GINA PARKINSON despairs of ever getting outside but does find some jobs that can be done in this chilliest of spells

WHAT a strange month March has been this year for gardeners. Normally it is busy outside, but this year there has been only the shortest time for pruning and dividing, digging and mulching, before snow and frost return, accompanied by that biting icy wind.

For most of us it has been best to avoid doing these jobs, as the soil has been too cold and the air temperature too low for anything constructive to be achieved. Sometimes the garden just has to be left alone. Now Easter has arrived, traditionally one of the busiest times for gardeners, and the forecast for our area is for night temperatures possibly as low as minus four.

So what can we be doing in the garden this Easter weekend to avoid going stir crazy while cooped up inside? One idea is to look forward to a flowery summer by potting up dahlia and begonia tubers.

Garden centres and nurseries will have plenty to choose from, so it is a good time to go along and see what is on offer. These plants are usually sold as individual dry tubers in perforated plastic bags with a picture showing the colour and type of bloom and planting instructions.

The tubers will look dry and a little wrinkled, but should be firm and clean. Avoid buying ones that are shrivelled, soft or showing signs of mould. Dahlias may have a few small shoots showing, which is fine, but don’t bother with ones that have already produced long pale stems.

While in a planting frame of mind, the seed-sowing can be caught up with as we reach the end of March. Bring the compost indoors to warm up if it has been stored outside, as the tiny seeds will not appreciate being launched into frozen soil.

If time is tight, concentrate on the ones that need to be done by this month because they are likely to be plants that take a little longer to flower or mature into vegetable crops. Faster-growing plants can be left until April or May according to the instructions.

 

In the veg garden

ALTHOUGH the same rules apply in the vegetable garden as far as the weather is concerned, there are a couple of jobs that need to be done now.

Autumn-fruiting raspberries carry fruit on canes formed this year and are cut back in late winter, so they need to be pruned as soon as possible. Take out the old fruited canes back to the ground. New shoots will probably be noticeable already at ground level; these will grow up over the next few months and carry fruit at the end of the summer.

If the ground isn’t frozen, clear out any weeds and cover in a thick layer of garden compost. Raspberries have shallow fibrous roots so avoid digging around them too deeply which may disturb or damage them.

In a mild March, vegetables such as broad beans, carrots, spinach, salad leaves, beetroot and parsnips can be sown outside. Since this is probably not a good idea this year, they can be started off in seed trays or modules and grown on until the weather improves.

Keep them in a cool room indoors or above freezing in a greenhouse or cold frame. Just sow a few for the moment; it will satisfy the need to get something growing.

 

Gardening workshops

THERE are several gardening workshops at Stillingfleet Lodge Gardens during April. April 6 sees owner Vanessa Cook looking at free-range poultry keeping, Rachel Carter will hold a willow-weaving course on April 8 and Vanessa shows how to choose and grow small flowering trees on April 17.

Places for each of the courses must be booked in advance. Visit stillingfleetlodgenurseries.co.uk for further details and to book.

 

Open garden

Today

In aid of the National Gardens Scheme

Ellerker House, Everingham, YO42 4JA, 15 miles south east of York. Five-acre garden on sandy soil with spring bulbs, mature trees, woodland walk around a lake, formal lawn, thatched oak breeze hut and several seating areas with views over the garden. Open 12-5pm, admission £3.50.

 

Gardening TV and Radio

Tomorrow

8am, BBC Radio Humberside, The Great Outdoors. With Blair Jacobs and Doug Stewart.

9am, BBC Radio York, Ross Dickinson. Ross Dickinson sits in for Mark Forrest in this week’s programme of gardens and gardening tips.

9am, BBC Radio Leeds, Tim Crowther and Joe Maiden.

2pm, BBC R4, Gardeners’ Question Time. Chris Beardshaw, Pippa Greenwood, Anne Swithinbank and chairman Peter Gibbs are at the Jodrell Bank Discovery Centre in Cheshire.

Friday

3pm, BBC R4, Gardeners’ Question Time. Chairman Eric Robson is in Newcastle where he is joined by panellists Bob Flowerdew, Bunny Guinness and Matthew Wilson at the North of England Bee Keepers Convention.

8.30pm, BBC2, Gardeners’ World. Monty Don pots up bulbs for summer colour and considers if the soil is warm enough to plant the first potatoes. Meanwhile Carol Klein looks at cultivated varieties of celandine and Rachel de Thame finds out about another spring flower, the hepatica.