In March the scales finally tip. The days grow noticeably longer, the sun gains real strength, and on the first warm afternoons the soil smells of the garden again. This is when the real sowing season begins, indoors and out. It's the month when planning finally turns into rolling up your sleeves.
A word on patience first. March is moody. A mild day is often followed by night frost again. Don't let it rush you, and when in doubt sow a few days later, once the soil is warm enough. March covers roughly CW 10 to 13.
It Starts With the Soil
Before a single seed goes into the ground, the soil comes first. Wait until the beds have dried out. The simple test: grab a handful of soil and squeeze it. If it crumbles apart again, the soil is ready. If it stays a wet clump, it's still too early.
Then loosen the surface gently, without digging deep, and work one to two liters of mature compost per square meter shallowly into the top. For most vegetables that's enough starter feeding to last weeks.
Time to Sow Direct
This is the big moment. Plenty of vegetables can now go straight outdoors. Tough crops germinate even at low temperatures, and a layer of fleece over the top helps in the first few weeks. These sowings do reliably well in March:
- Carrots, radishes and parsnips sown in shallow drills.
- Peas and onion sets go straight into the bed, along with garlic if you forgot to plant it in autumn.
- Spinach, chard, loose-leaf lettuce and rocket give you quick greens.
- Dill and parsley as the first herbs, kohlrabi under fleece.
Draw the drills with the corner of a rake, sow thinly, cover the seeds only as deep as the seed is thick, and press the soil down lightly. Water gently, with a fine rose rather than a gush, so the seed doesn't float away. A little label with the variety and date saves you the guesswork later.
March asks only one thing of you: the courage to begin, and the calm not to chase the weather.
More Sowing on the Windowsill
On the windowsill, the indoor sowing carries on in parallel. Early March is the best time to sow tomatoes. Sown too early, they get tall and leggy before it's time to plant them out in May. Toward the end of the month come the fast heat-lovers, zucchini and squash, plus cabbage, lettuces and leeks.
Planting Fruit Trees and Rhubarb
As long as the woody plants haven't broken bud yet, it's planting time. Bare-root fruit trees and berry bushes establish best now. Rhubarb can be planted or divided in March too: cut an old, vigorous clump into pieces with a spade, each with at least one bud, and set them in a sunny, nutrient-rich spot. You won't harvest in the first year, but you will for many years after.
The Ornamental Garden Bursts Into Color
Now what you tucked into the ground in autumn pays off. Tulips, daffodils and crocuses bring the first big splash of color to the bed, and with them come the first bumblebees.
The bright yellow of the forsythia is also the most reliable signal of the gardening year: now it's time to prune the roses. Cut back to an outward-facing bud, remove dead and weak wood, and open up the center. Many perennials can be divided now, too. That rejuvenates the plant and, as a bonus, gives you extra stock for other beds or for the gardening friend next door.
Your March in Brief
- Prepare the soilLoosen the beds once the soil has dried out, work in compost shallowly.
- Sow directCarrots, radishes, peas, spinach and loose-leaf lettuce outdoors.
- Keep starting indoorsSow tomatoes at the start of March, zucchini and squash at the end, on the windowsill.
- PlantSet out bare-root fruit trees and shrubs, plant or divide rhubarb.
- ProtectWarm young sowings with fleece, keep night frost in mind.
- Ornamental gardenPrune the roses when the forsythia blooms, divide perennials.
Häufige Fragen
How do I tell if the soil is ready for sowing?
By the finger test. Squeeze a handful of soil: if it crumbles apart when you open your hand, you can sow. If it sticks together in a wet clump, the soil is still too damp. Then it's better to wait for a few sunny days.
Can't I just sow tomatoes earlier?
You can, but it rarely pays off. Tomatoes started too early get too tall, leggy and hungry for light by the time you plant them out in mid-May. Sown in early March, they're strong and compact at just the right moment.
When exactly do I prune the roses?
Go by the forsythia. When its yellow opens up, the soil is warm enough and the hardest frosts are usually past. That's a more reliable indicator than any fixed date.
Your March at a Glance
March can feel as if everything has to happen at once. It doesn't. Start with the soil, sow the tough crops, and give the rest time. What you don't manage this week often does even better next week, because the soil will be a little warmer by then.
In Gartenkern you lay out your sowings as rows in the bed planner and record what you sowed and when. That way you can see at a glance where there's still space, and next March you'll know exactly which Carrot 'Nantaise' germinated best for you. Your garden learns a little more every year, right alongside you.
