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Geoffrey Carr |
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March 2010 Spring Is Not Far Off February
and March in the garden always feel to me like the darkest winter hours
before the spring dawn. Spring is not far off and yet the days can still be
cold, dark, wet and short. The garden too can be looking scruffy, baron and a
bit of a damp, cold mess. It can be a depressing scene easily getting me down
if it were not for the promise of things soon to come. I have to remind
myself that Aconites have been showing off their yellow flowers in the lawn
under the tree since the very beginning of January, the dogwood is still
blazing orangey red in the shrubbery and the snowdrops are happily sparkling
like forgotten jewels rediscovered in the flower beds. Now
is a good time to get to grips with those garden jobs that are all too easily
put off until another day. Jobs that will pay dividends later like pruning
overgrown deciduous hedges before birds begin to nest , weeding beds and borders, (avoid standing on wet,
soggy soil because it will compact), digging trenches for runner beans and
sweet peas, planting snowdrops in the green, cutting back mid to late summer
flowering clematis and pruning summer and winter jasmines. It is not too
early to start work on the lawn either. Aerate, mow, weed and remove thatch
now if the weather is dry and mild. Shrubs will benefit from a spring
application of slow release fertiliser, trees and shrubs can just about still
be planted if weather permits and finally, complete the pruning of apple and
pear trees. Depending
on what plants you have in your garden or allotment, there are many more jobs
to do at this time of year. Lots of free advice is available from newspapers,
magazines, the library or you can contact me via my website www.geoffreycarr.co.uk
for free gardening advice and information. |
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