As the sun starts to make more of an appearance, our Head Gardener, Trevor, has taken the time to put some tips together for you for this March; 

• Look out for slugs and snails these become more active in warm damp spring weather and they love to eat fresh young seedlings. Remove any you find close to your plants and place a few organic slug pellets by seedlings for protection. 
• Dead head your daffodils, so the plants do not waste energy producing seeds. Then let the foliage die back naturally this will improve the flowering next year.
• Tidy the greenhouse out ready for the spring sowings. 
• Prepare outside beds for sowing spring vegetables.
• Finish planting any bare rooted shrubs and trees they need to be in place before it gets to warm.
• Mulch any beds with well-rotted bark mulch this will help suppress weeds and retain moisture in the coming months.
• Aerate the lawn by making deep holes with a garden rake about 50cm apart to improves drainage and to help reduce moss.
• First cut of the grass can be done this month on a high cut then slowly reducing the height of the cut over the next few weeks.
• Plant out young strawberry plants and mulch around them with well-rotted farmyard manure.
• Finish off any winter pruning. Evergreen plants become safe to prune as the risk of frost lowers remember the 3 Ds dead, dying, and diseased also any crossing branches.
• Start to sow carrots, chillies, peppers, tomatoes, cauliflowers indoors and place on a warm window sill
• Outdoor sowing beetroot, Broad beans, Parsnips, Rocket and swiss chard

Lastly, remember the last few years we have had late frosts it my feel warm in the day but with a clear sky at night the temperature soon drops! 

Happy Gardening!