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This video explains which jobs to focus on at the start of the growing season to prepare a garden or allotment for successful planting. It shows practical tasks that help plants establish strongly.
The guide covers preparing beds, sowing seeds, improving soil, organising tools and checking structures. It also explains how completing these tasks early improves plant health and productivity.
If you want a strong start to the growing season, this video provides practical beginner-friendly advice on seasonal garden preparation and planning.
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0:00
hello and welcome to gardening with
0:03
Ben's awardwinning podcast as voted by
0:07
grow your own magazine and by my
0:09
followers and listeners so if you're new
0:12
to the podcast make sure you click that
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subscribe button to stay up to date with
0:15
all our podcasts listen back to all our
0:18
previous episodes sit back grab a brew
0:21
and let's enjoy today's
0:24
episode good evening and welcome back to
0:27
gardening with Ben for a new podcast on
0:32
this Tuesday morning on the 1st of March
0:36
we are finally in March and let's keep
0:40
us fingers crossed that it's not going
0:42
to be a bad and miserable March because
0:46
it can be you never know it could be
0:49
very snowy some marches are very snowy
0:52
but then some we can get heat waves if
0:55
you remember back to the first lockdown
0:58
what we had in the UK
1:00
we had a massive heat wve and I was able
1:03
to start off most of my seeds and get
1:05
them all germinated in then and fingers
1:08
crossed come the end of March that is
1:11
when I'm going to be sewing literally
1:13
all of my seeds as that is when I
1:15
usually start mine in my unheated
1:18
greenhouse and start getting them
1:20
growing because I like to get them
1:23
started then because like I say it's
1:26
unheated Greenhouse so it can take a
1:29
while from to J terminate but if you get
1:31
a few good spell days it will get them
1:33
started and get them going as I don't
1:36
have shelves in my house or I haven't
1:38
got a garden with a greenhouse I have to
1:40
start everything off down at my
1:42
allotment so I have to make use of what
1:44
I've got and hence one of the reasons
1:47
why I've been trying to fix it and
1:48
repair it from these storms to try and
1:51
make it warmer again so that we can get
1:53
those seeds germinated and the other day
1:55
when I was in the greenhouse it got up
1:58
to 20° so but it shows the weather is
2:01
starting to get warmer and it is getting
2:04
time to start getting those seeds
2:06
germinated and getting them growing and
2:09
yeah I'm I'm getting on with getting my
2:11
plot ready getting all the jobs done
2:13
getting it all ship shape and ready I'm
2:16
hoping that my plot will be complete for
2:20
around the end of April all my jobs will
2:23
been done by the end of April and I can
2:26
get sewing planting stuff
2:28
outside POS
2:30
couple of weeks into May once the chance
2:32
of frost has passed because I I'm not
2:36
one of these Keen ones that likes to
2:37
plant stuff out early I wait until the
2:40
chance of frost has definitely passed
2:42
because I've seen so many people
2:45
planting stuff outside and losing crops
2:49
and it's disheartening they've tried
2:51
growing them all from seed or they've
2:53
been out and purchase the plants and
2:55
then they've lost them all to the frost
2:57
so it's not worth it being too eager
2:59
sometimes s it's best off waiting until
3:03
the time is right to actually plant
3:04
stuff
3:06
outside so in today's episode we're
3:08
going to be talking about all the jobs
3:11
which need doing in your garden and
3:13
allotment in March and tomorrow's
3:15
episode will be all about what seeds we
3:18
can plant in March so make sure you do
3:21
click that subscribe button because then
3:23
you'll get notified when the episode
3:25
comes online and you will be able to be
3:29
the first to listen to it and yeah keep
3:31
sharing them in your stories on
3:33
Instagram or if you've listened to an
3:35
episode send me a message after you've
3:37
listened uh just asking any questions
3:40
you may have or whether you've enjoyed
3:42
it it's always good to interact with the
3:44
people that listen to it and it's
3:46
amazing how many people do listen to
3:48
these podcasts it really does make my
3:51
day and I certainly do enjoy interacting
3:54
with everyone cuz that's the sort of
3:55
person I am I love chatting to people
3:58
and I love making new guarden in friends
4:01
so in this episode we're going to talk
4:02
about all the different jobs which need
4:04
doing in the allotment and the garden we
4:07
usually start off with what needs doing
4:08
in the vegetable garden then the fruit
4:10
garden and then what needs doing in the
4:13
flower garden so you can either make a
4:15
not to this or you can listen back to it
4:18
a few times and make sure you get all
4:21
them jobs done and tick them off as you
4:23
go along and the quicker you get them
4:25
done the more time you have to doing
4:27
other jobs around the the
4:30
allotment so yeah first off what needs
4:33
doing in the vegetable garden not many
4:37
jobs in the vegetable garden as
4:38
obviously we're not growing much at the
4:40
moment outside in the veg patch but if
4:44
you're grow asparagus you can prepare
4:47
your beds this month making sure that
4:49
they're Weed Free and if you've got your
4:51
asparagus crowns in the ground at the
4:53
moment add some mulch around them
4:56
because that will help keep the weeds
4:58
down it will keep the ground moist and
5:01
it will give it the nutrients it needs
5:03
to get in some good asparagus growing
5:07
and obviously asparagus is expensive to
5:10
buy in the shops so if you can plant
5:12
some asparagus good on you go for it and
5:15
save some money and then when you invite
5:17
your friends around you can have some
5:19
nice Posh meals and show them the
5:21
asparagus that you have made and cooked
5:23
for
5:24
them if you've been growing green manure
5:27
in your beds to to keep uh over winter
5:32
now is the time to dig it over and dig
5:35
it into the soil this will help add the
5:38
nutrients into the soil for your plants
5:41
for the coming year so if you're growing
5:43
green manure in your beds get that dug
5:46
over now I've never actually done this I
5:48
need to have a look into growing green
5:50
manure um I just tend to not do much
5:54
over winter but obviously growing green
5:57
manure you can add the nutrient back
6:00
into the ground and it really does help
6:02
the
6:03
plants so the vegetable beds make sure
6:06
that they're all Weed Free get them all
6:08
ready if you want to warm them up put
6:10
some sheets of plastic over the top that
6:12
will warm the beds up and encourage it
6:15
for when it you're sewing your peas and
6:17
stuff outside warming the soil up can
6:20
help speed germination up as well I've
6:23
seen some people plant the onion sets
6:26
and then put black plastic over the top
6:28
to warm them up and to get them
6:30
sprouting and it does work and it's same
6:33
goes for growing potatoes in the ground
6:36
they put the potatoes in the ground then
6:38
put BL black plastic over the top and it
6:40
warms it up and speeds up the uh
6:44
germination of the plant and you can get
6:46
some good crops from doing this now onto
6:50
the fruit Garden jobs now obviously
6:52
doing the fruit Garden jobs is very
6:55
important because if you look after your
6:56
fruit plants they will give you
6:59
fantastic it crops back so you need to
7:01
make sure you get these fruit Garden
7:03
jobs done and as you will have seen I've
7:05
been making my fruit Garden absolutely
7:08
massive now on my plot I've extended it
7:10
and created a new area with lots of new
7:13
food in it and I've got more planed on
7:15
Thursday so make sure you stay tuned on
7:17
Instagram because I'll be sharing some
7:19
pictures of new stuff what I'm going to
7:20
be planting on Thursday my fruit Garden
7:24
yes I've got even more fruit garden
7:27
garden stuff to plant but over the next
7:30
few years my fruit production is going
7:33
to be fantastic I do love growing fruit
7:36
because it's so quick and simple just to
7:38
eat it you don't have to cook it or
7:40
anything like that so the fruit Garden
7:43
is something that I absolutely love on
7:45
my allotment and you will have seen from
7:48
how many strawberries I grow so if
7:51
you're growing blueberries feed your
7:53
blue BRZ this month with some ericaceous
7:56
plant
7:57
fertilizer now this is something I need
8:00
to look at doing because obviously I've
8:02
just planted some new blueberries and
8:04
I've already got two growing already and
8:07
I've never actually fed them before so I
8:10
do need to look into feeding them and
8:13
giving them something so after this
8:15
episode after I've recorded it I'll be
8:17
adding it to my shopping basket and
8:19
getting some ordered hopefully uh to
8:22
feed my uh blueberri plants with because
8:25
again blueberries are expensive to buy
8:27
in the supermarket so if you can get a
8:31
good return from the blueberry plants
8:34
then why not get them growing fruit
8:36
trees make sure you've mulched them all
8:39
this month to give them the food that
8:41
they need to help grow they'll soon be
8:43
starting to Blossom so make sure they're
8:46
all mulched up and yeah look after them
8:50
keep looking after them give them water
8:52
if it's
8:53
dry obviously trees will drink as much
8:56
water as you give them so keep giving
8:58
them a drink of water to help grow them
9:01
and encourage their Blossom to
9:05
fruition
9:07
raspberries make sure the tips of the
9:09
summer fru and raspberries have had the
9:11
tops cut off them this will encourage
9:14
the raspberries to Bush out and produce
9:16
more fruit so if you've left your canes
9:20
from last year which have grown which
9:23
will be the ones that fruit this year
9:26
trim the tops off the canes and that
9:28
will help make them Bush out and produce
9:31
more fruit because they will focus on
9:34
growing the fruit rather than growing
9:36
any tall of the
9:39
canes rhubarb mulch your rhubarb this
9:42
month but do not cover the Crowns if you
9:45
cover your crowns The Mulch can burn the
9:47
crowns and kill the crowns off so make
9:50
sure you leave an area around the crown
9:53
so that it's not touching the crown I
9:56
sometimes give man chicken manure as
9:58
well as that helps feed them as well
10:01
over the next few months as it Waters
10:04
down and feeds into the
10:07
soil strawberries if you wanted an early
10:09
crop what you can do is cover them with
10:12
a clutch and this will warm them up and
10:15
help produce the flowers a lot faster
10:18
but do remember to take the clutches off
10:20
when the flowers are starting to come
10:21
out because the bees will need to get on
10:23
them and help pollinate them so yeah if
10:26
you want an early crop of strawberries
10:29
do do that but I'm going to wait until
10:31
Wim buing time I always like my round
10:33
Wim
10:34
buing Stone fruits if you're grow
10:37
nectarines apricots and peaches cover
10:40
the trees with fleece to protect the
10:43
Blossom from frost because the BL
10:46
Blossom can get killed by the frost and
10:49
you don't want that so good luck if
10:52
you've got really tall trees but try and
10:54
protect them as much as possible flower
10:58
garden jobs now these are the tips that
11:01
I need to start reading up on more
11:03
because as I am getting on this year I
11:06
am growing more and more flowers uh
11:09
again watch out on Thursday you'll be
11:11
able to see what else I've purchased for
11:13
my allotment for the flower department
11:16
wow it's I'm getting addicted to Growing
11:19
these flowers but I just can't wait to
11:21
see the show what's going to happen in
11:24
spring and summer this year down at my
11:25
plot the color is going to be absolutely
11:28
amazing and again if you've got an
11:30
allotment plant flowers encourage the
11:33
bees to come if you're the only plot
11:35
that's got flowers on them the bees will
11:37
come to your plot and then they'll help
11:40
pollinate all your fruit as well and
11:42
that's what you want to encourage so
11:44
plant flowers plant flowers if you've
11:46
got some space everybody's got some
11:49
space put them down your borders down
11:51
the side of the plot plant some summer
11:53
bulbs get everything growing all the
11:57
flowers look into it again listen to
12:00
tomorrow's episode and you'll be able to
12:02
hear all the different flowers you can
12:05
plant in
12:07
March if you grow in clamus what you
12:10
need to do is prune these back now
12:13
before the new growth starts on them
12:16
because they'll start growing again now
12:18
if they've been dormant over winter now
12:20
is the time to get them prune back
12:22
before the new growth starts on them now
12:25
I've just planted a clator and mine's
12:27
obviously very small so I want the
12:29
pruning mine but I am looking forward to
12:33
watching it grow and training it along
12:36
my shed and I C I really can't wait for
12:38
the clus it's something that I've always
12:40
wanted to grow on my alotment so I'm
12:42
looking forward to
12:43
that daffodils mine haven't popped open
12:46
yet they're still waiting to pop open
12:49
but obviously if it's down south you
12:51
might be getting them out already they
12:54
might be popping open if it's War where
12:57
you are they will still start to open so
13:01
as daffodils start to die back you can
13:04
dehe head them but do not cut them back
13:06
to the base just dehe head them and let
13:10
them rot back to the bulb because all
13:13
the nutrients go back into the bulb and
13:15
it will store it for next year so do not
13:19
trim off them ugly looking leaves what
13:21
it leaves behind just leave them and let
13:24
them Rock back to the
13:25
bulb he if you've got any old dead he
13:30
what's DED back after winter now is the
13:33
time to prune it back and shape it up
13:36
ready for the year
13:38
ahead
13:39
hydranges one thing that you don't prune
13:42
when the flowers die on them you leave
13:44
the heads on them all the way through
13:47
the winter it's one thing my grandma
13:49
always used to tell me Ben don't Pro my
13:52
hyers until
13:54
Springtime and as you will notice your
13:57
Hy engers will start to
13:59
send out fresh shoots now and start
14:03
budding up so now is the time that these
14:07
can be pruned back you might want to
14:08
wait until middle and end of March but
14:11
now is the time to start deheading the
14:14
Hy Rangers and you can take them back to
14:17
around 13d of last year's growth on them
14:21
so yeah start shaping up those hyd
14:23
rangers for fantastic flowers this year
14:26
and as I shared the other day I've just
14:28
got four new Hydro engers on my plot
14:31
I've never grown Hydro engers before so
14:33
it's something new for my plot so I'm
14:35
looking forward to those Hy rers growing
14:38
on my plot and getting some fantastic
14:40
color from her now something I do need
14:43
to get for my allotment for this next
14:45
tip is fuches so prune these back this
14:49
month to around two buds on each
14:53
stem that's for fuchur prun these back
14:56
this month to around two buds on each
14:59
stem and it's definitely something I
15:02
want to get from my plot a
15:04
fuchsia but if I'm getting a fuchsia it
15:07
will need to be a Hardy variety that
15:09
will last for winter because I don't
15:12
want to have one that I have to keep
15:14
taking inside all the time I want one
15:16
that I can actually look after and leave
15:19
outside
15:21
panes if you want them to keep flowering
15:24
keep deheading them they'll start to die
15:27
back a bit this month
15:29
but just keep deheading them as they die
15:31
off the flowers and you never know you
15:33
might keep getting some flowers on them
15:35
and keep attracting um making it look
15:38
nice and beautiful pansies are something
15:40
that definitely add color to the plot
15:43
and that's one thing that I am going to
15:45
be sewing in the next few months is
15:47
pansies I've got some seeds to grow I've
15:50
grown them from seed before and they did
15:52
fantastic first time I've grown them
15:54
from seed and I'm definitely going to be
15:57
growing them again
16:00
perennials if you've got any perennials
16:02
that are growing in the garden or
16:04
alotment cut back any old foilage ready
16:07
for the new growth this year roses if
16:11
you're wanting to prune your roses these
16:13
can be pruned back this month ready for
16:16
the new growth growing this year and
16:19
then last but not least slugs the
16:22
dreaded slugs slugs will start coming
16:25
out of hibernation they'll start waking
16:27
up again they'll start looking for that
16:29
fresh vegetation all them fresh new
16:32
plants that you're going to be planting
16:34
they're going to be looking for them yes
16:36
they will come out at night and they
16:38
will start attacking again so start
16:41
getting those beer traps set up ready to
16:44
catch them
16:46
slugs obviously we don't want to
16:49
encourage slug pallets so try and think
16:51
of other ways of catching them slugs and
16:55
I tell you what some people do they
16:57
actually go out at night with a
16:59
flashlight and they actually go out
17:02
catching all the Slugs yes people do
17:04
that because that's when the slugs come
17:06
out mainly at night they won't come out
17:09
in the daytime much you may see a few
17:12
but they don't come out as much as they
17:13
do at night
17:15
and one tip what I was taught about
17:21
watering is never water at night because
17:25
the ground will be wet and that will
17:27
encourage the Slugs to come out at night
17:29
and eat your crops water the plants in
17:32
the morning before the sun comes up this
17:35
is obviously in the hot periods water
17:37
the plants before the sun comes up do it
17:40
then and you will protect your crops
17:43
better from the Slugs so that is one big
17:46
tip you can learn from today water your
17:49
plants in the morning and not at night
17:52
and yeah it's going to be a busy old
17:55
March and tomorrow's episode will be a
17:58
very long one because there is lots and
18:00
lots of stuff that we can start to S
18:03
obviously today's episode is a longer
18:05
episode than usual usually they're only
18:07
about 10 to 12 minutes long but we've as
18:10
the season goes on these episodes will
18:12
get longer because we'll have more and
18:14
more to talk about and I do love talking
18:17
about all these different topics and I I
18:20
I get excited sometimes when I'm just
18:21
talking to this microphone on my own as
18:24
I'm saying all these tips but I do
18:26
really hope that they do help you and
18:28
and they do give you tips yourself
18:32
because like I always say I've just
18:34
learned all this as I've been doing it
18:37
over the years there's still so much to
18:39
learn and as I do these episodes I learn
18:42
things I research things I look up
18:44
things before I do these episodes so
18:47
yeah I I'm learning every single day so
18:51
I do hope you enjoy these epes do click
18:53
that subscribe button to get notified of
18:55
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18:59
listening on Spotify you can just click
19:01
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story but don't forget to tag me so that
19:07
I know that you've shared it and I can
19:09
thank you for doing it so until next
19:12
time remember keep smiling keep
19:15
gardening and keep listening to
19:17
gardening with Ben's podcast see you all
19:20
tomorrow everyone so thank you for
19:22
listening to today's episode of
19:25
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