Jobs to do this March

1. Sow vegetable seeds

   Once temperatures improve, many vegetable crops can be sown outdoors. And there are even more – such as tomatoes, peppers, aubergines, beans, sweetcorn and cucumbers – that can be sown indoors in warmth.

2. Dividing perennials

   Give a new lease of life to overgrown clumps of hardy geraniums, hostas, sedums, daylilies and other perennials. Dig them up, chop them into smaller sections and replant the best bits in soil enriched with compost.

3. Daffodils

   Make sure next year’s display of daffodils is as good as this year’s. Take off any dead flowers and feed them once a week with Flower Power Premium Plant Food. Don’t tie up or remove their leaves for at least the first six to eight weeks after flowering.

4. Tidy up honeysuckle

   If your honeysuckle is an overgrown mess, now’s the time to sort it out. If it’s just a little bit tangled at the top, trim it with shears. But really overgrown plants should be cut back hard, to about 45cm/18in from the ground.

5. Plant seed potatoes

   Towards the end of the month plant out your early cropping spuds. Plant the tubers 22.5cm/9in deep, 30cm/12in apart. When the young shoots appear, mound soil over them to protect from frost and to boost the crop.

6. Feed spring bedding plants

   Give pansies, primulas and other spring-flowering bedding plants a feed with high potash fertiliser like Flower Power Premium Plant Food. This’ll help them put on an even better display over the next few weeks.

7. Houseplant care

   Check over your houseplants as they begin to regrow. Remove any dead leaves, spray for any pests and repot any plants that are potbound. Start watering houseplants more regularly and give them a real treat by feeding once a fortnight with Flower Power Premium Plant Food.

8. Care for summer bedding plants

   Hard prune overwintering geraniums, fuchsias and marguerites. Repot with fresh compost, and water them in. Feed them weekly for the next three weeks with my Flower Power Premium Plant Food if you want to encourage extra quick growth.

9. Greenfly & blackly

   Check plants – especially tulips, pansies and rose shoots – for early signs of greenfly or blackfly. Squash the blighters if possible or spray with my Pest Control Concentrate.