Pruning is just one of the many important gardening jobs to carry out at this time of year to give you gorgeous blooms once summer arrives.
Pruning is essentially when you selectively remove plant parts (branches, buds, spent flowers, etc.) to manipulate the plant to look and grow better.
It is an ideal time to prune many deciduous shrubs before they start to grow again come spring, and shrubs that will flower on growth are produced that coming season.
Many plants that you could prune in February can still be pruned in March.
With that in mind, Craig Wilson, co-founder, director and in-house gardening expert at Gardeners Dream has set out what needs to be pruned in March.
He said: “Late winter is an ideal time to prune. Not only does it make things look a bit tidier, but it also encourages new growth, culminating in better blooms come summer.
“You’ll want to look at pruning plants such as wisteria, roses, hydrangeas, clematis and fruit trees.”
To do this, he instructed gardeners to cut back last year’s growth by about two-thirds, making sure to remove any damaged, weakened or diseased branches.
As well as pruning, there is an ever-growing potential list of what you can plant and do to your garden to give it the best outcome for summer.
Healthy soil is the foundation of any well-established garden, without a good soil base, plants, flowers and food crops “will struggle to grow”. To enrich your soil, you’ll want to add some organic matter, be it either manure, homemade or bagged compost.
“Start by digging the existing soil to loosen it, breaking up any large lumps before adding a 5cm layer of your organic matter on top.”
For the soil, incorporate the manure or compost into the existing soil. Once you have done this, gently firm the soil down before raking to remove any stones or weeds.
Craig claimed: “Doing this now will give your soil time to mature and harbour all the good bacteria needed to support prolific growth come summertime.”
March is a good time to start planning your succession planting. This is the process of staggering what you plant to have “continuous blooms or harvests” throughout the summer.
Planting this way will mean there is never a dull moment in your garden. Whether it be a consistent harvest of fruit and vegetables or continuous blooms in varying colours, this method provides peace of mind that “your garden will continue to flourish all summer long”.
Now is also a great trim to start growing summer-blooming flowers indoors. Some flowers and vegetables only bloom and establish in the summer, however, if you start indoors, you can give yourself a head start.
For those who have access to a summerhouse, ideally heated, they can start sowing their summer blooming flowers and veg now.
Craig said: “By doing this they will be ready to plant outdoors as soon as the temperatures pick up, as opposed to only just being sown.”
