Your Autumn Reset: The Most Important Month in a Bayside Garden
If you could only garden for one month a year, make it March. The heat has broken, the soil is still warm, autumn rain is on the way, and everything you plant now has months of mild weather ahead to establish roots before summer returns.
March is the month that separates gardens that look good from gardens that look great.
Clean Up Summer’s Mess
Start by walking your garden with a critical eye. Pull out spent annuals, cut back perennials that have finished flowering, and remove anything that’s dead or dying. Don’t be sentimental — if a plant has been struggling for two summers running, it’s telling you it doesn’t like its spot. Either move it or let it go.
Rake back mulch, pull any weeds that snuck in over summer, and get a clear view of what you’re working with.
Feed the Soil Hard
This is the best time of year to improve your soil. Spread a thick layer of compost, aged manure, or a mix of both over every bed. On the Peninsula’s sandy ground, this is non-negotiable. Sandy soil doesn’t hold nutrients or water unless you keep adding organic matter. Think of it as an annual top-up.
If you’ve got heavy clay in patches (some parts of the Peninsula do, especially further inland), gypsum worked into the surface will help break it up over winter.
Plant Like You Mean It
March planting conditions on the Peninsula are about as good as it gets:
- Perennials — Salvias, lavender, rosemary, gaura, and other Mediterranean plants establish brilliantly in autumn. Warm soil, cool air, and autumn rain do all the work.
- Shrubs and hedging — Westringia, Coastal Rosemary, Pittosporum, and other coastal-friendly plants put on root growth all through winter if you plant them now.
- Bulbs — Get your daffodils, jonquils, and ranunculus in the ground. Tulips need to wait until late April or May (they need cold soil).
- Roses — Potted roses can go in now. Bare-root roses come later in winter, but you can start preparing beds.
Set Up Your Weed Defence
The autumn weed flush is coming. As soon as rain arrives, every dormant weed seed in your soil will germinate. Your best defence is a thick layer of mulch — 7 to 10 centimetres — applied after you’ve cleaned up and fed. Mulch won’t stop every weed, but it makes the ones that do come through easy to pull.
One Hour in March Saves Ten in January
Everything you do now compounds. A plant that goes in this month has six months of root growth before its first summer. Soil you improve now holds water better all year. Weeds you prevent now don’t go to seed and create next year’s problem.
March is the month to invest in your garden. It pays back all year.