Countrywide, this time of year could easily be referred to as Maintenance March, making it a great time to administer some TLC to your garden preparing it for the coming winter months. Traditionally, it is also our water-wise month, so implement a new water saving method in your garden and help save the planet one garden at a time!
As the weather starts cooling don’t forget to adjust your watering, especially any automatic systems, to use less of this precious commodity. Having said that, you should still water before 9am to lose as little moisture to evaporation as possible while still allowing the foliage enough time to dry off before nightfall, minimising the chance of your plants developing any fungal diseases.
If you didn’t make use of mulch during the hotter months, you have no excuse now as mulching will prevent the soil from losing moisture on hot days in the warmer regions, help with protection on cold frosty nights in the colder ones and serve a dual purpose for our more temperate regions! Mulch is also great for suppressing weed growth, in case you needed yet another reason to get stuck in.
Split and divide your agapanthus, day lilies, arum lilies and cannas, prune your shrubs that have no doubt grown enthusiastically during the summer and deadhead all your annuals to encourage what’s left of their flowering season. Feed your rose bushes with a fertiliser high in nitrogen and potassium to give those autumn flowers a boost and now, before winter sets in, is a great time to do the same, with a suitable fertiliser, for your lawn.
Eastern Cape:
The Eastern Cape coast in March is almost as hot as it is in February so be sure to keep an eye out for pests and keep your watering steady without overdoing it. This does mean that there are still a whole host of plants you can still get stuck in and plant now, from annuals like dianthus, petunias and lobelia to vegetable seeds like beetroot, carrots and radish and even a late crop of Sweet Basil which you can harvest until winter sets in.
Plant some small trees like Tibouchina, Cassia fistula, Pavettas and Stenocarpus which are flowering at the coast now, for some summer colour. Two of the most rewarding garden perennials you can plant now, that offer year round colour, are Begonia Dragon Wings and New Guinea Impatiens so make sure to pick some up when you pop in at your nearest accredited garden centre.
Free State:
Autumn is one of the best times of the year in the Free State with breathless evenings, ideal for outdoor entertaining before the cold of winter sets in. Having said that, you should start preparing your garden for the inevitable, invest in some frost protection and get ready to protect your tender plants from the annual frosts the region is plagued with. With the heat subsiding in March it’s an ideal time to give some attention to your vegetable garden so you can do some harvesting during the winter months for yummy homemade soups! Cabbage, cauliflower and broccoli are all great choices for planting.
If you’re looking to establish a new lawn, March is the perfect time to do so from seed because germination is at its peak in the Free State. The weeds will die with the frost and your lawn will flourish in spring. Don’t forget that it’s almost bulb planting time too, so get down to your nearest accredited garden centre and grab your favourites.
Gauteng:
March is changeover time in Gauteng, marking the start of the shift from summer to winter making it quite a tricky month for planting and even sometimes quite a wet month. You can definitely start planting up your winter veggies like cabbage, onions and cauliflower, to name a few, now and you’ll find that your lettuce will perform a lot better as the weather cools, bolting a lot later. Stick to hardy herbs like rosemary and thyme heading into the colder months to avoid disappointment.
Pick up some perennials like osteospermums, pelargoniums and rudbeckia to plant up now but it’s best to wait until April if you’re looking for winter annuals. Unless you’re after some instant colour to fill in the gaps, in which case you can still pop in some summer annuals like vincas, begonias and zinnias. If you’re the proud owner of any conifers, don’t forget that now is the time to start protecting them from Italian cypress aphids.
Kwa-Zulu Natal:
In the humid KZN climate it’s best to wait until the weather cools down before any autumn bulb, annual or vegetable planting starts but feel free to start preparing the soil, beds and trenches for all your autumn planting now. It’s an ideal time to plant out any new citrus and fruit trees though and after the hot summer you may find that many herbs may need to be replanted. March is prime time for tropical and sub-tropical shrubs so pop into your nearest accredited garden centre and pick some new ones out for your coastal garden.
You may need to compensate with irrigation or good old fashion watering as the rain starts slowing down but don’t let the change in weather make you remiss in checking for pests and diseases.
Western Cape:
It’s March and quite aptly, the heat is on a slow and steady march away from the Western Cape. Water wise is big in March so plant some water wise trees, like indigenous White Stinkwood or Fevertree. Remember to create a basin around the base of your trees to hold the water until it soaks into the ground around your trees instead of running off to somewhere it’s probably not needed.
If you have some container plants you’ve been wanting to transplant out into the garden, now is an excellent time to do so, as they can establish a strong and healthy root system in the warm, damp autumn soil, and be ready to take off once the weather warms up after winter. The cooled water from boiled eggs is a great source of nutrients for house plants so remember to tell the family not to throw it away so you can pour it over them.
For more information on bringing life to your garden, visit the Life is a Garden website or join the conversation on their Facebook page.
Leave a Comment