Planning, design and construction

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• Build the gazebo you designed earlier. Now is the time for it.
• Check out some additional plants at the PlantEncyclopedia.
• Planning to build a playground equipment in the garden? Do it now, so the kids can have lots of fun with it right when spring breaks loose.
• Wood chips under a picnic table prevent many weeds. A good garden chore for March!

Wood chips under the picnic table

Planting

• A fun job: the border can be planted. When ordering your border plants, pay attention to the flowering time, height and width of plants. Look in the PlantEncyclopedia for all the information. Tip: Don't just look at a plant's blooms, combine with leaf colors and shapes. You'll be amazed at the beautiful combinations you can make.
• Now spring bloomers are especially striking! Think of the many varieties of spring bulbs and Stinzen plants. But the Christmas Rose, Helleborus, Lungwort Pulmonaria and Primula also stand out now. Shrubs such as the Mahonia bush (Mahonia) are a real eye-catcher.
• Leifruit and other fruit trees can still be planted now.
• The summer-flowering bulbs you ordered can be planted in March. You can plant them temporarily inside and plant them out outside when there is no more night frost.
• March is a good month for various planting tasks. Hedges, shrubs, trees, as well as climbers and most perennials can be planted and transplanted just fine.
• Want to transplant larger trees or shrubs? Stake the plants out liberally with plenty of hair roots. Not quite sure? Ask a professional for advice.
• Are you looking for ways to create less maintenance? Plant ground covers now: once they grow dense, you won't have to weed in that spot. Use enough plants per square meter for good results.
• Brighten up the garden table with a bowl or pot of Pansies: they are hardy and colorful. Also very nice to plant in a pot for spring feeling are Crocuses, Daffodils, Blue Grapes and Hyacinths.

Daffodils on the garden table

Maintenance

• If you didn't already do it last month, now is the time to scrub off the green layer on your path and patio. Sprinkle sand and sweep it away in an environmentally friendly way!
• Check your pavement for subsidence and root action caused by trees.
• Take a tour of the garden and critically examine what general cleanup work you encounter, such as cleaning gutters or the greenhouse. Replace rotten posts or fences and install a climbing frame for your climbing plants. Maybe February was too cold or wet for that; now is the time to do this kind of work.
• Clean and treat wooden benches if necessary.
• Clean the garden furniture or lounge set thoroughly. Now begins the time when you can enjoy it again.
• All cloths and other frost protection can now be removed. Pay attention to the weather forecast though, it could freeze overnight just like that.
• Remove or move plants that didn't do well in their current spot last year. They deserve to try if they do well in another spot.
• Were certain pots still in "winter storage"? They can be brought out again now, when the frost is no longer severe. Give them a cleaning.
• Cut away spent daffodils immediately.
• Clean your flower border now. Remove dead plant debris and excess leaves. Using a trident or hand cultivator, loosen the top layer nicely for better aeration and mulch your borders with a layer of compost.

Crocuses in the garden

Care

• Do not let the potting soil of the outdoor pots dry out. Start watering again and fertilize the plants. Examples are the Olive trees and Potted Buxus plants.
• Fertilize fruit trees, shrubs and hedges.
• Are some plants too close together ? Now is the time to repot these plants.
• Apply compost to the garden and especially give the Roses some extra!
• Sprinkle a layer of garden turf around plants that like acidic soil, such as Camelia, Azalea, Heather, Pieris, Skimmia, Calluna and Rhodondendron.

The Christmas rose has had its best time now

Pruning

• March is a good time to prune summer and fall flowers.
• Plants such as shrubs, Butterfly Bush, Dogwood and Plume Hydrangea can be pruned back until the end of March.
• Wondering how to prune a Hydrangea that blooms on multi- or annual wood? Check the video and learn from the gardener!
• Prune enthusiastic Climbing Roses somewhat. If necessary, remove an old main branch so that young shoots can form again.
• Pollard willows can be pruned until the end of March.
• Take the ivy in hand by trimming it back considerably. Remove loose branches that are touching the ground.
• Put pruning spent winter bloomers, such as Winter Jasmine, on your calendar by the end of March at the latest.
• You can prune the Boerenjasmijn in March. Wondering how to do it? Gardener Henri Jansen does
• it for in this video!

The Hydrangeas are beginning to sprout gently

The lawn

• Do you want to enjoy a beautiful, green mat again soon? Then start scarifying now! This can be done mechanically, or use a scarifier rake.
• Aerate your lawn with a lawn pricker or pitchfork. This will give you better aeration.
• Bare spots can be overseeded by raking them loose with a wire rake. For uneven areas, you can spread a thin layer of cultivation earth or garden soil and level it. Then you can sow and rake in the grass seed.
• Scoop up potholes. Spread the soil from molehills across the lawn with a rake or broom.
• When the temperature is above six degrees, your lawn starts growing again. So from then on, you can mow again. Don't mow too short the first time, but choose a higher setting.

Weeding

• Using a trident or hand cultivator, loosen the top layer and remove the weeds, old flower heads and plant debris that you left in place before winter.
• When weeding, be careful not to damage the roots of plants.
• Pull weeds from the joints of your paths or patio.

Pond or water dish

• Clean the pond pump and filter so that it is fully functional again when you want to use it.
• When the temperature rises, the fish in your pond become active again. Therefore, feed them when the daytime temperature is above six degrees.
• Aquatic plants also sprout again: remove old parts of the aquatic plant.
• Also clear your aquatic plants of algae as much as possible.
• Clean up most debris at the bottom, such as old leaves, to prevent acidification of the water. As you clean up, be mindful of possible pond inhabitants, such as fish and frogs.
• Did you put a stone water dish inside with a hard frost? After a good frost, it can go back outside. Clean it well and fill it with water so the birds can drink and bathe in it.

Kitchen Garden

• Check the expiration date of the seeds you have left, because the germination of seeds varies widely. Just because some seeds are still usable does not mean that every other seed is still good. Always store seeds in a dark and cool place.
• There is quite a lot you can sow outside right now, such as carrots, radishes and chives. Some other seedlings are better left indoors for a while, such as tomatoes, peppers and basil.
• Plant young, cured vegetable plants such as kohlrabi, cauliflowers and lettuces outdoors.
• Place a fleece around the plants to protect them from any cold.
• Enrich the soil of the berry bushes with a layer of compost.
• Don't have your own compost bin yet? Now is the time to make one.

For the animals

• Hang a nest box before breeding time, with the opening facing east or north-east.
• Start by controlling slugs. Choose an organic remedy. Cocoa shells and grit will also keep slugs away from your plants.
• Blackbirds, blackbirds and starlings love old fruit. For example, thread an old apple on a skewer and stick it in the ground. Make sure the fruit is not moldy!
• Did you leave leaf litter in a pile before winter? Save your patience for now and don't clean it up yet: hedgehogs and other animals still enjoy scurrying around in it now.
• Fill a water dish for the birds and other animals.
• Sow flower mixtures now that will attract butterflies later in the summer.

Always hang a birdhouse out of the wind

Want to see other months' garden calendar returns? Then check out the garden calendar year overview.