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May Gardening Tasks

submitted on 2 May 2013
Now May is here we should be able to look forward to some warmer weather but beware of late frosts and be ready to protect your more vulnerable plants.

Regular lawn mowing will now become a feature of your gardening week as the warmer weather encourages growth. Use the cuttings in your compost heap but remember to add dry material too.

Your spring-flowering bulbs will be on the way out now and this is a good time to lift and divide bulbs that have become overcrowded. Don't cut off the foliage yet though as this is needed to replenish the bulbs.

If you live in one of the warmer parts of the country you can start sowing and planting out bedding. However, for most of us, the middle of the month will be soon enough for planting tender bedding, and it may still need covering at night if the temperature drops too far.

You can safely plant dahlia tubers and canna roots as any risk of frost should be past by the time their their tender tops are showing.

Harden off plants raised indoors before planting them outside. For a week or so take them out of the greenhouse during the day and put them in again at night. Then leave them out at night too in a cold frame or covered with fleece for another week to complete the process.

Try to keep on top of weeds by regular hoeing, but go easy with weedkillers as they may kill more than you are targeting.

Tie in new growth on summer-flowering clematis or train it where you want it to go while it is still flexible.

In dry weather you may need to start watering your bedding plants and others. If you don't already have a water butt set up then consider getting one. For tips on collecting water for the garden and watering your plants you might want to have a look at the two articles I have written on the subject.

To keep moisture in and weeds down you should consider mulching your borders with compost, well-rotted manure, leaf mould or grow bags. Before adding the mulch dig in general-purpose fertiliser.

On warm days open your greenhouse door and vents. Automatically-opening vents are useful.

Look out for any nesting birds before doing any hedge-trimming.

Slugs and snails will be appearing in your garden so get ready to use your preferred method of eradication. As well as the usual slug pellets you could use liquid slug killer or a biological killer using nematodes. If you are very lucky you will have a hedgehog passing through your garden who will do the job for you. Alternatively you could go out at dusk with a torch and pick them off by hand.

If you have neutral or alkaline soil you should feed acid loving plants such as rhododendrons and camellias with ericaceous feed.

Beware of black spot and mildew on your roses and spray with fungicide fortnightly until the autumn. Any infected leaves must be burnt - not composted. Also look out for greenfly.

That should be enough to keep you busy till June, weather permitting. Happy gardening!!

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