Don’t wait, start preparing your garden for the rest of the year, this March! There are quite a few things you can get started on in March to help your garden along. Here is a list of jobs you can do:

• Start feeding your trees, shrubs and hedges by working in slow-release fertilisers, mulch and/or chicken manure around their base.
• If you’re planning a vegetable garden, its time to plant onions and shallots, for later in the year.
• Whilst the ground is soft you can start putting any support for plants that will need them later. Doing this early can help protect plants from damage and the ground may be harder as the temperature warms up.
• Consider if you should start using slug repellent around new and emerging shoots.
• On a nice dry day, cut your lawn with a high blade setting.
• If you are going to grow any parsnips, radishes and cabbages, you can start by sowing their seeds under a cloche.
• Now is a good time to top up any raised beds and containers with fresh compost. If they are full already, you can remove the top 5cm and replace with fresh soil.
• Acid loving plants such as rhododendrons, blueberries and magnolias should be given fresh ericaceous compost and ericaceous feed.
• Plant summer flowering bulbs or tubers such as Dahlias and Gladioli.
• You can start repairing any empty patches of lawn with turf or lawn seed and add a high nitrogen fertiliser to help boost lawn growth.
• You can also give your compost heap a good turn over.
• Start clearing out flower beds of any leaves, twigs or debris from the winter.
• Use some scissors or small garden shears to remove any dead leaves or plant stalks from last year.

It is definitely not too early to start preparing your garden for the rest of the year, to optimise its growth and beauty.