In The Flower Garden This March

March is one of the most exciting months in an English flower garden 🌱 — winter is fading, soil is warming, and there’s plenty to do to set up a spectacular summer display.

Here are your top tips for March:

🌼 1. Enjoy & Divide Early Spring Flowers

• Lift and divide snowdrops “in the green” (after flowering but while leaves are still visible).

• Divide congested clumps of crocus to spread colour.

• Let foliage die back naturally — it feeds next year’s flowers.

🌹 2. Prune Roses (But Not Climbers Yet)

• Prune hybrid tea and floribunda roses now.

• Cut to an outward-facing bud.

• Remove dead, diseased or crossing stems.

• Apply a mulch of well-rotted manure or compost afterwards.

👉 Leave rambling roses until after flowering.

🌸 3. Sow Hardy Annuals Outdoors

• Calendula

• Cornflowers

• Larkspur

• Nigella

• Sweet peas (can still go in)

Tip: Sow in small drifts for a natural cottage-garden look.

🌿 4. Cut Back Grasses & Perennials

• Cut back ornamental grasses before new growth shoots up.

• Remove old stems from perennials.

• Leave some hollow stems for wildlife if possible.

🌷 5. Plant Summer-Flowering Bulbs

• Dahlias (in pots under cover in colder areas)

• Lilies

• Gladioli

• Begonias (start indoors)

Protect from late frosts — March weather is famously unpredictable!

🌱 6. Feed & Mulch Beds

• Spread a layer of garden compost or well-rotted manure.

• Add a balanced fertiliser (like Growmore).

• Mulching now locks in moisture for summer.

🐌 7. Watch for Slugs Early

Mild March weather wakes them up.

• Check around new shoots.

• Use barriers, beer traps, or wildlife-friendly controls.

🌦 8. Be Frost-Aware

Keep horticultural fleece handy.
Tender new growth (especially magnolias and young dahlias) can be damaged by late cold snaps.

🌼 Bonus Tip

Because of our damp winters:

• Avoid walking on wet beds (prevents soil compaction).

• Improve drainage where needed.

• Start staking tall perennials early — it looks more natural than tying them up later.