March to the music
The big treats appear on the trees which are studded with promising buds and soon enough paper-thin blossom. Underneath, the bare soil soon loses its winter starkness as bulbs begin to flower with gusto and rosy new shoots of Dicentra rise together with fresh green spears of leaf from Day Lilies.
On a smaller scale, Crocus offer some of the best colour this month as drifts of ovular buds suddenly explode open into a shimmering blanket in the first decent sunny spells of the year.
This carpet of colour sets off the taller Hellebores (Lenten roses). There are many exciting varieties, which we will discover.
Another favourite which can be used in a woodland setting is the bright yellow wild Mahonias.
Indoors, Amaryllis open their gigantic trumpets and give an outstanding, if not brief, performance – for a week or two, these are guaranteed to bring music to your dining room table.
Weekends can be made pretty busy by starting seeds of your favourite annuals such as Godetia and Kochia, the burning bush.
Hell in earth?
HELLEBORES have gained popularity massively in the last few years and many varieties, some new, are becoming increasingly available.
They are pretty easy to care for – they should be kept in a moist leafy soil, preferably in dappled shade.
Lenten roses are the Helleborus Orientalis which are very varied in colour, including varieties named as Red, Pink-Spotted, Deep Purple, Double-Red, Yellow Speckled, Smokey Blue and Picotee.
These are very versatile, fitting in well between summer herbaceous plants, spring bulbs, shrubs, conifers and in containers. In fact, because of this and because they come in such a wide range of colours, you can use them anywhere you like.
They do tend to resent disturbance once established though. They self-seed with abandon and these seedlings can be used en-masse in a woodland setting and, in a few years time, they will simply take your breath away.
In April we will be examining the English (or stinking) Hellebore ‘ Foetidus’.
NOW is the time to think about feeding again by scattering slow release fertilisers over the soil. Sun worshippers, such as Iris and Peonies, are the classic cottage garden queens. They just need a dusting of sulphate of potash or a banana skin inserted halfway into the soil.
On the other hand, greedy-feeders which generally thrive in part-shade such as Hydrangeas and Hostas can be hail-stormed with nitrogenous chicken manure pellets.
But stay in trim!
Trim back Hamemaelis (Witch Hazel) lightly, to encourage bushy growth which in turn should promote a greater quantity of flowers for next January.
This shrub would also benefit from a good mulch of leaf-mould compost and a dressing of fish blood and bone.
One for four and four for one
You can really get to grips with the veg plot this month, as the sun begins to dry the soil surface.
If you followed the double digging advice last month, then now is the time to break the up the clods to a workable tilth, ready for sowing and planting.
This is a hugely satisfying job to do on a fine day, and leaves you brimming with excitement and anticipation.
When it gets dark, sit down with pen and paper, and plan the crop rotation. This sounds scary, but it is pretty straightforward really as you are about to find out...
Divide your plot into four separate areas and number each one; one, two, three and four. For this year, lets say that section one is for potatoes, section two is for Brassicas (such as cabbage, sprouts and other greens). Section three can be for Legumes (eg peas and beans) and section four for roots (carrots and onions) and salads (radishes and spring onions). Here’s the master (simple but effective) plan to keep you in veg:
1. Potatoes - As they grow and are harvested, these clear and break up the ground so it becomes suitable for roots and salads next year.
2. Brassicas – These prefer well-cultivated ground which is not disturbed while they are growing, therefore the soil surface will compact during their long growing season, making the area perfect for potatoes next year.
3. Legumes – These, as they grow and are harvested, fix Nitrogen into the soil which is good for the leafy growth of brassicas next year.
4. Roots and salads – These like a good fertile and friable soil which will provide a good trigger for the deep digging needed in winter preparation for next year’s legumes.
They will be the areas for this year (2005) and next year all you need to do is move the plots on one place - The veg in this year’s plot one (Potatoes) are planted in plot two (where Brassicas were) next year. They [Brassicas] move from plot two to three next year, the veg in area three (Legumes) is moved to four and, finally, Roots and Salads will go from plot four to plot one when it comes to planting in March 2006.
This is a cycle which can be done forever and with the knowledge that your soil will not only improve infinitely, but will also be suitable for what’s been grown.
Tovey’s Tips
• Prune Spiraeas back hard, down to a few inches above ground level. The resulting new growth will be a rich rosy pink with plenty of large panicles of pink blooms in early summer. Ceratosigma and Caropteris can be pruned in the same way.
• Look after those Delphiniums. Give them plenty of mulch together with chicken manure pellets, protect from slugs and place large 6ft canes ready as supports.
• Resist the temptation to cut back Penstemons and Fuchsias until next month as hard frosts have a malicious tendency to turn up this month.
• Start off seeds of trailing tomatoes on a warm windowsill ready for setting up those veggie baskets in late May.
March-ing towards spring?
THE first half of March is likely to be quiet and dry with variable cloud and some clear frosty nights.
The second half is likely to turn more unsettled with showery bands of rain from the Atlantic, sometimes rather indirectly so, rotating up from the South. Let’s hope there is a break in that over Easter.
Showering you with plants
APRIL brings dainty Epimediums, along with much bolder Trilliums.
The first Tulips pop open their huge goblets and even the earliest flowering Peony varieties unfurl their weighty flowers.
We will also be sowing vegetables in our new plots in earnest.
See you next month!
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