Jobs to do this month

Spring is with us later this month, and so this is when things start to get busy, as the soil warms up.

General care

Continue mulching, particularly after planting out.
Keep slugs off plants.
Look out for rabbit damage.
Watch out for cold nights and frosty weather, and be ready to protect early sowings if necessary.
Dormant annual weed seeds will start to germinate as the soil warms up. Hoe them off in dry weather before they get established.

Last chance to plant bare-root fruit while it’s still dormant.
Apply a balanced fertiliser such as fish, blood and bone round fruit bushes and trees.
Plant rhubarb crowns.
Plant out strawberry runners.

Harvest winter cabbages.
Sow broad beans, Brussels sprouts, leeks, lettuces, onions, parsley, parsnips, peas, radishes, rocket, spinach and turnips outdoors.
Sow beetroot, celeriac, cucumbers and basil under gla
Plant out broad bean seedlings that were sown earlier in the year.
Plant onion and shallot sets.
It’s not too late to start chitting your seed potatoes, but you’ll be planting them out soon: earlies first, followed by second earlies and first maincrops towards the end of the month.
Plant asparagus crowns in well-manured trenches.
Pot up plugs of hardy herbs such as rosemary, and divide established clump-forming herbs.