Food including magnolia, pieris, Japanese maples, heathers, hydrangeas and skimmias.
ROSES
Complete the pruning of bush roses, cutting back stems by about two thirds. Traditionalists will tell you that sloping cuts made just above a leaf mark will reduce the amount of die-back but the Royal National Rose Society trials indicated that in the long run it doesn't matter how well or badly you make the cuts, most roses are great survivors.
Don't worry if new reddish leaves are sprouting from the top of last years stems, still cut them back. These new leaves may have already been damaged by frosts, so fresh shoots from lower down the stem are less likely to be harmed.
After pruning, clear away the cut off stems and any fallen leaves on the soil surface. This clear up is especially important if your roses have been affected by blackspot disease, as these infected leaves will re-infect this year's plant growth very quickly. To prevent the disease taking a hold, spray the new rose foliage as it emerges with a systemic fungicide such as RoseClear 3, RoseClear Gun!, FungusClear or FungusClear Gun! A few sprays with the same material a fortnight apart during April and May will give your roses a clean start to the season and they will only need a few treatments in the summer to keep powdery mildew at bay.
For your roses to have the energy to put on strong stems that will bear plenty of colourful flowers they need a reserve of nutrients applied each spring. A dressing of Miracle-Gro Rose 'Plus' applied to the root area just after pruning and again in June will provide all the elements your roses need to provide big beautiful blooms. If you prefer to provide a long-lasting plant food that will feed all season, then Miracle-Gro Controlled Release Plant Food or Osmocote Granules will feed your roses every day for up to six months, ensuring a great display and strong plants right through until the autumn.
Timely Tips
March is the best time to plant bare-root roses in heavy clay soils. Dig a deep planting hole and add sharp grit and plenty of Levington Rose, Tree and Shrub Compost to the soil that is used to fill the hole.
THE LAWN
Mowing needs to start in March as the grass springs into action in response to warmer temperatures and longer days. If this is the first cut of the year don't try to cut the lawn too short in one cut. It's a sensible rule to take off no more than one third of the grass length at any one time. Scalping the lawn won't save time or effort. It just exposes the pale green grass stems that have been in the shade and the grass could easily be damaged by any frosts that follow. Use the next few cuts to gradually reduce the height of the grass to its optimum length. In early spring a multi-purpose back lawn should be cut to around 3.5cm (1.5in) and a fine lawn to 2.5cm (1in).
After a few cuts you should be able to see if moss is a problem in the shaded parts of the lawn. Moss may be green, but it is a terrible weed that swamps the grass and gradually takes over. To kill the moss and give the grass a spring tonic that will improve the colour and its vigour, apply a lawn treatment that contains a mosskiller. In March you can apply EverGreen Mosskil or EverGreen Lawn Builder plus Moss Control which will both kill the moss effectively and green the grass for months. If you wait until April you can apply a triple action lawn treatment such as EverGreen Complete which will feed, kill moss and control broad-leaved weeds from one application.
After applying a moss treatment wait a week or so for the moss to turn brown and then rake it up. If your soil is heavy clay you will find that moss is a recurring problem, especially in shaded areas. To minimise the re-occurrence of this weed spike the area with a garden fork very 7cm (3in) creating holes about 7cm (3in) deep. These holes will allow air into the soil and reduce any waterlogging.
If you are a dedicated lawn owner not averse to extra work, filling these holes with sharp sand or EverGreen Lawn Soil will keep the airways open and improve drainage.
Timely Tips
Re-establish the sharp edges to the lawn that may well have got blurred as grass has crept sideways during autumn and winter. A half moon edging tool will give a clean edge that can easily be maintained throughout the year.
FRUIT AND VEGETABLES
Once weeds start germinating and soil can be broken down to a fine crumb structure with a rake it's time to sow seeds of hardy vegetables outdoors. First into the ground early in the month go seeds of broad beans and parsnips. Standard variety choice for broad beans is a dwarf-growing variety such as Sutton. For a good flavoured parsnip Gladiator is a reliable modern hybrid. For easy thinning of parsnips sow three seeds every 15cm (6in) in straight drills 30cm (12in) apart. After germination it is then a relatively easy job to thin the seedlings to one plant per station and to differentiate parsnip seedlings from weeds.
From mid March push onion and shallot sets into soil about 10cm (4in) apart. For best results they prefer a firm, well-drained soil that has been earlier enriched with a long-lasting plant food such as Miracle-Gro Shake & Feed or Miracle-Gro Controlled Release Plant Food.
All fruit trees, canes and bushes need to be fed as they put on new leaf growth. Once again Miracle-Gro Shake & Feed or Miracle-Gro Controlled Release Plant Food will do an excellent long-lasting job, although if your apples and pears are shy to fruit you may wish to supplement this with a special fertilizer such as Miracle-Gro Ericaceous Plant Food that is rich in potash. Simply feed your fruit trees every month with Miracle-Gro Ericaceous Plant Food applied through the Miracle-Gro Feeder. This can be used to wet the foliage and the rooting area of the tree to ensure there is plenty of potash available to the plant during the spring and early summer when formation and retention of the fruitlets are needed.
PATIOS PATHS AND DRIVES
Weeds growing on gravel drives and between the bricks and slabs of paths and patios are an unsightly nuisance. They are difficult to remove by hand effectively and even flame throwers need to be used regularly to keep the foliage of deep rooted weeds from spoiling these areas. The only sure way of killing the existing weeds and preventing re-growth for months is to use a special path and patio weedkiller.
You may have noticed that garden retailers have stopped selling Pathclear - that's the concentrate granules sold in blue cartons that contain ready-measured sachets. The reason is not one of safety but because the EU has decided that the use of one of the active ingredients, simazine, should be reduced to further improve ground water quality. The ready to use product called Pathclear Gun! isn't affected because it doesn't contain simazine. In fact there is a new 5 litre size of Pathclear Gun! just launched this spring that will see the owners of larger patios or drives even better served.
Gardeners have until 10 September 2005 to use up any existing stock of last year's Pathclear concentrate sachets that they have in their shed or garage.
A replacement product called Pathclear 3 has just been introduced for those people who don't have any stock to use up. This is available from the shelves of all gardening retailers right now. The new and improved formula of amitrole, 2,4-D and diuron will kill weeds and roots of even deep-rooted weeds and prevents further weed germination for up to 12 months. A much improved product that remains effective for much longer.
ALWAYS READ THE LABEL. USE PESTICIDES SAFELY
Murphy® Traditional Copper Fungicide contains copper oxychloride. Weedol® contains diquat and paraquat. Weedol Gun!™ contains diquat.® ™ and Miracle-Gro, Osmocote, Murphy, Plus, Levington and Scotts are Trade Marks of The Scotts Company or its affiliates.
GARDENING INFORMATION FROM The Scotts Company (UK) Limited
WRITTEN BY JOHN CLOWES
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