Design, Construction and Maintenance
May
"Horticulturally, the month of May is opening night, Homecoming and Graduation Day all rolled into one." Tam Mossman.
This spring has certainly been a testing one, everything is so late, even with record temperatures at the start of the month the nights are still cold. Maybe its just that we have come to rely on milder winters, planting more and more tender plants. One thing is for sure, the weeds have not been affected by the weather and are doing very well.
Just as the daffodils and cherry blossoms fade, out rolls a lush blue carpet of Hyacinthoides
non-
. A good helping of horse manure around the base of the roses will give them vigour, they have a long season of flowering a head of them. Tie in stray shoots on climbers and add new vine eyes if needed.
Get down on your dandelions and either dig them up, getting as much root out as possible or pull off the flowers and spot spray with Roundup, ( remember roundup kills ALL plants including grass very effectively). Do not let the flowers turn into seed heads and populate the rest of the garden, if the children want to play dandelion clocks then send them next door!
Pruning. Once spring blossom has fallen its a good time to prune early spring flowering shrubs. Amelanchiers and Forsythias can have a trim, just enough to keep them in shape but this will mean you will loose any berries on the Amelanchier. Lightly trim off any dead flowers on aubrietia and prune back the flowering stems of Hellebores as the flowers fade.
Now the threat of hard frost has past you can cut back last years growth on Penstemons and other perennials. Don't forget to put in your plant supports for new growth to grow through.
The Vegetable Garden. I have noticed a few cases of foot rot on broad beans this spring, one cause is not rotating crops enough. A good watering ( read manufacturers recommendations before using ) with chestnut compound will keep it under control, this is available at most garden centres. Beetroot, french beans, brussell sprouts, lettuce, marrows, peas, kale, peas radish, turnips, swede and sweet corn can all be sown outdoors. Its a good idea to mound soil around the bases of Broad beans to give them a bit of extra support. Make sure you have some twiggy branches ready for your peas.
The slugs and snails have now clicked up a gear in search of succulent veggies so make sure you have your weapons to hand. Try and find other ways of control rather than pellets. Hedgehogs eat slugs and snails and eating poisoned ones will mean a slow and agonising death, take the easy way if your conscience allows!
Fruit. Pinch out the tips of your vines to produce more growth and start to harvest your rhubarb. We can just keep our fingers crossed that we don't have a late sharp frost to knock the fruit blossom back, other than moving to another country there isn't much we can do about it apart from covering the smaller varieties with fleece should the need arise.
Give all your shrubs and trees a good feed with a general purpose fertilizer and keep on top of the weeds.
Lawns. The grass has literally been growing all winter and by now you should be up to mowing weekly, that's if you get a chance between the storm clouds. Start moving the blades of the mower down to your usual summer height, you can't escape the chore now, leave it more than a week and it will get away from you especially if the weather stays on the damp side. May is the best time for weed killing in the lawn using either a selective weed killer or lawn sand. The best conditions for treatment are dry grass, moist soil and a fine still day. This month is usually a damp one but with changing climates things can change so be prepared to water if the lawn looks distressed as counselling doesn't usually help!
Happy Gardening.
