March – the month of new beginnings

March is a time for new beginnings in the garden as the spring flowers and trees begin to wake up from their winter rest. It heralds a busy time for gardeners everywhere, and it is certainly no different here!

This month, as the temperatures begin to rise and the soil starts to heat up, the team and our wonderful volunteers will start their ongoing battle with the weeds. As any gardener knows, weeds grow quickly, so it’s a full-time job keeping on top of the borders to keep them weed-free. A little bit of work, often, is always a good plan as it means you can remove any weeds while they are small and their roots weaker.

We’ll also mulch the tree circles with compost to help stop weed seedlings from growing.

As well as weeding, we’ll also feed the herbaceous borders with a slow-release blood fish and bone fertiliser, which will give the soil a much-needed boost, while the rose garden will be fed and mulched, ready for the roses to spring into life.

How have your displays of snowdrops been so far? We’ve had a superb display again this year in the woodland walk. The best time to move snowdrops is straight after flowering while they are “still in the green”, so we’ll be dividing some clumps in the woodland walk and using the divisions to fill gaps.

March is also the month for cutting down the remaining deciduous grasses in our grass garden. As we have so many grasses to cut down, we use a hedge trimmer and this makes way for spring and early summer flowering plants, such as alliums, lupins and irises. Once these have flowered, the grasses will grow back and cover up the scruffy foliage until next year.

Don’t forget it’s Mother’s Day on March 14 – our garden centre has wonderful plants and gifts for the most important woman in your life. You don’t have to book to visit the Garden to gain entry to the garden centre; just turn up and head straight in.

We hope to see you in the Gardens this month, enjoying what the early spring weather has to offer. It’s such a wonderful space in which to while away a couple of hours or more, and it’s always a pleasure to talk to you about gardening.