At last May is here which is one of my favourite months for gardening – flowers starting to burst and there is the lush green of new leaves everywhere. Oh and two bank holidays of course! There is plenty to do around the garden and a little work now will pay dividends in spadefuls when summer arrives.

Things to do:

  1. Hedges can be given their first cut of the year.
  2. Shrubs that have just finished flowering (e.g. Forsythia) can be pruned now so they have plenty of time to develop new growth.
  3. Lilacs may be starting to look a little ragged so with a bit of careful dead-heading they can be kept tidy.
  4. Keep on top of weeds in paths and paving to prevent them being a platform for them to colonising the rest of your garden.
  5. Hanging baskets can be started now but keep inside (unheated but light area) until the end of the month.
  6. If you have Apple or Pear trees you may want to spray them to protect against certain pests (be sure to spray in the evening when our pollinating friends have retired for the day).
  7. Make the most of the warmer drier weather to sort out any bits of fencing/furniture etc. that needs painting.
  8. Keep an eye on your roses for green fly and be ready to hose the 6 legged monsters off.
  9. Avoid the temptation to remove the dying leaves from daffodils, tulips and other spring bulbs to let the bulbs develop for next season.
  10. There are plenty of vegetables that can be sown now including beans, cabbages, peas, radishes and more that will make for tasty treats later in the summer.

What others suggest

There are plenty of other things you can be doing this month and below are links to a few of those with suggestions: