MARCH IN THE GARDEN

Photo: Salix Caprea 'Kilmarnock'

Roses.
Roses can be pruned back now. Cut out all the dead and diseased wood and shorten last year’s growth. The severity of the pruning depends on the type of rose you have. Light pruning keeps the shape of the bush and hard pruning and removing old growth stimulates the plant to produce new shoots. This is particularly effective on old specimens.

Heathers.
Trim winter flowering heathers after flowering using secateurs or shears to remove the dead heads. Prune to a tidy mound shape but try not to cut back into woody growth, as new shoots might not develop. Spread a mulch of composted bark around the plants to so they will be at their best next year.

Honeysuckle: can be pruned back now if yours has got out of hand. Prune all the shoots to about 1metre from the ground and cut out old or dead shoots. If you can see any green buds below the 1m mark then prune back to just above those. By summer the shoots will have doubled on size.


THE KITCHEN GARDEN

Plant out shallots and Jerusalem artichokes. It’s about the time of year to plant the seeds of peas, broad beans, early carrots, salad onions, beetroot, spinach, cabbage, radish, and turnip. Keep them in a cold frame or greenhouse and protect them from rodents. I lost all my first sowings in one evening when mice got into my cold frame a few years ago


Catkins
There are three species of tree that come out in a yellow haze of yellow catkins at this time of year, these are the hazel, alder and grey willow. The catkins are the trees method of reproducing. The catkins are pollen shakers and they open out on sunny days. Because there are very few insects around the trees rely on the wind to cross-pollinate the species, (which is probably why they are so successful in Ireland!) The dust like pollen is blown around until it finds female flowers of the same plant. A large amount is needed to make sure that this process is successful so if you start sneezing on a warm spring day, you know why!


TOP TIP
Submitted by R.C. via e-mail
Before you start working in the garden, push your nails into a bar of soap. Enough soap remains under the nails to prevent soil getting in saving you the time of hard scrubbing to get them clean.

Horticultural.