Garden Maintenance: MAY
Top gardening jobs for May
1. Plant out summer bedding at the end of the month.
2. Collect
rainwater for irrigation.
3. Hoe regularly between rows on hot days to
make sure the weeds dry up and die.
4. Open greenhouse vents and doors on
warm days.
5. Mow lawns weekly.
6. Trim hedges (check for nesting
birds first).
7. Lift and divide overcrowded clumps of daffodils and
other spring-flowering bulbs.
8. Watch out for viburnum beetle and lily
beetle grubs.
9. Mulching around the base of your plants will help them
to retain moisture around the roots.
10. Keep pots and hanging baskets
well watered using collected rainwater wherever possible.
Top Tip:
The weather will soon warm up. Start
thinking about how to
retain moisture in your garden so that plants can survive dry weather.
Top Tip: Want some autumn colour in your garden? Now is the time to plant autumn flowering plants.
Lawn Care
- Mow regularly.
- Maintain a 3in gutter around the lawn edge. This
will prevent grass from creeping into the border.
- Apply a high nitrogen
summer lawn fertiliser to encourage a healthy-looking lawn.
- If moss is
a problem, choose a combined fertiliser and mosskiller when feeding the
lawn.
- A selective lawn weedkiller will kill the weeds but not the
grass.
- Sowing new lawns or over-seeding dead patches can still be
carried out in early May while the ground is moist.
- Molehills are often
a problem in spring and traps are the most effective way to deal with this
problem.
Trees, shrubs and climbers
- Take softwood cuttings of deciduous shrubs such as Forsythia, Fuchsia
and Hydrangea.
- Prune out any frost damage on evergreen shrubs.
- Cut
back tender shrubs such as Penstemon and Fuchsia after the danger of frost
has past.
- Trim evergreen hedges to keep them neat. Evergreens such as
Viburnum tinus can also still be trimmed this month.
- Prune
spring-flowering shrubs such as Berberis, Choisya and Ribes after they have
finished flowering.
- Prune overcrowded or dead stems of Clematis montana
once it has finished flowering; don't worry it will take even hard pruning
very well.
- Late spring is a good time to coppice or pollard (cut back
hard) Eucalyptus.
- Tie in climbing and rambling roses as near to
horizontal as possible to restrict sap flow and result in more flowers.
-
Remove any reverted green shoots on variegated (leaves with two colours)
evergreens, to prevent them reverting to a single colour.
Flowers
- Put supports in place now for tall herbaceous plants or those with
heavy blooms before they are too tall.
- Plant out cannas and dahlias
when danger of frost is past.
- May is a good time to divide herbaceous
perennials that you want to propagate or that are getting too big. Dividing
will also help the plant to produce new growth.
- Bamboos can be divided
in the same way.
- Divide hostas as they come into growth.
- Cut back
clumps of spring-flowering perennials such as Pulmonaria and Doronicum to
encourage fresh foliage. This will keep the plants size in check and flower
better next year.
- Divide primroses after flowering and plant them in a
nursery bed until they are ready for planting out again in the autumn.
-
Remove faded wallflowers and spring bedding from beds and pots to make space
for summer planting.
- Take softwood cuttings of tender perennials to
propagate your favourites.
- Check pot plants for signs of being root
bound.
- Deadhead tulips and daffodils but allow the foliage of daffodils
and other spring-flowering bulbs to die down naturally rather than tying in
knots.
- Apply a liquid fertiliser to spring bulbs after they have
flowered will help prevent daffodil blindness and encourage a good display
next year.
Top Tip: Insects will soon be at their most active. Smart plant
choices and garden maintenance can help reduce the pests in your garden:
- Insect rellent plants
Greenhouse and houseplants
- Train new stems of passionflowers over their frames.
- Apply shade
paint to the outside of the glass or similar measures to prevent
temperatures soaring in your greenhouse on sunny days.
- Wet the floor of
your greenhouse regularly on hot days to increase humidity levels and reduce
the risk of pests such as glasshouse red spider mite.
Ponds
- Divide and plant waterlilies if not done last month.
- Thin out, cut
back or divide excessive new growth on aquatic plants.
- Clean out pond
filters.
- Plant any new aquatic plants you fancy this month.
- Fish
will need feeding - a little and often is best.
- Remove blanket weed.
Soft Landscaping
- Use a pressure washer to remove algae from paths. An algae killer may
help.
- Remove dirt and algae from walls, paving and patios.
- Repair
pergolas, arbours and arches as necessary.
- If the weather is dry you
can treat fences, sheds etc with wood preservative and stain. Use a recent
preservative as some of the older chemicals are now illegal (such as old
creosote).
