See Other Months

As the days get longer so new growth is appearing. If you haven’t already done so, lightly fork your borders to aerate the soil. And knock the lumps down so that in due course it will be easier to hoe. At the same time, on a dry day, apply granular nitrogenous fertilizer throughout your borders and containers- Growmore for example. Not Bonemeal which should be applied in autumn to ripen growths and promote fruit and roots.

Wisterias should be pruned by now, otherwise you risk rubbing flower buds off - cut last year's growths back to 2 or 3 buds which will prevent spurs becoming too heavy. Remove most of the small growth that snakes up round the main branches. And check all ties to prevent constriction.

As the weather becomes milder and if you are a ‘tidy’ gardener its well worth applying a proprietary mosskiller to hardsurface areas such as brickwork and paving. Apply with a fine rose, or sprayer, on a warmish dry day, and allow to dry. Be careful not to tread it into the house as carpets can get tainted/stained!

Weeds in hardsurface areas- brickwork, paving, shingle etc. may also be prevented with an application of Glyphosate or similar on a non-windy day. Read the instructions. Be careful not to tread on to lawns after applying the chemical - after it has dried it's OK. If you’re into helping our embattled feathered friends along, why not put a nest box up in your garden? Whilst I’m no expert it's certainly best to site them away from directly south-facing aspects, and ideally on a wall within foliage, and 2m + above ground level. Your average small nest box is likely to attract only tits, wrens and, if the hole is large enough, robins. I have about 10 nestboxes scattered around, and all need cleaning out in early spring, if not before, and checking over. Here are a few springtime beauties that are enhancing Kew in early March:

Richard Ward