Blossom everywhere promises a spring to remember. During May we need to keep on top of the weeds and to be replanting spring bulbs with tender bedding to give a seamless transition from spring into summer. The promise of summer flowers deserves the thick green background of a well kept lawn. Planting patio pots and tubs is the order of the month making sure that some of your containers are growing attractive vegetables that will feed the family as well as provide attractive foliage and flowers.
FLOWER GARDEN
Roses are now in full leaf and susceptible to aphid invasion and disease attack. If you have a sprayer and plenty of plants, spray with Roseclear 3 to kill the greenfly and protect your plants against rose blackspot, mildew and rust. For the 60 per cent of garden owners who don't own a pressure sprayer, rose treatment has not been easy. But now there are large containers of ready-to-use material that are available for quick action whenever you see pests or disease on roses or other ornamental flowering plants. A new 3 Litre size of RoseClear Gun! joins the existing 800ml hand held sprayer and is ideal for owners of more than a few roses that appreciate the benefits of ready-to-use sprays.
Tulips are the last of the popular spring bulbs to put on their display and are well worth the wait, especially if you have the splashed and streaked petals of 'parrot' or 'Rembrant' tulips planted among wallflowers or other spring bedding. As with all bulbs, you will need to remove the fading flowers and the seed head so that the bulb puts all its energy into developing next year's flower. To help them on their way give the clumps of bulbs a feed with Miracle-Gro Water Soluble Plant Food over the leaves and around the roots every couple of weeks until the foliage starts to brown and wither. Look out for the new and improved Miracle-Gro Feeder that makes feeding the average garden a quick and easy job in about 15 minutes. It turns any standard hose into a watering device with variable spray patterns and a garden feeder that will automatically dissolve and apply Miracle-Gro Plant Food and its other soluble plant foods all round the garden.
Plant out dahlia tubers in a sunny spot ready for summer flowering. These flowers are hungry and thirsty plants that need a deep rich soil that holds plenty of moisture. If your soil is not naturally that way inclined, dig in plenty of well-rotted garden compost or Levington Farmyard Manure. As with all plantings at this time of the year, add a handful of Miracle-Gro Controlled Release Plant Food or Miracle-Gro Shake & Feed around the tuber so that the granules feed the roots throughout the growing season.
Buy summer bedding from garden centres while it is still small and repot individual plants into pots of fresh Levington Potting and Container Compost. In this way you will avoid the inevitable overcrowding that happens when the plants are grown on in trays until June planting. Plants will grow best in a warm greenhouse, although they can be grown on sunny window-sills too.
Keep annual weeds under control with either regular hard work of a hoe or use one of the Weedol family of weedkillers to quickly and effortlessly knock them out. If you have any of the original formula of Weedol in your garage or garden shed you have until April 2006 to use up any remaining stock, before you switch to the new formula called Weedol 2. The new product works in exactly the same way, killing annual weeds and grasses with the speed of light and you will see results in just a couple of days. If you prefer a ready-to-use formula, use Weedol Gun! - it comes in a handy trigger sprayer that is ideal for spot weeding at any time of the year.
Timely Tips
In damp weather sprinkle pellets of SlugClear Advanced Pellets sparsely around plants that have fresh tender foliage that is ideal food for slugs and snails.
IN THE GREENHOUSE
Tomatoes in Gro-Bags should be romping away and growing strongly. Tie the main stem to its support cane or string as it develops and pinch out side shoots of cordon varieties as soon as they appear.
Water regularly to keep the compost moist at all times. Avoid alternating soggy conditions with drought as this can help to produce blossom end rot and split fruit. Feed regularly once the first two trusses have set with a good tomato fertilizer such as Tomorite.
High temperatures and sun scorch will be a potential problem inside the greenhouse and ventilation and shading are vital from May onwards. Fit automatically opening ventilators in the ridge so that this is not a daily manual job. Shade the sunny side of the greenhouse with outside blinds or paint with white shading to reduce inside temperatures.
Bedding plants kept in the greenhouse until the last of the spring frosts are over will need feeding occasionally as the fertilizer in the compost is used up quickly by these fast-growing plants. Use Miracle-Gro Plant Food to keep them growing actively and pinch out tops of plants that are over-stretching themselves so they remain bushy.
Topical Tips
Keep a wary eye open for whitefly and treat plants with a suitable insecticide such as Polysect Ready To Use at regular intervals. This insecticide is recommended for use on all decorative plants plus tomatoes, aubergines and peppers.THE LAWN
Mow lawns more regularly now as we hit the warm, moist weather when grass is growing at its maximum rate. If you gather the grass clippings at each cutting then you will be removing the nutrients contained in the leaves and the grass will eventually become short of plant foods that give it a good rich colour. That's why lawn experts spread a supplementary feed at this time of the year. A good lawn fertilizer treatment will not only green the grass, but will also thicken the lawn and help reduce bare patches.
At this time of the year a triple-action treatment of EverGreen Complete is most appropriate because in one application you can feed and green the grass, kill broadleaved weeds such as dandelions, white clover and daisies plus control any moss patches that may be present.
For the average sized lawn of around 100 square metres EverGreen Complete comes in a hand-held spreader so you can treat your lawn as easy as walking. If your lawn is larger than this it will save you time and be more accurate if you use a wheeled spreader. The EverGreen Easy Spreader applies EverGreen Complete, EverGreen Lawn Food, EverGreen Mosskil and EverGreen Autumn at a fixed rate without adjustment. If you need a spreader that is adjustable for most other lawn treatments, grass seed and dressing, then the Scotts EvenGreen Drop Spreader is the one for you.
Timely Tips
Keep the edges of your lawn tidy by clipping with long-handled shears at least once a fortnight.
FRUIT AND VEGETABLES
Many families find that garden space is limited and in modern homes growing vegetables is not top of the priority list. That's a shame, because produce freshly picked from the garden contains so much flavour and is so fresh that it is head and shoulders better than vegetables sold in supermarkets.
For those growing their own for the first time, try simple vegetables that will grow quickly and produce a good return for the kitchen. Picked young and fresh, French beans are full of flavour and can be grown easily amongst the more decorative flowers, or even in pots of compost on the patio. Simply push a couple of seeds into the soil where there is space to place a tea plate and wait for the plant to perform. It won't matter if the weather is hot - they thrive, just make sure the soil is moist around the roots and if you want bumper crops feed every couple of weeks with Miracle-Gro Plant Food.
Another sure fire winner for all the family are small tender carrots so full of flavour they knock your taste buds sideways. Traditionally they are grown in rows, but that isn't essential if space is limited in the garden. You can grow them in a sunny spot wherever you have a space, whether its square or circular. All you need to do is to remove as many stones as possible and work the soil so that it is as fine as possible.
If your soil is reasonable, select a short-rooted variety such as Amsterdam Forcing or Early Nantes - if it is stony sow Rondo or Parmex, almost globe shaped varieties that do well on shallow soils. Try to sow the seed thinly so there is a gap of 1 cm (1/2 inch) between each seed. Sprinkle over some fine soil just to cover the seed and water in. If cats use your garden then place some twigs over the area until the seeds emerge. In July your carrots will be big enough to thin and eat. Scratch away the soil around the crown to find the biggest ones and pull with a steady, even pressure. When in the kitchen just scrub the skins - don't peel them, and boil in the traditional way or even eat raw.
Topical Tips
Plant up pots or Fisons Original Gro Bags with tomatoes, peppers and chilli plants to provide tasty crops from patio space.
PATIO GARDENING
If you are to have hanging baskets and patio pots in full flower in June they need to be planted up by the middle of May so they are well established and bursting with flowers. If you are using tender subjects such as geranium, petunia, lobelia, fuchsia and begonia, they will need some protection if frost is forecast. Usually ground frost in May is not too hard and if the plants are placed against a warm wall and covered with sheets of newspaper and a layer of fleece then damage should be minimal. If you have a cool greenhouse or cold frame use this for storage at night and give plenty of ventilation during the day to encourage strong healthy growth.
Buy small plantlets from your local gardening retailer together with the best possible compost you can afford. To protect your ordinary ornamental flower containers from dreaded black vine weevil attack use Levington Outdoor Container Compost with Insect Control - if you are sure that this pest is not a problem in your neighbourhood then choose Miracle-Gro Moisture Control Compost that contains a super water retaining material that holds in 20 per cent extra moisture. This unique AquaCoir formula also contains Osmocote Controlled Release Plant Food which means you don't have to worry about supplementary feeding either. It's well worth paying a little extra for the superior results that a modern compost such as this will give in comparison to ordinary Multi-Purpose Compost. Plants will grow bigger, stronger and carry many more flowers.
Line hanging baskets with moss or fibre liner to ensure the compost stays in the basket and plant trailing plants such as colourful lobelia, verbena, bidens or silver-leaved Helichrysum or Senecio 'Silver Dust' through the sides to ensure complete cover. Top off around the edge with trailing fuchsias, petunias or geraniums and in the centre ensure height with an upright bush form of geranium or fuchsia. Water in the plants and see that they are protected from frost should this be forecast.
When re-potting patio containers of ornamentals, tip out all of last year's compost so that you get rid of any black vine weevil larvae that may have over-wintered there. If you spread this finished compost thinly over soil the birds will dispose of any grubs in a tasty meal. Use fresh compost, preferably Levington Outdoor Container Compost with Insect Control which will protect your plants from these underground pests and also keep away greenfly and give useful control of whitefly too. If you are growing fuchsias this is the compost to choose as they are very susceptible to both of these pests when grown in pots.
ALWAYS READ THE LABEL. USE PESTICIDES SAFELY
SlugClear™ Advanced Pellets contains metaldehyde. Roseclear® 3 contains bifenthrin and myclobutanil. Roseclear® Gun!™ contains flutriafol and bifenthrin. Evergreen® Mosskil contains ferrous sulphate. Evergreen® Complete contains MCPA, mecoprop-P and ferrous sulphate. EverGreen® Autumn contains ferrous sulphate. Levington® Outdoor Container Compost with Insect Control contains imidacloprid. Polysect® Ready To Use contains bifenthrin. Weedol® contains diquat and paraquat. Weedol® 2 and Weedol Gun!™ contain diquat.
® ™ and Miracle-Gro, Levington, Tomorite and Scotts are trade marks of The Scotts Company or its affiliates.
GARDENING INFORMATION FROM The Scotts Company (UK) Limited
WRITTEN BY JOHN CLOWES
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