Garden works

The bulbs are flowering – albeit a little later this year – the evenings are getting lighter and I'm itching to get going in the garden, but beware because despite all these promising signs March is usually the end of winter rather than a harbinger of spring.

Of course a few frosty nights and the odd flurry of snow needn't delay this month's pruning and warmer spells might even get the grass growing again, but they could easily damage tender plants left unprotected, so don't even think about buying summer bedding plants yet, unless you're going to grow them under glass.

Even when the air is warm at this time of year the soil will still be cold. So, unless you've warmed seedbeds with a covering of plastic or cloches, be wary of sowing seeds too soon. Many vegetables will bolt (go to seed) if sown early in cold conditions, so be patient and wait until the weed seeds start germinating with a vengeance before you sow any of your own. New growth on early potatoes can also be damaged by frost, so it's often safer to plant them at the end of this month, rather than have them knocked back by cold weather. I'll be bringing salads on in the greenhouse to plant out later and will also be sowing tomatoes, chillies and peppers indoors to move out into the greenhouse for the summer.

Whatever the weather this month, it's definitely time to get out there with your secateurs. Late summer and autumn flowering clematis thrive on a brutal prune. Many deciduous summer-flowering shrubs, such as buddleia, lavatera, hardy fuchsia and Caryopteris clandonensis, also appreciate severe treatment, which enables them to put out plenty of fresh growth.

Bush roses also need cutting back hard now to keep them compact and flowering well. Cut each stem down to an outward facing bud between 15cm-25cm from ground level and remove any dead wood completely. This might look a bit drastic, but cut away any of last year's growth on herbaceous perennials too, mulch well, and with the first warm spell the whole garden will be poised to shoot away and look glorious.

This article was first published in the Scotsman, March 6, 2010