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JOHN'S GARDEN, 'ONE OF THE FINEST GARDENS IN THE UK', IS OPEN EVERY SATURDAY more
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- March
- The Flower Garden
The Flower Garden
Primroses, polyanthus, and bulbs are now for sale in small pots and can be used to provide instant colour in containers and bare areas in the garden.
March will see our plug plants arriving: make sure you’ve got adequately warm facilities, clean pots and fresh compost (our Supergro potting compost is a perfect medium). Growing plants from plugs and seedlings is a cheaper way of growing your own plants and very satisfying but remember you need good light warmth and space! Heated greenhouses will be bustling with activity this month with lots of pricking out and potting on as well as planting up hanging baskets. Remember that a night temperature of 10-12°C (50‑55°F) is satisfactory for most crops.
Feed clumps of bulbs growing in the borders with fertiliser such as Maxicrop to encourage development of large bulbs. Deadhead the flowers of Narcissus (daffodils) as they fade, but allow the foliage to die down naturally. Snowdrops can also be lifted and divided as the foliage begins to turn yellow.Sow sweet peas in small pots, prick out as early as possible into deep small pots or cells, and grow on in cool conditions. Pinch out the growing point after two or three pairs of leaves to improve vigour and encourage bushy plants. Sweet peas grown in pots can be planted out at the end of the month. Sweet Pea seed may now also be sown out of doors as the soil warms. Sow in a heated propagator half-hardy bedding plants such as ageratum, alyssum, impatiens, stocks and petunias.
This is the perfect month for planting, especially evergreens. Don’t simply dig a hole for your new plant: to ensure roots rapidly grow out into surrounding soil it is far better to dig over a larger area and work in home-made garden compost or Carr’s Soil Improver. Use Root Grow in contact with the roots: this is a mix of bacteria and fungi that aids better root establishment. It is prudent to plant slightly high if you have poorly drained or heavy clay soils. Carr’s Soil Improver is also a perfect medium for top-mulching the soil to help improve soil structure and water retention in summer: note that it is also suitable for camellias, rhododendrons and azaleas. A word of warning: March winds can cause camellias to dry out, resulting in bud drop: keep an eye on the root area and drench with water if it appears dry.
Buddleia, Salix, Cornus and Caryopteris can be pruned hard to within a few buds towards the end of the month before growth commences. Prune shrubs that flower on new wood, such as hypericum, potentilla, sambucus and spirea, etc. Prune back winter and summer flowering heather with shears, removing the old flower stems only. Finish pruning Clematis jackmanii types, 10‑12 inches above soil level and mulch. Tie in growths to plastic netting which clematis can twine around easily rather than using timber trellis. Clematis may also be planted if conditions allow. Clematis will benefit considerably if fed with a proprietary clematis fertiliser. Prune roses, fork over lightly and apply a proprietary rose fertiliser.
The careful removal of mop head and lace cap hydrangea blooms can be done in March but should be delayed if the weather is cold even if it means pruning as the buds begin to burst into leaf. Pruning and exposing hydrangea buds to frost can lead to the flower buds (which sit at the base of the old bloom) being damaged. Hydrangea paniculata and its cultivars can be hard pruned during March to just a few buds of last year’s framework, this will give them sufficient time to make new stems and flower from late summer onwards.
Many plants diseases begin to appear in our gardens this month and it is worth having a proprietary systemic fungicide to spray at the first signs of infection. Pansies are already showing signs of fungal leaf infection and it is advisable to pick off the worst of the affected leaves before spraying. Hellebore leaf spot can be a problem on old foliage of hellebores: removed affected leaves and spray at regular intervals throughout the season. Cutting back the old leaves should control the problem. Check lilies and fritillarias for first signs of lily beetles and squash adults. Spray with a proprietary systemic pesticide to prevent further attacks. A systemic pesticide can also be used for scale insects on Camellias and other evergreens, but remember that the optimum time to spray for scale insect is in June-July. Slugs and snails can cause havoc at this time of year and efforts should be made to control them. Use one of the safe and organic methods of controlling slugs that leave no trace of unsightly slime secretion like most other slug pellets.
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