There is so much to do this month, getting ready for spring can be a time consuming task, so here at Notcutts we have put together these ten top tips to help you prioritise:
- Weed or hoe through your borders to remove any weeds that have germinated through the Winter. Take care not to disturb Spring-flowering bulbs, which will be just below the surface of the soil.
- Tidy up your Winter bedding plant containers and give a weak liquid feed towards the end of the month, to replace the nutrients lost through the Winter.
- Visit your local garden centre and purchase a patio cleaner to remove moss and algae from your outdoor sitting areas.
- Continue to compost suitable material and use rotted compost to mulch bare earth on borders. This will cut down on weeding and watering later in the season.
- Now is the time to start thinking about planting vegetable seeds. Choose from the range of vegetable seeds available online and in your local Garden Centre. Remember that even if you only have a window box or a few containers, there are varieties of baby vegetables and salad leaves to try.
- Give your greenhouse a good clean and increase water to any over- Wintered plants as they begin to grow away. Open the vents on warmer days to allow as much air through as possible.
- Cut back any perennial plants that still have old growth on them after the Winter. Take care not to cut into any new growth that may be emerging.
- Cut back hybrid Clematis that flower late in the season (after the end of June) to a pair of healthy buds, 15 to 30cm above the ground. Guard against slug damage as the new shoots grow away. Varieties in this group include C. Jackmanii and the late-flowering viticellas.
- Prune to the ground any ornamental grasses that have gone dormant through the Winter, before the new growth appears. Complete the job with a feed of general fertilizer such as pelleted chicken manure.
- This is a good time to plan and plant new borders, so why not visit our plant centre and choose from the wide range of plants available to give years of pleasure in your garden.