Sponsored by Upchurch River Valley Golf Course LtdMarch is here and with it the spring, which means that the garden swings into action for another year. The real work starts in April, but if the weather is fine, it is worth getting off to a good start this month. We are pursuing enquiries about a parcel of land on our southern boundary with a line of Sycamore trees that when in leaf cast the house and garden into shade.
The lawn, moss in our case, can get the first cut in March with the blades high and scarify it with a spring tyne rake to get out the dead thatch and clear any winter debris. That will freshen up the lawn, get it standing upright and allow air and light to get to the roots. Most of our lawn will be lifted for a vegetable patch, so I will just rake around a marked-out area and leave the rest. Tidy up any edges with a half-moon cutter and then leave till next month when it will start growing vigorously.
Dig over the vegetable patch, lift the remainder of the winter vegetables and add a general fertiliser. New Potatoes should be in by March if they didn’t go in by February as they take approximately 3 months to come to harvest. My favourite is Rocket which can be ready in 11 weeks, so February planting will give you a crop in May unless it’s a cold spring. The first sowing of Lettuce can be done in March under glass followed by successive monthly sowings through to July. Although winter varieties of salad crops are now available and I intend to experiment with a winter Spring Onion this year to see if it is true! Broad Beans can also go in this month and the more frost-hardy varieties could have been planted in February. The Leeks are well up now in seed trays and getting sun and light on the south-facing bedroom window sill. I will leave them a little longer, then pot on into 3” pots and put them in the shed.
The Duchess has made a brave start on the borders and pruned back the ancient roses… maybe a little early, but then what do I know? The unwelcome shrubs are getting cut back savagely, and the undergrowth is getting cleared. Meanwhile, I am clipping away at overgrown honeysuckles and brambles, and slowly, the garden is getting tidied up. A local landscaper has given us an amazing price for removing two large Acacia trees, some tall Sycamores, grinding the stumps and trimming 60m of conifer hedge. So he will be starting at the end of the month.
Revenge for the low offer!
The momentum should be building with April and May, the really busy months, just around the corner, hopefully with some fine weather and the longer evenings. But you can do as little or as much as you like. We are just getting to work on a retirement cottage with a lot to do, and really looking forward to the project ahead. However, if you just wish to tackle a small project in the garden this year, then now is the time to start getting to work so you can enjoy it when the summer months arrive.
The land here in Suffolk is very open, and with bare trees, you can see for miles, Norfolk and Lincolnshire even more so. Big brown ploughed fields stretch as far as the eye can see, ready for this year’s crop. The people here are close to the soil, and land management is important. Rivers are dredged, banks built up, sluices in place to water the fields with ditches and gullies cleared for drainage. When I was a boy, one of my favourite programmes was Out of Town with Jack Hargreaves, and I feel like I am starting to live that life. I have a black dog. I just need to get a pipe. There is another accoutrement that goes with a dog and a pipe, but then there is nothing new about that.
UHS is always looking for new members and tries to encourage a fun attitude towards friendly competition. So if you want to grow your own fruit, vegetables, and flowers or even enter any of the shows we hold each year, please get in touch. We would be happy to hear from you.
If you are interested in becoming a new member, (all ages are welcome), please contact Tracy Wells: tracywells0312@gmail.com
Sean Barry
