Here’s a guide to what you can sow and do in a March kitchen garden, or on an allotment. It’s a busy month, and a small investment of time now can pay large dividends later in the gardening year.

Let’s start with a few timely reminders for which seeds to sow this month, then move on some March garden jobs to do as well.

What to sow in March

Some of my favourite places to get seeds and small plants include:

• Dobies
• Marshalls Garden
• RHS – good for ‘Garden Merit’ tried and tested varieties
• Suttons – lots of 99p seeds and handy advice for beginners
• Thompson & Morgan – all kinds of seeds, strawberry plants, fruit bushes etc

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Sow outdoors in March

It’s a big month for getting lots of seedlings started. Here’s what you can sow outdoors:

• beetroot (under cover, such as a cloche, mini greenhouse or horticultural fleece)
• broad beans
• Brussels sprouts (under cover)
• carrot (under cover)
• cauliflower
• Jerusalem artichoke (tubers)
• kohl rabi (under cover)
• lettuce (under cover)
• mangetout (under cover)
• parsnip
• peas
• potatoes (‘first early’ types)
• radish
• rhubarb crowns
• spinach and chard (under cover)
• spring onion
• sprouting broccoli (to crop in winter & early spring)
• summer broccoli /calabrese (under cover)
• summer cabbage
• turnip (under cover)

Sow indoors in March (warm windowsill or propagator)

• aubergines (if you own a greenhouse)
• chillies (getting a bit late for these but still possible)
• sweet peppers
• tomatoes

Sow indoors (room temperature)

• celeriac
• celery
• fennel (vegetable/Florence type)
• leeks
• lettuce (cooler windowsill)
• rocket
• summer herbs
• sweetcorn

I also like to start off some seeds for companion plants to keep the crops happy, such as:

• French marigolds
• basil
• nasturtiums

There are also a few seedlings to plant out, which I’ll mention in the ‘garden jobs’ section coming up next.

Garden jobs to do in March

1. Ground care

If the soil isn’t frozen, you can remove any early weeds before they get established, and dig in some compost. Top up raised beds with compost or topsoil if needed. Cover cold ground with cloches if it needs to be warmed.

2. Planting out veg

Time to plant:

• chitted seed potatoes (i.e. they’re sprouting ‘eyes’)
• Jerusalem artichoke tubers
• asparagus crowns (prepare soil carefully first)
• onion and shallot sets (not in freezing weather)

3. Fruit care in March

Plant out:

• raspberry canes
• cherry trees
• apple trees
• most other fruit trees and canes (check the care labels)

Feed rhubarb crowns with liquid feed or put some compost around them. Feed blueberry canes with ericaceous liquid feed or granules. Move strawberry plants into greenhouse or put a cloche over them for an earlier crop (you’ll need to pollinate them by hand when they flower).

4. Pest control

Put down some copper rings, slug prevention pellets (please only use organic ones that aren’t toxic to other wildlife) or beer traps to control slugs and snails.

Keep an eye out for early aphids as well. These can often be rinsed or brushed off plants if there are only a few of them.

My March kitchen garden diary

I’m a bit of a fair weather gardener, but in March I always decide that it’s time to sow a lot more seeds. Indoors, it’s tomato, marigold and most herb seeds that get priority, if I haven’t started any of those off during the second half of February. (If they’re sown to be grown outdoors, March is better, but greenhouse plants can be started a bit earlier.)

This year my plan is to have more chive and thyme plants dotted around the garden, and to take better care of the lavender bushes. The local bees seem to love all these flowers, as well as the usual marigolds and nasturtiums that I grow as companion plants.

I’ll also have to sprinkle some extra compost into the raised beds to enrich the soil, before I get on with more outdoor sowing. March means sowing salads to me more than any other month, and the results should be edible in about eight weeks for a lot of it.

Enjoying this article? You may also like:

• What to sow & do in a February kitchen garden
• British seasonal food in March (what to pick this month)

Are you growing your own fruit, veggies and herbs this year? All of this will get your gardening efforts off to a good headstart.