Some gardening tips for the month of March:
* The primary aim of National Water Week in SA this month is to raise awareness of the role of water and the need to get citizens to change their attitudes towards water use, and to adapt and change the ways in which we use this valuable resource.
* Conserve moisture in the soil by using the green waste material that is freely available in the garden as mulch, or return this as compost to revitalise the soil. Compost is made by layering wet (grass cuttings, vegetable peelings) and dry (twigs, fallen leaves) material. Leaves can also be left as a natural mulch around shrubs.
* Where space is limited in small gardens for a compost heap, use a commercially designed compost bin that can be concealed behind a large shrub, or invest in a good quality shredder. Plant material can be shredded and used as mulch, the exception being those with fibrous stems.
* Birds love plants with nectar. To attract birds, plant the weeping boerbean (Schotia brachypetala), a medium-sized tree; tree fuchsia (Halleria lucida), an evergreen, fast-growing, large shrub, and Cape honeysuckle (Tecoma capensis), with orange, red or yellow blooms.
* The indigenous perennial yellow and orange Bulbine fruticosa makes an attractive, low maintenance groundcover and rockery subject. The juice of the leaves can be used to relieve bee stings and mosquito bites.
* Plant seedlings of Calendula officinalis, the “pot marigold” of cottage gardens, to add early winter and spring colour in the garden. There are tall single varieties or compact double forms with rounded or quilled petals, in cream, yellow, apricot and orange. - Saturday Star