March Garden Guide & Landscaping Tips

March Garden Guide & Landscaping Tips

General Gardening Tips for March:

  1. Green Cover Crop and Brassicas:

    • Sow a green cover crop like lupins or mustard seed in unused garden beds over winter. These plants help fix nitrogen in the soil.
  2. Weed Control:

    • Remove weeds before they go to seed to prevent future invasions around the garden.
  3. Renovating Lawns:

  4. Plan Ahead:

    • Remove annual plants that have finished their summer season and apply compost over the empty soil, ready for autumn planting.

Lawn care with Central Landscape Supplies

March in the Ornamental Garden:

  1. Autumn Planting:

    • Plant autumn-toned shrubs and flowers like tawny-colored NZ grasses, heucheras, and NZ coprosmas.
  2. Spring Flowering Bulbs:

    • Early flowering varieties include ranunculus, freesias, anemones and crocuses.
    • Choose from tulips daffodils and hyacinths for early spring flowering bulbs.
    • Potted bulbs can be brought indoors in late winter as they bloom.
  3. Lawn Care:

  • Pest Control:

      • Control Kowhai caterpillar with organic Bugtrol.
      • Brown scale on citrus can be sprayed with Aquaticus Glow
    • Drainage Matters:

      • Fertilise Winter Flowering Shrubs:

         

        Fruit and Vegetable Gardens in March

        1. Prepare for Winter Growing:

          • Add Compost, Premium Garden Mix, and Sheep Pellets to sunny, sheltered areas for winter food growing.
          • Plant out cauliflower, broccoli seedlings, and sow carrot, parsnip, and silverbeet seeds.
        2. Citrus and Other Fruit Trees:

          • Side dress citrus with Sheep Pellets or citrus fertilizser.
          • Feed feijoa, and fig trees as fruit develops.
          • Cover late-season blueberries, raspberries, and grapes with bird netting.
        3. Seed Saving:

          • Sieve and dry heritage tomato seeds for next year.
          • Other heritage vegetable seeds that can be saved include beans, peas and peppers.
        4. Pumpkin and Melon Care:

          • Place Pea Straw under pumpkins and melons to prevent contact with damp soil and rot.
        5. Vegetable Garden:

          • Plant seedlings of various vegetables like cabbage, Chinese cabbage, broccoli, spinach, cauliflower and spring onions.
          • Consider edible flowers for the vegetable patch: calendulas, violas and Iceland poppies.
        6. Herbs:

          • Sow parsley and coriander, using curly parsley as a vibrant edging for winter vegetable gardens.
          • Coriander grows well in cooler months - don't forget to use the stems in your cooking too.
          • Trim hard rosemary stems, remove leaves and use as aromatic kebab sticks on the BBQ.
        7. Pruning:

          • Stone fruit trees, especially plum trees, are best pruned after the fruit has been harvested, to avoid disease setting in.

        Pebbles and stones from Central Landscape Supplies

        Landscape Project Ideas for March

        1. Create a Relaxing Pebbled Area:

          • Make a pebbled area with chairs, favourite plants, and decorative stones for a restful space.
        2. Lawns:

        3. Garden Maintenance:

        More gardening and landscaping ideas for March:

        • Stabilise muddy areas with Jakmat for parking access and a decorative pebble finish.

        Remember, these are general guidelines, and specific plant care may vary based on local conditions and plant varieties.