EP318 - What To Sow In March. Vegetables, Herbs & Flowers. March Seed Sowing Made Simple

Ready to sow with confidence instead of crossing your fingers? March brings longer days and real momentum, but cold, wet ground can still undo good plans. We break down exactly what to start now under cover, what needs heat, and what should wait a week or two, so you save seed, time, and energy while setting up a strong season.

We begin with the crops that make March feel productive fast: salads like spring onions, spinach, radish, and a range of lettuces that thrive in plug trays and tunnels. Then we map out the cool-season backbone of a kitchen garden with brassicas and alliums, from cabbage and cauliflower to onions, shallots, and leeks. Root crops get nuanced advice: early carrots under cover, beetroot for a head start, and a realistic plan for parsnips when soil finally dries. For heat lovers—tomatoes, peppers, and chillies—we explain why steady night temperatures and a basic propagator make the difference between sturdy transplants and setbacks.

Herbs bring flexibility, with parsley and coriander on a little-and-often schedule and practical reasons to buy thyme, sage, and rosemary as small plants. We also time peas and broad beans for tidy module-grown transplants that beat slugs and claggy beds. Flowers round out the plan: sweet peas, cosmos, marigolds, lobelia, nasturtiums, and sunflowers for cheerful summer displays, plus summer bulbs and tubers like dahlias and lilies to anchor borders with bold colour. Throughout, we keep one principle front and centre: sow by conditions, not by the month on the packet. Protect tender seedlings, harden off with care, and wait for the soil to say yes.

If this guide helps you plan your March, share it with a gardening friend, subscribe for monthly sowing plans, and leave a review to help others find the show. What will you start first under cover this week?

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Transcript

March Focus And Weather Reality

SPEAKER_00 0:12

How's it going everybody and welcome to episode 318 of Master My Garden Podcast? Now this week's episode, as we enter into March, is the seed sowing guide for the month of March. And yeah, I suppose from a weather perspective, nobody will be sorry to see the back of February. Um, yeah, really wet, cold at times, and yeah, certainly ground conditions are nowhere near what you'd like them to be at this stage, but that's not uncommon. You know, we still are in February, technically speaking. We're really only getting into, you know, traditionally it would have been always seen as after St. Patrick's Day, the 17th of March, was when kind of gardening here would kick off. And it just has because we've had some years where like last February and you know last uh last spring was just a lot kinder and a lot drier and things got going a lot quicker. And it's a slightly different scenario this year, but it's still early, like there's no there's not absolutely no panic yet at all, you know, just loads of time. It just means that I suppose when it comes to sewing lists, that it is a little bit, and this is why people like them, it's kind of very topical to what's you know what's actually happening at the moment weather-wise. And yeah, we're we're uh yeah, definitely not sorry to see the back of a of a very, very wet February here in Ireland. Um in terms of sewing, what you get in in this month is you get a lot more daylight, so brightening up earlier in the morning and lasting, and there's a good stretch, as we say here in Ireland, a great stretch in the evening, and that certainly is the case over the last few weeks. So the list that we can sew is quite big, and yeah, it's uh extending, and the pace starts to pick up through March. Before we get to that, a couple of little things to sort of mention.

Workshop Highlights And Community Energy

SPEAKER_00 2:12

I had the first of my grow your own food workshops here in the Polytunnel on Saturday, last Saturday, the 21st, and weather conditions were okay. It was a little bit iffy at times, a little bit of rain, but we had a super day. So it was a full event, 21 people, sorry, 14 people. I was thinking of the 21st, 14 people, and we had a lovely day, really good day, brilliant feedback. You know, everybody was happy, everyone learned. Uh it was a lovely group of people, really, really friendly group of people, really helpful towards each other, everyone was sharing information, and very much tailored to each and every every garden. It was very interesting because there was different, you know, different there was people at different stages of growing, and there was people at you know, in different places. They came from pretty much all around Ireland, with people from Cork, from the very, very west in Connemara, with people from County Meade, County Wexford, County Offley, and so on. So people from different areas, and it was really interesting to see the interaction between people, and people got on really well. It was a lovely, lovely day, super successful. It was very, very challenging personally for me to get ready in time for it, um, mostly because of weather, but also because any of you that listened to the podcast, I will have mentioned about doing an injury to my shoulder, and with that and the fact that everything was so wet, there was a lot more prep, I guess, in it and getting set up. So it was a challenging for me personally on the run-up to it, but I was so delighted at the end of the day that it was yeah, the feedback was really good. And yeah, really, really looking forward to the next one, 21st of March. At that stage, I'll be hoping that you know weather conditions are a lot better, and it just gives more scope for I suppose getting stuff into the ground and doing a little bit more outside. So we did a little bit outside, but not so much. So 21st of March should give us more of an opportunity there. If you're interested in that, there is only four spots

Caution With Young Plants Outdoors

SPEAKER_00 4:25

left as of today, as of the data recording, so they will definitely go. And yeah, it's uh yeah, it won't be long rolling around, and as I say, it should we should have a lot more scope for doing things at that stage. Um again, if you're listening Friday, this is going out live Friday the 27th. If you're listening early in the day, there is for people that can't do workshops and and whatnot, there is an online webinar tonight at seven o'clock. Again, the link for that is in the bio, the link for the 21st of March workshop is is in the sorry in the show notes. So you can catch both of those there. But to get into the the sewing guide, um as I say, we're moving into a month now where daylight is increasing and the list of seeds and the jobs and the pace is starting to pick up. One thing that has been, while we've had a very, very wet February, one thing that has continued is growth. So grass is growing, a lot of the perennials are starting to peep, you know, uh bulbs are obviously jumping out of the ground. There is a lot of growth at this stage because it hasn't been it hasn't been there hasn't been a huge amount of frosty weather. It is quite mild, and particularly over the last week here we're seeing kind of mild temperatures, albeit with a lot of rain. So spring probably will come upon us quite quickly now over the next few weeks, certainly hopefully through March. Now, again, with March, you know, the old saying is March of many weathers, and that's why you always put a little c a little caveat beside it to just proceed with caution and still take take a little bit of care as we as we move through, particularly with seedlings and and young plants. At this

Salads To Sow Now Under Cover

SPEAKER_00 6:16

stage, you know, if you have a lot of stuff sowed, they'll be coming on relatively quickly now over the next over the next week or two. And hopefully by the time they're ready to go outside, we'll have sort of better weather. But if you don't, you have to be really careful. There's no point in getting raising these seedlings, raising these little young plants, having them growing relatively soft at this stage, and then landing them outside into cold or wet conditions. So proceed with caution, it's certainly around getting plants out into the open ground outside. If you're in greenhouse, obviously you have huge advantage at this stage in that temperatures are quite warm, so you can get your sewing done of all of the things that we would sew in a in a in a greenhouse. So we'll mention those as we go through anyway. Um they're kind of the main the main points to to watch out for, but definitely watch out for plants, young plants as you're putting them outside. Uh, so let's get into the list. So salads first, and you know, once we once we start sewing these, a lot of them are continuous. So every time we we do a sewing guide, they'll be on it. Doesn't mean you have to sew them every month, but it means that they are they can be sewed during that period. And for any of you that you know watch the podcast or listen to the podcast over time, you'll know that there's ways of sort of extending the the interval of sewing. But things like spring onion, that's a successional sew, that means we sew it every time, sew it at least once a month, and that's going to make sure that we have continuity all the time. Uh spinach is another one. Again, we'll be up and running sewing that now, and that will be on pretty much every sewing guide now as we as we go through the year. Radish is another one, again one that would appear on most people's. You know, you can sew it every month. I dip in and out with radish, so sometimes I like it, then I kind of get a little bit fed up with it, and I stop sewing it for a little while and then I bring it back again. So don't have it continuously, but like to sew it, you know, a few times during the year. Lettuce, pretty much any of the lettuces you can be sewing now. Um we're still doing most of these in you know, grow growing them in plug trays, so you're going to raise little plants in trays first. You can do a small amount of direct sewing, but we really are talking about a greenhouse at this stage. It's still too too wet, still too cold outside. Conditions are not right for outdoor sewing just yet. You might very, very quickly be good to go in certain areas. Certainly around here now. I'm looking at, you know, even if weather conditions take up, we're probably looking at a

Brassicas And Alliums Kick Off

SPEAKER_00 9:00

few weeks before we would get sewing outside. Minimum. Minimum. We could even be looking at the end of the month or into April. Um, but direct sewing indoors is is a possibility. And uh yeah, I've actually done some sewing of carrots and so on inside as well. So uh the other one that can be other things that we can sew is mixed salad leaves, things like rocket, mizouna. We'll kind of move away from them as we move through the warmer months of the springtime. But now in February, we can still do a little bit of rocket, we still do mizuna, some of those kind of winter winter salads that we would have had. Then you're looking at the you know the brassica family, cabbage, cauliflower, um, calabris or uh broccoli, as we know it's uh they can all be sewed now. Then we're on to the allium family, onions, red onions, shallots, leeks, they can all be sewed now. You can also do onions from sets at this stage of the year. You can do your shallots from sets at this stage of the year, you can do your garlic from cloves at this stage of the year. Uh, I don't do any of those three. Um sorry, shallots I do a small few of, but mostly I'll do my bulbs in the autumn time, and then in the springtime seed seed only. Um root vegetables, then quite a few of these that we can grow. Your little Milan purple tops, your little white snowball turnips, so those turnips, um Swedes. I know they're called turnips here in Ireland as well, but that's Swedes. That's the they can be sewed this month.

Roots Indoors First, Patience Outside

SPEAKER_00 10:35

Solariac, uh carrots indoors, that's what I've done already. So a little Amsterdam forcing, so you're airily kind of bunching bunching um carrots, sew them now in the tunnel, no problem to go there. Parsnips, that's definitely going to be the end of the month. Um, could even be later, but technically you can sew them in March. But I would say no matter where you are in the country of Ireland at the moment, we are looking at definitely the end of the month. You know, that's assuming things the rain stops and so on, and conditions get a lot warmer. But without a doubt, towards the end of the month, hopefully we'll be we'll get those chances and then definitely into April. But yeah, it's on the list for March because you could, but as it stands today, there's no no opportunity to sow it. Beetroot is another one, same thing as carrots. If you do have a greenhouse, get them sown in there because you will get an early crop on those, and then they can go outside later on. Then we're looking at some of the ones that are going to need heat still. So you're talking about peppers, chili peppers, tomato, kind of last chance to sow aubergines. You know, they need that long season, same with chilies. Uh so get them sowed now. If you grow them, I don't grow aubergines particularly because I don't like them generally speaking. Tomatoes, chilies, peppers, yes, I will uh have sowed all of those, but they're on heat and they'll continue to be on heat for a few weeks, and yeah, they're they're

Heat Lovers: Tomatoes, Peppers, Chilies

SPEAKER_00 12:10

they're being supported, I guess, and that's what you're going to need to do. So either sow them inside or in a greenhouse with a little bit of heat to to support them. What they really need is consistent temperatures, and that the base temperature or the nighttime temperature doesn't drop below kind of 18 or 20, and that's what you're looking for with those. So that's why a propagator heat maps uh map, something like that, is really really helpful. Pretty much all of the herbs can be sowed now as well, with the exception of basil here, still wouldn't be sowing that. But looking at you know your usual suspects, your coriander, which is treated a little bit like your succession of vegetables, because it does run to seed quite a lot. So the coriander, parsley, biennials, so you can do your flat leaf and your curly leaf, they can all be sowed now. Uh dill, rosemary thyme, sage, they can all be sowed from seed now. Uh, generally speaking, I wouldn't necessarily have rosemary sage and thyme, particularly, wouldn't necessarily recommend that you sow them from seed. They're so easy to do from either cuttings or from buying little plants. And because you only need their perennial, you only need one or two plants to sort of sustain a household. So if you buy a packet of seeds, you're generally going to get quite a lot of seed in that. So no real need to buy seed of those, buy a little plant, or get a cutting off somebody or whatever the case may be. Um, peas and beans,

Herbs, Peas And Broad Beans Timing

SPEAKER_00 13:35

broad beans still sow away, loads of chance there still. Um, still too early for likes a French bean, but peas definitely again we're talking about indoors, we're talking about in a greenhouse. Uh peas you can definitely sow, or you can you can sow indoors for hopefully transplanting out later, maybe late March into early April. That's kind of what we're looking at there. And then you have the the Brassica family. I think I mentioned them actually already, but the cabbage cauliflower and broccoli, yeah, I did mention this. So they're kind of they're kind of the the range of seeds, so quite a lot on it this month, a little bit more than last month, small bit more than last month. And as we move month by month into April and into May, that list will increase further. Uh I mentioned last month that we do kind of the veg or the edibles and the flowers. So again, cover off a few flowers here. Pretty much all your annual flowers can be can be sowed now, and a little bit like the the veg that that like the heat, the pili, the peppers, the chilies, the tomatoes, aubergines, most of the annual flowers will like a little bit of heat starting off, particularly. So, what are we talking about? Again, sweet peas, they won't necessarily need heat, but they they can can be grown and should be grown or should be sown now. Uh cosmos, you know, petunias, labelias, marigolds, nasturtiums,

Annuals And Summer Bulbs For Colour

SPEAKER_00 15:00

sunflowers. Uh, if you're growing grown with kids, definitely sunflowers, you know, you're just so easy, so much enjoyment, a little bit, a little bit excitement as well because they're high, they're tall, they look so imposing. Then when they're grouped together, they you know they really stand out. So kids love growing those and they're so so easy. So uh that makes sense. Things like lark spur. I know people do them in the autumn time as well, but they can be sown. All your perennials and all your biennials that we've covered many times before, they can still be sowed in the springtime. May not get you know any flower this year on them, but things like your lupins, uh, verbenas, dahlias from seed will probably do at the end of the month. So any of those can be grown um during the month of March. Just a lot of them will need a little bit of heat. They they tend to prefer slightly more heat than than what you'll what you'll be able to get without giving them uh putting them onto a propagator or a heat or a heat mat or something like that. Uh, don't also forget that you can still do all your summer flowering bulbs. So, you know, in your garden centres or on online stockists, you have all of these beautiful options for things like dahlias and begonias and lilies and uh what else is there a lot of the perennials you can get as as root corms and as root uh rooted bare root plants now, so there's loads of options now around your growing flowers for this summer. Uh dahlias, particularly, you'll see huge amounts of them, and yeah, I they're they're just such an imposing flower, they're a little bit finicky in terms of people have to lift them and whatnot. I don't

Proceed When Conditions Are Right

SPEAKER_00 16:45

lift them here, have got away with it over the last couple of years, just mulched them down heavy, but like they give so much flour, uh really great flour, from not a huge amount of effort. So I think that's why they win, and uh you you mix that with the annuals, your cosmos and so on, and you really can create a beautiful border, loads of flour, uh, very, very quickly, and yeah, simple. Not not really anything difficult about it. So that's like the complete sewing guide. Um, yeah, it really is. There's a lot on it this month, but again, next month we'll have a little bit more, and the month after we'll have a little bit more. Just to reiterate what we said at the start, proceed with caution around getting your seedlings outside. When you turn the back of your packets as well, it'll say, sow in March, so in February, March, you sow when the conditions are right. If the conditions are not right, you're only wasting your time sowing outside at this stage. And while there might be exceptions in certain parts of the country, generally speaking, at the moment, the ground is too wet. Because the ground is so wet, it the ground tends to be cold. But once we start getting a bit of sunshine, of which there hasn't been much of, once we start to get a bit of sunshine, the beds start to dry up a little bit, then you know, later on in the month we'll be able to get sewing directly into the ground outside. And at that stage, it gets easier, you know, because you're not doing the your sewing in your module trays at the moment and then you're planting out. But the the sewing direct into ground is just a lot easier, you know. It can be a little bit finicky, especially in those early days of late March and early April. But don't panic, the the weather will

Reminders: Webinar And Workshop

SPEAKER_00 18:30

come at some stage, fingers crossed, and uh yeah, then we'll be able to really ramp up sewing and so on. There's yeah, there's uh there's a lot happens in March, but it's all very, very weather dependent, and we are still treading carefully. But I think I think that's you know the fact that we do these on a you know monthly basis and every month tends to be different. I think that's why they prove so popular, because you know, last March it was go go go go, but this March we're really tip tone into the month uh and and into the month of sewing. So very different, but but I suppose it kind of gives you everything you need to know for the for the month ahead. So just a reminder again, if you are listening on Friday early in the day, seven o'clock, I have the Grow Your Own webinar. Link for that is in the show notes, and also if you are considering or thinking of coming to the workshop, which is in person in County Leash, if you are thinking of going to that, just four spaces left. That's for the 20 Saturday, the 21st of March. And yeah, really, really happy with how last last week's one went, and yeah, looking forward to next month as well. So that's been this week's episode. It's the seed sowing guide for the month of March. And that's been this week's episode. Thanks for listening. Until the next time, happy gardening!