How to garden in March
Plus: twenty ways to make a cottage garden in the city
Hello - and it’s very nearly the end of February and I’m imagining that there are going to be A LOT of garden-related posts saying Well thank goodness for that. To be fair, there was one very exciting day last week when all the colour came back to the world: it was extraordinary:
It was just a teaser though, for the next day was back to grey, but that colour and light had so clearly uplifted everyone, so I decided to grab some instacolour. To jolly things up, I did this, which involved nothing more difficult than scooping up a few primulas from the stand outside my local grocer’s, and shoving them in a pot.
I plonked this pot on the Table of Joy, which is now just by the garden gate, so that it cheers everyone - the postman smiled.
Happiness is colour - there’s no colour scheme here at all, just pure, unadulterated, saturated joy. I can totally recommend this bit of colour therapy.
If you’re new to The Gardening Mind and are wondering what we’re all about here, have a look at this. Also, please do head to the Home Page on your browser. There you’ll find over four years’ worth of design articles, plant profiles, garden challenges, short courses, tutorials, and lots and lots more.
If you haven’t quite decided what style of garden you like, or want, but you want to do something to your garden, there are lots of previous posts to read through which I think you’ll find helpful. There’s the Small Garden Design course to follow, garden design case studies and planting lists for roof terraces, and sections on Country Gardens, and Wildlife Gardening. You’ll find lots of ‘before and after’ examples, too, which I’m hoping will help show you what’s possible. It’s all there on the Home Page.
I post twice a week, with a shorter article midweek - here’s the latest in case you missed it.
Then, the bumper edition comes each Saturday. It isn’t always meant to be a bumper edition, but what happens is that I start writing, and think of something else I need to tell you about. And then something else…. and so it goes on. I’ve seen that today’s post is apparently a 22-minute read - I don’t really think it is - but you can always skim!
Back to today
The last couple of days have been back-from-Denver-jet-lag kind of days, straight back into the studio, looking for a new designer to join our team, taking the dog to the vets, sorting out a leaky bathroom and general life: this is of course because my book deadline is this coming Wednesday evening. Because of the rushing around chaos, I do massively apologise in advance for any typos here in today’s post - I’ve been checking the book manuscript for typos and nonsense (there’s a lot of both) and I think I’ve become typo-blind at the moment, so please forgive the errors. Pant instead of plant seems to be the one that plagues my posts the most.
The sun is higher in the sky and the days are feeling noticeably longer, which is frankly brilliant. Have you sensed that excitement yet when it’s STILL LIGHT WAY AFTER 5 O’CLOCK? This month in the Northern Hemisphere, on Fri, 20 Mar 2026 at 2.46 pm precisely, we’ve got the Spring Equinox to look forward to.
Yes, you read that right. The actual equinox of actual spring. Friends, we are really, nearly there. For readers in the southern hemisphere, thank you for passing on your spring to us, and we’ll be thinking of you as we wheel around.
A new month means new what-to-dos and what-not-to-dos in the garden here in The Gardening Mind, and that also means another lovely new illustration by Anna Lena Feunekes which is just so jolly - I hope you like it.
I’ve started to think about cottage gardens in towns and cities - you may have been following the Cottage Garden Design Course here and thinking that you won’t be able to achieve this look in an urban environment. I’m here to tell you the twenty ways that you absolutely can make a cottage garden in the city. It’s all below.
Coming up today: twenty ways to make a cottage garden in the city Your feedback on the questionable love/hate plants was brilliant - and I particularly enjoyed the fact that some readers were palpably swaying in their opinions - thank you for the entertainment!
On 2nd March we are having our Gardening Mind Gardener’s Question Time online - you can find the link below.
Even if you don’t get very far down today’s lists, can I just say:
SLUGS:
They are out. They are on the march and they are approaching. Read and do.
I’ve been editing all your suggestions into our list of recommended seed suppliers in the UK, North America and many other countries - thank you for all your comments and recommendations. If you still would like to add yours, you can do it here.
Every year each month is different - this time last year I was writing about warm weather and the fact we shouldn’t be fooled by a Fool’s Spring. I’d say we’ve had one day of a Fool’s Spring this year, and in fact it’s very unlikely that we’ve been fooled by that at all.
Let’s look on the bright side
It’s March tomorrow. That’s it - January and February will be done and dusted for the year and we’ll be officially able to say that meteorological spring is here. We’ve got through the bulk of winter, the Wheel of the Year has wheeled itself around once more, and it’s time for the garden to start showing us that it’s waking up. Time to get excited….
And remember, on Sunday mornings we get together on Show Us Your Plots - if you haven’t tried this out yet, why not make this March the month in which you do? It’s easy, honestly, and most importantly, it’s fun:
I’m reminding myself it’s really sort of Spring - and there’s a sense of life - can you sense it?
Have you had snowdrops this year?
If you did, in a few weeks it’ll be time to divide them and plant them all over the garden. If you didn’t have them but saw pictures like this:
and decided that next year is going to be the year of the snowdrop in your garden, then I suggest you get ordering them right now. Snowdrops are best planted ‘in the green’, which means they’ve just been lifted and are positively stuffed with energy and raring to get going as soon as they’re replanted. Details of where I’m ordering mine are in the PS section below.
Free plants: