As the weather improves, it’s time to start sowing seed and really getting hands on in the productive garden.
Prepare seed beds, covering the ground with clear polythene or fleece to warm the soil. If you have a light soil you’ll be able to make a start on sowing vegetables soon (when the soil temperature reaches a minimum of 6 degrees).
Plant early potatoes towards the end of March, and plant rhubarb and pot-grown strawberry plants.
Plant onion sets and shallots. Sow cucumbers, sweet peppers and tomatoes on a windowsill indoors or in a heated propagator in a frost-free greenhouse.
Protect the blossom of apricots, peaches and nectarines from frost and peach leaf curl by covering with horticultural fleece. Hand-pollinate flowers with a fine brush.
Divide clumps of mint and chives, and sow hardy herbs such as borage outside. In warmer weather cut back shrubby herbs such as thyme, sage and lavender to new growth.
Sow hardy annuals now too. If you want to know more about filling gaps in your garden or growing annual cut flowers, read about growing annuals for summer colour here.
Photo credits: Janet Bligh
