by Justine Hutchinson
Hello gardeners! Welcome to spring. Time to dust off the flower pots and embrace new life.  Â
Crocuses are popping up everywhere like colourful little easter eggs and daffs are beginning to peer out from roadside verges. And every now and then the gorgeous smell of hyacinths wafts over a garden wall – all signalling it’s high time to get busy in the garden!
Sowing & GrowingÂ
Get your cut flower seeds going now so you have armfuls of blooms come summertime. Fill a seed cell tray with a quality seed starting compost mixed, if at all possible, with a little homemade ‘live’ compost for extra goodness. Give the tray a water then sow your seeds according to the instructions on the packet. If recommended, cover your seeds with vermiculite to help keep in the moisture. Once the seeds have germinated, it really does pay to give them a weekly feed of seaweed extract which will give them an additional health kick. Agrostemma, amaranthus, callistephus, cerinthe, cosmos… The list of what to sow is endless! Do have a gander at chilternseeds.co.uk for some inspiration.
Get your broad beans into the ground now, too. They can be direct sown without protection (unless you’re in a chillier part of the country), in rows approximately 45cm apart. Each bean should be planted 5cm deep and 25cm away from its neighbours in the line.
Beets, courgettes, salad leaves and brassicas such as ‘Red Drumhead’ cabbage can be started off under cover, as can fruiting crops like tomatoes and chillis.
Direct plant asparagus crowns and early potatoes, and there’s time yet to plant out fruit trees and shrubs.
Herbs such as chervil, sage and chives can be direct sown in March, and herbaceous perennial plants can also be planted outdoors if the soil is workable. Summer-flowering bulbs such as lilies and gladdies should be planted in the ground now, too.
Start off your dahlia tubers indoors by potting them up in compost and giving them a water. Don’t water again until the soil is dry: dahlias can be susceptible to rot if overwatered at this stage.
PruningÂ
Cut back old growth of deciduous grasses and most perennials left over winter, but do leave your salvias, penstemons and artemisia for another month or so, as they can be particularly sensitive to a last minute cold snap.
Lift and divide summer-flowering perennials which have outgrown their positions. If they’ve finished flowering, overly congested clumps of snowdrops can be also lifted and split now and replanted ‘in the green’.
Deadhead your spring flowering bulbs as and when they need it, but leave the foliage to die back completely before removing. This will help to fatten up the bulbs ready for next year’s display.
Prune your shrub roses by removing all dead, diseased and crossing branches and cutting the rest back by a half. Also take out all shoots in the centre of the shrub. You’re aiming for an open goblet shape to encourage air circulation and prevent disease. Make each cut just above an outward-facing bud, which will direct new growth outwards rather than inwards.
Towards the end of the month, prune established mophead, serrata and lacecap hydragneas to the first strong pair of buds down from top of the stem. Also cut out one or two of the oldest stems at the base to encourage replacement growth, and remove anything dead, diseased or crossing.Â
Paniculata and arborescens hydrangeas are treated differently. These species flower better when cut back to a lower framework of permanent stems. Again, prune to a healthy pair of buds but further down the stem so that the overall framework is about 25cm – 35cm high. Paniculatas and arborescens flower on new wood (growth produced during the same year), while mopheads and lacecaps flower on old wood (growth produced in preceding years).
Young hedges in their second year of growth can be cut back by a third. This will encourage a fuller, stronger hedge.
Other JobsÂ
Start preparing the soil in your flower and veg beds by mulching with a thick layer of compost and adding a few handfuls of something like chicken manure pellets.
Feed your roses with a balanced rose food, and top dress your permanently-planted containers and pots. Do this by scooping off the top 3 inches or so of soil, and replenish with fresh compost.
As the weather warms, keep an eye out for those pesky slugs and snails. Consider using something like nematodes for effective control in smaller areas. Wool pellets can also help to form barriers around emerging new shoots.
Keep an eye out, too, for a surge in those weeds. Remaining on top of them now will help in the long run.
And, as ever, have fun in the garden everyone!
