Take a deep breath as you step into your garden.
You will find the days are a little shorter and sun will be a little less harsh this month, a soothing breeze has arrived, and the leaves begin to dance. Welcome to March, and the start of Autumn. This is nature’s time for planting.
The Flower Garden
As the cooler weather arrives it is the time of year for planting spring-flowering bulbs. Some gardeners prefer to plant early, others swear by waiting until just before winter. Earlier will encourage root growth and give your bulbs a longer germinating period. Whereas waiting can aid with disease resistance.
Trim back your roses to enjoy Autumn displays of beautiful blooms.
Now is also the time for planting natives and advanced trees. If you are wanting some shade for next summer, then planting a shade tree now will give it plenty of time to establish.
If you have orchids then you should feed them, to encourage flower spikes and larger growing flowers.
March is a wonderful month of colour with many summer flowering plants continuing their vibrant displays as the treasures of autumn begin to come to life. Discover the new season’s flower seedlings to plant now.
If you are looking to add some colour back into your garden, then we recommend trying these beautiful annuals:
- Alyssum
- Calendula
- Cineraria
- Cornflower
- Dianthus
- Pansy
- Snapdragon
- Viola
- Sweet Pea
Sweet peas are colourful and very popular. Now is the time to sow. Most gardeners will use St Patricks Day (17th of March) as their annual date for sowing sweet peas.
It’s Bulb Time
Spring flower bulbs are now arriving at Capalaba Produce, plant now for the explosion of colour and perfume in late winter and Spring.
Lawn Maintenance
Summer has finally past, save perhaps a few warmer days here and there so there is no better time to help your lawns recover from the stress of Summer. Add a fertiliser, look for one high in nitrogen to boost the colour and/or one high in potassium to encourage strong roots and help to fight back diseases.
Aerating or spiking your lawn is highly recommended to improve soil drainage as well as top dressing your lawn to stimulate new growth.
Add lime to lawn and garden beds but be sure to avoid acid-loving plants.
The Edible Garden
You should still be harvesting summer fruits and vegetables as they mature, and you can begin preparing garden beds for new plantings. Add compost and mulch well. Also consider – crop rotation, to allow your soil to rejuvenate. Plant a Green Manure Crop such as Alfalfa, Canola, Mustard Seed, and Lupins for a season to give back some much-needed nutrients. A Green Manure Crop shoots away and then is dug back into the soil to enrich the soil with organic goodness.
Be sure to watch for caterpillars attacking leafy crops in your veggie garden.
Feed your Citrus trees and continue to water them well, they will thank you for it.
That’s all from us, happy gardening from Nicholas and the team at Capalaba Produce!
