Maybe I am simple but I am always taken aback when Spring arrives - again! It always seems a thing of pure amazement to see life and colour pushing out defiantly against all the odds.
It is also a time of rushing to get the Winter jobs finished and a time when folk go down with heavy colds (hence the late blog - apologies!).
March is when the season for planting bare-root trees and shrubs is drawing to a close. The plants are slowly becoming less dormant and less immune to being hauled and shaken about.
Dogwoods and willows may have given you a great show ( ever seen these on a bright, sunny day? - unmissable). To get the best out of them next year you will need to cut them down close to their "stumps" to get another display next Winter.
It is also the ideal time to get bare-root roses in the ground and to plant summer flowering bulbs.
There may also be herbaceous borders and grasses to tidy up; bear in mind that the slugs will start appearing soon and weeds will begin to make claims your time. If you are thinking of re-organizing your summer-flowering herbaceous plants then now is perfect for dividing them and thinking through an improved design.
Try not to re-plant them in too organised a fashion; as a rule I try to imitate nature as far as I can - never planting in even numbers and trying to plant in "drifts".
To summarise;
- Do the last of the bare-root planting
- Divide choked summer flowering perennials such as Hosta, Astrantia and Hemerocallis
- Sweet peas can be sown outside
- Lawns can be mowed on mild days and repairs can be made with new turf or seed
- Heavy prune your dogwoods and willow but also Buddlejas, Hydrangeas and Leycesterias
- Put down compost or mulch as a weed-suppressant and maybe some nature-friendly slug protection. ( You could always do more to attract hedgehogs!)
Lots of feeding - its something you should do when you have a man-flu isn't it?
