By Kath Chattelle

The weather in April was really lovely, but we had such little rain. Plants are most vulnerable to shortages of water when they are first planted when their roots have not yet established. Newly planted shrubs, trees, herbaceous annuals, and vegetables will all need watering to be managed carefully until their roots establish.
Once plants have established, keeping your soil healthy by adding organic matter should help to minimise the need for watering.

Water Conservation

Water resources are under pressure from climate change and mains water as sparingly as we can.
Plants don’t need perfectly clean water and we can help by using our water resources wisely. Using stored rainwater or grey water in your garden is a good option and rainwater is also better for your plants as it often has a lower ph.

Rainwater can be collected from the roofs of homes, garages, greenhouses, and other garden structures into a water butt. You can avoid the water becoming smelly or carrying diseases if you clean water butts annually.

Collected water can be used on established plants which have well-developed root systems.

Better to use clean water rather than collected water on seedlings because of the risk of fungal plant diseases.

Potatoes

If you are growing potatoes they will need ‘earthing up’ as they grow, this is to protect early shoots from frost damage and ensure the developing potatoes aren’t exposed to light, which turns them green and poisonous.

Once the stems are about 23cm (9in) tall, draw soil up around them, creating a ridge about 15cm (6in) high. As the stems grow, repeat the process several times. The final height of the ridge should be 20–30cm (8in–1ft).

Keep the plants well-watered in dry weather – particularly once the tubers start to form.

Bedding Plants

Bedding plants are usually colourful half-hardy, short-lived, or annual plants, grown for displays in beds or containers.

May is generally the time that bedding plants are planted out to create a beautiful summer display but do be aware of warnings of late frosts.

Herbs

Plant a herb pot, at this time of year you can fill it with both hardy and tender plants. Try different types of thyme, green, silver, or golden, sage, marjoram (which bees love), basil and parley. Rosemary would automatically give some height in a herb pot.

Make sure your pot is at least 25 cms deep if you are planting up a permanent display of herbs as this will allow the plants to put down deep roots.

Pruning/Cutting Back

Looking forward to Spring next year, now is the time to cut back spring-flowering shrubs as soon as the last blooms on the shrub begin to fade. This type of pruning applies to Deutzia, Flowering currant (Ribes sanguineum), Forsythia, Mock Orange (Philadelphus) and Weigela.

Weigela – should be pruned immediately after flowering

All these shrubs can become quite large and pruning straight after flowering allows them to be grown in even small gardens. The pruning can look brutal so consult a gardening book which will demonstrate how to do this to remove the oldest woody branches. Cutting back like this reinvigorates the shrub and will stop the plant becoming bare at the base.

Lawns

This is the month to get your lawn into good shape. Grass is growing like fury in May. Set your mower blades at 5-6 cms to avoid scalping the grass as this will leave spaces where weeds can grow.

Cutting the lawn once a week will keep it looking good and when the grass is not too long this job can be done fairly quickly. Regular trimming also allows the grass to produce side-shoots low down and makes it look thicker . If there is moss in your grass get your garden fork and spike the lawn to relieve surface compaction, then apply moss killer, raking out the dead moss when it turns black. Then apply a mixture of compost and grass seed to the affected areas.

Pinch off dandelion heads to stop them from seeding. Dig out plantains by the root using a weeding tool or old knife. When composting lawn clippings mix in with them shredded pruning or even shredded newspaper to prevent the clippings becoming a slimy wet mass that will not decompose easily.

Clematis

If you are growing clematis remember to tie the new stems in to supports with soft twine. Trail shoots in the direction you want them to grow. Wrap longer stems around supports timing them in at various intervals. Young clematis stems are fragile and break easily if they are forced or tied too tightly.