Plants & Planting

May Plant of the Month

There is so much going on this month that we could nominate a whole host of candidates for a Plant of the Month for May. Whilst the bulbs and spring blossom have peaked, herbaceous borders are now romping away, and the flower buds on the early summer flowering shrubs are showing every sign of a great display. Hanging baskets and tubs are being planted up and getting themselves established. The range of plants here gets more interesting every year and there really are no rules provided the plants you choose will fit into the size of container you have, and accept the type of soil or compost you give them and the position you put them in.

Petunias continue to be very popular this year, along with their smaller cousins Calibrachoas or ‘Million Bells’  and hybrids between the two. The Petunia is a very popular and widely planted genus, which originated from South America, and is closely related to the humble potato. They make ideal basket and container plants which can flower all summer long providing that you dead head them regularly.

Petunias are tender short-lived spreading perennials that love the sun! They come in a variety of blooms including single and double, ruffled or smooth petals. They can be striped, veined or solid in colour, with mounding or cascading habits. Some colours carry a strong fragrance which is sought out by butterflies and bees.  The two oldest types of petunias are grandifloras and multifloras; both are mounding in their habit of growth, grandiflora has larger flowers whilst the multifloras perform better in wet conditions.

Spreading type petunias which include the ‘Surfinia’ series are some of the most popular petunias because they do not need dead heading and they can be used as bedding plants, groundcovers or trailing in containers and hanging baskets.
Even more exciting than a great looking hanging basket is all the new growth in the veg garden!  Warm moist soil will help almost anything to grow and you really must take advantage of that. Veg plants of all sorts can be planted out now.

Plants & Planting

May is the most wonderful month with everything in the garden making massive amounts of growth. It is the most perfect time of year, soil warm enough to sow almost anything and enough moisture to aid germination, plus the weeds have not yet taken over!

Another May favourite is Lavender” …… Lavender is an easy to grow evergreen shrub that produces masses of beautifully scented flowers above green or silver foliage.  It is a particularly good option for this spring as it is drought tolerant.  It will do well planted in a container, herb garden or sunny border.

 

Lavender prices

Lavender Vera £9.99
Dwarf Lavender  £9.99
Lavender Stoechas £5.99
Mini Standard £14.99

 

Jobs for the Month of May

Warmth and moisture produce fantastic growth! Everywhere you look new shoots and leaves. Young and freshly planted items will need a little care and support. Don’t let them dry out as their roots will not yet have travelled far enough to reach lower soil moisture as yet. By the same token don’t drown them by over watering. New gardeners often find it hard to reach a balance and in truth it is a skill that comes with experience.

After the cold winter you do need to watch for damaged growth; prune back as soon as you are sure that things have stabilised and you can tell how for the damage has gone. Generally look for the first good healthy bud after the damaged growth.  Root death is harder to spot especially where plants have been rocked by wind, and sat in waterlogged ground over winter. These may suddenly collapse when the plant starts into growth – when the demands of the shoots exceed the ability of the roots to support it. Give encouragement in the form of a feed and mulch and they should recover. Even more important, don’t let spring planted trees and shrubs die for lack of water from the dry spring. Soil moisture has taken a hammering, and young roots will be struggling to find enough water to keep the shoots going. Same with newly sown areas, seedlings do not like to get started, then abruptly dried out.

In the vegetable garden, sow maincrop carrots, swedes, spinach and lettuce. Sow runner and dwarf beans in trays or pots. Sweet corn can go in provided the soil is in reasonable condition, and well manured. Make successional sowings of salad crops [every 14 days]. Prepare the sites for marrows, courgettes and pumpkins (a 1 ft hole filled with well-rotted manure is ideal) which can be planted out in the middle of the month.

Weed control through regular hoeing is always the best approach – use it when the soil is dry so that dislodged weeds can’t root again. Keep the fleece handy in case we do get a cold snap.

Lawns – Feed, weed and kill the moss. Lightly fork the bare patches and then rake in fresh seed covered with fine soil or loam based compost.

When you get to the herbaceous border – hoe off emerging seedlings, and mulch with well-rotted garden compost.  Pot grown plants can be planted at any time, and don’t forget to provide support for the taller growing plants such as Delphiniums.

This is an excellent time for planting up ponds and marginal areas to give a good effect this summer. Roses are growing fast and must be cared for. Even though many varieties are less susceptible to black spot, they still do better if treated, and the first spray of the season is the most important. Talk to your local garden centre about chemicals available as changes this year will affect what you can use and some familiar names are no longer available to gardeners. Best of all, feed roses well, mulch liberally, and make sure they don’t go short of water in May and June.

Shrub borders – don’t touch summer flowering shrubs as all you will do is cut the next flowers off, but you can prune the early flowering shrubs such as Forsythia and clip the evergreens.