As spring unfolds its vibrant tapestry across the UK, avid gardeners find themselves amidst a flurry of activity, nurturing their green havens to perfection. May, with its lengthening days and warmer temperatures, offers a prime opportunity to delve deep into the verdant world of vegetable patches, fruitful orchards, lush lawns, and blooming flower beds. Let's embark on a journey through the essential tasks for each facet of your garden, ensuring a season of flourishing growth and abundant harvests.
In the Vegetable Garden:
- Keep earthing up potatoes to prevent green tubers and encourage underground growth.
- Harvest asparagus spears when they reach a maximum height of 18cm.
- Thin out direct-sown vegetables like spinach, carrots, and lettuce for optimal growth.
- Regularly hoe away weeds to prevent nutrient theft.
- Harden off outdoor tomatoes, courgettes, and pumpkins for planting next month.
- Protect carrots from carrot flies with horticultural fleece.
- Weed around onions and garlic and apply Ecoworm Soil Extract for enhanced growth.
- Support runner beans and pea plants with bamboo canes or twiggy sticks.
- Pinch out the growing points of broad beans to deter blackfly.
- Sow half-hardy beans, corn, cucumbers, and more for a continuous harvest.
- Make succession sowings of lettuces, carrots, onions, and radishes.
- Plant sweet corn in blocks for optimal pollination.
- Sow savoys, winter cabbages, turnips, carrots, and beetroot.
- Sow next winter's staples like cauliflower, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, swedes, parsnips, and turnips.
- Plant out self-blanching celery seedlings towards the end of the month.
- Feed tomatoes with Ecoworm Soil Extract.
- Harden off herb seedlings and take cuttings of sage, thyme, and marjoram.
In the Fruit Garden:
- Harvest rhubarb, picking only one-third of the stems.
- Control weeds among fruit bushes and cane fruits.
- Keep an eye out for apple and gooseberry sawflies, red spider mites, and slugs.
- Protect strawberries with straw and netting.
- Thin established raspberry plants and monitor plum and apple trees with pheromone traps.
- Remove blossoms and fruits from newly planted fruit trees.
- Plant out melons towards the end of May.
- Train grape vines along wires or supports.
In the Lawns:
- Feed your lawn with Ecoworm Soil Extract.
- Water the grass during hot weather.
- Continue sowing lawn seed and repairing bare patches.
- Lower mower blades to the summer-cut height.
- Deal with moss and weeds.
- Postpone mowing newly sown grass until it reaches 3 inches in height.
In Trees & Shrubs:
- Feed trees and shrubs with Ecoworm Soil Extract.
- Deadhead rhododendrons, azaleas, and camellias.
- Remove suckers from roses.
- Begin planting out tender shrubs like fuchsias.
- Keep hedges trimmed for compact growth.
- Prune ornamental shrubs for more flowering shoots.
- Keep an eye on roses for pests and diseases.
- Clip hedges and begin training topiary plants.
In the Flower Garden:
- Harden off and plant out hardy and half-hardy bedding plants.
- Clear spring bedding and lift bulbs for autumn replanting.
- Plant window boxes, tubs, and hanging baskets with vibrant blooms.
- Divide hostas for enhanced vitality.
- Trim back spreading plants and lavenders.
- Water container plants regularly.
- Feed permanent pot plants every two weeks.
- Inspect plants for pests and diseases.
- Weed beds and borders to prevent competition for water and nutrients.
With each task tended to diligently, your garden will thrive amidst the splendor of May, a testament to your green-fingered prowess. Embrace the season's bounty, and let your garden flourish under your loving care.