Gardening tips for March

March is one of the busiest months of the year for gardening preparation, according to allotment expert Caroline Foley.

She makes her comments in her blog in the Guardian, explaining that horticulturalists can begin to sow their seeds in cold frames, a polytunnel or even a couple of plastic water bottles.

Ms Foley adds that summer cabbages for harvesting in June can now be sown outside under fleece and that even earlier crops can be started off providing they are placed in a propagator that is set to 16 degrees C.

Once soil temperature has reached seven degrees C then early carrots can be sown under cloches, recommending that carrots seeds are planted in a compost mix that is both fertile and sandy.

In related news, Rosa Steppanova wrote in the Shetland Times that early March is also the ideal time to begin to sow vegetables such as onions or cabbages under glass.