Jump to content

Recommended Posts

March is a guessing game in the garden. Will it warm up soon? Will it stay warm? Will the rains start/stop? About the only thing we can count on is that March will soon turn to April when hopefully we can all get out and about in the garden.


Planting

This month roses will begin that first bloom.


Azaleas and camellias are best planted while blooming. They began their blooming in February, so March is right in the middle of their blooming season. Please don?t feed your camellias until they have completed their blooming. If you do, they will drop all remaining buds. Fertilise to reward the plant after the blooming ends.


Spring colour plants are arriving! Brighten up your gardens with perennials and annuals. Look for perennials such as campanula, columbine, coral bells, delphinium, foxglove (digitalis), diascia, penstemon, salvia, yarrow and so much more. Great annuals to pick from include celosia, coleus, dianthus, linaria, lobelia, marigolds, nicotiana, petunias, salvias, and verbena.


There is still time for planting bulbs!


And, don?t forget to start your vegetable gardens! Veggies as the cabbage family (cabbage, Brussels sprouts, broccoli), squash, lettuce, spinach, peppers, and cool season tomatoes will be in this month. This is also a good time not only to prune back herbs from last year, but also add in new plants such as chives, parsley, rosemary, sage, tarragon, and thyme.


Maintenance Duties

Fertilise your lawns and roses.


Snails will coming be out to munch on the tender new growth. So stay alert.


Now is also the time to divide perennials such as agapanthus, callas, daylilies, rudbeckia, and daisies. Those with fuchsias can cut them back two-thirds toward the main branches. Remember to leave 2-5 leaf bud/scars for new growth.


You can begin pruning your ornamental shrubs (pittosporum, boxwood, etc.) for hedges. Wait to prune spring-flowering shrubs and trees until their blooming is over.


And if anyone has any specific gardening questions they would like answering, please feel free to email us;[email protected]


Happy Gardening!!


Regards

David Cheetham MSGD

Link to comment
https://www.eastdulwichforum.co.uk/topic/10329-gardening-tips-for-march/
Share on other sites

I would leave any revival plans to early April as any treatments should have a greater chance of success as the weather warms up and hopefully stays drier.


Replacing a lawn can be expensive so it's probably worth tackling the existing lawn. But don't expect an immediate success story as good lawn work takes time. You can either tackle the project yourself or there are a number of specialist lawn service companies.


If you have excessive moss then start by applying a good weed/feed treatment. Readily available from a garden or DIY centre. Leave this for 7-10 days before you tackle the dead and yellowing moss/thatch. A metal spring-tined rake is ideal for raking out the dead moss and thatch, hard but rewarding exercise as well. However, there are also mains powered versions available to buy or hire.


Once you have raked over the lawn and removed the moss and thatch then it is worth aerating it as a well-trodden lawn, or grass on heavy clay soil can quickly become compacted.


I prefer to then give the lawn a chance to recover before reseeding with a combination of seed, sand and peat. Top dressing the lawn is best left till Autumn.


I hope this helps.


David Cheetham MSGD

Is....



It me or does this thread feel all cosy, smelling faintly of creosote to you too ?


David can you rename it "From the Potting Shed, with David Cheetham "


Then record it as a podcast so I can play it through my Roberts radio, all Radio 4 like



I'll put my pinny on and bake a cake for tea



Keep up the good work








W**F

Dulwich Golf Club are top dressing their greens next week.....although I know professionals are slightly more pro active than the rest of us.


But I thought top dressing helped smooth out the little bumps and hollows caused by the snow and frost over winter - is that not part of the reason for doing it David?

Yes Mic Mac you are right about top dressing smoothing out the hollows and bumps. The combined mix I put down of seed, sand and peat will do the same.


With regards paint pots karter - I did see a load there the last time I went


And, woofmarkthedog, thanks for the comments - I think/hope!!


Quite like "From the Potting Shed, with David Cheetham " as a title, so maybe next month.


Regards


David Cheetham MSGD

Mick Mac Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Dulwich Golf Club are top dressing their greens

> next week.....although I know professionals are

> slightly more pro active than the rest of us.

>

> But I thought top dressing helped smooth out the

> little bumps and hollows caused by the snow and

> frost over winter - is that not part of the reason

> for doing it David?


__________________________________________________


David


Mic mac lives on the 11th floor of a tower block in the Old Kent Road ( he's the old guy who throws empty Guinness bottles of the balcony)


So take no notice of him



I do however mean what I say, I like the "sheddy fell" of your thread



Keep up the good work



W**F

W**F


Thanks for your message. I must admit I like the 'sheddy feel' to the thread as well. So much that I have actually tracked down and ordered a copy of Percy Throwers' Garden Notebook - so hoping to share more nostaligic gardening moments and advise next month.


I know we all have hetic lifestyles to juggle but for me gardening was always about my dad in the greenhouse or shed and my mum complaining about the lawn being to long - happy days.


Regards

David Cheetham MSGD

Hi *Bob*


Having birds in the garden is beneficial as they eat unwanted insects but they can be destructive as you have exeprienced.


There are a number of things you can try;


1. If it flaps or flickers then hang it in the tree. Basically, hang anything shiny and reflective such as pieces of perspex mirror or temporary barrier tape (the pastic red and white one is good) in the trees. The birds don't like them.

2. You could put bird netting over the trees

3. You can invest in a range of gadets including an electronic owl and a motion sensor that sends out hawk sounds


And finally, this one was told to me but I have never tried it. Try hanging plastic Christmas baubbles in the tree. Apprantly the birds/piegons will go for these first instead of the fruit because there are bigger but soon get bored when they can't peck into them.


I hope this helps.


Regards


David Cheetham MSGD

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Latest Discussions

    • Where did I say he did a good job? Yup and Corbyn was very close to Len McCluskey and funded by Unite wasn't he...they're all as bad as each other... Labour have to purge their party of the far-left - they're a disaster. Allan Johnson summed it up so well on election night in 2019....  
    • Thank you for the detailed advise @trinidad It is definitely damage we are concerned about. I don’t think Evri would agree to pay the bill to fix our gate or letter box if they were to be damaged as a result of their delivery drivers helper. Our doorbell can be heard from outside when rung so we don’t quite believe the aggressive simultaneous door/letter box banging is necessary. It can be quite a shock it is done very aggressively.  I’ll definitely action the steps you’ve kindly provided along with a phone call tomorrow. I do sympathise with the role drivers have and how busy they are, which is why we tried communicating directly with her but sadly we haven’t succeeded 
    • What outcome would you like? Disciplinary action? Not to have the driver back? Retraining? I know there is alot of pressure on drivers to deliver within a set day. if he slams the gate, is it evidence he is causing damage, or is the noise a irritant to yourself? You could put a sign up or buy a signing asking to close the gate gentle???? can you hear the door bell from the door? he might be ringing, not hearing and therefore knocking. In trhe notes section of the be livery page, there is a note section, although there is not 100 per cent these notes would be read as these drivers are constantly rushing.  I did a google search for you, i found this and you can try the envri website Contact Us | Evri   To complain to Evri, you can follow these steps: Contact Customer Service: Call Evri's customer service at 0330 808 5456 for assistance with your complaint.    1 Write a Letter: Address your complaint to Capitol House, 1 Capitol Close, Morley, Leeds, West Yorkshire, LS27 0WH.    1 Use the Official Website: Visit the Evri complaints page on their official website for detailed instructions on how to submit a complaint.    2 Email or Call for Specific Issues: For issues like missing or damaged parcels, you can email or call 0800 988 8888, which is free to call.    1 These methods will help you effectively communicate your concerns to Evri.   My driver is called anthony, he is brilliant to be honest. I cant fault him.
    • When I have more time and energy, I will look up the actual number of votes cast for each party in that election, rather than the number of seats won. I'm interested to see that you apparently  think that  Boris Johnson did a good job of "leading the country through Covid." Is your memory really that short? I won't stoop to calling Johnson and his cronies names in the way that you seem to think is appropriate for left wing politicians. At least the left wing politicians have some semblance of morals and a concern for people who aren't in some over privileged inner circle and/or raking in money for themselves on the back of an epidemic. I'm not going to open a can of worms on here  by commenting on the disgraceful so called "purge". 
Home
Events
Sign In

Sign In



Or sign in with one of these services

Search
×
    Search In
×
×
  • Create New...