May Easy-Gardening Tips

Away with the weeds

A necessary job that will be occupying your gardening time in May will be tackling the weeds which are just as keen as plants to put on a growth spurt in the warmer weather. Some weeds will actually grow, seed and die all in one season and with these ‘annuals’ such as chickweed, groundsel and hairy bittercress, it is best to deal with them quickly using your trusty hoe, working shallowly across the soil so you don’t  unearth any ungerminated seeds. With perennial weeds, including ground elder, it is best to try and fork them out, digging deep enough below the roots to ensure the whole weed is removed, before setting them to one side, ideally for the bonfire. Stubborn varieties can also be treated with a natural fertiliser such as the excellent acetic acid based formulation from the RHS or controlled with a membrane such as Weedtex laid between plants. And if you really want to take the pain of weeding away, why not let a mini tiller do the border preparation around your perennials, as well as coming in handy for the vegetable patch.

The best time of the day to weed is in the morning and not only will you have energy for the task but the sun’s UV rays will help to kill the exposed weed roots during the day and also stop the spread of any bacteria and diseases exposed when you are hoeing. If weeding still seems like a really onerous task then Laetitia Maklouf, the horticultural-inspired author of books such as The Five Minute Garden, recommends chunking down the task to a few well-spent minutes every day, as part of your morning routine. You’ll be surprised at how much you can get done over a couple of weeks with a quick daily weed in between a your morning coffee and grabbing a shower! Remember the more weeding you do in late Spring, the less you will have to worry about it for the rest of the growing season.

Let planting out bedding plants begin

Once your borders and beds are weed-free and looking their best, you can start to think about sowing out bedding plants and annuals. From Marigolds, Geraniums and Petunias to Lobelia, Zinnias and Fuschias, the choice is not only immense but what you pick can reflect your taste, planting scheme or the statement you are trying to make with your garden.

For borders or basket staples, we think you can’t go far wrong with frost-hardy Begonias which can be planted as upright or trailed over pots. Another popular favourite are long-flowering Impatiens or Bizzie Lizzies that rapidly cover borders and create a simple but joyful display of white red and purples.

For cottage gardeners, Sweet Peas (which have annual and perennial varieties), Cornflowers and Pinks (dianthus) are great choices while on-trend bedding plants include Calibrachoas which produce wide-petalled velvety blooms; our favourite are the Can-Can Deep Cherry variety that are just stunning. Another new show-stopper is the heat tolerant Osteospermum 3D Violet Ice that produces pom-pom double flowers in white and pale lilac that can be cut for a wonderful indoor display too.