We are having a beautiful spring this year. This month Dogwoods, Crabapples, Redbuds, Azaleas and Rhododendrons are in bloom, Irises and Peonies open out, and Tulips are in full blossom! May is one of our most colorful months. There is of course lots to do in the garden! A great month to upgrade your Landscape Design.
As your Tulips finish blooming, cut off the flower stalks but not the leaves. Cut the leaves down when they turn yellow in a month. Work a 5-10-5 fertilizer around your bulbs. This will help them build up reserves for next year, and also help any annual flowers you may be planting in the bulb areas.
May is when you plant all your Annuals. Make sure you keep them protected in the flats for 5-7 days after you buy them to ‘harden – off’ before you plant them. Prepare your flower beds with fertilizer, and dehydrated manure, and mulch with mushroom soil or ‘right dress’.
Plant annual summer flowering bulbs such as Dahlias, Cannas, Calla Lilies, Gladioli and Tuberous Begonias.
By May 15th you can move your houseplants outside. This is the time to repot, add fresh potting soil and slow release fertilizers.
Prune your Forsythias, Azaleas, Lilacs and other spring blooming shrubs after they are finished blooming.
May is a good time to add new shrubs to the landscape and replace plants that have been damaged from the winter or have grown too big for the house. Please fill out our appointment request form for a design appointment.
May is planting time in the vegetable garden! During the weeks of May 7th and 14th plant cucumbers, beans, squashes, tomatoes, and zucchini. The week of May 21st plant peppers, eggplant, melons, and pumpkins. Before planting, weed and turnover the beds and add compost, manure, and organic fertilizers high in phosphorous.
As perennial flowers finish blooming you should cut off the old flowers – this is called dead-heading! Try to pull weeds while they are small.
As your old Chrysanthemums grow up you should pinch or shear them back to keep them compact. Do this every few weeks until August.
Re-evaluate your perennial flower beds and transplant or remove extras, and add new plants in the spaces. Create and plant new flower beds in May.
Before your bulbs disappear make a drawing of what you have, and design and order new bulbs from the bulb catalogues which are received this month. Creative Landscapes can design and plant bulbs in your garden this fall. Call us now to set this up and we can design your bulbs in time to order premium bulbs directly from Holland for you.
Call Creative Landscapes today for all your landscape design projects!
Happy gardening from the folks at Creative Landscapes!