May Garden Chores: Preparing Your Lawn and Landscape
April showers bring May flowers! We hope you are enjoying a beautiful spring and all your hardwork is paying off. Here’s a task list from For Garden’s Sake in Durham to guide you through the essential chores for May:
Your Task List
- Planning & Preparation:
- Plan for succession planting of vegetables.
- Consider starting seeds indoors for fall crops. Start gathering your seeds and make your plans now.
- Maintenance:
- Water plants regularly, especially newly planted ones and containers.
- Mulch garden beds to retain moisture and suppress weeds.
- Fertilize vegetables and flowers as needed.
- Monitor for pests and diseases, and treat as necessary.
- Prune spring-flowering shrubs after they bloom.
- Deadhead flowers to encourage more blooms.
- Begin staking or caging tall or vining plants.
- Planting & Starting:
- Plant warm-season vegetables like tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, and beans if you haven’t done so already.
- Direct sow corn, cucumbers, squash, and melons. For Garden’s Sake has this in stock.
- Plant annual flowers for color and pollinators. We still have plenty to choose from!
- Harvesting:
- Harvest cool-season crops like lettuce, spinach, and peas before they bolt.
- Harvest strawberries when ripe.
As the temperatures heat up, keep an eye on your irrigation and watering schedule. Ammoisture meter is very helpful during times of intermittent showers. Watering correctly is the hardest balance to find! If your plant is struggling, it’s usually the over-under-watering issue.
Each chore is an investment in a thriving lawn and garden, setting the stage for a successful gardening season. Happy Spring!
9197 NC Hwy 751 Durham, NC 27713 919 484 9759 #fgsdurham #fgslandscapes #okellychapelnc