Peter’s Gardening tips for May
The gardening explodes into unbelievable growth.
Trees, shrubs, herbaceous plants, grass, climbers have all gone berserk! Plenty of moisture, sunshine and a warm period have made for perfect growing conditions. Quite extraordinary. Blossom on so many trees, hawthorn-May tree, fabulous candles of flower on the horse chestnuts, and the myriad of fresh green leaves on everything else – delicious! The wonder of nature…..
Lawns:
Very lush growth. Compost your grass cuttings if you can. Mix with 50% carbon based materials – newspaper, cardboard, straw, twiggy stuff, shredded cuttings. Keep your mower blades sharpened – better for the grass and less work for the mower engine! Scrape out old grass from under the mower deck. If a petrol mower, tip up so the exhaust is upper most, or else the engine oil goes into the exhaust and the mower won’t start. If the mower won’t start leave for 30 minutes and try again to start. There might be a cloud of blue smoke!
Pruning and cutting back:
Early flowering shrubs such as Forsythias, Ribes (flowering currants), Berberis, camellias and rhododendrons can all be reduced in size. General rule of thumb prune after flowering. Please clean your secateurs regularly, use a knife or blade to scrape off black deposits and rust, a rub with a scourer or fine sand paper, sharpen and a drop of oil. This will stop any transmitting of diseases or infections. Keep the blade clean, spray with oil and wipe excess off on a regular basis.
Herbaceous Plants:
Amazingly lush growth. Cut back by 50% plants like – Asters (Michaelmas daisies), phlox, helenium, sedum spectabilis, nepeta six hills giant. You may think I’m mad but this will pay great dividends – stronger more compact plants, more flowers and less supporting required. This cutting back has been called the Chelsea chop because it coincides with the Chelsea flower show.
Put in place plant supports, pea-sticks, canes,
Bulbs:
Lift, divide and replant daffodils if not flowering well. Water and liquid feed when replanted. Deadhead tulips. Feed all bulbs now for more flowers next year – Vitax Q4.
Climbing Plants:
Trifids spring to mind! Strangling honeysuckle, clematis, roses,
Vegetables:
Potatoes keep earthing up – covering up the foliage with soil. Sow salads every two weeks for a continual supply.
Another important month for seed sowing for autumn/winter crops – parsnips, swede, celeriac,
Also sowing climbing french beans, runner beans, courgettes, marrows, ridge cucumbers.
Weeding:
Try and keep on top of them. Easy to pull out with the ground moist. Don’t allow to flower or set seed!
Keep vegetables weed free-less competition. Hoe on sunny days,leave the weeds to wither in the sun.
Apply weed killers on a dry day with no wind- no spray drift.
Wild Flowers:
Still a great month for sowing any annuals or perennials. Keep watered if we have a dry spell until germinated at least.
Weather:
Looking like a rollercoaster month. Wet, windy, showers, warm, cool,
Perfect planting weather. Visit your local nursery or garden centre. Check out gardens open with the National Garden Scheme – a great way to be a nosey gardener and pinch ideas!
Don’t forget to make time to enjoy your hard work in the garden. Stop look and listen. The dawn chorus is amazing, and the scents are exquisite. Fill your senses.
LISTEN TO THE DAWN CHORUS BELOW!
Please feel free to make any comments or leave any questions below …

Peter Mills

Latest posts by Peter Mills (see all)
- Peter’s Gardening Tips for April 2021 - March 30, 2021
- Peter’s Gardening tips for March 2021 - February 28, 2021
- Peter’s Gardening Tips for February 2021 - February 11, 2021
- Peter’s Gardening Tips for February 2021 - February 7, 2021
- Peter’s Gardening Tips for January 2021 - January 12, 2021
Leave a Comment!
Log in to comment
You need to be logged in to interact with Silversurfers. Please use the button below if you already have an account.
LoginNot a member?
You need to be a member to interact with Silversurfers. Joining is free and simple to do. Click the button below to join today!
JoinCommunity Terms & Conditions
Content standards
These content standards apply to any and all material which you contribute to our site (contributions), and to any interactive services associated with it.
You must comply with the spirit of the following standards as well as the letter. The standards apply to each part of any contribution as well as to its whole.
Contributions must:
be accurate (where they state facts); be genuinely held (where they state opinions); and comply with applicable law in the UK and in any country from which they are posted.
Contributions must not:
contain any material which is defamatory of any person; or contain any material which is obscene, offensive, hateful or inflammatory; or promote sexually explicit material; or promote violence; promote discrimination based on race, sex, religion, nationality, disability, sexual orientation or age; or infringe any copyright, database right or trade mark of any other person; or be likely to deceive any person; or be made in breach of any legal duty owed to a third party, such as a contractual duty or a duty of confidence; or promote any illegal activity; or be threatening, abuse or invade another’s privacy, or cause annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety; or be likely to harass, upset, embarrass, alarm or annoy any other person; or be used to impersonate any person, or to misrepresent your identity or affiliation with any person; or give the impression that they emanate from us, if this is not the case; or advocate, promote or assist any unlawful act such as (by way of example only) copyright infringement or computer misuse.
Nurturing a safe environment
Our Silversurfers community is designed to foster friendships, based on trust, honesty, integrity and loyalty and is underpinned by these values.
We don't tolerate swearing, and reserve the right to remove any posts which we feel may offend others... let's keep it friendly!
Hi Carol,
The only other plants with Brooke I can find have "Brooklynensis" in the name, such as Magnolia x Brooklynensis "Yellow Bird",introduced at the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens in 1967. A great plant. Needs some shelter and can become a tree! Available from Burncoose Nurseries.
Another option is the R.H.S. Plant Finder Book, lists all plants grown in the U K and the nurseries that grow them.
Regards Peter.
It does sound like wild strawberry. It's a question of persistent weeding i'm afraid. Don't let it flower and seed. Weed killers can be used very carefully. Roundup Gel or Neudorff super fast & long lasting weedkiller.
Regards Peter.
The one product I have used to great effect with troublesome cats is
Scarecrow. It's a watering spike with a movement sensor. You do need a good hose and tightly done up connectors. The hose stays live at night or day and fires water at them. Range of 10metres approximately!
Don't forget to turn the tap off if you go outside or have visitors!
Great surname!
Regards Peter.
Preventive fungicide spraying is best, as soon as the roses start to break bud you need to spray, then every two weeks. Keep roses fed and mulched. Stressed plants are more prone to disease.
If you don't want to use fungicides and want an organic approach feed with a seaweed based fertiliser like Vitax Organic Liquid Seaweed.
A lot of new varieties of roses are black spot resistant, try some...
Regards Peter