Gardening in March: tasks & tips
As the cold season comes to an end, in March the garden is starting to bloom and get green again. Find out what to do now.
21.11.2025
Overview: gardening in March
- March marks the start of the new gardening season
- Time to tidy the garden and get the garden furniture out
- Design a wildlife-friendly garden for birds and bees
- Mow lawns, turn compost and improve soil
- Note that hedge trimming is prohibited between 1 March and 30 September
March gardening offers plenty of scope for getting going with the new season. Among other things, you can expect to do the following tasks:
- Getting the garden into tidy order
- Improving the soil
- Supporting garden creatures after winter
- Installing an irrigation system
- Mowing the lawn
- Composting
- Cleaning garden furniture
March garden planting mainly involves starting various vegetables from seed – whether outdoors (e.g. parsnip, radish, onion), in cold frames (e.g. cauliflower, kohlrabi, leek) or on a sunny windowsill (e.g. pepper, celery, tomato).
Seeds recommended for sowing in March include:
- Dill
- Parsley
- Loose-leaf and head varieties of lettuce
- Radishes
- Rocket
- Chives
- Spinach
- Onions
Though there will already have been some winter gardening tasks for you to tackle, now is the time to really lay the foundations for your green retreat and get the garden ready to be a space for hours of summer relaxation.
Weather permitting, examples of March gardening include pruning of various plants, including panicle-type hydrangeas, apple and pear trees and, from the second half of March, buddleia and lavender.
If the forsythia are in bloom, you can also trim your roses in March.
The Federal Nature Conservation Act specifies that, during the period from 1 March to 30 September, radical cutting back or removal of hedges and other trees is not permitted. The purpose of this legal restriction is to protect nesting birds.
Gardening in March: what to do?
As the beginning of the garden season, March is the right time to get going and deal with the first gardening tasks.
We have put together a helpful list of March garden work tasks to get you off to a successful start:
To ensure you can really enjoy your garden as the weather gets warmer, this is a great time for some garden planning and to get things looking tidy.
Clear moss, leaves and soil debris from paths during your March gardening. You should also clear up any fallen fruit and dispose of excess leaves. If you are dealing with an overgrown garden there will be many other steps to tackle too – so we recommend you face up to the challenge right away.
One thing you should not skip during your March garden work is some basic soil improvement. If you take the time to correctly identify the weeds in your garden, you can draw some conclusions about the quality of your soil.
If you have acidic soil, you may need to lime the lawn – ideally in early spring, shortly after the last frost. Note that you should wait 6-8 weeks after liming to fertilise your lawn.
If the soil is still frozen in March and the weather unsettled, you could keep an emergency meal ready for hedgehogs coming out of hibernation. If you maintain a wildlife-friendly garden, this will be a great help when your spiky garden friends wake up from their winter sleep and leave their hedgehog house. However, you should not keep feeding them once temperatures get milder – as wild animals, hedgehogs must be able to primarily feed themselves.
Caution: Hedgehogs cannot tolerate milk or fruit. A portion of tinned cat food is a better choice.
If you appreciate birds bringing your garden to life in March, you should provide them with suitable food too. And you can support feathered garden residents even more effectively by building a nesting box.
If you want to build and set up a DIY insect hotel in your garden in time for the new season, you should think about doing it in March. Then you will be ready to give buzzing garden visitors a protected breeding and nesting spot, which is an important step in creating a bee-friendly garden.
To ensure your plants stay sufficiently watered through hot summer days, it is a good idea to put in place a suitable watering system during your March gardening. With automatic watering systems, a sensor measures the soil moisture so your garden is only watered as necessary – and you can effortlessly save water. Bear in mind that extended periods of frost or rain may force you to delay your work.
Of course it is not possible to overlook mowing the lawn in March gardening tips. When the temperatures start rising and the soil hits at least 10 degrees Celsius, it is time to mow the lawn for the first time in the year. Depending on weather conditions, you can get the lawn mower out from mid-March.
Early spring, for example the beginning of March, is the right time to turn compost for the first time in the gardening year. After that, it should ideally be turned every 3 months. Making your own compost is an obvious choice for most gardeners, as it offers a means of disposing of garden waste and fertilising the garden. You can easily build your own composter using recycled wood scraps.
To make the most of the spring sunshine on your balcony or patio, ensure cleaning is an early job in your March gardening. Wipe down all surfaces and thoroughly clean your garden furniture, for example with a pressure washer. One thing to note here: how you should get your furniture fit for the garden season is also a matter of material – wooden, metal and rattan garden furniture each have their own requirements.
The STIHL garden calendar
Gardening happens all year round, from January to December; but care of some flowers, shrubs and trees is more effective in certain months than others.
What garden jobs need to be done and when?
Keep an eye on all your important gardening tasks with our printable STIHL garden calendar. Sign up for our newsletter below and get the garden calendar sent straight to your email inbox.
The vegetable garden in March
March is the perfect time for sowing loose-leaf and head varieties of lettuce in the vegetable garden. You can also sow seeds for other vegetables directly outside, in a cold frame or on a sunny windowsill. Take a look at the comprehensive planting plan below, and let it inspire your gardening in March.
Fruit, flowers, trees: what needs to happen now?
In March, gardening involves a variety of different tasks and requirements – for fruit trees, shrubs, flower beds and container plants. Here are a few useful tips to get you started:
Give your fruit crops some attention
March is the time to plant trees and for pruning of pear and apple trees. You should also protect your fruit trees from pests and fertilise them during March gardening.
Proper care of shrubs
Now is also the right time to cover the soil around trees and shrubs with a layer of mulch 5 to 7.5 cm thick.
There are also some shrubs which are suitable for planting during March gardening, for example cherry laurel and rhododendron. For frost-sensitive shrubs in particular, it is better to plant in March than in autumn, as it means the young plants are better able to get through winter.
Ornamental and flower garden: what flowers should I plant in March?
It is best to start the garden work of propagating or sowing for the first flowers towards the end of March. You can sow marigold and cornflower seeds directly in the soil, while baby’s breath and love-lies-bleeding prefer to be started on a windowsill. Doing this now means you can enjoy a colourful balcony or garden once summer arrives.
When gardening in March, be sure to choose lots of domestic flowering plants to provide nectar and create a bee-friendly garden. This will also appeal to other insects such as butterflies and bumblebees.
By the way, if the days are mild and the forsythia is already blooming, you can also trim your roses during March gardening. Depending on the weather, it is also fine to postpone this job until April.
Balcony garden and container plants: what needs to be done now?
Potted plants that you have overwintered in a dark place can be moved into the light from the end of March – however, please ensure you put them in a frost-free position. This gives your potted plants a chance to grow on even before they can go back outdoors in May.
You can take cuttings from some container plants on your balcony or terrace during your March gardening, for instance fuchsias and pelargoniums. You can also find helpful tips on how to properly take cuttings and repot your potted plants in our guide to gardening in spring.
Your helpers for gardening in March:
What can you plant in March?
There are various plants that you can plant or sow as part of your March gardening, to make your garden a source of valuable vegetables.
Here we have listed some of the plants suitable for sowing outdoors in March, which you might wish to include in your March gardening:
- Peas
- Lamb’s lettuce
- Carrots
- Parsnips
- Radishes
- Black salsify
- Onions
These plants will be happy to get started in the cold frame now, protected under planting fleece or plastic:
- Cauliflowers
- Carrots
- Kohlrabi
- Head lettuces
- Leeks
- Early-summer turnips
- Mangel beet
- Pointed cabbage
- Savoy cabbage
The following varieties will thrive on a bright, sunnywindowsill:
- Aubergines
- Chillis
- Fennel
- Peppers
- Celery
- Tomatoes
The pruning restrictions protect nesting garden birds
What work is prohibited?
The last extensive pruning work on trees and shrubs should be completed by the end of February to avoid disturbing garden birds when they are nesting later on. The Federal Nature Conservation Act prohibits the radical trimming or removal of hedges and trees between 1 March and 30 September – this is also relevant to gardening in March.
Gentle shaping and maintenance trimming is permitted; though if you are doing this while gardening in March, it is important that you check if birds are nesting in your hedge or bushes – if they are, you should not prune those plants. Also consider any specific local requirements. You can find out the relevant information from your local authority.
