May is another busy month for gardeners; as most of our frosts are behind us and it’s time to get busy planting our young seedlings out into the garden! It should be a month of a lot of growth, so hopefully your herbaceous borders are starting to increase in size and a few early buds are beginning to appear.
My greenhouse is bursting at the seams with seedlings so I’m grateful for sunny afternoons to get these out into the raised beds – and while I’m there I’m also adding a little bit of organic feed to my veg such as my mangetout and peas – just to give them a little boost!
The early blooms are starting to appear too in the greenhouse potted plants such as geraniums and saxifraga; so don’t forget to keep everything watered and dead-headed!
Read on for more of my gardening tips for the month of May!
1 – Try No Mow May!
No Mow May involves leaving part or all of your lawn to grow wild for the entire month of May, which allows wildlife to flourish. The native wildflowers will spring up in your unmown lawn, which will encourage pollinators to visit your garden. Leaving part of your lawn unmown is great for the environment, as it helps to lock away atmospheric carbon underground, which helps us to tackle air pollution. If you want to learn more about the creatures that inhabit your garden, and how to best look after the, check out this wonderful .
2 – Propagate your herbs
It’s easier than you might think to propagate plants from cuttings. I’ve had great success with propagating my basil plant, and all I needed was some such as rosemary, lavender, oregano and sage are all great plants to propagate. Simply off a branch of the main stem, and if the plant has a soft stem, such as basil, you can leave the stem in water and wait for roots to appear, or you can do what I did and dip the stem in rooting powder and place it straight into a pot filled with compost. It’s as simple as that! If you’re serious about propagation, it might be an idea to purchase a and a .
3 – Plant out any bare root perennials in your boarders
If you bought any bare-root perennials earlier in the season, you may have put them straight into to give them a chance to establish before putting them in their final spots. If this is the case for you, May is the perfect month to move those perennials to your boarders, as they should have had a good chance to grow more sturdy roots, and they should be well into their growth phase by now. To move your perennials, simply tip them out of their pots and place them in a hole so that they are at the same depth as they were in their pot. Be sure to generously water your perennials after planting.
4 – Invest in some new garden furniture
If you’re anything like me, now that the weather is finally warming up I want to sit outside as much as possible. Having an inviting place to do your work outside or having a spot to host al fresco dinners is a wonderful thing; and so getting some lovely garden furniture can be a great way to spend your money, as it allows you to enjoy all of the hard work you’ve put into your garden. If you’ve got the space, you could add a to your garden. If you only have a balcony or a small courtyard garden, you could treat yourself to a cute little .
5 – Remember to open your greenhouse vents and windows
On warm days, leaving your greenhouse or cold frame closed could lead to extremely high temperatures building up inside, which could kill your delicate little plants! To avoid this, it is recommended to ventilate your greenhouse well, and you could even buy to block out some of the sunlight. Another important step is to keep the greenhouse humid, which you can achieve by .
6 – Feed any potted plants
Any plants that are in pots or containers either indoors or outdoors will need regular feeding, as once they’ve used up the nutrients in the compost, they’re left with nothing to munch on! Apply a regularly through the growing season, but be sure to check what the label suggests, as some feeds should be applied more regularly than others. Make sure the soil is moist before applying a fertiliser, otherwise it can damage the plant’s roots!
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