This month is probably the busiest for the gardener. As the month proceeds frosts do become less likely and it becomes safer to plant out the tender bedding plants in beds and borders. A weekly visit to the garden centre is a good idea so that tubs, containers and window boxes can be planted up. Hanging baskets can be planted with geraniums, pelargoniums, begonias, fuchsias, buzy lizzies and a host of new and traditional trailing plants. Some bedding plants and perennials can now be sown direct in flower beds. Always watch for plants drying out, for attack by slugs and pests and for the surprise late frost. Keep plants fed with fertilizer or liquid feed.
In the kitchen garden seed potatoes can still be planted and it should be safe soon to plant outdoor tomatoes, aubergines, runner beans, marrows and courgettes. Use 8ft canes to support runner beans. Herbs and strawberries can be planted and soft fruit, except raspberries, can still go in. If not already done apply Coolglass shading to the greenhouse. Roses, climbers, trees and shrubs, conifers and perennials can be planted, provided they are container-grown. Put a little bonemeal in the hole and mulch well, watering plants in dry weather. Lawns need regular cutting now. During dry spells don’t cut grass too short and avoid using a lawn sprinkler except on newly-sown or turved grass. Trim evergreens and early-flowering shrubs and climbing plants and dead-head tulips and daffodils.
It is International Compost Week from 1 May so why not purchase a compost bin for just œ7 from Garden Scene (Herts County Council pays the rest) and compost all the prunings and grass clippings. Be very careful trimming hedges because birds are still nesting. Water might be in short supply this summer so it is a good idea to conserve moisture by covering beds and borders with a thick layer of mulch such as bark chippings. Roses need to be regularly sprayed against pests and diseases and Toprose fertilizer should be applied to roses and to shrubs and perennials. Keep blanket weed and duckweed cleared from ponds and plant out the aquatic plants now. Softwood cuttings can be taken this month too.
The Chelsea Flower Show this year is from Tuesday 24 May to Saturday 28 May. Tickets may be purchased beforehand (Ticket Hotline 0870 247 1227). The Urban Gardens Show is at London’s Olympia from 5-8 May. The Malvern Spring Show is from 13-15 May (tickets 01684 584924). Local gardens open to the public include the Abbots House at Abbots Langley on 1 May and Great Sarratt Hall on 29 May. Rhododendrons will be at their best this month at the Saville Gardens, near Windsor, and the Royal Horticultural Society’s gardens at Wisley in Surrey.
Terry Simmonds