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MARCH
GARDEN GROW? How does your T his month feels like the beginning of the growing year, Anna Taylor, owner of Anna’s Flower Farm in Audley End, shares what’s going on in the garden this month
naturalising in the lawn and adding the edible flowers to salads and cakes. Cyclamen and violets are also beautiful tucked into forgotten corners. This is the last month I’d recommend planting shrubs, trees and perennials ahead of the summer. With the climate disaster going beyond crisis, we can’t know how wet or hot summers might be. I want plenty of dappled shade and fruit trees for organic produce in my future and I am planting more and more perennials to reduce the resources required for annuals. Annuals from seed are my treats now and I consider them to be pure luxury in the productive garden. I like to mix up all planting in the garden with heaving borders of perennials, shrubs, herbs and grasses; vegetables and annuals mixed in beds. All grown to protect the soil by keeping it cool, meaning it requires less watering and weeding, in addition to benefiting a wide diversity of soil biology. Soil is the
though outside it might not look like it. ‘In like a lion, out like a lamb’ as the old saying goes, or perhaps the other way around – you can never tell what might happen in March. We’ve experienced balmy March temperatures as much as snowy, freezing ones. When choosing tasks this month, trust in your instincts and follow the weather, not the date on the calendar. On a dry, mild day, cutting back perennials brings a sense of renewal, as fresh, green growth emerges after last year’s duvet is removed. Clear the stage for bulbs and spring biennials to perform; if it’s a warm, dry month, growth can be rapid. When it’s wet and windy outside, there is often a blue hue to the light, which can feel cooler than in winter. On these days, I can be found in the greenhouse or polytunnel, sowing hardy annuals (those that can stand a little frost) or pricking
PUT DOWN ROOTS Protect your soil for years to come with these simple tips
MAIN IMAGE © ANNA TAYLOR PORTRAIT © CHARLOTTE GRIFFITHS
Follow the weather, not the date on the calendar
them off regretfully but smile proudly when carried out. I always recommend reviewing your planting by keeping a journal for every month of the year, but none more so than this one. Jot down the blossoming trees, narcissus, muscari and early tulips that you might spot in other people’s gardens, and add them to your list to plant in autumn, when you just might have forgotten how delightful this little window between late winter and full-flower spring can be. March perennials are great givers; hellebores are in their stride now with euphorbia, artichoke leaves and ferns as my main cutting materials. I love polyanthus
out and transplanting seedlings. March is unpredictable but, as its name suggests, there is quick forward motion, with lighter evenings stretching out ahead of us. I am delighted by spring bulbs, wall flowers and biennials such as sweet williams, sweet rocket and honesty beginning to bulk up with the promise of new flowers. A brilliant display in early spring is the work of a gardener with foresight, preparing months before: sowing seeds in June, planting out in September. Future displays rely on effort spent when one’s attention is drawn elsewhere. These jobs are bit like, say, flossing: you’ll put
beating heart of the garden and, since focusing on its health, it has reduced the amount of maintenance required. All this is certainly benefiting my own health, too, for I always feel revived and lighter after a few hours in the garden. Anna Taylor grows cut flowers for buckets, events and weddings on Anna’s Flower Farm, Audley End, Saffron Walden. You will find her teaching or designing gardens and planting schemes from the studio in the centre of the plots. You can follow more of her writing on her Substack, Floral Notes
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