insideKENT Magazine Issue 38 - May 2015 | Page 125
OUTDOORLIVING
YOUR GARDEN: may
Summer's on its way
As bulbs fade and herbaceous borders grow in leaps and bounds, it is now clear
that summer is approaching. Sowing and planting out bedding can begin,
depending on regional weather variations, and you can take softwood cuttings.
It's also time to get back into the lawn-mowing regime, as the lawn will love the
warmer temperatures this month brings.
TOP 10 JOBS THIS MONTH
Flowers
Cutting back, pruning and dividing
1. Watch out for late frosts and protect
tender plants
2. Earth up potatoes and promptly plant any
still remaining
3. Plant out summer bedding at the end of the
month (except in cold areas)
4. Collect rainwater and investigate ways to
recycle water for irrigation
5. Regularly hoe off weeds
6. Open greenhouse vents and doors on
warm days
7. Mow lawns weekly
8. Check for nesting birds before clipping hedges
9. Lift and divide overcrowded clumps of daffodils
and other spring-flowering bulbs
10. Watch out for viburnum beetle and lily
beetle grubs
Sowing and planting
Divide clumps of herbaceous perennials that you
want to propagate. Bamboos and clumps of
bulbs or rhizomes can be divided in the same
way. Cutting back clumps of spring-flowering
perennials such as pulmonaria and doronicum
can encourage a fresh flush of foliage.
Plant out cannas and dahlias when the danger
of frost has passed. Tubs can be planted up with
summer bedding in milder areas. In colder areas
further north or at high altitudes, it is advised to
wait until early June, or until all risk of frost has
passed.
If you want to grow your own spring bedding for
next year, many common choices (including
wallflowers, pansies, and daisies, bellis perennis)
need to be sown between now and July in order
to flower next spring, as they are biennials. Winter
bedding plants can also be sown from now until
July.
Remove faded wallflowers and spring bedding
from beds and containers, to make space for
summer plantings.
125
Divide primula (primroses) after flowering, planting
them in a nursery bed until they are ready for
planting out again in the autumn, for a display
the following spring. Divide hostas as they come
into growth.
Spreading and trailing plants such as the
annual lobularia (sweet alyssum) and the
perennials, alyssum and aubrieta, can become
tatty and patchy. Trimming them back after
flowering encourages fresh growth and new
flowers.