Paul GarganGreen Fingers
In March, the seasons seem to be involved in a tug-o-war with the weather. It is pulled between the winter gone and the summer to come.
Prune Buddleja davidii (butterfly-bush) to 15cm from the main framework of old branches. This reduces the plant to waist height. It looks drastic but when it flowers they will be at eye level rather than at the top of a very tall shrub.
Shrubs grown for their winter stem colour such as dogwoods and willows can be severely pruned now. This encourages strong new growth which results in maximum colour effect in winter.
Go through beds and borders, forking out weeds and cutting down any dead stems of perennial plants. Cut them off as close to the base as possible without damaging emerging buds or young foliage. When doing this watch out for slugs and snails at the base of perennials – their presence may be given away by damaged new growth. If found, dispose of them.
So much is written and said about pruning roses. It can be confusing but it’s simple really. Before you prune anything, make sure your secateurs are clean and sharp.
Sharpen and wash with warm soapy water if necessary or buy a new pair. If they are not clean they can harbour and pass on diseases. They must be sharp as you want a clean cut rather than a crushed stem which will die back and may let in diseases.
First cut out any diseased, damaged or dead stems. Floribundas and hybrid teas should ideally be wine glass shaped when pruning is finished. Then have a good look before cutting any more. You want to keep four or five of your strongest young stems. Cut the rest out. Of the ones to be kept, look for an outward facing bud approx. 15cm from ground level. Make a sloping cut from slightly above this bud, with the slope facing away from the bud, towards the centre of the plant. This is so that moisture runs away from the bud. For floribundas retain strong side shoots but reduce to 15cm.
With shrub roses remove several of the centre stems at the base. This is to open up the centre of the plant. Shorten the rest by a third.
When pruning is finished, sprinkle around the plants with slow release rose fertiliser and mulch the bed with a good depth of homemade garden compost.
Lawn care
If your lawn has patches that are waterlogged, use a garden fork to aerate it. This means pushing the fork down with your foot to its depth or as deep as you can. Remove it and repeat keeping the same spacings between holes as the tines left. Do this over the whole area – it’s to let air down to the root zone of the grass and to let water drain away.
Rake your lawn with a spring tine rake to remove thatch and lift grass and weeds up for the lawn mower to cut. When mowing a lawn, always mow in a different direction to the last cut.