This may sound a bit odd but we have been on the brink of a drought: water levels are down and, at the all-important beginning of the growing season, a lack of water could damage newly planted trees and shrubs forever. My advice is to keep an eye on the forecasts and get watering if the rains are few and far between in the next few months.
It is not surprising that I have clients who are installing water harvesters and ponds that collect water from downpipes: I know I bang on about this, but it is only going to get more of a pressing issue! When I started designing gardens in Hampshire 35 years ago, I never thought I would specifying rain harvesting!
Getting down off my soapbox for a minute, there is plenty to savour at the moment. The exquisite scent of Daphne is filling the air in gardens lucky enough to grow: the reds, oranges and yellows of Cornus have never looked so good. Of course, most Cornus will need ruthlessly cutting back soon – but check that this applies to the variety you have in your garden.
The hard work of planting bulbs in the autumn should be paying off too: bold colours heralding the coming of spring. If you are quick, you can snap up tree bargains including fruit tree offers that come up at the end of the planting season. You will however, need to be quick: traditionally bare root planting was safe to do until the end of March. Now however, with the cold seasons getting more and more unpredictable and slowly shorter, it is better to have this done by the second or third week of March, if not before.
Tasks this month include:
• Keep planting bare-root trees and shrubs but wait until the end of the month before you plant or move evergreens.
• Cut back dogwood and willow shrubs with the vibrant stems if you want them to produce strong colours next winter. Taking them down as far as 100mm (4 inches) from the ground is fine. (The ‘Winter Flame’ varieties should be left for a few years until they are established). You can leave this till late in the month or even next month if you are enjoying the stem colours.
• When the worst of the frosts are over, divide and replant clumps of herbaceous plants that have become too dense for their own good.
• In heavy soil and cold areas, march is the best month for planting roses. Prune bush roses by about a third of their height.
• In preparation for the new growth and flowering in the summer, prune Buddleja, Caryopteris, Ceratostigma, Hydrangea paniculata, Leycesteria, Lavatera, Perovskia and hardy Fuchsia. Look up how far back they should be pruned: this will vary according to what you are trying to achieve and the location of the plant. A general rule of thumb is 80% of their existing foilage.
• Deadhead daffodils when they are over, but leave the foliage on order that the bulbs can be fed.
• Plant and divide snowdrops and winter aconites.
• Plant summer flowering bulbs and sow some seeds such as sweet peas.
• Cut back ornamental grasses, even if they do not look unruly, as this will make way for new growth.
• If the dry weather persists, be prepared to do some unseasonal watering of newly installed plants.
I am not a big fan of working in cold, wet rain but now is a good time to spread mulch – the more organic the better. I’ll tell you why: if it is really organic it will be warm! Nothing like sitting on a tonne bag of it with your morning coffee and letting it reach the parts that the coffee can’t!