VV feb march 20 24th dec

In the Garden
with Alan Edmondson of
Bowercot Garden Design
Feb/March
Gardening Tips
• Renew surface grit around alpine plants.
• If you are planning to sow a new lawn in the spring, start to prepare the site if the
soil is not too wet.
• Clear hedge bottoms of weedy growth, fallen leaves and debris.
• Avoid over watering in the greenhouse and ventilate well on mild days. If over
wintering fuchsias are showing new growth, move them onto the staging.
• Cut canes of autumn fruiting raspberries to within six inches of the ground.
• Newly planted roses should be pruned hard in order to produce a good framework
of branches from low down.
• Newly planted deciduous hedges should be hard pruned to ensure bushy bases for
the future.
• Start to feed the fish in your pond once they appear lively.
• March is a good month for planting evergreen shrubs. Keep well watered if the
weather remains dry.
• Plant out autumn sown sweet peas.
• Sow some hardy annuals such as alyssum, nemophila and nasturtium. They are
useful as space fillers between newly planted shrubs.
• Buddleja davidii and its varieties should be hard pruned around the middle of the
month. This will produce the largest flowers.
• Turnips can be sown outdoors around the middle of the month; onions a little
earlier.
• Brassicas and leeks can be sown in a nursery bed in arch for planting out later in the
year.
Alan Edmondson of Bowercot Garden
Design, Lymington, is a regular
contributor to BBC Radio Solent’s ‘The
Kitchen Garden’ formerly ‘The Good Life’.
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