Desperate To Go Out into the Garden
THE VILLAGE GARDENER
Desperate To Go Out into the Garden
March brings longer days but not necessarily better weather. We are desperate to go out into the garden and get it ready for Spring. We need to be sowing annuals and getting veg beds ready to plant carrots, turnips, beetroot, peas and broad beans. I’ll be planting some more tomato seeds to replace the ones planted earlier in Feb when I couldn’t wait to get started, then didn’t take enough care of them. Get a couple of pots of French tarragon and leave on the windowsill, this is lovely for fish dishes and will keep growing back when you use it. Hostas will be putting up new shoots now, so will need protecting from slugs. Purchasing copper rings and tape are expensive and not very effective. Sand and ashes will deter the little blighters but best of all are containers with beer in them as they can’t resist it and you can rest assured that they passed away in good spirits.
This month is the best time to prune back the roses and being careful where you prune will give a brilliant display by the end of May. Also, a slow-release fertiliser containing seaweed will help them to be at their best. This type of feed would benefit most shrubs, except for the likes of blueberry, azaleas and rhododendrons which need an ericaceous feed (acid loving). If in the unlikely event the weather is kind enough, we can repair some of the bare patches on the lawn, in my case caused by the jackdaws looking for leatherjackets in the late Autumn. I considered buying nematodes to kill the leatherjackets, but you have to do this annually, so decided to let the birds do it for me. The only way to solve this problem is to add more drainage to the lawn, which is not always good considering the summers we’ve had in recent years as it means more watering. So I will just live with it.
Any early Spring bulbs which are going over will need to be deadheaded, preferably before the seed head forms and then give the leaves a liquid feed to ensure a good show the following year. When the likes of Alex Cooper and Barry Oliver were in Wenvoe school there wasn’t a daffodil out to pick for St David’s Day. Everyone wore a leek and chewed at it which used to stink out the classrooms. They’re both getting on now, but are well which proves the benefit of fresh produce, even unwashed. Nowadays daffs are in bloom on the village green before Christmas.
I know I keep on but just resist those tender young plants on show in the shops and garden centres until the weather improves, think twice buy once.
Take care and happy gardening.