Gardening Tips for May

Wildlife

• Keep birds water topped up especially if the weather is dry.
• Keep birds feeders and drinkers clean especially in hot weather.

Trees, Shrubs and Flowers

• Summer bedding can be planted when the danger of frost has passed.
• Prune Clematis Montana straight after it has flowered.
• Prune spring-flowering shrubs such as Ribes and Forsythia.
• Prune Penstemons.
• Plant out Begonias, Dahlias and other summer bulbs/corms if you have not already done so.
• Tie in climbing and rambling roses.
• Use controlled release fertiliser and water retaining gels in pots to save time on watering and feeding
• Feed actively growing plants and crops to promote strong flowers and growth. Use either a general purpose fertiliser, seaweed containing products (which will help plants cope with stressful conditions like drought, cold or transplant shock more easily) or organic fertiliser.
• Lift and divide overcrowded clumps of spring bulbs.
• Put supports in place for perennials.
• Plant summer hanging baskets.
• Feed and water plants in containers.
• Tie in Sweet Peas.
• Spray roses with a product such as Roseclear or Multirose to help keep pests and diseases at bay.

Lawn

• Apply a spring and summer lawn food to green up the grass or if you have not already done so use a lawn feed and weed or moss killer.
• Mow lawns weekly and set the mower to the low summer setting.

Fruit and Vegetables

• Tuck clean straw round the base of strawberry plants to keep fruit clean as it ripens.
• Earth up potato stems and keep the soil moist.
• Support leggy peas with netting.
• Thin out direct sown carrots and then put fleece over them quickly to prevent carrot root fly attack.
• Harden off outdoor tomatoes, courgettes and pumpkins for planting early next month
• Continue with successional sowings of beetroot, carrots, turnips, swedes, salad leaves, lettuce, spring onions and radish.
• Courgettes, marrows, pumpkins and squash can be started off in pots for planting out later. You don’t need many plants to produce a good crop of courgettes – two or three will suffice.
• Plant out any earlier sowings of brassicas and put greenhouse crops like cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers and aubergines into their final places.
• Weed around onion and garlic to reduce competition for nutrients and water.
• Harvest rhubarb.
• Protect strawberries with straw.
• Put netting around soft fruits to prevent bird damage.
• Hang pheromone traps in apple and plum trees to prevent caterpillar damage.
• Keep a look out for aphids and other pests and seek ways to control them.
• Have some fleece handy to protect plants from late frosts.

General Maintenance

• Keep on top of watering.
• Keep on top of weeds to prevent them getting out of hand.
• Keep bird baths and drinkers clean and topped up.
• Open greenhouse vents.
• Hang fly traps in greenhouses.
• Top dress pots with compost.
• Trim evergreen hedges (check for nesting birds first).
• Remove excess weed from ponds.