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May

To say that May is my favourite month in the garden would be an understatement. After the seemingly endless dark and cold months suddenly everything seems to spring to life and the first signs of so many of our perennial plants start to burst through the soil. We are treated to wonderful drifts of perfume from all kinds of blossoms and trees such as the lilac.

In my garden the Fritillaria start to nod their heads, the many varieties of Tulip strut their stuff against the backdrop of Euphorbia looking pristine and bright and time of Peonies put on their show. We turn to thinking about planting out our bedding annuals, hanging baskets and patio tubs and our visits to the local garden centre start to pick up a pace.

If you have been growing half-hardy plants under glass you can now look to planting out towards the end of the month. From mid May it is usually safe to plant out dahlias, pelargoniums, geraniums and nasturtiums.

Gardening magazines are usually full of good ideas for planting up tubs and hanging baskets with some of the major magazines often putting out special supplements, so look out for these.

Continue to watch roses and spray if necessary for greenfly and mildew. Make sure all plants which will need supporting have their stakes in place. Check your climbing roses and clematis on a regular basis and tie in where necessary to preserve a good shape. Tying in tender shoots which have gone out of control later may mean you break them instead of securing them safely so always make this a regular job in the coming weeks.

You should give another slight haircut to shrubs such as buddleia to keep them neat before they put on their major growth. Take a walk around your garden and generally tidy up spring plants that are now finished or past their best. If you have evergreen ferns you will need to trim off all the brown dead leaves to allow the fresh to grow through.            

Finally, camellia trees may now be fading and dropping their flower petals so it is a good idea to cut off the old flowers as they fade. You can also trim camellias now just to keep them in a good shape.

Finally check out our feature on watering which gives good hints on keeping your plants moist and healthy during the coming weeks.

© Reckless Gardener Magazine 2005 Mill Cottage New Media