Monthly Garden Diary - March 2006

Introduction

After a Winter of rest, the plants in your garden and home are waking up ready to wow you and your friends with their beauty. If you help them Spring into action with some tender loving care and a splash of plant food, then you’ll be rewarded with lots of beautiful flowers and a garden and home to be proud of.

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Ornamental Gardening

Daffodil, narcissus, crocus and anemone bulbs should be in bloom this month and perhaps some dwarf iris and early flowering tulips depending on variety. If you have planted Spring bedding such as flowering pansies, polyanthus and forget-me-nots, then you should have plenty of flower power to brighten your Spring.

As the soil warms up fresh annual weed seeds will be germinating ready to fill any space left between plants. Hand weeding is tediously hard work while hoeing can do a lot of damage to emerging bulb shoots that are waiting just below the surface.

Now’s the time when the benefit of a general weedkiller such as Weedol 2 or Weedol Gun! comes into its own. Before you go out and buy fresh supplies of this weedkiller first check your garage or shed for stock of the original Weedol cartons, so that you can use this up first.

The approval for use of Weedol (concentrate sachets containing paraquat and diquat) runs out at the end of April this year and the easiest and most effective way to get rid of any surplus material is to give your garden a general early Spring clean to get rid of weeds. Just wet the weed leaves and watch them die within days. Use it on any weeds growing between plants like roses, shrubs and flowers, around fruit and vegetables to keep the soil clean and along fences, around trees, sheds and greenhouses to make sure the weeds can’t grow into a jungle.

Just keep the weedkiller liquid off wanted plants. After only ten minutes on the leaf, light rain showers won’t stop these weedkillers working.

As weeds begin to emerge so too will the new foliage of perennial plants such as delphinium, aquilegia, aster, lupin, coreopsis and penstemon. Give them a feed of Miracle-Gro Slow Release Rose & Shrub Food as soon as you know they are growing. Nutrients will strengthen growth and ensure large, well-formed green leaves. The new shoots and leaves of some of these plants, especially lupins, hosta and delphiniums, are special targets of slugs and snails as they are so tasty. These nocturnal creatures look horrible and eat half their weight of garden plants every day. No wonder they are voted by gardeners as their most hated pest. You can hunt them down during the day, but the ones you spot may only represent 10% of the total population, as many will be hiding underground. Most of them emerge at night to eat new leaves and stems, returning night after night to destroy and disfigure plants.

Laying down a barrier of broken egg shells, sharp sand and copper wire may help to keep travelling slugs at bay, but barriers don’t stop the ones hiding immediately underground. SlugClear Advanced Pellets on the other hand contain a tasty nutritious bait that molluscs find very attractive. Sprinkled lightly around all your vulnerable garden plants these slug pellets will attract slugs and snails to eat the bait that they find so tasty. This last supper will ensure that the nasty pests won’t eat your precious flowers, fruit or vegetables. For best control apply in the evening to control these nocturnal monsters.

Rhododendrons and Azaleas

Few plants can stop you in your tracks like a thriving rhododendron or azalea in bloom.  Covered in flowers, the display is breathtaking. Like other ericaceous plants (camellias, heathers and pieris) they need an acid soil topped up with a regular feeding programme containing all the essential nutrients for a stunning display.

In soils that are not acid, ericaceous plants are unable to take up any ordinary iron and as a consequence leaves turn yellow, especially in the head of the plant. Left untreated the plant drops its leaves and can quickly die.

You can stop leaves of ericaceous plants from turning yellowing relatively easily if you add sequestered iron to the soil. This material provides iron to plant roots even if your soil is on the alkaline side of neutral. To alleviate this iron deficiency simply sprinkle some Sequestrene Granules around the plant and water in. Just one application is needed each year, preferably in Spring to give you a thriving plant that stays green and healthy.

Miracle-Gro Ericaceous Plant Food is a special plant food for lime-hating plants. It feeds the plant and supplies iron to help prevent leaf yellowing. Just wet the leaves and soak the soil in Spring and Summer and you’ll create plants with beautiful blooms and a deep rich leaf colour.

Patio Gardening

Pots and tubs containing Spring bulbs will need feeding occasionally to ensure the bulbs produce the flower buds that will eventually make the following year’s display. Applying a soluble or liquid plant food over the leaves will get the nutrients to work very quickly and the excess will be absorbed by the roots.

Some bulbs are only in leaf for a relatively short time so get feeding with Miracle-Gro All Purpose Plant Food now and repeat a fortnight later. If you allow the foliage to die back naturally, then you can rest assured your bulbs will grow bigger and have the strength to bloom again the following year.

The Lawn

Start mowing the grass in mild spells of weather when the grass leaves are dry. This helps to collect the cuttings and reduces the chance of cuttings clinging together in a soggy wet mass. Don’t cut the grass too short in March. A light trimming is best for the first cut which can then be gradually reduced in height over the next half a dozen subsequent mowings until you get down to a Spring length of 3cm (1.5 inches). The lawn should be the heart of a great looking garden, although early in Spring it can look a little tired if Winter weather has been rough and there are thin bare patches that spoil the smooth, even look.

Don’t despair. You can quickly and easily transform a worn out lawn with a single application of EverGreen Lawn Reviver. One application will thicken and green the lawn from only 7 days and feed the lawn steadily for up to 3 months. It contains a pre-mixed combination of ‘fast acting’ grass seed and a ‘slow release’ lawn feed. The grass seed mixture contains several different species that will improve the thickness, durability and overall look of a lawn. It’s treated with bird repellent for built-in protection and includes some seaweed extract for better seed germination. So instead of digging up your lawn and starting again, try Lawn Reviver first. It’s definitely worth a try before you invest in expensive new turf.

For other lawn owners moss is the early Spring problem that needs eliminating from wet or shaded areas. Don’t rake out moss before you’ve killed it off or you will only spread the seed spores of the weed to other areas. Instead apply EverGreen Mosskil evenly to the lawn as soon as possible. This will provide a quick nitrogen burst to green up the grass quickly and at the same time help to get rid of the moss that will have spread during the Winter. Wait a couple of weeks for the moss to discolour and then rake it out thoroughly. Don’t be tempted to throw this on the compost heap as it doesn’t rot down easily, but dispose of it with other green garden waste material collected by your council at the kerbside or leave in the appropriate skip at your local recycling centre.

Roses, Trees and Shrubs

Roses are so easy to grow, and given a little TLC at the right time will produce many more beautiful blooms to fill your garden with colour and perfume all Summer.

Some gardeners are frightened of pruning and assume they could damage their plants if they make cuts in the wrong place or have less than razor sharp secateurs. That’s far from the truth - cutting back roses in any manner will help to keep the plants the right size and shape for their position and encourage more side shoots and therefore more blooming.

So go for it! Use the sharpest cutting tool you’ve got to hand, even if it’s a hedge trimmer and cut back stems by about a half. This will encourage new growth and strong stems.

Don’t worry if you’ve hacked them about - roses are as tough as old boots if you feed them after their trim.

Roses and other shrubs deserve a high nutrient breakfast in March to get them going after their long Winter sleep. Wake up your roses with Miracle-Gro Rose ‘Plus’ granules or a new slow release plant food called Miracle-Gro Slow Release Rose & Shrub Food. Both plant foods contain a mix of all the right nutrients and essential magnesium your roses need to produce great results.

New Plants from Seeds/Bulbs

If you want to save a fortune and have some fun, why not grow all of your new plants from seeds, rooted cuttings and even tiny plug plants. It’s easy if you have the right compost. Levington Seed & Cutting Compost has the perfect balance of nutrients to ensure maximum germination and strong root development. Sow the seeds as per the packet’s directions, keeping them in a warm, light position. Think of them as small babies.

Choosing what plants to sow and their precise colour and form is all part of the fun of selection. You may be a traditionalist and always go for the same colour theme or you may be avant-garde and be a sucker for anything new.

If you want something new this year then Suttons and T&M are introducing Cosmea Double Click with semi-double and double flowers. The attractive quill-like blooms are produced on tall plants that are ideal for an informal border. The mix of single and double flowers on the same plant come in a mix of vibrant colours including pink, rose, red, crimson and white. And what about Thompson & Morgan’s new Antirrhinum Rembrant? It produces free-flowering bushy plants covered in bi-colour blooms of vibrant orange and golden yellow. Looks really super. My favourites are the rose red and pink pansies that are being introduced by many breeders.

When your seedlings are growing strongly then your babies will need extra plant foods and more space to grow outwards.  When they are big enough to handle they need moving to larger quarters. Fill trays or individual pots with Miracle-Gro all Purpose Growing Compost or Levington Potting Compost and transplant the seedlings. Their rich and more powerful nutrient base will get your seedlings growing fast.

To grow bigger and better plants with more flowers and better results pot them up in a nutrient rich potting compost. Miracle-Gro Moisture Control Compost. It’s easy to use and contains extra Aquacoir fibres to help hold more water than ordinary Multi-purpose composts.

Using a compost that already contains a systemic insecticide is an easy way to keep plants that are vulnerable to attack clean and healthy. For example petunias and nasturtiums are prone to attack from greenfly and blackfly and fuchsias susceptible to whitefly infestation. In many gardens vine weevil larvae are found at the roots of many plants and they can do a great deal of damage by eating roots. The easy way to fend off vine weevil larvae attack for 12 months is to pot up in Levington Container & Hanging Basket Compost with Vine Weevil Control. It is the simple, no-spray answer to many garden pests. It contains all the nutrients to grow bigger and better ornamental plants in pots plus the unique pest control agent - Intercept. You get a year’s built-in protection from black vine weevil larvae and three months protection from blackfly, greenfly and sciarid. Best of all - it gives useful control of whitefly.

Fruit and Vegetables

Outside rake over previously prepared ground and sow parsnips, carrots, turnips, Summer cabbage and broad beans. If the weather in March is really harsh then set out cloches to warm up and dry out the surface of the soil.

It now seems as if we are entering a resurgence of interest in growing vegetables at home. Some pundits say it’s because they can easily be grown organically - others that it’s suddenly become fashionable. My view is that it’s the only way you can experience the freshest food available and in so many different colours, varieties and combinations.

The ‘Jamie Oliver’ effect of encouraging children to try vegetables for the first time is something else and one that is extremely successful. I’ve found that getting kids to grow the vegetables first is a sure way of getting them to taste them immediately after harvest. If they’ve watered and fed the plants then of course they are very proud of the results and they will insist on tasting them too. My grand-daughter grew a pot full of the Thompson & Morgan Sugarsnax variety of carrots on the patio and very tasty they were too. Immediately after they were pulled she insisted on eating some before they were boiled for lunch, and now raw carrots are a regular treat.

If you want to add some new colours to add interest to your kitchen table how about T&M’s 3 coloured collection of beetroot comprising red, pink and golden. Or even a purple skinned carrot called Purple Haze. New for 2006 is Spinach Bordeaux that has stunning red stems and leaf veins contrasting against a darker green leaf. It’s said to have a sweeter flavour and the colour contrast provides a superb ‘salad leaf ingredient’, as ‘baby spinach’ or as a steamed vegetable.

To add some spice to your cooking how about the medium hot Chilli pepper called Mexican Summer Heat. This is an earlier ripening Jalapeno with longer, slightly tapered, 9cm (3½in) fruits. Traditionally the fruits are picked green, but can be left to ripen red. The unusual ‘scarred’ skin is a desired trait of Mexican Jalapenos. It’s suitable for growing in a greenhouse or outdoors. All peppers prefer a moist, rich, well drained soil or growing bag placed in warm conditions plus regular feeding each week with Tomorite liquid tomato food.