Easy Gardening Tips for May

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You don’t have to have a green thumb to be a successful gardener. Plant almost any type of vegetable or flower in May for great summer results.

Plant an herb garden: Buying herbs at the supermarket can be expensive. The cost of cut basil can cost more than a basil plant. Plant your favorite herbs in your garden and enjoy their fresh flavor throughout the spring and summer. Dry them and use them all year round. This is your chance to experiment with herbs while you cook. Plant coriander, dill, parsley, thyme, mint, basil, sage, fennel, and oregano.

Plant flowers for lasting color: Many of the most beautiful flowers only last for one season. Now is the time to plant these annuals so you can enjoy them for as long as possible. Plant begonia, chrysanthemum, geranium, calendula, petunia and verbena. Your garden center will have many more varieties to choose from. Do you want something more permanent? Plant perennials such as Russian sage, asters, purple echinacea, yarrow, peonies, blanket flowers, Siberian iris, daffodils, pincushion flowers, African daisy, delphinium, fuchsia, and lavender.

Solve pest problems naturally: One of the benefits of planting your own garden is the ability to keep it chemical free. Instead of putting harmful chemicals in your garden to keep bugs away, try natural and safe options. Ladybugs can control aphid outbreaks. Buy them at your local nursery and release them after dark so they aren’t tempted to fly into your neighbor’s yard. To prevent snails and slugs from eating plants, place crushed eggshells around plants. Snails will not walk on them.

Time to prune the bushes: Plum bushes (slender and shaped) that bloom in spring as soon as the flowers finish.

Slender fruit trees: Fruit trees produce more fruit than can grow to maturity. Some of the unripe fruit will drop naturally during May. Thin the remaining smaller fruit from the branches. That way the strongest fruit will grow bigger and tastier and the smaller fruit won’t weigh down the tree branches.

Reduce your lawn: The water needed to keep average-sized lawns green amounts to about 32 percent of outdoor water use. With rising water rates, consider downsizing your lawn. Low-maintenance, drought-tolerant ground cover such as lantana and ornamental grasses, including fountain grass and deer grass, can easily fill a spot where grass once grew.

Padding issues:Add a two- to three-inch layer of mulch in flower and vegetable beds and around trees and shrubs. Make sure the mulch does not touch plant stems or tree trunks. Mulch keeps weeds down, retains moisture, and prevents disease.

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