Whether you follow the meteorological calendar or the astronomical one, March heralds the start of spring. Even though there’s still a chill in the air at times, the sun is beginning to find its warmth again. Sap is starting to rise, sunset is drawing further into the evening and the perennial and overwintered plants have noted the lengthening days too. To make the most of all that heightened activity, here’s your guide to what seeds to sow in spring by our resident gardener, Claire Ratinon.

What to sow indoors
March is the month when I sow the majority of my seeds.  Now that the days are getting longer and the temperature is rising, seedlings growing from now on won’t necessarily need the coddling of heat mats and grow lights – unless the space you have for young plants is cold and dark. Lettuce, beetroot, parsley, basil and rocket can all be sown in modules or seed trays (using the same approach described in February’s diary). 

I prefer to sow one lettuce seed per module as I tend to harvest by removing the outer leaves, leaving the heart to grow on, and that’s far easier when the plants aren’t growing as a cluster.  The other crops mentioned above can be multi-sown (3-4 seeds per module) as they will grow happily in a group. Basil – like its ideal growing companion, tomato – needs warmth to germinate so if you don’t have access to warm airing cupboard then a heated seedling mat is helpful. 

As with all vegetable seeds, be sure to keep the compost moist to ensure they get the message that it’s time to start growing.  Seeds need water to activate the enzymes that prompt them to sprout and once the outside of the seed has swollen with moisture, it will break open, and the root will emerge.

It’s also not too late to chit your potatoes. The jury’s out on whether it’s totally necessary to encourage your potatoes to sprout before putting them in the ground but I do it anyway, in hope that it will lead to a heftier yield. Put your seed potatoes in an egg box with their ‘eyes’ pointing up, somewhere bright (but not in direct sun) and cool (but frost free). In a few weeks, green shoots will start to appear.

What to sow outdoors
If there are more bright days than wet and gloomy ones, I might chance sowing some peas, dill and radish seeds directly into the soil (or into a pot) but they may require some protection (with fleece or mesh) from unexpected days of bad weather. If mice and slugs munch on the emerging seed leaves, I’ll try and sow seeds again in a few weeks’ time.

Self-seeded chive plants have started to pop up all over my garden so if you don’t have any yet, direct sow some seeds in your herb bed or container but be warned, if you let them produce their beautiful violet flowers then you’ll likely have chives in your garden forever more!

Gardening tasks
With the improving weather, I’m finally brave enough to face my compost heap after a winter of skulking out into the cold and throwing in vegetable peelings before running back inside. If you’re anything like me, your compost heap is cold and unbalanced after a winter of neglect and has too much smelly, decomposing green matter. So now’s a good time to turn your heap and incorporate some woodchip or shredded cardboard to bring some order and balance to the mix.

Since all living things are waking up this month and finding new energy to grow, now is a perfect time to get some early-in-the-season weeding done.  If you’ve got a good eye for an unwanted young plant, you can get rid of the first flush of annual weeds, such as chickweed or groundsel, as they appear. The first signs of more persistent perennial weeds – like creeping buttercup or dock – are appearing now too so worth removing before their roots bore any deeper. Dandelion and nettle leaves are edible though so, as long as you can confidently identify them, you could always eat your weeds into submission!

The first months of spring are often the wettest of the growing season so set up a water butt now to collect rainwater. This will supplement the mains water you’ll likely need to keep your plants’ thirst quenched in the height of summer.

March is an exciting month, as the garden – and the gardeners – start to creak back into life after a winter spent hiding from the cold. Though I can still see my breath in the morning, fueled by marmalade on toast and copious amounts of tea, I’m at last venturing out in the garden and getting carried away imagining all the possibilities of the growing season ahead.