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The Fernwood Almanac

March in the garden in the Fernwood Almanac, Ludlow, Shropshire

Everything happens at once and the soil is finally warm enough to work. Mulch before the border fills up and you cannot get in there.

PlateDaffodils along the orchard walk, March
In flower

In the nursery and in a garden within about ten miles of Ludlow.

What is out in March

  • Daffodil Narcissus pseudonarcissusThe wild one, and the only one that looks right in rough grass.
  • Lungwort Pulmonaria officinalisFirst real bee plant of the year. Blue and pink on the same stem.
  • Primrose Primula vulgarisIn the hedge banks all the way down the lane.
  • Blackthorn Prunus spinosaWhite before the leaves. The cold snap that follows has a name.
  • Magnolia Magnolia stellataThe starry one, which shrugs off a frost the big goblets do not.
  • Forsythia Forsythia x intermediaPrune it straight after flowering or not at all.
Planting calendar

Written for the Marches, where the last frost is usually the middle of May and the first is usually the end of October.

Jobs for March

Sow

  • Tomatoes indoors, mid-month. Any earlier and they are leggy before it is safe to plant them out here.
  • Sweet peas, leeks and summer brassicas under cover.

Plant

  • Onion sets, shallots and garlic if you missed the autumn window.
  • Summer bulbs: lilies, gladioli, crocosmia.
  • Herbaceous perennials, as soon as you can see them moving.

Prune

  • Roses, as the buds break. Outward-facing bud, sloping cut, and take out anything thinner than a pencil.
  • Buddleia and lavatera, hard.

Feed

  • Mulch the borders with two inches of compost while there is still room to walk between the plants.
  • First cut of the lawn on the highest blade setting.
On the benches

What we have in during March

  • Hardy perennials, first of the new season
  • Seed potatoes and onion sets
  • Alpines and rockery plants
  • Compost, mulch and manure
  • Fruit trees, potted

Stock turns over with the calendar. If you are after something specific, ring on 01584 555 0234 before you drive over and we will walk out and look.

From the nursery

A note on this month

Do not be talked into planting out bedding this month, whatever the supermarkets are stacking by the door. We are four hundred feet up and the last frost here is usually the second week of May. Everything sold on our bedding benches before then is for a greenhouse or a cold frame, and we will say so.

Tom Wray, Nursery manager
What's on

Annual fixtures, so the dates move by a day or two but the months do not.

Around this time of year