MARCH

FRUIT

·         All planting of trees and bushes completed early in the month.

·         Prune cobnuts and filberts if not done in February.

·         Apply potash to cane fruits.

·         Mulch young trees, bushes and cane fruit.

·         Apply nitrogen to blackcurrants.

·         2nd application of nitrogen to pears in grass.

·         Protect blossom on wall-trained trees if frost; hand pollinate if early flowering - no insects.

·         Untie and retrain canes of blackberries and related fruits, which have been bundled together against winter damage, train on wires before bud burst.

·         Prune blueberries.

·         Plant strawberry runners.

·         If aphids present spray with a systemic fungicide.

·         Spray apples and pears against scab.

·         Spay blackcurrants against leaf spot, mildew, and grey mould, spray for aphids.

·         Spray gooseberries for gooseberry mildew.

LAWNS

·         If the weather and ground conditions are good, rake the lawn of any leaves and winter debris, do not rake to vigorously and damage the grass.

·         If there have been frosts during the winter then the best idea is to lightly roll the lawn.

·         The first cut of the season should be just a topping with a later cut during this month.

·         Apply moss killer if necessary.

·         Using a half-moon straighten all the lawn edges.

GARDENING BY MONTH

Gardening in January
Gardening in February
Gardening in March
Gardening in April
Gardening in May
Gardening in June
Gardening in July
Gardening in August
Gardening in September
Gardening in October
Gardening in November
Gardening in December

The above helpful advice has been reproduced by kind permission of Will Hart, whose experience includes working for Blackburn Rovers FC (as a groundsman at their Training Ground, Academy and Ewood Park), for the Sultan of Oman (at his French residence in Fontainebleau, south of Paris) at the 1999 Martell Grand National at Aintree and for a variety of different sized local gardens and estates.  Impressive credentials I am sure you will agree!

---