Long days and warmer nights herald the start of the planting season for tender flowers, patio planters and tropical vegetables that hate our British frosts. On display will be all manner of flowering shrubs including decorative cherries, rhododendrons, and lilacs, plus herbaceous perennials such as aquilegia, hardy geraniums, peonies and bleeding hearts (dicentra).
Beds and Borders . . .
Prune back spring flowering shrubs such as forsythia, flowering currants and spiraea when they have finished flowering, this will ensure a great display next year.
In sheltered areas, sowing seed and planting out tender bedding plants can be undertaken early in the month. The end of May is the earliest that we can expect frosty nights not to be a fatal event.
Feed your acid-loving plants such as pieris, Japanese acers, kalmia and skimmia. Feeding from now until late summer will ensure strong growth and the formation of a large number of flower buds ready to explode next spring.
Patio Tubs & Baskets…
Plant up hanging baskets, patio pots with tender flowers such as fuchsias, geraniums, pelargoniums, busy lizzies, petunias and all manner of trailing plants.
Lawncare . . .
Mow the grass as often as you are able, ideally weekly. Reduce the cutting height of the mower to a summer setting, a minimum of 20-25 mm (3/4 – 1 inch), if it is well fed and regularly cut the lawn will become thick and strong a great natural way to stop new weed seedlings. If weeds are a problem, use a selective RTU weed killer to kill them off.
In May the grass naturally grows at its maximum rate, it will soon use up any energy reserves in the soil. If you have sorted out the moss and weeds earlier in spring and mow the grass regularly, all you need to keep your lawn at optimum condition is a regular supply of balanced lawn food to keep your lawn thick and green.
Without food to develop side shoots and thickness, the lawn is open to invasion by weed seeds and moss that thrive in low nutrient conditions.
If all this sounds complicated, call Greener Gardens for a Free no obligation quotation and lawn care plan. We professionally apply lawn products and give lots of great advice to help you keep your lawn in tip top condition.
Grow your Own…
Continue to harvest rhubarb as stems develop. Pull from the base of the stem, taking just a few sticks at any one time. If you see a large bud forming in the centre of the plant cut this out as this is the flower head.
Your strawberry plants will need attention if they are going to give you maximum crop. Water and feed them with an All Purpose Soluble Plant Food just as the fruits are forming. This will supply extra nutrients for maximum fruit set.
If you would like help with any lawn or hard surface projects, don’t hesitate to call Greener Gardens on 0115 837 8439. We would be delighted to provide a no obligation quotation.
More detailed information can be found at www.greenergardens.co.uk