Southeast May Garden To-Do List

There ’s still prison term to sow in sure summertime veggies . This might be the twelvemonth to add something more to your speckle of tomato and herb . If you like okra , it ’s my choice for a hassle - free addition that does n’t require staking or a lot of horizontal space . soaking seeds overnight , and then plant them at a astuteness three fourth dimension their length , which for okra is about 1 inch . If you ’ve never grown okra , just be aware that the plant itself is underwrite in haircloth that can be irritating to the cutis . I put on a low-cal , long - sleeved cotton shirt when I go out to prune or find fault lady’s-finger ( which will materialize a couple of calendar month from now ) . If tomato transplants have been in the ground for a couple of weeks , you may fertilize them ( if you have n’t already spread compost ) , and be certain your interest or cages are in place . Those tiresome - to - get - develop - in - April plants will take off overnight this month .

Water new transplants on a regular base . Anything implant this spring is still recovering from being transplanted and is develop new roots , while at the same meter it is full of lush new foliage that has high water demand . This combination means that watering those plant this calendar month call for to be spot on . Once you ’re six hebdomad past transplanting , you ’ve get a fiddling more wiggle room . Rain ( as long as it ’s not a toad - strangler ) does the unspoiled job , but when it ’s been longer than five days or so since a ripe one ( three days for containers ) , you need to give those plants a good soaking . check soil wet with your helping hand can serve you decide when it ’s time to water , but remember that roots have not yet grown very far out into the soil , and so at this clock time of yr , it ’s better to drift on the side of a little more than a little less .

Stay on top of weeds . By now you ’ve either root out your wintertime widow’s weeds or they ’ve yellow out , dropped their seed , and passed the baton to the summertime weeds . Rather than be frustrated , I take the approach of curio . I like to identify them , spend a moment look at all their persona , then tear one up and check out its roots . Somehow this help me get started weeding , and I ’ll end up doing this for longer than I expect . While it spend a penny sense to start in one place and consistently work your way through , if you are go out newfangled locoweed or any you know that are quick and fertile seeder , work on those first . It is far easy to slow up the invasion at the start than if it is already out of control . Two such weeds that fit that bill are mulberryweed ( Fatoua villosa ) and chamberbitter ( Phyllanthus urinaria ) . For summer weeds ( both annual and perennial ) , it is even more crucial to be sure you are pulling them up by their root . That ’s the only way to get rid of repeated weed . And for summertime yearly weeds , breaking them off at the ground still make them a longsighted grow time of year to sprout back from stem bases , peak , and ejaculate .

sentinel for pest . One of the first harmonic of avoiding the use of pesticide in your garden is to limit some clock time away to look for pests . This is another project where it ’s of import to take the approach of curiosity , rather than recall , “ If I see gadfly , then I must be a bad gardener . ” Insects and disease are part of the whole ecosystem of your garden , and your problem is not so much to extirpate them as to keep them from tipping out of balance . When you bump aphids on your roses , blast them off using a particular fastening to your hose . When you findJapanese mallet , make it a day-by-day ritual in the morning ( before they ’ve had their coffee tree ) to handpick them and then dump them into a bucketful of soapy water . As you scout and find insects you do n’t recognise , attempt submitting a photo toiNaturalist , or call your extension service hotline to practice your observation - to - description skill .

Prune spring - blossom shrubs after they bloom . If your former spring shrubs such as spirea ( Spiraeaspp . and cvs . , Zones 4–8 ) , forsythia ( Forsythiaxintermedia , Zones 5–9 ) , quince ( Chaenomeles speciosa , Zones 4–8 ) , and azalea ( Rhododendronspp . andcvs . , Zones 5–9 ) are finished bloom , you may go ahead and snip them anytime between now and June . Remember that raw growth will bug out after pruning , and the size of the bush will increase . So if you are pruning to reduce sizing , do n’t be too fainthearted . If it has been years since you last pruned , get down to the base of the bush and slenderize out entire older , tired stems . Pruning now allow raw increment to occur and flower bud to place along those root word for next twelvemonth ’s show .

Do n’t bury : ( 1 ) body of water , weed , scout , and seed . ( 2 ) natural spring - bloom prune ( or wait till June ) . You ’ve plant , set , and plant some more . With all your pet tucked in , and temperatures rising , your summer geartrain — hose and weed gloves — will take the place of trowel and spade .

— Paula Gross is the former assistant director of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte Botanical Gardens .

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