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May is a high-growth, busy month in the garden, focusing on planting tender crops, sowing hardy annuals, and managing rapid weed growth. Key tasks include planting out tomatoes, cucumbers, and summer bedding, conducting the “Chelsea Chop” on perennials, and preparing for the first summer harvests of lettuce, radishes, and herbs.April is one of the busiest and most rewarding months in the garden, marking the true start of the spring growing season. As the soil warms up and daylight hours increase, gardeners shift focus to direct sowing, lawn revival, and essential maintenance.
JOBS FOR THE MONTH:
Fruit and veg
- Earth up potatoes, covering the shoots with soil as they appear
- Sow sweetcorn in deep pots, so the young plants are ready to transplant into the garden in June
- Reduce snail populations by going on regular evening hunts, especially during damp weather
- Start sowing dwarf and climbing French beans, as well as runner beans, directly outdoors in warm weather
- Pick rhubarb stems as they develop, and water plants with liquid feed
- Start hardening off tender young plants, such as tomatoes and courgettes, ready for planting out in mild areas
- Sow batches of salad leaves and stir-fry crops every few weeks to provide continuous pickings
- Hang pheromone traps in apple and plum trees from May to July, to control pests
- Thin out seedlings, like carrots, from earlier sowings to ensure you get healthy, strong-growing plants
- Open fruit cage doors or lift some of the netting to ensure pollinating insects can get access to the flowers
- Remove all strawberry runners, so plants put their full energy into fruiting
- Keep plenty of fleece handy to protect young seedlings or fruit blossom, if late frosts are forecast
Flowers
- Prune spring shrubs, such as forsythia and chaenomeles, after flowering to keep them compact
- Plant out dahlia tubers and cannas after all risk of frost has passed
- Tie in the new shoots of climbing plants, including clematis, wisteria and honeysuckle, to their supports
- Continue sowing annuals, such as California poppies, into gaps in borders for colour from August into autumn
- Plant up hanging baskets, but keep in a greenhouse or porch for a few weeks to establish, before putting outside
- Apply liquid feed to tulips, daffodils and other spring bulbs to encourage a good display next year
- Plant out summer bedding and tender annuals, including sunflowers, cosmos and nasturtiums, after the last frost
- Remove faded spring bedding, such as wallflowers and forget-me-nots, and add to your compost bin
- Check lilies and fritillaries for scarlet lily beetles and their larvae, as they can rapidly strip plants of all foliage
- Harden off tender plants raised indoors, but bring them back in at night to protect from late frosts
- Pinch out the shoot tips of bedding plants and young annuals, such as fuchsias, to encourage bushier growth
- Add interest to shady borders by planting a selection of hostas and ferns
