Spring arrives in your garden with colour and a hope that winter is behind us!  March is the perfect time to rescue your garden and plan for summer.

Plant up pots of summer flowering bulbs and sow seeds of your favourite summer blooms and if there is one flower that you have always wanted to grow, 2011 is the time to give it a go!  Why wait?  With so many high quality plants to choose from, introduce something new to your garden this year. 

Why not redevelop one area of your garden to start with?  Here at Grosvenor we have our own Edible Garden to show you just how easy it can be to create your own productive space and you could do the same.  Grow your own is a very popular pastime and if you love your garden but have not yet ventured into the world of growing your own fruit and vegetables at home, why not plan an area of your garden and give it a go?  If you need any help, just let us know and we will be delighted to give you advice.

Begin with sowing tomato seeds for indoor varieties - they really are very easy as a starting point for you to experiment with as they are so simple to grow and care for.   Outdoor varieties should be sown later this month and then you can plant them out in June.  And this is the perfect time to mulch your vegetable patch if you are already well on your way to home-grown vegetables and fruit.

Compact vegetable varieties of crops can be planted in pots throughout this month and into April so if you do not have space in your garden for your own patch, pot-grown vegetables and herbs are still a wonderful addition to any backyard or hanging basket.

Early seed potatoes can be prepared now too.  Leave them to stand in a cool, bright position and you can start sowing crops outdoors including broad beans, lettuces, leeks, beetroot and radishes.  Ask for advice if you need more ideas.

After the harsh weather, your lawn needs some tender loving care.  Brush it briskly to remove any build up of debris that it may have collected over the winter months and then rake it so that the grass stands upright ready for its first light cut of the season.

Together with preparing your lawn for summer with a spring feed, you should also begin to feed your plants now with a slow-release fertiliser.

Keep your bedding plants looking good for as long as possible by continuing to deadhead and prune your shrubs and hedges now to allow more room for new growth.  Add a layer of compost to enhance your pot-grown shrubs.

Summer flowering clematis will benefit from a good pruning now and roses should be pruned too, giving you the perfect opportunity to remove dead and damaged stems.  Willows and hardy fucshias should also be pruned back hard this month.

If you do not already have a water butt, try to get one soon to reduce water wastage.  Used correctly, your collected rainwater can be used to water your garden throughout the summer.   

As the clocks go forward, we can all look forward to a spring full of colour in readiness for a long, hot summer.  Well, fingers crossed!

Top Tips for March:

1. Prune shrubs and hedges\
2. Invest in a water butt
3. Plan a vegetable patch in your garden for a healthier lifestyle
4. Clean your greenhouse
5. Prepare your lawn for summer
6. Divide perennials and share with friends and family.

Tags: Grosvenor Gardening Tips, Grow Your Own

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This entry was posted on Monday, February 28th, 2011 at 8:06 am and is filed under Gardening, Grosvenor Gardening Tips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.