Top Gardening Tips for March from Head Gardener Paul Scriven
The first blooms in the garden have been spotted on this almond tree, and the pollinators are busy making the most of them!
Hi everyone, it’s great to be back open again! We’ve had a brilliant start to the season (despite the storms!), and it was lovely to see so many families enjoying the garden during February Half Term.
It’s a busy time of the year for gardeners, so I thought it would be a good opportunity to share some of my top tips with you.
March may well mark the start of meteorological spring but beware, it can also mark the beginning of huge fluctuations of temperatures. With mild sunshine one day, and bitter cold easterly wind the next.
The perfect setting to enjoy the sunshine on a March morning
Generally, if the weather is reasonable, the following jobs should be carried out this month.
Pruning bush and shrub roses, and climbers if you didn’t do so in the Autumn
Prune dogwood and shrub willow grown for their colourful stems
Scarify lawns that did not receive the treatment last Autumn and re-seed any bare patches in your lawns
Move any evergreen shrubs not moved in October
Split snowdrops and winter aconites
Begin sowing hardy annuals and vegetables outside
Plant early potatoes
This is probably your last chance to plant bare root trees and hedging
My top tip for this time of year is keep an eye on your plants in the greenhouse. The first warm sunny days can make plants in the greenhouse dry out very quickly.
If you’ve got any specific gardening questions, do pop along to our NEW Gardening Q&A sessions. These will be starting in April and will run each Friday morning at 11am, meet in the Reclaimed Barn and we’ll do our best to help and advise you.
The Secret Garden is open each week Thursday to Saturday from 10am. Book your tickets to visit by clicking the button below.
I will also be running Garden Tours again this year. These take place on the last Friday of each month and are bookable via the website.
See you soon,
Paul Scriven
