This Morning: Daisy talks about winter gardening tasks
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Morris Hankinson, Managing Director of Hopes Grove Nurseries, has shared the one gardening job gardeners should “not do” in March. There are plenty of gardening jobs Britons can be getting on with this month, however, gardeners shouldn’t be “tempted” to plant certain things out too early. The gardening expert said gardeners should not plant “any kind of plant that is in any way tender.”
He continued to say gardeners should not “be fooled” by the weather when it’s mild.
Morris added: “Tender bedding plants, tender vegetables, anything that doesn’t like the frost – it’s way too early.
“I hate to spoil the fun but it is.
“You’re looking at May, second half of May before you start bringing those kinds of plants outside.
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“We still get frost at the beginning of May. Most years we get at least one.”
A tender plant is a perennial plant that won’t survive being outdoors in winter because it is sensitive to frost.
Some examples of tender plants include fuchsia, lemon verbena, dahlia, canna and lantana.
Some tender perennials can become blackened when they experience their first frost.
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Stems can also collapse, and fruit trees can end up with damaged blossom and young fruits.
Morris said while it may be tempting to plant out pretty bedding plants, instead, they should be kept somewhere warm.
He said: “We love seeing the flowers in the garden centres and the nurseries but if it’s not a hardy plant – by all means buy it if you’ve got somewhere where you can grow it on where it’s warm – but don’t go and plant it in the garden. Tempting as it is.”
Another March gardening tip from Morris included “covering rhubarb up”.
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Gardeners can do this using an old dustbin or a bucket.
Tip either container upside down over the rhubarb clump to exclude light.
Preventing light from reaching the crowns leads to pale stalks which are better for cooking.
Morris added: “Within a few weeks you will have your own supply of delicious, forced rhubarb for pies and crumbles.”
Forced rhubarb is also softer and sweeter than rhubarb harvested in the early summer.
Recipes usually require less sugar with forced rhubarb thanks to its sweetness.
Hopes Grove Nurseries was established 27 years ago and grows approximately one million hedge plants in 50 acres of land in Tenterden.
The nurseries regularly supplies plants for ITV’s Love Your Garden which features Alan Titchmarsh and David Domoney.
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