MAY GARDEN CHECKLIST

• PINCH YOUR FLOWERS -- For bushier flowers with more blooms, take your forefinger and tip pinch any lanky perennial plants like geraniums, fuchsias, marguerites, tall-growing marigolds, snapdragons and zinnias. Tip pinch rhododendrons and azaleas to keep them shapely. Remove old faded trusses from rhododendrons prior to pinching.
• PLANT WARM SEASON VEGETABLES -- May is a good month to put in corn, summer and winter squash, cucumber, beans and basil. Start an herb garden.
• WATCH OUT -- Warm spring days bring out many pests. Bait, trap or hand pick slugs, snails, sowbugs, earwigs and the spotted cucumber beetle. This beetle looks like a green lady bug. It can do much damage to vegetables and flowers.
• SPRAY -- Roses, beans and many other garden plants can become infested with aphids as spring time progresses. Spray with insecticidal soap or neem every five to seven days if a problem arises. Green cabbage worms can bother broccoli and cabbage. Spray with Bacillus thuringiensis if you see white butterflies flitting about your crops.
• IRRIGATE -- As rains decrease, continue to irrigate newly planted shrubs and trees. Mold a basin around the trunks and soak once a week. Soaker hoses and drip irrigation tubes can save time if you are a busy gardener.
• PLANT PERENNIALS -- If you are looking for bright summer color without much fuss, try planting the following, easy-to-grow perennials: shasta daisy, coreopsis, gaillardia, daylily, geum, dahlia, campanulas, lupines, foxglove, nepeta, salvia and more.

   

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