Jobs for the month - March

Spring is coming! Here in Frome we've had a few days now of clear blue skies and nice warm sun. The buds are starting to bloom!

Spring is usually fully here by the middle of the month and the increasingly frequent sunny days give us the chance to get back in the garden and feel the warmth of the sun on our face and back. We need to get busy preparing our seed beds, sowing our seed, cutting back those increasingly untidy looking winter shrubs and generally tidying things up.

This is some of the things we've been up to and we thought we'd share three things with you that you might want to consider!

Climbing roses – we're still pruning them and we've got a few weeks left before the buds really start to get going. If yours are looking straggly and unkempt then get your secateurs out and give them a prune. Remove dead and diseased wood first, then prune out any shoots that are crossing over and then finally remove about a third of the new growth from the lateral stems that are left. Cut back to an outward facing bud and then tie that stem into your supports – pergola, wire or trellis. Then give the plant a mulch and stand back and admire your work.

Vegetables – if you've been chitting your potatoes then they'll be ready to be planted around Easter time. Get your garlic in (soonish) and get your onions and shallots in towards the middle of the month. You don't necessarily need a veg patch or plot to grow your own – have a look at what we're trying this year with veg in containers and why not give it a go yourself?

Planting – have you got a shady border? We have! Who hasn't? Well we've been planting ferns galore recently and if you have a look at our Social Media and website you can see what's been going in. CLICK HERE FOR DETAILS : the Trug and Lettuce site

Hart's Tongue ferns are hardy, evergreen an

d look great! And if you want some then let us know – we get ours for far less than garden centres charge – and from the same supplier – and we're happy to share those significant savings with you – as long as supplies last!

Enjoy your gardening!