In the garden – March
At the
time of writing we have had an reasonably mild winter, although we should still
be prepared for cold weather into March.
But, so far everything in the
garden is advancing and I even saw my first almond blossom on the 30th
Jan. In general, March is a month when
we have longer days and there is lots to do in the garden.
- start to remove winter
protection from plants to start hardening them up, but remember to replace
protection if frost is forecast
- start to clean up the foliage
on perennials, sub shrubs and deciduous grasses, cut back many plants to
the base, sub shrubby sages such as the microphylla cultivars, perovskias,
gauras etc will shoot up much more vigorously following a heavy cutting
back. If possible shred the
prunings so that you them for putting organic material back into the soil.
- cut back overgrown climbers
such as honeysuckle (Lonicera)
- deadhead spring bulbs as
their flowers go over to encourage bulb growth unless you want to
encourage your bulbs to self seed
- compost or an organic soil improver
such as “Or Brun” can be put around the base of shrubs
- aerate the soil of your
flower beds and keep ahead of the weeding
- think about planting trees,
shrubs and climbing plants If you
buy plants at this time of the year check to see if “ils ont été sorti
d’une serre” ie brought out of a greenhouse. It is usual for a grower to protect
young plants in a greenhouse over winter but they may need some hardening off
before planting.
- prune roses
- prune summer flowering shrubs
which flower on the current season’s growth
- if you have a lawn scarify it
to remove moss and dried grass
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Last
month we wrote about herbs which are native to the Mediterranean basin and
which require similar growing conditions in our gardens. There are, of course, many other culinary
herbs which we like to grow in our gardens and this month I’ll comment on
annual herbs.
One of
the most popular annual herbs is basil; basil seeds can be planted in small
pots or godets this month and kept in a frost free environment ready for
planting out into the garden or into larger pots in early May. Basil likes a warm sunny position and a fair
amount of water, in the vegetable garden it’s a good companion plant for
tomatoes. Summer savory is a good
companion plant for beans and can be sown directly into your veg garden.
Parsley
is strictly a biennial (ie it lives for two years, flowering in it’s second
year) but it is useful to grow parsley every year to ensure a regular supply. Again, parsley can be brought on in small
pots or the seed can be planted directly into the ground, either in your
vegetable bed or wherever there is a gap in the flower border. Parsley likes some water and seems to do
better if it receives some afternoon shade.
I’ve lost
count of how many conversations I’ve had about the difficulty of growing
coriander. It grows easily from seed but
goes to seed very quickly, which is no help when you want the foliage for
garnishing your curries. You can try to
grow coriander from seed in the spring although a number of people find that it
does best if you set seed in September.
It does need quite a lot of water and shading from the afternoon sun. I’ll confess that I have given up and get my
leaf coriander from Carcassonne market!
There are
other annual herbs that you might like to try and grow from seed such as dill
and chervil but both these are plants for a cooler climate and run to seed
quickly if they are too hot and dry.
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For further information contact Gill Pound at La Petite
Pépinière de Caunes, 21, Avenue de la Montagne Noire, (route de Citou) 11160,
Caunes-Minervois. Tel: 04 68 78 43 81, email Gill@lapetitepepiniere.com
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