Gardening tips & advice for March

[Gardeners world]

In the hope that winters over & spring is round the corner (please!!) here are this months tips to get you busy & tidying & preparing your gardens for spring & summer. There's a lot of it. So here goes...

1. Lawns. You can give them their first cut if dry, but keep the blades high, just taking the top off. Aerate with a fork every 9-6 inches & fill with fine sand, compost & a little seed. You can apply weed, feed & mosskiller at the end of the month, but as I always say, not too much & evenly, or you'll be laying a new lawn!!

2. You can split clumps of snowdrops, hostas, hellebores & primulas & spread them into new areas of the garden. FREE PLANTS!! Cut back your ornamental grasses.Still time to plant summer flowering bulbs

3. FOXES!! Many of my customers are having problems with urban & very bold foxes. Firstly they are attracted by waste food products. If the bins are kept tidy & bin lids secured tightly, that will help, BUT, I've discovered they can't stand Chilli!! Powder or sauce, spread it around your borders, tops of fences or where they dig under the fence. It's not cruel, but it is effective! Either that or you can hire my huge killer of a Jack Russell Barney!! Very expensive in dog biscuits!!

4. Pruning. Prune shrubs such as Buddleja, Salix,Cornus,Eucalyptus ( take out the leader each year & prune to max of 8feet, or you get an 80 foot tree!!!) Do not prune your spring flowering shrubs, wait until they have finished flowering. Prune back Clematis to lowest pair of strong buds, then feed & mulch.

5. Planting. Best month for planting Roses in our wonderful South East London clay

Give them a good Rose or manure feed. Still time to plant deciduos hedging, shrubs, trees & climbers to give a good summer show. Feed all your existing shrubs, trees, hedges & climbers. For security of your house & garden plant up large Pyracantha plants, not only do they keep the burglars & foxes out, they give a lovely display of bright red & orange berries in winter. Wear good thick gloves for this job. You have been warned!!

Time to plant out those flowering bulbs you were given for Christmas. Top dress pots & containers with a John Innes compost.

6. Not far to go now! Power wash timber decks & patios. Softwood decks will need a treatment or if you want a longer term solution painting after they have dried out.

Time to start switching on the pumps on your water features & feeding the fish.

Please keep an eye out for our feathered friends by feeding them & cutting your hedges quickly before the French eat them ! Sorry, before they start nesting.

Get the children to collect snails before the French eat them & relocate when out & about.

Think that's it, I'm sure there's more, but quite frankly that should be enough. If its too much, as always get your locally EDF reccommended gardeners to help you out before they get too busy, like me. But please feel free to text or phone for any help or advise especially if wanting to design or build a low maintenance garden.

Happy gardening

Nigel 07961888253

[scotslass]

Thanks Nigel - brilliant advice every month :-)

[red devil]

Thanks Nigel...have you got any tips for deterring our feline friends, besides Barney the killer Jack Russell?

[Chillaxed]

Thanks vm, appreciated. Will try your chilli powder tip.

red devil - have you tried reasoning with the cats? I had a long chat with a black and white number that frequents our back graden a few nights back (after a one or two ales). I really felt like he understood where I was coming from. I think he may have even nodded his agreement to my request to stop shitting in my borders (and by implication to shit in my neighbours garden). We didn't shake on it or anything, but I'm hopeful.

[red devil]

Oh Chill, you've got so much to learn.

Cats indeed are like the female of our species.

They will beguile you with their charm, perplex you with their intuition, frustrate you with their independence...and crap on your prize roses whilst you're not looking.

[Gardeners world]

Re cats. I don't think they like chilli either. Nor for that matter Jack Russell's who think they're bigger than they actually are!!!

[Gardeners world]

Forgot to say; we need to look after our feathered friends as they are about to start nesting. You may have heard the birdsong in the mornings now. Keep an eye out for where they are nesting & don't prune those areas. Keep the cats away as much as possible & please keep feeding them. The fat balls seem to be their favourite. We are losing our songbirds at an alarming rate, so please do everything you can to protect & encourage them

Nigel

[Gardeners world]

Urgent addition:

During this cold weather, please remember to keep your soft plants; Olive trees, Bougainvillias, Jasmines & other Mediterranean plants & new shoots well protected with a fleece or mulch if close to the ground, & offer a little prayer for all us outdoor workers for a proper lovely warm spring like last year, followed by a beautiful summer, unlike last year!!!

[katanita]

Any tips for what to do with old soil each year? I have a small garden and am mostly growing in containers. Assume I can't just reuse old soil as nutrients have been used up, or is there something I can do to reuse? Don't want to just throw it away (not even sure how I would), and not enough garden to spread it on.

Thanks!

[James Godfrey]

Thanks for the advice.

I will take note!

James Godfery