March Hints and Tips

Our sister Church Crookham Garden Society is publishing a monthly hints and tips section. It’s well worth a look.

Monthly Hints and Tips, written by Liz Kirton, March 2018 edition includes :

• Blueberries: remove one third of the oldest stems to ground level to promote new fruiting wood. Top dress with ericaceous compost.
• Gooseberries, red and white currants: remove dead wood, then spur prune all side shoots to 1-3 buds from their base and shorten branch tips by a quarter.
• Start planting early potatoes mid-March and onion and shallot sets.
• Direct sow broad beans, carrots, lettuce, parsnips and peas.
• Prepare trenches for runner beans with well-rotted manure and shredded paper at the base – they do not like to dry out!
• Start off other vegetables under glass.

Above all, keep hoeing off those annual weeds before they set seed!

*First remove snow! (ed)