Garden ideas for May - earth-spirit.net

Garden ideas for May

Tie on the new shoots of the Clematis, Wisteria, Honeysuckle, Grape vines, Raspberries and Brambles to their supports.

It's the right time to fill up the beds and borders with the summer bedding. Sunflowers, Cosmos, Nasturtiums, Geraniums, Begonia, Lobelia, Impatiens, Snap dragons, Rudbekia and Petunia Surfinia, will all do fine in the garden now, give them an organic feed to set them off well.

Remove the finished flowers of flowering plants on a regular basis. Roses, Carnations, Petunia etc, all thrive and produce never ending blooms when the old flowers are removed regularly.

Already starting to get very warm now, so be aware of water evaporation. Keep ponds, bird baths and other water features topped up for the animals, birds many insects which will all now be thankful for the water in the garden.

Fill up shady areas of the garden with ferns and hostas.

Watch out for greenfly, blackfly and other harmful aphids on new foliage, especially the roses and malvinas, wipe them off with a soap based solution, and use a jet of water from the hose pipe.

Continue to care for the borders and vegetable patch keeping them weed free, also free up areas of weeds and unwanted growth, around young shrubs and trees to which allows them to intake more water during the next warm months.

Tie up the growing stems of Tomatoes, cucumbers, aubergines and peppers to canes as they grow, this stability ensures better fruiting and protection from the wind.

Tomato plants: pinch out the side shoots growing out of the leaves, each tomato plant should have only 3 main stems bearing fruit for a quality tomato harvest. and try not to let them dry out as this stresses the fruit and affects its quality.

Take a break from mowing the lawn, or at least a small area of it, to encourage more variety and diversity of grasses and wildflowers. These wilder areas provide a vital food source for insect pollinators, leaving some areas growing wild, benefits the whole of the garden.

Pot up into larger pots fast growing herbs and veg such as basilikum, geraniums and peppers, to keep them happy, healthy and growing on fine.

Enjoy morning and evening garden meditations or simply sit back in the garden and relax.

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