🌿 Gardening in March: Preparing for the Cooler Months

March marks a shift in the garden as we move from summer abundance into planning for autumn and winter. It’s a busy month of harvesting, planting, pruning, and replenishing the soil — all to keep your garden productive and healthy. Here’s what to focus on this month:

🧑‍🌾 What to Plant

Now’s the time to start cool-season crops. Most seedlings do best if started in trays, then transplanted once they’re well established.

Start in trays and transplant later:

• Beetroot, broccoli, cabbages, cauliflower, cavolo nero, celery, kale, lettuce, radishes, rocket, spinach, silverbeet, spring onions

• Herbs: coriander, parsley, oregano, rosemary, sage, thyme

Make sure to prepare the soil well before planting — dig in compost and replenish nutrients used by summer crops.

🥬 What to Sow

Direct Sow into garden beds:

• Mustard greens, beetroot, broad beans, carrots, parsnips, peas, radish, rocket, parsley, spinach, silverbeet, calendula

Sow in trays:

• Cabbage, broccoli, lettuce, leeks, shallots, onions, Brussels sprouts, coriander

🥕 Harvest Now

It’s a bumper harvest season! Pick and enjoy:

• Vegetables: Beans (except broad beans), beetroot, broccoli, cabbages, capsicums, carrots, cauliflower, celery, chillies, courgettes, cucumbers, lettuce, marrows, peas, potatoes, sweetcorn, tomatoes

Fruit Tree Care

🍎 Fruit & Tree Care

• Harvest: Grapes, apples, pears, guava, rhubarb, walnuts, passionfruit, and late-season peaches

• Strawberries: Remove runners and pot them up now for winter planting

• Plant: Evergreen, frost-hardy fruit trees like feijoa and guava

• Citrus: March is a great time to plant lemons, limes, mandarins, and oranges. Keep an eye out for our citrus tree fundraiser – orders open in early May!

• Prune: Once stone fruit trees finish fruiting, prune to shape and remove any dead or diseased wood

• Mulch and Feed: Add mulch and organic feed around the base of trees to support fruit development

🌱 Tip: For young citrus trees, remove any fruit to help the tree build a strong frame and root system. Keep the soil moist — nutrients can’t move through dry soil.

🛠 Garden Chores

• Soil care: Turn in compost before planting to restore nutrients

• Carrots: Thin out seedlings to help roots grow evenly

• Sweetcorn: Remove old plants and compost the stalks

• Tomatoes: Pull out plants once they’re finished. Ripen green tomatoes on a sunny windowsill or turn them into chutney or salsa

• Feed: Give established crops a liquid feed once a month to keep them going

• Pest control: Use Tui Quash to manage slugs and snails. No Quash? Try DIY beer traps — a shallow jar with beer buried at soil level will attract and drown them.

  

  
  

🌻 Seasonal Clean-up & Prep

• Summer crops: Pull out any spent summer veggies to make room for winter planting

• Brassicas: Get them in the ground early and protect with netting from white butterflies

• Sunflowers & corn: Chop at the base and leave the roots to break down in the soil — this strengthens soil structure. The stalks can go into compost or be used as mulch under trees

• Pumpkins & squash: Harvest when the stems are dry

• Potatoes: Harvest once the tops have died down

• Worm farm: Consider relocating to a warmer spot to keep worms active during winter

• Seed saving: Collect seeds from your best plants, label them with name and harvest date, and store for next season

🌼 Final Thoughts

March is all about transition — tidying up after summer, setting the stage for winter, and making the most of what’s still producing. With thoughtful care now, your garden will keep giving well into the colder months.