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March has arrived, but unfortunately the soil is still very wet. But don’t despair, there are still plenty of time to get on outside once the weather improves over the coming weeks. Plus there are still some jobs you can get on with undercover.

1. When the soil on my vegetable plot is dry and workable, I will be planting my onion sets. These will be planted into 9cm (3inch) deep drills, spacing each set 10-15cm (4-6inch) apart. But if the soil is still wet and cold like it is at present all is not lost! I have had very successful results over the last few years by planting onion sets into small pots filled with multi-purpose compost and grown on under glass or in the cold frame. This way they get a start and can be planted outside once the sets have green shoots on them and a good root system, at a time when the soil is in a better condition. This method helps you get started without you losing any growing time.

2. This month is a busy time for my heated Propagator set at 21C (70F), or on a warm windowsill. It is the perfect time to sow Asters, Antirrhinums, Gazania, Salpiglossis, Verbena, Stocks, Mesembryanthemum, Nemesia, Salvia, Statice, Lobelia, Nicotiana, Ageratum, Dahlia, Cleome, Impatiens and Petunias. Sown now will mean you have good plants for planting out at the end of May, giving you colour all summer. Always Sow seeds into a good Seed sowing Compost and water using clean tap water. Have you tried Kings Seeds New Peat Free Seed sowing & Cutting compost. In our Trials this performs equal to Peat, with equal seedling emergence and development.

3.    An important job this month is to get on with pruning any bush Roses, as March is the traditional time for doing this job. Bush Roses can be pruned quite hard; I usually prune mine down to 3-4 buds, making sure the final cut is just above an outward facing bud. How hard you prune will depend on the age of your bushes. At the same time, prune out any old or diseased wood or weak thin branches from the centre of the bushes. After pruning, feed around the base of the plants with a good Rose fertiliser, and work this into the soil, then apply a good layer of well-rotted manure or compost as mulch. You can now sit back and wait for those glorious flowers.

4.    Autumn Bulbs are starting to bloom, as soon as you can get on the garden, work in some Blood Fish & Bone fertiliser around the soil near the bulbs. This will help feed the bulbs as they start to dye down after flowering, and will put energy into the bulbs ready for next year’s display.

5. To help get some early salads, I like to sow some salad leaves in long troughs or large pots filled with compost this month. Once sown, these can be grown on in a cool glasshouse, polytunnel or conservatory, and you will be amazed how quickly you will be harvesting your own homegrown fresh salads. An early sowing of Radish in a trough indoors also works well.

6. If the weather is poor make use of any spare time checking if any house plants are getting a little pot bound, and appear to be suffering. If so, now is a good time to re-pot them. Only move plants on into pots that are 1-2 sizes bigger than the original pot, and always use good quality potting or house plant compost.

7.    Around the middle of the month, I will start to sow under glass into small pots filled with seed sowing compost my Brussels Sprouts and summer Brassicas. Once germinated these will be pricked out (transplanted) into modular trays, until they make good size plants for hardening off, ready for planting out at the end of April. It may seem early but Brussels Sprouts need a long growing season to ensure they produce some good quality tight buttons in time for Christmas. My first sowing of outdoor lettuce will also be sown. I like to sow a few seeds every 2-3 weeks and then prick these out into modular trays. Sowing regularly in succession will give plenty of fresh leaves to harvest throughout the year.

8.    On a dry day give your lawn a cut to tidy it up, but don’t make this first cut too short. After cutting the lawn, if you didn’t get around to scarifying or aerating your lawn last autumn, this can still be done now, provided the soil is not too wet. Simply rake over the lawn with a spring rake, pulling out any old dead grass (thatch) and Moss. Then aerate the lawn by going over the lawn and inserting a fork as deep as you can, this will help let air into the lawn and improve your grass. After doing this, if you have any bare patches these can be re-seeded next month when the soil is a little warmer.

9.     Once the soil has warmed up and hopefully dried out towards the end of the month one of the first vegetables I will be sowing direct into the soil are Parsnips. I like to punch a hole into the ground with a crow bar, fill this with some sandy compost and sow 3-4 seeds per station. Then once germinated they can be thinned out to an individual seedling, which will produce some spectacular long roots to harvest by the autumn. As Parsnips can take a long time to germinate, I like to sow a few radish seeds in-between the parsnips to get an early crop and help identify the row, making it easier to keep the ground clean from weeds.

10. For an early crop of Peas sow seeds into lengths of guttering filled with compost, spacing the seeds in a domino patten down the guttering. Take care in case any mice are in the area as they will love to feed on these. Once germinated, gradually harden off before drawing out drills in the plot and sliding the contents of the gutters into the drill on the plot in April. If you don’t have guttering sow 2-3 seeds per module of small pot, and these can be planted out once hardened off and established.