Your Monthly Planting Guide
March
The start of autumn …
This month sees the beginning of the “season of mellow fruitfulness” when the bounty of summer’s flowers, fruits and veggies is almost finished, the sun is losing its intensity, it’s less humid in the northern states and days are gradually shortening. There’s an overall feeling in the air that we’ve managed to survive the challenges of another summer.
Gardening In March
Spring Onion
Spring onions (also known as green shallots and green bunching or salad onions) are a delicious addition to a whole...
Runner beans
Runner beans, or more correctly scarlet runner beans, (Phaseolus coccineus) are among the easiest and most rewarding...
Salad leaves
Bags of salad leaves are quite expensive to buy and have a fairly short lifespan in the fridge. Grow your own and you...
Sweet Corn
Sweet Corn, or maize, won't really grow as high as an elephant's eye, but it will be sweet, tender and delicious -...
Cauliflower
Drizzled with olive oil and baked whole or sliced into steaks, cut into individual florets and wok-tossed in a stir fry...
Blueberries
Eaten fresh, baked in muffins or as the star attraction in jams or desserts, blueberries (Vaccinium corymbosum) are...
Strawberries
Who doesn’t love strawberries? If you’re a strawberry fan, the many varieties of Fragaria × ananassa are easy to grow at...
Raspberries
What could be better than a bowl of sweet, fresh-picked raspberries in summer? These delicious fruits are easy to grow...
Buffalo Grass
A popular stalwart in Australian gardens for good reason, buffalo grass makes for an incredibly resilient lawn. It is...
Kikuyu Grass
Kikuya grass, or Pennisetum Clandestinum, is a vigorous plant often used in Australian lawns and common in public...
Vegetables
What to plant now:
Seedlings of brassicas, broad beans, spinach, silver beet, leeks and onions in cooler regions; beetroot, brassicas, peas in warmer areas.
Fruit & Flower Beds
What fruits to harvest now:
Most of the summer fruits like apricots, peaches, plums and nectarines will have finished by now but there should still be good crops of mid to late season fruits maturing. These include:
- Apples
- Pears
- Raspberries
- Grapes
- Figs
- Melons (rock and honey dew)
- Mandarins
- Selected oranges
- Passionfruit
- Persimmons
- Pomegranates
- Quinces
What fruit to plant:
Evergreen fruiting plants may be put into the garden now while the soil is still warm – passionfruit vines and citrus among them. Deciduous fruit trees in pots should be left until they are dormant and have lost all their leaves before being transplanted into the garden. Together with new bare-root fruit trees, they are best planted in mid to late Winter.
What flowers to plant:
Spring flowering bulbs:
- Anemone
- Daffodil
- Freesia
- Hyacinth
- Iris
- Ixia
- Lachenalia
- Muscari (grape hyacinth)
- Narcissus
- Ranunculus
- Sparaxis
- Scilla
- Sprekelia
- Tritonia
- Tritelia
- Tulip
- Watsonia
Winter and spring flowering annuals:
- Arctotis
- Alyssum
- Antirrhinum (snapdragon)
- Aquilegia (granny’s bonnet)
- Calendula
- Canterbury bells (campanula)
- Carnation
- Cineraria
- Delphinium
- Gaillardia
- Geum
- Gypsophila
- Iceland poppy
- Larkspur
- Nemesia
- Nigella
- Pansy
- Polyanthus
- Primula
- Scabiosa
- Sweet Pea
- Sweet William
- Verbena
- Viola
Garden Tasks
Garden jobs for the month:
- Pick up and dispose of any fruit on the ground under fruit trees – they may be diseased or harbouring insect pests – don’t put them in the compost bin!
- Remove and dispose of diseased or “mummified” fruits clinging to branches to avoid diseases spreading or over-wintering on trees.
- Cut out and dispose of galls (swellings) on citrus trees to help eradicate gall wasps.
- Tidy up the garden by removing spent flowers and flower spikes from perennials and annuals.
- Dahlias and chrysanthemums may need staking and/or the ties checking to ensure they are not cutting into stems.
Pest Control
- Keep an eye out for aphids, especially on roses, herbs and vegetable seedlings. Use a general garden insecticide like Defender Pyrethrum Insect Spray to control them. Don’t forget to spray the undersides of leaves too.
- Watch for the caterpillars of the White Cabbage Butterfly on cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli and other brassicas. Pyrethrum will assist or try a cabbage dust.
- Newly planted seedlings may be targeted by snails and slugs. Protect them with Defender Snail & Slug Pellets.
Lawn
Tips for March
Summer can be harsh on lawns, especially during drought and heatwave conditions. This month is a great time to repair the damages caused by the ravages of the season just passed.
- De-thatch with a garden rake to remove build-up of dead grass, especially in buffalo, kikuyu and couch lawns.
- Aerate the lawn with a garden fork or you can hire a coring machine suitable for home gardens.
- Top dress with Scotts Lawn Builder Organic Lawn Soil – Topdress Mix & Underlay.
- Water entire lawn area, if permitted, to settle topdress mix.
- Fertilise with Lawn Builder All Purpose Slow Release Lawn Fertiliser, Lawn Builder Buffalo, Lawn Builder Extreme Green Granular or one of the Lawn Builder hose-on equivalents.
- Worn and bare areas may be over-sown with lawn seed to match your existing grass type or patches of instant turf.
Find your local store and start growing your garden.
Find your local store and start growing your garden.
