‘In like a lion and out like a lamb’
March usually brings a last blast of winter and then hopefully warms up towards the end! Wait for planting until frost has passed and the soil is warm enough. In Ireland this can be up to 4 weeks later than the UK. Continue on with garden maintenance and preperation, so that once the weather warms, planting can begin in earnest.
March jobs in the garden:
- Dig in compost and well-rotted manure in the vegetable beds.Cover prepared soil with black plastic.
- Protect the blossoms of fruit trees with a screen or horticultural fleece.
- Mulch fruit trees with well-rotted manure or garden compost.
- Cover strawberries with a cloche to encourage earlier fruiting.
- Last chance to prune apple trees and blackcurrants, blueberries, & raspberries
- Cover rhubarb for forcing
- Plant garlic early in the month
- Plant out brassicas & onion transplants once large enough to handle.
- Plan what you’re planting-companion planting anf crop rotations
- At the end of the month plant broccoli, peas, kale, lettuce, radishes, carrots, chard, and spinach directly into the soil. Perennial herbs, such as chives, tarragon, sage, and oregano can also go in the ground.
- Start tomatoes, peppers, eggplants and other warm weather plants inside
- Install water butts so you will have enough to water your veges and other plants over the summer months
- Build a compost bin before the growing season gets underway.
- Top up raised beds with compost and good quality topsoil.
