Gardening – May 2024

Tom Strowlger

@garden_with_tom

The last month of meteorological Spring is upon us and the garden is fresh, green and showing off lots of flowers. The month of May brings us gardeners a sense of reaping what we have sown, our past efforts are now really giving us their rewards. The longer and warmer days bring our gardens to life. We can be outside all day long and get excited about summertime being just around the corner. However, before getting comfortable in a garden chair the preparation for our summer garden isn’t quite done so let’s use the month of May to tick a few more jobs off the gardening list.

Early May is the last call for planting out summer bulbs, corms, rhizomes and tubers including Dahlia, Begonia, Gladioli and Freesia. They need some time in the ground to fully establish to create lovely flower displays during the peak summer season. Dahlia is a favourite of mine and their tubers can be planted this month to give a summer flower display that will delight us all the way to the first frost in autumn. Dahlia thrive in well-drained soil with full sun.

The green shooting vines of climbers like Passion Flower, Clematis, Jasmine, Wisteria and Honeysuckle should be supported onto trellises, fences, arches and walls. We can use green string, plant rings and wire to secure the new vines into place. To get the best out of our climbers we need to train them to be neat and tidy, grow into the shape we want and of course successfully flower, plus prevent vine and branch damage on windier days.

The plants will need to be kept moist to keep them happily growing throughout the warmer months. During any hot spells we should water our plants early in the morning or later in the evening, this ensures the water gets deep into the ground and evaporation is minimised. Do remember to water at the base of plants and not the leaves downwards, so to get the water to the root systems and prevent plant disease.

The lawn grass is now enjoying warmer soil so we can now cut it weekly, but not too short as we want the grass to flourish in the summer months. A longer grass leaf supports a healthier lawn, as the longer the grass the better the lawn grass can cope with dry spells. If you have any bare patches in your lawn, then hand sow grass seed into patches to ensure germination in time for summertime.

Many of the spring bulbs will have flowered and flourished and be at the end of their flowering season as we gently transition from springtime into summertime. We can deadhead spent flowers but leave the green leaves to die back naturally as they will be catching the sunlight to store energy for next year’s flower display. You can carefully lift and divide any overcrowded daffodils and spring flowering bulbs and plant into new areas of the garden ready for next spring’s flower display.

As an enthusiastic gardener I thrive in the month of May, because I can look back on the springtime gardening achievements with a jolly smile whilst looking forward to what summertime will bring. 

Please do follow me on Instagram @garden_with_tom for more seasonal gardening advice and tips.