Across all regions of the United States, May is a very active landscaping and gardening month. Creating a gardening to-do list can help you layout the best plan to accomplish all your goals for the landscape. Below are a dozen smart tips to bring your May landscape into all its glory.
- Weed Season Begins
It’s weeding season. Get started immediately keeping the weed hoards down or they will quickly invade and take over a homeowner’s property.
- Transplant the Landscape
If buying new plants or relocating old plants, now is a smart time to transplant perennials, shrubs, and trees before the excessive heat comes on. Do not disturb or transplant spring blooming plants until fall.
- Container Garden Refresh
Dump old potting soil in the compost bin and refresh all the containers with fresh soil.
- Late Frost Worries
Keep an eye on the temperature as many mid-to-northern gardens can suffer from a surprise late frost.
- Fertilize the landscape
Whether growing perennials, shrubs, or trees, now is the time to fertilize. Organic fertilizer is preferred, but no matter what fertilizer you use, please follow package directions. This is an excellent time to fertilize flowering shrubs such as roses and hibiscus to encourage bloom. Do not over fertilize or you will produce too much foliage and not enough bloom.
- Lawn, Lawn, Lawn
Rake the lawn, overseed lawn, aerate lawn, dethatch lawn, fertilize lawn, water lawn, and mow lawn as needed.
- Spring Bulb Clean Up
In order to prevent wasted energy on seed production, deadhead spring bulbs when they are done blooming. Do not rake up leaves until they are completely yellow or browned. Using labels and a Sharpie marker, mark where spring bulbs are planted once the foliage is removed. This is a good tool to help you with dividing bulbs in the fall.
- Deadhead Flowers
Pansies, primroses, and other spring flowers can be deadheaded now. If the spring remains cool, some of the flowers will rebloom. Others will maintain their foliage throughout the growing season, so cleaning up the brown bits will help the plants look more attractive.
- Vegetables
Plant vegetables that are warm-season now. Ornamental edibles can be added to spring planting containers. Harvest cool-season vegetables and plant asparagus.
- Compost Pile Maintenance
Start up the old compost pile again now that the weather has warmed. Turn over the compost pile a few times, add a few layers of “green” or “hot” materials, and give the compost pile another flip or two. Toss in half a bag of rotted manure and make sure the compost stays damp like a wrung-out wet sponge. Activity will kick in for a good compost season.
- Seeds
Once the last frost moves past, plant any annual flower and vegetable seeds directly into the ground.
- Irrigation System Check
Open up the irrigation system for a complete power through. Then make sure the irrigation timers and drip systems are working and available for the landscape.
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