March Guide

March Growing Tips

What's going on in March?

March is the first real month of change as the we see the start of Spring. We start to see the first signs of gardens getting ready to bloom into the new season with new plants and colours coming alive.

The clocks go forward to give us longer daylight hours to get outside in the garden. However, with this change also comes very changeable weather, so be prepared for everything from glorious sunshine to hard frost, and everything inbetween.

The weather in March

Good news – the temperature starts warming up in March, but clear nights can still mean overnight frosts. So just be careful not to put out too many tender plants just yet. This is where it’s great to learn about planting using cold frames. Check out our Using A Cold Frame blog for loads more info on this.

Between the strong winds and the increasingly sunny days your soil will start to dry out, which is good if it’s been a particularly wet winter. That said, it’s not uncommon to see snow in March (just like we’ve had this year!) that can scupper any planned planting. So again, keep an eye on the forecast and take steps to avoid starting your growing around heavy snow. Plan your sowing carefully!

Main things to accomplish

You should now have your beds for growing fruit and vegetables pretty much ready to go. If not, finish these off this month ahead of the growing season.

You can also start saving your organic waste for compost – check out our handy blog on how to create a makeshift composter in your own garden for minimal fuss.

We’ll be starting to sow and plant our fruit and veg from the end of March onwards, so make sure you’ve planned out what you need for that too.

Digging Deeper into jobs for this month

Prep

- Prepare seedbeds for sowing
- Store open packets of seeds correctly
- Build a Compost heap
- Buy young Herb plants if needed
- Dig trenches if growing runner beans
Sowing & Planting

SOW OUTSIDE
Lettuce, Cabbage, Radish, Peas, Spinach, Beetroot, Parsnips, Herbs
PLANT OUTSIDE
Early Potatoes, Onions, Asparagus
- Chit Potatoes
- Be sure to carefully label all seed trays clearly and correctly to stop any confusion later on
Tending

- Feed Winter Lettuce
- Feed fruit trees with Potash & check they're not drying out
- Pick out weeds between rows of vegetables
- Prune autumn-fruiting raspberries
Harvesting

- Harvest Rhubarb
- Harvest last of the Chicory
- Harvest Purple Sprouting Broccoli
Eating

- Make Rhubarb crumble
- Make Rhubarb Gin

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