‘Those March winds shall blow, and we shall have snow and what will the Robin do then poor thing?
He’ll hide in the barn and keep himself warm and hide his head under his wing’.  

March is a month of ‘wait and see’ as we anticipate walking around our gardens. This morning, I walked outside, into a westerly breeze and a gentle sun. I took a deep breath and as I did, I caught the rich fragrance of the soil beginning to awaken.

All of us are itching to get into the garden and I believe that foray will be earlier than last year since frost did not penetrate deep into the ground. 

The sodden soil will dry out in the next few weeks, but I urge you to tread gently as you tend the soil, which is the precious commodity of Mother Nature. Pertaining to that, I am suggesting that you do not till the soil, as tilling damages soil structure and can break friable root systems. 

Please be patient right now! I know you are chafing at the bit to get your hands into the soil, but, at this moment, continue planning for the upcoming season. Planning means organizing, which helps to prevent costly gardening mistakes during the growing season.  

On a pleasant afternoon, when you go outdoors, check on the trees in your garden and decide what you think, which trees might need pruning. That is which limbs might need to be removed or the canopy lifted to allow more sunshine into a shady area of the garden. Having made some of those decisions, I suggest that you call in an arborist, as tree branches without foliage takes less time for arborists to do the work and is therefore less expensive.

What to look for:

• Are there broken or dead limbs? 
• What branches require cabling?
• If a tree appears to be 50% dead, then it should be removed. 
• A medium shade area can be changed to a dappled shade area, allowing more sunlight in by thinning out the upper tree branches or tree canopy.
• Perhaps you would like a tree removed to transform a shade area to a sunny spot ,which allows for a larger choice of plants available to you.  

I always hesitate to remove a healthy tree but sometimes a tree has been planted too close to the house and consequently the roots have undermined your home’s foundation and the shading over the roof has resulted in mold and mildew. 

There is an art to tree work knowing how, when and why to cut. Work on the trees should be carried out by a professional so that at the completion of the work, the effect is both practical and aesthetically pleasing. An experienced arborist will also take into consideration the health of the trees. Having the work done by an arborist avoids injury, falling from ladders or perhaps tree branches or trees falling on you.

PRUNING – is a task that you may feel you are able to accomplish yourself. 

• March is the month to prune evergreens before the new growth appears. 
• Hedges can be sheared for shape, so that any stubby ends will be concealed by new spring growth. 
• Please keep to the natural shape of the shrub – no round balls. 
• Prune Spirea to six inches from the ground.
• In April, prune Lavender to three inches.
• In late March, prune Sweet Pepper Bush (Clethra), cutting out the oldest branches.
• Lilac – Prune back all old branches to various lengths before leaf growth begins, from two to five feet, keeping to a natural shape. Sprinkle lime around the base of the Lilac and add manure in May.  Lilacs enjoy alkaline soil and e benefit from a small amount of lime sprinkled about a foot away from the base of the Lilac.  
• Prune Butterfly bush to two feet from the ground and in May apply composted manure around the base. 
• Prune forsythia after it has bloomed, pruning out sparse flowering old wood.
• Prune roses when the forsythia blooms.  If the roses have only been in the ground for one year, do not prune, wait until October.
• Do not remove the protective mulch from around the base of the roses, wait until mid May, and then apply a dressing of manure and fine bark mulch, about a foot away from the stem of the rose.  

You may be asking, ‘Why wait until May to apply manure’ The answer is that the soil needs to warm up to 55 degrees otherwise the nutrient benefits of the manure bacteria that works with plant roots and soil organisms, are not activated. I suggest you invest in an inexpensive soil thermometer to check the soil temperature. At soil temperature of 55 degrees apply a three to four- inch layer of composted manure. 

When April arrives, carefully begin to clear away winter debris, treading carefully on the soil to avoid damaging soil structure and friable root systems. When you have cleared away the debris, make a clean edge to the borders with a sharp spade; this makes such a difference to the look of your garden. 

The best tool to use is a sharpened lawn edger, the blade is a half- circle nine inches wide and 4.5 inches deep with a flat top – this tool creates a deep edge. Face the bed and thrust the edger down to its full depth and push the cut soil into the bed. Continue along the soil edge and then remove the spade and surplus clumps of soil and grass.

Edging was one of the first lessons I was taught at our family nursery in England; my great-grandfather was a strict taskmaster standing over me until I got the edge correct. 

If you are contemplating the location of a new planting bed or expanding an existing one, here are some tips:

• Think in terms of where you spend your leisure time outdoors, and where you may choose to sit, near to the new bed, enjoying the bloom, fragrance and structure of your plantings. 
• From indoors are you able to view and enjoy the new border?
• Is it an area where there will not be drainage problems, erosion concerns or water pooling?
• Is it convenient to tend and enjoy where you place a bench or chair?
• Will you be able to water it with relative ease?

For an informal garden I prefer a curved bed – a curved line gives grace and fluidity. I lay out a garden hose in the desired shape and size of bed adjusting  the hose until you are satisfied with the gentle curves. 

MANURE:

Many of you who have been my radio listeners and lecture audiences, know how I feel about that wonderful natural product. Manure is not a fertilizer – it builds soil structure, aids in drainage and its bacteria encourages the millions of soil animals below the surface to come alive and work with the manure bacteria to produce nutrients for the roots of the plants.

TYPES OF MANURE:

Poultry manure – I know the odor can be rather objectionable, however, this manure contains about 2% nitrogen, one of the highest levels in any manure. If you have access to poultry manure, allow it to age for two months and by that time, the odor will have dissipated and then add it to the garden.

Horse manure is about .5% nitrogen. If you obtain horse manure from a stable, which has sawdust on its floors – it should be pretty weed free. What I have done in the past is obtain horse and cow manure from stables and farms in April.  When you get it home, spread manure out in a flat area (not in a planting bed) then cover it with a tarp for a month. 

Using this method, the tarp will suffocate the weed seeds and the sun on the tarp encourages the manures to continue to decompose. A week before using the horse and cow manure remove the tarp to allow the sun to further decompose it. 

Cow manure is .25 % nitrogen and is the most available manure.  If you get horse and cow manure from the farm, ask the farmer to give you manure from the bottom of the pile so that it is already partially decomposed. 

Compost pile – If you do not have a compost pile, maybe it could go on your list for this season. Vegetable waste from the kitchen, plus grass clippings, and wood pruning can be added to the pile. The high temperature in the compost kills the weed seed and cooks all those other necessary ingredients.  The ratio of compost and manure for your garden is 1 part compost to 3 parts manure – but if you do not have compost – manure will do the trick. 

**DO NOT apply fresh manure to the garden, as it will burn the plants.  If you do not have a source of manure from a farm, purchase composted manure in bags from the garden center.

To produce the best-planting environment, resulting in a soil that is ‘black gold’ apply 3 inches of composted manure to all planted areas in May, July and October.    

Natural fine bark Mulch can be added later in May. Do not use buckwheat mulch as it flies everywhere. Do not, I repeat do not use cocoa mulch, which is poisonous to dogs and cats and please do not use the chemically colored red mulch.  The benefits of natural fine bark mulch are, that this mulch helps to retain the beneficial moisture in the soil and aids to retard weeds as does Bradfield organics, a corn gluten weed pre- emergent.  

THE HUMUS COMPONENT:

I know I have written about the importance of the Humus component for the soil but I feel I must continue to stress this fact.

 In 1937 Franklin D Roosevelt told us ‘that the nation that destroys its soil destroys itself.’

Unfortunately, America has not heeded that warning. Precious soils in this country and around the world are being destroyed by dangerous practices used in industrialized agriculture as well as poisonous chemicals, which completely disrupts our eco system and poisons all living things.

In your own garden you can build and retain a rich growing environment by building the Humus component -We are all carbon-based creatures as is all life on earth. Not only humans but also our soil microbes need carbon to flourish. To attract carbon from the atmosphere into your soil you need to build the humus component. 

HOW TO BUILD THE HUMUS COMPONENT:

Do not till soil – tilling breaks up soil structure.  

First step – Add composted manure three times – in spring when the soil has reached a temperature of 55 degrees.  If the soil has not reached that temperature, the soil organisms are not able to work with the bacteria in the manure to produce nutrients for the roots of the plants.  

This year, as we have not experienced deep frost therefore, the soil temperature may reach 55 degrees by the end of April or early May.  Add the manure again in July to continue to nourish your growing plants and again in October to protect and nourish your plants and roots through winter.    Manure is not a fertilizer; it builds soil structure and works with all the soil animals to keep a healthy disease- free growing environment.  

Second step – Add wood chips in the form of brown fine bark mulch or wood chips that you produce from your garden; these are aged wood chips combined with leaves, twigs and branches. 

These two major steps build the humus component. If you do this in your own garden – not only, will you be helping to heal the planet but also produce the healthiest of gardens. 

A question I am often asked is ‘can I put manure over mulch in my summer garden’? The answer is ‘yes’ – the manure together with nature’s moisture and your own irrigation enables the manure to find its way easily into the soil and to the roots of your plants.     

WHAT EXACTLY DOES HUMUS DO?

Humus acts like a sponge and can hold 90% of its weight in water.

Because of its negative charge – plant nutrients stick to humus for nitrogen, calcium, phosphorus and minerals, which prevents these from washing away and acts as nature’s slow- release fertilizer throughout the year.

Humus improves soil structure making it loose and friable, which helps plants to root in this soil to get better access to nutrients, water and oxygen.

Humus also helps to filter toxic chemicals from the soil, mulch, like carbon-based water filtration systems filter toxins from your water. 

We are not able to control industrialized agricultural practices – but in your own garden you can make a difference, if you feed the soil, it will feed the plants. 

 Once again, I’m getting a little ahead of myself. So back to a cloudy day at the end of March, when you may gradually begin to remove protective covering from shrubs and small trees. In exposed garden areas, where wind is a problem, leave the covering on until mid April. Cold wind is more damaging and drying to plants than extreme cold and frost.   

FROST HEAVE:
If some perennials, trees and shrubs have heaved out of the ground, cover the roots with fresh topsoil or mulch until mid May when they can be settled back in place.   

I just walked around the corner of my house to check on my trellis on the chimney where I have roses and clematis planted together. Roses and clematis are a delightful combination in a companion planting. This planting method means that the rose and the clematis planted together have the same growing needs, ‘feet in the shade and heads in the sun’.

Beginning in May, add manure and mulch around the base of both. Discontinue feeding roses and clematis in mid August; this enables both plants to go into a necessary slow dormancy. 

BACKSCRATCH:
When the lawn has dried out in April, rake lightly and remove excess debris such as leaves and dead twigs.  Raking gently raises the mat of the lawn, which enables the emerging grass to breathe again. Aerating machines are useful to develop a healthy lawn. 

Puncture holes with the aerator and pull out plugs of soil every four to six inches; following this treatment, root development takes off and thatch is reduced.  Do not use the large thatching machines, as these machines damage the grass.  

GRASS FERTILIZER:
In April, apply organic fertilizer, lime and organic grub control before the grass begins to grow. Reseed bare or sparse spots after gently loosening the soil, liming and fertilizing, then cover the seed with salt hay to keep the seed warm and to prevent wind from blowing the seed away.  Water the seed for the first three weeks. Do not blast the area with water, which scatters the seeds. As with lilacs, grass enjoys alkaline soil which is why we use lime together with the fertilizer and grub control.  

MOLES: 
To keep the mole population to a minimum in your garden; apply organic grub control once a month from March for two months which results in less grubs, less food for the moles. When you see signs of moles, find the mole holes and insert Exlax, which contains Senna, an organic herb. The moles eat the Exlax and become dehydrated from defecation and die.  

Apply organic pre-emergent crabgrass killers in March and April.  

VOLES :
Spread castor oil around the base of plants and keep mulch away from the base of the plants so that voles, which are canny creatures, are not able to hide there and gnaw on plants and roots. 

DEADHEAD:
Do not cut off the leaves of the crocus as they bloom; the leaves make food for the bulbs for next season’s bloom.

DAFFODILS:
When the green shoots emerge, spread composted manure around the plants.    

 DAFFODILS FOR DISPLAY INDOORS:
The stems release a sap like “goop” that harms other flowers.  Before adding Daffodils to an arrangement, cut the stems at an angle, and leave them in a vase half filled with lukewarm water for a couple of hours.  Discard that water and add the Daffodils to the other flowers.  If you recut the stems you will need to repeat the process. Change the water in the vase often.  

PERENNIALS:
In May, when perennials are about four inches above soil level and when the soil is 55 degrees, apply composted manure around them to encourage healthy growth.    

DIVIDING PLANTS:
At the end of April or beginning of May, you can divide late blooming perennials that have been in the ground for four years or more; these new divisions encourage stronger bloom.

Discard the older, inner parts of the clumps and plant the new outside portions.  Do not plant the new divisions any deeper than they were originally in the ground. 

Pansies: pick the flowers regularly to encourage more bloom.   

When dividing Irises – barely cover the root system so they do not fall over – if Irises are planted too deep in the soil, they will not bloom.

March is the time to plant the following seeds indoors: gaillardia, salvia, marigold, zinnia, petunia, snapdragon, stock and verbena. Before planting these seeds, soak them in warm water and plant them in sphagnum moss or coir. Coir is the outer shell or fiber of the Coconut, either of these two mediums prevents a disease called “damping off”, which can cause seeds to rot before germination.

Cover pots and seed trays loosely with plastic wrap, which creates a mini greenhouse, providing moisture which seeds require to germinate.  

NOTE: Remove the plastic once the seeds have germinated, as the soil needs to drain and needs air circulation around the emerging stems.  

If you are going away on business, or on vacation reapply the plastic wrap over the pots and trays and prop some sticks or skewers in the corners. While you are away the seedlings will stay moist, and the sticks or skewers ensure that the seedlings do not encounter the plastic. 

March is the time to start tuberous begonias, and caladiums indoors.

DORMANT SPRING SPRAYING of fruit trees, flowering cherry, crabapple, hawthorn, mountain ash and lilac can be done before the leaf buds open. 

Call a professional company and request that they use only organic products.  

Houseplants – repot them if they need repotting in April.    

GERANIUMS: The plants that you brought indoors at the end of last season, check them for new side shoots, then cut them back to four inches and repot them in clean pots about an inch and a half larger with fresh potting soil.   

Well, fellow-gardeners, I know you are getting excited to be in your gardens this season and I hope that these tips have given you plenty to think about to keep you busy for a while. Enjoy photos of lovely gardens that my son Ian has designed and if you wish contact Ian for a consultation and enjoy the photos on his website LandscapesbyIan.com.

Enjoy being outdoors in spring sunshine and I look forward to seeing you in your garden in April.    

If you have any gardening questions, feel free to email me at MaureenHaseleyJones@gmail.com

About the author: Maureen Haseley-Jones is a member of a family of renowned horticultural artisans, whose landscaping heritage dates back to the 17th century. She is one of the founders, together with her son Ian, of, The English Lady Landscape and Home Company. Maureen and Ian are landscape designers and garden experts, who believe that everyone deserves to live in an eco-conscious environment and enjoy the pleasure that it brings. Maureen learned her design skills from both her mother and grandmother, and honed her horticultural and construction skills while working in the family nursery and landscape business in the U.K. Her formal horticultural training was undertaken at the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew in Surrey. 

This winter, as in other winters; when I need a blossom boost, I enjoy the fragrance of paper white narcissus that I planted in tall glass vases. I surrounded the bulbs with seashells from White Sand Beach here in Old Lyme and kept them in a dark cool area keeping the shells and the bulbs moist as the roots developed. 

When the bulb foliage reached about six inches, I moved the bulbs in their vases into indirect light, which encourages the blooms to open.  Each morning on entering my lounge, I am met with the fragrance of these beautiful bulbs, which makes me feel refreshed and ready for my day. 

I keep extra bulbs in a brown paper bag in the vegetable retainer in the refrigerator. I plant these bulbs when the first blooms have gone by and with this method, I have a succession of blooms and fragrance permeating my home into spring. 

Before you know it, spring will be upon us together with the anticipation that resides in all of us gardeners, which is to get outdoors and plunge our hands into the soil. 

That being said, there is so much to look forward to and I feel I must once again stress the importance for all of us to garden organically. 

In this country and around the world, the results of pollution and chemicals are just some of the factors that are causing climate change. We are in a crisis, with invaders that have already battered down the gates and invaded our gardens. These invaders are destroying Mother Nature and your health in the form of poisonous pesticides and herbicides. The main producers of these poisons are Monsanto, Bayer and other biological monsters, who have been decimating our planet, our soil, human health and committing all those crimes purely for selfish profit.

Bees, for example, have been killed in the millions, because the EPA under the Trump administration allowed the spraying of over 14 million acres of land, with poisonous chemicals. Please note folks, that bees pollinate 70 percent of the world’s food and their demise is our demise. 

Last year was recorded as the hottest year on record. Drought in the west of this country, resulted in dry tinder conditions, causing devastating fires that brought death and destruction to people in California, Oregon and Colorado. This extreme weather pattern continues here, bringing tornadoes and extreme flooding, followed by even stronger hurricanes due to the rise of our oceans, which is the result of warming water. 

Across the world, extreme weather patterns have also had a tragic effect on extreme drought in Africa causing famine and death to that region and terrible earthquakes as we have seen in Turkey, Northern Syria, Japan and China. I am glad that the government in this country has begun to seriously address the Climate Crisis, but much more needs to be done. 

As gardeners, it is our task to help counteract these negative changes by using only organic methods of gardening on our own plots of land; what we do in our own gardens contributes to healing the planet. Over the span of 25 years on my radio show WRCH 100.5 FM and through my Garden Earth lectures, I have received a commitment from thousands of people to discard all poisonous herbicides and pesticides and to garden organically. The response had been tremendously positive in the production of organic gardens grown in healthy soil. 

It begins with what you put into the soil for the growth of the plants, and this is accomplished by adding liberal doses of my favorite stuff – aged manure, which is manure that you may procure, either from the farm or in bags from the garden center.   

The following, is a paragraph from a book I am writing on gardening and the vital importance of the humus component to our gardens:

In 1937, Franklin D Roosevelt said that ‘the nation that destroys its soil destroys itself’

America has not heeded that warning. Precious soils in this country and around the world are being destroyed by dangerous practices in industrialized agriculture and poisonous chemicals, which completely disrupts our ecosystem and poisons all living things.

In your own garden you can build and retain a rich growing environment by building the humus component—we are all carbon-based creatures as is all life on earth. Not only humans but also our soil microbes need carbon to flourish. And to attract carbon from the atmosphere into your soil, you need to build the humus component. 

HOW TO BUILD THE HUMUS COMPONENT

Do not till soil—tilling breaks up soil structure.  

First step – Add composted manure three times each season—beginning in spring when the soil has reached a temperature of 50 degrees.  If the soil has not reached that temperature, the soil organisms are not able to work with the bacteria in the manure to produce nutrients for the roots of the plants.  Purchase a soil thermometer to check the soil’s temperature. This year, following deep frosts, the soil temperature may reach 50 degrees by the end of April to early May.  Add the manure again in July to continue to nourish your growing plants and again in October to protect and nourish the roots of your plants through the winter.  Manure is not a fertilizer; it builds soil structure and works with all the soil animals to keep a healthy, disease-free growing environment.  

Second step – Add wood chips in the form of brown, fine bark mulch or wood chips that you produce from your garden or aged wood chips with a combination of leaves, twigs and branches. 

These two major steps build the humus component. If you do this in your garden, not only will you help to heal the planet but you will also produce the healthiest of gardens. 

A question I am often asked is, ‘Can I put manure over mulch for example on my midsummer garden in July?’ The answer is a resounding ‘Yes’ – the manure together with nature’s moisture and your own irrigation enables the manure to find its way easily into the soil and the roots of your plants.     

WHAT EXACTLY DOES HUMUS DO?

Humus acts like a sponge and can hold 90 percent of its weight in water.

Due to its negative charge, plant nutrients stick to humus for nitrogen, calcium, phosphorus and other elements,. This, in turn, prevents these nutrients from washing away and acts as nature’s slow-release fertilizer throughout the year.

Humus improves soil structure making it loose and friable, which helps plants root in the soil with better access to nutrients, water and oxygen.

Humus also helps to filter’ toxic chemicals from the soil, much like carbon-based water filtration systems that filter toxins from your water. 

We cannot control industrialized agricultural practices, however, in your own garden you can make a difference.   Feed the soil, and it will feed the plants. 

This week I spoke with my friend Ann, who lives in Cheshire, in England, which is next door to my home county of Shropshire. Ann is an avid gardener and she told me that her daffodils are well above the soil and last week she started to plant seeds in the greenhouse. I was so envious, when Ann told me of her garden bloom, but our time will soon come. 

PLANTING SEEDS

February 20 to March 20 is the time for serious indoor seed planting here. Check which garden centers are stocking organic seeds or go online for the organic varieties – one company that I use is “Botanical Interests”.  Do not go overboard when buying packs of seeds as there are about 500 seeds in each packet.  If you do purchase too many – have a seed sharing party with gardening friends.  

Equipment to have on hand for seed planting are cheap envelopes (you probably have envelopes you discard from your mail), fresh sterilized potting soil mix, and sphagnum moss. Also seed trays, egg cartons and cardboard milk containers that are cut down also work well.  Make sure all containers are scrupulously clean. Sphagnum moss works well as a planting medium as the moss can prevent a soil born fungus that causes “damping off” which causes seeds to rot before germination.  I have, together with many gardening friends, used this method for years and have not lost  seeds  to “damping off”. 

For tiny seeds, I use the moss as the planting mix and for larger seeds, I install a topsoil base and a layer of the moss on top of the soil. I mix fine seeds with sand before I sow; this method helps to loosen them up. Soak the seeds overnight before planting and just before planting spray them with warm water, never cold as cold water can delay germination. When they have germinated, water gently. 

The best method of watering seedlings is to water from the bottom. But, if you feel you must top water, just mist with a fine sprayer, otherwise you will drown the delicate seeds, washing them out of the planting mix. Use new sterilized soil when seeding and do not use any leftover soil from last season, Leftover soil from the previous year can develop disease, which can ruin your seedling crops.  If you are growing seedlings on a windowsill, place them on a south or west-facing sill; seedlings need light, not heat to thrive. 

WINTER CARE OF HOUSEPLANTS

I love my houseplants year round but in winter the blooming ones in particular lift my spirits.  I talk to my plants enjoying my cyclamen and my blooming cacti, and the different foliage on the ivy, philodendron and spaphyllum which also clean the air in a stuffy home environment. 

Keep your houseplants away from draughts and direct heat. If you are able, place humidifiers and air purifiers in the rooms of your home, which will benefit not only the plants but also your own health. Place pebble trays under the plants and keep the pebbles moist for additional humidity. 

Spray houseplants every few days with lukewarm water and once every couple of weeks, put the plants in a sink or bathtub and allow lukewarm water to run freely over the plant to remove dust from the leaves and clean salt residue from the soil. The exception to the spray or soak rule is African violets, as African violets do not do well with wet leaves. 

Aphids and white fly thrive indoors in winter and an organic sulphur solution called Safer works well to clean the soil of insect eggs and from the foliage. Perhaps you are fortunate like me to have Ladybugs in your home in winter; if so, allow these useful creatures to roam freely; the ladybug menu is aphids and white flies.  

The best time to repot houseplants is from April through June but if a plant has become root bound with no visible soil, then you can repot them in February. Water the plant to loosen the roots from the soil, turn it sideways on a newspaper and gently slide it from the pot.  

Cut away any dead roots and repot in fresh potting soil in a clean pot that is only two inches larger than the original.  With the plant firmly in place and the soil one inch from the rim, water it gently and do not fertilize with an organic fertilizer until April.  Plants need this dormant period to recharge. 

A few suggestions for trouble free foliage plants in the home are Rubber plants, Spider plants, Ivy, Philodendron, Monstera and Spaphyllum. If you have a sunny window Aloes, Succulents and Cacti do great and are a trouble- free variety.   

Blooming plants sitting side by side with foliage plants, enjoying one another’s company, give one an impression of a miniature garden.

A few suggestions of houseplants that bloom are Cyclamen, African Violets, Kalanchoe, Primulas and Paper white narcissus. To prevent pets from chewing on the plants, add some cayenne pepper to the water when watering.  I also enjoy my herbal plants, which sit in a sunny window. My favorites are Rosemary, Basil and Parsley which are great additions to any recipe.             

POWER TOOLS

Check any power tools that require maintenance or repair. February or March is the time to get them into the repair shop, because as soon as the weather breaks the shops get busy and you may not get your lawn mower back until August.  

Check all tools and implements in the garage or shed. If you did not clean them off at the end of last season, plunge the shovels and spades into a bucket of sand; sand is an abrasive and will clean off any leftover soil and manure residue.  Oil the wooden handles of tools with Linseed oil or some inexpensive vegetable oil; oil feeds the wood and keeps the handles splinter free. At the same time, check your hoses and fittings that may have sprung leaks since last year.

Make a shopping list of new tools that are needed – there are lots of sales in late winter for you to get a good deal.  However, I suggest that you buy only quality tools and hoses; as the saying goes, “you get what you pay for”. Also check that there is enough twine, bamboo rods, wire ties or nails and peat on hand. 

BUYING MANURE

In March or early April, when soil and manure are available. purchase bags of composted manure from the garden center. On the other hand, if you have a farm close in your local area, that sells aged manure, acquire a small truck to acquire a load.  If you decide on that method, ask the farmer for manure from the bottom of the pile – aged stuff.  Manure needs to be at least six months old before applying to your soil, as fresh manure will burn your plants.    

ALL THINGS PAINT-RELATED

Check the paintwork on your wooden fences, arbors, decks and any other outdoor wooden structures. Then, purchase paint supplies so that on a dry day in March for painting, everything will be on hand.  

Don’t forget to put paintbrushes on your list – I have a feeling you forgot to clean your old brushes last season, which means they are stiff as a poker, also remember sandpaper, brush cleaner and if  possible, buy eco conscious paint.  If you are painting benches and garden seats on a dry day, put them under cover before sundown. 

White walls in the greenhouse reflect light so any areas that need retouching, use white paint. It’s so rewarding to see how much lighter and brighter the greenhouse is after a touch of paint and the glass is cleaned.  However meticulously clean and tidy your greenhouse, you may find that white fly, greenfly and scale insects have found their way inside the greenhouse for warmth and so it may be necessary to spray with an organic spray. I mix an organic spray of orange peels in white vinegar and allow it to sit for two weeks before spraying – this works well and is very economical.   

Walking around a garden that looks and feels good in mid-winter is a real pick-me-up. Patterns emerge created by paths, walls and hedges. As you walk, enjoy the shapes of shrubs, the shadows of evergreens and the strong silhouettes of tree trunks and enjoy their shape and bark without foliage.  

BIRD-FEEDERS

I love to watch the birds in their quick flights across the garden to alight on the feeders, and their sudden bursts of song when the sun peaks through. It is so much fun to watch the “pecking” order and see the blue jays, who can be bullies and red cardinals, who—like the blue jays—can be rather territorial. Bringing up the rear, come the finches and house sparrows. And sometimes a bird appears that I do not recognize and out come my binoculars and Peterson bird book. 

If you notice squirrels swarming the bird feeders, add some cayenne pepper to the birdseed; if that occurs do not be concerned as the heat from the cayenne does not affect birds.  And you may choose a spot away from the feeders to sprinkle cayenne-free birdseed on the ground so the squirrels can also enjoy a meal. 

Winter has its own distinctive fragrance, the fog, in the morning when the air is very heavy, thick and damp—a dampness even more bone-chilling than rain.  I can deal with that for a while in the knowledge that in about six weeks I will be inhaling the healthy nose-clearing fragrance of the soil, rich and brown, well manured or covered with wood mulch, shredded leaves or salt hay.

Winter fragrances are a potpourri, one moment sharp and cold like the north wind, whereas spring’s flavors are light and sweet.

If you find you have spent year after year throwing good money after bad, then it may be time to get a professional design. If that is so, don’t hesitate! If you want work to begin in the spring, a design takes time to complete. You may want to contact a professional landscape designer like my son Ian, whose company website LandscapesbyIan.com shows his lovely, natural landscape creations. Ian will work with you and your budget. 

Have a great month and I’ll see you in your garden in March. 

If you have any gardening questions, feel free to email me at MaureenHaseleyJones@gmail.com

About the author: Maureen Haseley-Jones is a member of a family of renowned horticultural artisans, whose landscaping heritage dates back to the 17th century. She is one of the founders, together with her son Ian, of, The English Lady Landscape and Home Company. Maureen and Ian are landscape designers and garden experts, who believe that everyone deserves to live in an eco-conscious environment and enjoy the pleasure that it brings. Maureen learned her design skills from both her mother and grandmother, and honed her horticultural and construction skills while working in the family nursery and landscape business in the U.K. Her formal horticultural training was undertaken at the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew in Surrey.