March is the month where your garden starts waking up — and so should you. After months of staring at mud and bare branches, there's finally plenty to do. Here are ten jobs worth tackling this month to set yourself up for a brilliant growing season.
Prepare Your Beds
Clear any remaining debris, pull out old plant stems, and fork over the soil to break up compacted ground. If you've got heavy clay soil, now's a great time to work in some compost or well-rotted manure to improve drainage.
Feed Your Soil
Spread a layer of compost, leaf mould, or organic matter over your beds and let the worms do the work. Even a couple of centimetres makes a huge difference to soil health and your crops later in the year.
Start Sowing Indoors
Tomatoes, chillies, aubergines, and peppers can all be started on a warm windowsill this month. Use small pots or module trays and keep them somewhere bright. Label everything — you will forget otherwise.
Chit Your Potatoes
If you haven't started chitting (letting seed potatoes sprout) already, do it now. Stand them in an egg box with the eyes pointing up, somewhere cool and light. They'll be ready to plant out later in the month.
Prune Roses and Shrubs
March is the ideal time to prune bush roses and many deciduous shrubs before they put on new growth. Cut back to an outward-facing bud, remove dead or crossing branches, and aim for an open shape that lets air circulate.
Tidy the Lawn
Give the lawn its first gentle cut on a high setting once the grass starts growing. Rake out any moss and dead thatch. If it's looking patchy, scatter some grass seed over bare spots and keep them watered.
Clean Pots and Planters
Give last year's pots a good scrub with warm water to remove any lingering disease or mould. It takes five minutes and gives your plants a much healthier start. Cracked pots? March is the time to replace them.
Set Up Supports
Get your canes, obelisks, and string ready for climbing plants. It's much easier to put supports in now while the beds are clear, rather than trying to wrestle them in around fully-grown plants in June.
Start a Compost Bin
If you don't have one yet, March is the perfect month to start composting. Kitchen scraps, garden waste, cardboard — it all breaks down into brilliant free compost for next year. Even a small bin makes a difference.
Label Your Plants
Whether you're sowing seeds or transplanting established plants, getting labels in early saves confusion later. Once everything's growing, it's surprisingly hard to tell seedlings apart — especially herbs.
Looking Ahead to April
Once you've ticked off your March jobs, April brings even more possibilities — direct sowing outdoors, planting out hardened-off seedlings, and watching your early efforts start to pay off. But for now, enjoy the satisfaction of getting your garden ready. There's something deeply rewarding about standing in a freshly tidied garden with a cup of tea, knowing that good things are about to grow.
Happy gardening! 🌿