March is a lovely month with all the promise of spring, and sometimes a feel of summer!

While the sun may be shining, don’t be fooled into planting out tender bedding plants and other seedlings that you have been nursing; it is quite possible for a cold snap to happen and you would lose everything. Instead, be patient, gradually transfer things from window sills to a cold-frame and get ready with fleece to insulate should the worst happen.

Sow your outdoor tomato seeds now, indoors. Don’t plant too many, but a few extra can always be swapped with friends and neighbours.

Plant potato tubers once the soil has warmed up

It is time to plant chitted potato tubers (traditionally a job for Good Friday). Don’t do it until the soil has had a chance to warm up. Sandy soils warm up more quickly than clay ones. The chitted tubers need to be planted about 10cm deep, rose end up.

They can be planted either in a drill or in individual holes. They will need earthing up when the shoots are 20-25cm tall, or you can cover the soil with black plastic sheeting and plant through this, which excludes the light and the weeds. Early potatoes will be ready to lift in about 13 weeks.

March is also a good time to lift, divide and replant clumps of chives into a sunny border. They are so pretty when in flower, but keep trimming and use to flavour many dishes. You can also sow chervil, dill, fennel and parsley outdoors. There was an old wives’ tale that only the head of the household can germinate parsley seeds successfully – mine germinate fine, so it must be true!

A good time to repot houseplants

When the weather is not conducive to gardening outside, take the opportunity to look at your houseplants. It is a good time to pot them on if they have outgrown their container, and as it is the start of the growing season.

Make sure the root-ball is thoroughly moist before removing it from the pot and put it into another just one size up with fresh compost. Water well but don’t feed for about four weeks, and keep the plant out of direct sunlight. In a couple of months it can be put outside for a summer treat, but don’t put it in direct sunshine.