MARCH IN THE GARDEN

‘March winds’……….actually March is not the windiest month by a long way.  ‘March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb’ is another saying about this month. We can look forward to spring now from 21st the spring solstice. And on the 29th British Summertime begins.

It is a seed sowing time – a great excitement waiting for germination, then pricking out and potting on.  I have already started. My tomatoes and peppers have germinated and will soon need potting on. This year I have sown Mixed Dels, Ox Heart and Black Krim. All four are obtainable from Simpson’s Seeds Ltd. The first two are tried and tested and always do well, the Ox Heart is very large and has a good flavour but the yield is low only 4 or 5 per plant. Hungarian Wax a mild chilli and Sweet Banana a reliable pepper are both long capsicums and are both good doers these too are from Simpson’s Seeds Ltd. These all germinate very quickly in 7-10 days. I started them in a propagator and they are now in a spare bedroom on a sunny windowsill. I have also sown lettuce and mixed leaves to get the salad crop going.

 It’s a good idea to start the half hardy annuals now Tagetes or French Marigolds are examples, these are used in the vegetable garden as companion plants to attract lacewings and hoverflies to kill aphids. Other popular half-hardy annuals are varieties of Nicotiania, or Tobacco plants which will scent the evening air. Amongst the hardy annuals I have started are poppies and Antirrhinum and sweet peas. The poppies I germinate in pots then plant the whole potful into the garden and thin out later as they dislike disturbance. I do the same with sweet peas, six in a long tom pot then plant out around a wigwam at each end of the runner and French bean rows when about six inches high.

The snowdrops, although about three weeks late, are a joy in our garden this year. The crocuses though have suffered from the extremes of weather. The miniature daffodils are coming into bloom as are the Ipheon. The hellebores in the woodland garden are making a good show too. They self-seed and make crosses so we have various shades of mauve, purple and white with different coloured spotting in the centres. These look lovely when floated in a pretty glass bowl of water.

Most things are waking up now there are green leaves on the bird cherry outside our bedroom window. The weeping willow is a green yellow haze and there are big fat sticky buds on the horse chestnut trees. I love their pink and white candles in May.

Hedge cutting should stop now as the birds are starting to choose their nesting sites. All our nest boxes have been cleaned out and the openings re-inforced with metal sheets to keep out predators. Over the winter some of the holes had been enlarged to accommodate squirrels and large birds. The holes are now the correct size for the tits again and they will be safe.