March in the Garden By Russell Jordan
H
aving a decent spell of sub-zero temperatures, before winter is over, always makes me feel that some of the overwintering pests may have been wiped out. It calls a temporary halt to such activities as planting bare-root plants but we’ve still got a few weeks left to get on with those tasks that need to be completed before spring is into full swing. I tend to leave the herbaceous plants in the semi-wild areas of the garden untouched until now because a certain degree of untidiness is good from a wildlife point of view. Also, it’s better than large expanses of bare soil which would require a thick mulch of organic matter to keep weed free which is an expense I can do without in areas which are designed to be ground cover rather than high status flower borders. Having said that, there comes a point where the old, withered, foliage needs to be removed in order that it does not detract from the new leaves which are beginning to emerge. It’s a juggling act between leaving the old leaves long enough that they protect the soil during the worst of the winter weather but not so long that chopping them off risks removing too much of the newly emerging leaves. For me the kind of plants which I tend to use as extensive ground cover are knotweeds (Persicaria), Phlomis russeliana, Lady’s Mantle (Alchemilla mollis), Lysimachia and various perennial geraniums. To save time I often use hedge-trimmers, to cut them to the ground, rather than the
30 The Marshwood Vale Magazine March 2021 Tel. 01308 423031
secateurs deployed to tackle ‘finer’ herbaceous perennials in more formal plantings I have big stands of perennial grasses in the same areas, chiefly Miscanthus varieties, and these need to be cut down with petrol hedge-trimmers because they are too big and tough to be tackled with anything else. A bladed strimmer, ‘brush cutter’, can be used at a pinch but I find it struggles with cutting them low enough. In order to minimise the length of time that the big grasses are flattened, to nothing, I try to cut them down only once I can see signs of new growth beginning. If herbaceous plants are beginning to emerge then you can bet your bottom dollar that weeds will already be one jump ahead. Tackling them now, wherever you see them germinating or sprouting from the ground, will save you a lot of grief later on in the season. Hand weeding is the only option where the weeds are nestled amongst ornamental perennials but a chemical weed-killer, if you are not an organic gardener, may prove more effective in areas such as hedge bottoms or under deciduous shrubs and trees. Hopefully your garden is now coming alive with all the spring flowering bulbs that you planted last autumn and also the more established ones from previous plantings. A sprinkling of general purpose fertiliser, I’m still using ‘fish, blood and bone’, amongst these bulbs and forked in around the emerging border perennials, gives them a chance to grow strongly and replenish themselves. Mulching over bare
