Okay, the glove has dropped and we are all off to the “races”. IT’S GARDENING TIME!!!! What to do? What to do? Yes, there is so much to do but where to begin? Well, I’m sure that by now you have begun and that you are happily into the swing of getting your gardens prepped and ready for the upcoming season.
Sooooo, a checklist…
- Clean out the old debris from your beds. (Put that stuff in the compost!)
- Check for “winter casualties” – there was a lot of heavy snow this year so some of the woody perennials may need some pruning of broken branches.
- Decide if you want to “re-arrange” any of your perennials. Most of them can be easily transplanted this time of year (best to wait if you have some in flower – they hate being moved when in flower).
- Do some weeding – get those perennial weeds out of the bed (eat those dandelion greens!!!)
- Top dress around those perennials (a nice well rotted manure or compost will do the trick)
- It’s not too early to refresh the mulch around your perennials (mulch certainly does a great job in preserving moisture and in helping keep the weeds down.
- Get your annual beds ready – weeds all out, soil nice and loosened, add some compost. Next step is to plant and the only thing I would advise to plant before a couple of more weeks are pansies. They are so hardy! The second year I was in business, we got a major dump of heavy snow on May 10 and my poor little pansies that were beside the greenhouse had about a foot of snow covering their little heads but to no detriment – they were just fine after the snow melted!).
- Start your “hunting and gathering” trips to the garden centers!! We are all open with a great selection of stuff for you. Look for robust, healthy plants with a good shape and good roots. Make sure that the perennials that you purchase are hardy for this Zone 5. Some plants have a perennial tag on them but they are not perennials in our climate. (Same goes for shrubs and trees).
- It’s a perfect time to plant trees and shrubs. I’m a big fan of fruit trees and bushes. Looks great and tastes great.
- Lettuce, spinach and other leafy greens can be planted now – by seed or transplant (we have the nicest selection of lettuce and greens down here at The Bayside!).
That’s all my rambling for today – I gotta get back to the garden!!! (Did Joni Mitchell garden, I wonder??)
10 To-do’s in the Garden for May