GARDENING TIPS
FOR MAY
This is probably one of my
favorite months of the year - the mornings are cool
and the days are slightly warm with
perfumed fragrance in the air. And the mosquitoes are
not out yet.
● Spring blooming bulbs and
shrubs are either in full bloom are about to finish
blossoming. Forsythia, lilac, cherry, and quince are
the earliest to bloom. The tulips, daffodils and
hyacinth can still hold their blossom if the weather
remains quite cool.
● Bad bugs are starting to
appear. The first to appear are the aphids. If your
roses are beginning to sprout, check closely and
examine the underside, and you just might see these
little bugs sucking the life out of your plant. No
need to reach for powerful, toxic chemicals. Just
manually knock them off, use a direct jet of water, or
spray with insecticide soap. That will take care of
them for a while. Recheck after several weeks. The
aphid colony can build up again. Repeat the treatment
if necessary.
● If the soil can be worked,
this is a good time to plant your woody plants,
whether you are planting a new tree or moving an
established tree to a new location. As usual, follow
good planting practices.
● Since this is the time for
you to get your vegetable plot ready for planting,
work in compost to enrich the soil.
● If you have kept a log of
what you had planted in each garden plot, be sure to
practice crop rotation. If you had grown tomatoes in
that spot, do not grow vegetable belonging to the
Solanaceae or nightshade family there. Some popular
vegetables in this family are the potato, bell
peppers, hot peppers and eggplant. This is because
disease pathogen can attack plants in the same family,
and by growing plants that are related, you are
encouraging the pathogen to multiply. Grow something
unrelated to tomatoes, for example, beans or squash.
● Tender perennials and
tropicals can be move outside the house for some sun.
These are the tropical Jasmines, your ficus tree,
hibiscus shrubs that you have been nurturing
throughout the winter.
● Ah, the wonderful month
of May, not much to do but much to enjoy.
" As it fell upon a day
In the merry month of May,
Sitting in a pleasant shade
Which a grove of myrtles made."
