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A busy time in the garden
March is a busy time for gardeners, after the long sleep of winter it's time to get deadheading, pruning and grooming your lawn
If you’ve only got five minutesTatty daffodils look awful, so pinch off dying heads with your thumb and forefinger, leaving the stalk behind.
After deadheading, plump up your bulbs for great flowers next year by watering the soil with a high potash fertiliser, such as liquid tomato food – this will keep leaves alive for longer, allowing energy to be channelled into the bulb.
If you’ve only got 30 minutesPruning roses scares many people, but there is nothing to it. Honestly. Patio, large and cluster-flowered roses can all be cut back now with secateurs. The result: lots of gorgeous summer flowers.
First remove branches that are dead, diseased or very scrawny, and then cut the rest of the plant back by two-thirds.
Prune just above an outward facing bud, making a sloping cut away from the bud.
If you’ve only got a dayLawns suffer over winter, so give yours a pick-me-up to prepare it for the new season. Start by removing moss or thatch (a build up of dead grass) by going over it with a lawn rake and then apply a spring lawn feed to boost growth.
Redefine untidy edges with a half moon tool and a piece of timber as a cutting guide. Aim to leave a vertical edge, 7cm deep.
This article was created: 26 February 2007.
This article was last edited: 8 March 2007.
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