MAY GARDENING
Hello to all my readers, today is Sunday 10th April and I have had mixed
feelings about the current weather to be honest. There has been the odd day
when I have caught a bit of a sun tan, but others where we have had hail
stones!! It can’t seem to decide what to do at the moment; surely it can’t be
too long before the warm weather arrives on a permanent basis! I have a
load of perennials that I have nurtured on from plug plants, ready to go into
my borders, but I just can’t risk it due to it not being warm enough yet!
Anyway, in terms of what myself and
Helen have been working on over the
last 4 weeks, it’s been near enough the
same as last month. Granted, the lawns
haven’t grown as quick as normal for
this time of year, but we have been
mowing on a daily basis along with the
usual jobs which we should be doing
now (cutting back, scarifying, weeding,
mulching and the odd bit of turfing). A
few of our clients have evergreen hedges
like Laurel, Yew and Leylandii, but personally it’s
a tad too early and I would be getting stuck into
this in a couple of weeks time or so.
A common mistake, which some people make,
is to cut down their spent, early flowering bulbs
in May. I know they can look a bit of a mess but
the longer you leave them, the better they will
become the following year. They need time to
replenish their energy thus making sure they
produce lovely flowers the following year. My
favourite bulbs have to be Tulips but where we
live, in Penn, the squirrels have had a field day
and eaten a good number of them before they can
look their best!
The middle of May is probably about the best
time to start thinking about your hanging baskets
and pots. There is so much more variety in
Summer and you can really produce a colourful,
striking display of flowers which will keep going
until September and beyond.
Border design
Tall perennials can be staked and supported
around about now, your Lupins, Delphiniums
and Campanula’s will benefit from this, thus
preventing them looking a mess and flopping all
over the place.
Right, keep working hard around the garden and
hopefully we will have some warm weather on the
way soon!
by Stuart McCann of
Gardening Angel
14
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