March in the Organic Garden 

March is when the garden starts to wake up, and so do we! The days are getting longer, temperatures are creeping up (hopefully), and there’s plenty to do. Whether you’re tidying up after winter or getting a head start on sowing, here’s your essential March Garden Jobs List—organic, beginner-friendly, and perfect for UK & Ireland (Zones 8-9)

Vegetable Garden Jobs

✔ Sow Indoors: Tomatoes, chilies, aubergines, peppers, celery, celeriac, lettuce, and early brassicas (cabbage, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts). Start them on a warm windowsill or in a heated propagator.

✔ Sow Direct (if soil isn’t waterlogged or frozen): Beetroot, carrots, parsnips, peas, broad beans, spinach, radishes, salad leaves, and turnips. Cover with fleece or cloches to help them along.

✔ Potatoes: If you haven’t already, get your first early potatoes in the ground. Second earlies can go in toward the end of the month.

✔ Onions & Garlic: Plant onion sets and garlic cloves if you didn’t get them in during autumn.

✔ Prepare Beds: Weed, add compost or well-rotted manure, and warm up the soil with fleece or cloches before sowing.

✔ Feed Hungry Crops: Brassicas, overwintering onions, and garlic will appreciate a boost of organic feed (seaweed feed or homemade compost tea).

Flower Garden Jobs

✔ Deadhead Spring Bulbs: Once daffodils and early tulips fade, remove spent flowers to stop seed formation but leave the foliage to die back naturally.

✔ Sow Hardy Annuals: Direct sow calendula, cornflowers, nigella, and poppies for summer blooms.

✔ Divide Perennials: Snowdrops, primroses, and other clump-forming perennials can be divided now to give them more space.

✔ Cut Back Ornamental Grasses: If you left them for winter interest, now’s the time to trim them down to encourage fresh growth.

✔ Pot Up Dahlias & Begonias: If you stored them over winter, pot them up indoors to get a head start before planting out later.

✔ Prune Roses: If you didn’t get to it in February, prune bush roses now.