March is the bridge between winter dormancy and the spring rush. Despite the chilly nights, the garden is starting to stir, and the window for essential prep work is opening. From soil health to early sowings, now is the time to lay the groundwork for a spectacular season ahead.

Flowers

• Finish pruning roses this month to encourage strong new growth.
• This is the last chance to plant bare-root trees, shrubs, roses and fruit trees.
• Prune shrubs with colourful winter stems to their base, such as Cornus and Salix.
• Start to sow hardy annuals outdoors, including poppies, nasturtiums and nigella.
• Plant summer-flowering bulbs such as lilies, begonias and freesias in pots and borders.
• Feed shrubs such as rhododendrons, azaleas and camellias with an ericaceous fertiliser.
• Tidy up borders, removing established and newly-germinating weeds, then mulch generously.
• Scatter general-purpose fertiliser over flowerbeds, around roses, shrubs and hedges, lightly forking it into the soil surface.
• Plant snowdrops in the green to brighten up your winter garden next year.
• Lift and divide established perennial plants now to improve their vigour and create new plants for your garden.
• Trim winter-flowering heathers as the flowers disappear to prevent the plants from becoming leggy.

Fruit and veg

• Sow tomatoes, chillies, sweet peppers, courgettes and aubergines in pots indoors.
• Make the first outdoor sowings of hardy vegetables and protect with cloches or fleece.
• Plant early potatoes.
• Start hoeing vegetable beds as soon as the weather starts to warm up, as weeds will germinate quickly.

Greenhouse

• Take down insulation in the greenhouse once temperatures begin to rise. This will also let in more light.
• Buy bedding plants for growing on to a larger size under glass, or sow your own in a heated propagator.
• Pot up overwintering cannas into fresh compost, water in, then place in a warm spot to encourage them into growth.
• Sow sweet peas in deep pots and keep them frost-free in a greenhouse or indoors on a sunny windowsill.
• Take cuttings from dahlia tubers to raise new plants.
• Open greenhouse vents on sunny days to prevent the humidity from building up.

Garden maintenance

• In mild weather, give the lawn its first cut, with the mower on a high setting.
• Put slug barrier products around the new shoots of hostas and other susceptible perennials.
• Check that tree ties aren’t too tight and that stakes are still firmly anchored in the ground.
• Prune out any wind-damaged branches on trees and shrubs.
• Keep putting out food for garden birds as the breeding season will be getting underway.
• Cut back winter-flowering jasmine to tidy it up and encourage flowers for next year.
• Get rid of slippery patches on the patio and paving by scrubbing with a broom or blasting with a pressure washer.