Magnificent May!

Magnificent May!

There’s an absolute riot going on in the gardens in May! The trees finally have leaves, in every shade of green you could imagine. Dogwood, Magnolia, Redbud, Pear trees and several others are showing off their spring blooms in whites and pinks and magentas. Peonies and lilacs are filling the air with intoxicating fragrance, just begging to be put in a vase inside. Early perennials like Columbine, Lily of the Valley, Brunnera, and Pincushion Flower are providing us with blues, whites and pinks with a promise of the summer colors to come. Tulips reach for the sun, fern fronds are starting to unfurl, Sweet Woodruff is sprinkling the ground with its apple scented, dainty, white flowers. Everyday something new pops up to delight the senses. Don’t miss it. Everything is going so fast this time of year.

Unfortunately, the weeds are growing and blooming just as quickly. Get on ‘em. After the flowers come the seeds, and we really don’t want them. There’s an old farmer’s adage that says, “One year to seed, seven years to weed.” Believe it. One innocent, fluffy white dandelion head can disperse dozens of seeds. Take the time now to dig them up and prevent even more work for next year. Think about adding the tender leaves to your salads or cook them up like you would collards or mustard greens. They are quite nutritious as well as delicious. Wild garlic (or onion) grass is abundant this time of year. Wait until after a rain, grab your weeding tool and get them out all the way to the bulb. If the ground is hard and dry, they’ll just break off and and you’ll have more in a blink of an eye. For any weed you pull, grab every single leaf as close to the soil line as you can. Pull straight up with firm, steady pressure, and get all of the roots you possibly can. Loosening the weed with a weeding tool or gardening knife will make your job that much easier.

Apply a pre-emergent weed inhibitor now to slow or prevent the germination of weed seeds already on or in the ground. Mulch the landscaping beds but be sure to keep the mulch off of the crowns, stems, and trunks of your plants. Top dressing with compost is always a good idea, especially now when the plants are expending so much energy into new growth and blooms. You can never have enough compost. Azaleas, rhododendrons, laurels and other flowering shrubs wouldn’t mind a boost of fertilizer now that they are starting to form buds or flowers.

I don’t know about you, but I go into a planting frenzy this time of year. I swear I’m not going to buy anymore plants, that I don’t have room for anymore plants, but I inevitably find something, or a few somethings, that I just can’t live without. If you find yourself bringing home new treasures, keep them watered and out of the direct sun until you have the opportunity to get them in the ground. The best time to plant is on a cloudy, cool, damp day. Don’t give in to the urge to get out there on a sunny 80* day during the midday hours. The installation shock will be greater on a day like like and your plant won’t adjust to its new location as easily. Dig a hole twice as wide and just as deep as the container your plant is in. Fill the hole with water and let it drain. Loosen up the soil at the bottom of the hole and add some soil amendment (NOT fertilizer!). Carefully take your plant out of its container, score or lossen the bottom of the root ball and place it in the hole. The plant should only be as deep as the soil line on the pot. Planting deeper, or more shallowly, is not better. If you bury the crown of the plant, it could falter and even die. Gently fill the hole with your amended soils and gently water in to settle it. Keep up with the watering. Twice a week, deep watering should be adequate. Maker certain you’re not just giving the plant a light, shallow watering. The water needs time to percolate all the way to the bottom of the root ball. Slow, deep water is the key. You want those roots to reach down deep to better withstand the heat and drought of the summer months to come.

There’s a lot to say about May in the garden. I could go on for another 750 words and still not exhaust the subject. But I won’t. I want to get outside in this glorious weather and play in the garden. You should too.