Must love maintenance
March is a month of maintenance, for which you’ll be gloriously rewarded as we move into winter. Give the garden a little extra TLC in preparation of the changing season. A little goes a long way in terms of the overall appearance and fertility of your beds, plants, and harvest. Start these maintenance jobs now:
– Work in about 30cm of compost into beds with a handful of bonemeal or super-phosphate to ensure plants have all the nutrition they need for winter.
– Trim ground covers like sutera (bacopa) that may have taken strain during the hot summer months. They’ll produce fresh new growth and will thicken up nicely.
– Give fynbos plants like confetti bush, a light trim to shape them up before their winter flowering.
– Protect grapes this time of year and prune back excessive leaves to allow more sunlight into the crop.
– Once nectarines, peaches and plums have finished fruiting, prune to shape and remove any dead or diseased branches.
– Remember to reduce the amount of water given to houseplants.