May Tips

• This year treat yourself and your garden to at least one special new plant.
• Water, water, water, as often as daily for new plants and almost all plants in pots.  The rest of the garden generally needs one inch of water every week – whether from rain or from the gardener.  Remember to water deeply, not superficially, because deep watering encourages deeper roots and more drought-resistant plants.
• Weed regularly, and not just because they’re unsightly, either.  Weeds rob water, light and nutrients from the plants you DO like. 
• Deadhead early spring flowers like pansies as the blooms fade and begin replacing them in containers with warm weather bloomers.
• Plant spring and summer annuals such as marigolds, cosmos, verbenas, zinnias, begonias, vincas and so many more.
• Time to plant bulbs like elephant ears, dahlias and caladiums.
• Do your vegetable garden prep if you haven’t already.  Plant summer vegetables like peppers, tomatoes and cucumbers, and if needed, add Coast of Maine Lobster Compost and turn it in gently.
• If you haven’t done it already and if they need it, prune your spring-flowering shrubs and trees as they finish blooming.  Mature, full-size shrubs usually need renewal pruning at least every other year.  
• Keep a watch out for cucumber beetles, aphids, cabbage worms, cutworms, scale, slugs & snails and any signs of fungal diseases (leaf spot, mildew, rust…).
• Rip out weeds and invasive plants while the soil is damp, before they spread even further.
• Mow your lawn to 3″ to 4″ high and let the clippings stay on the lawn to provide Nitrogen to the soil (and the turf).

Fertilize all flowering shrubs, perennials and annuals with organic Dr Earth fertilizers or the time release fertilizer Dynamite