Every great garden starts with a great plan. Hard work and a few checklists can help it stay bountiful. To help you stay on track, here are some monthly tips.
Aside from weeds and unharnessed wildflowers, not much else can be completely hands off when it comes to gardening. Gardening doesn’t have to be hard, but it does help to have some good prep and monthly goals. Not too far from life in general.
Although we’re not life coaches, we do know a little bit about gardening. Here are some of our must do’s that we think can help set you up for garden success in May.
- Start with some cleanup and prep. Dig new beds and borders. After pulling any unruly weeds (snag the ruly ones too), apply a pre-emergent weed killer, then throw some new mulch down. These few prep items will set you up with literally, good groundwork.
- Plant perennials. Wrapping up the April showers and moving into May, it will be time to do what we have all been craving to do – make mudpies! Well, that and PLANTING! It is time to get the perennials in the ground. Start transplanting the edibles such as strawberries, asparagus, and rhubarb. (Two of those things will make amazing pies in the future!)
- Think ahead to summer and fall. Divide and transplant those seasons’ perennials. It’s hard for some of us to think even past the spring because we want to so badly to relish the warm weather that is finally starting, but we promise this is time well spent. It will also give you great memories of things you did in the spring when the crispness in the air starts to nip again.
- Plant marigold borders around your vegetable gardens. This will help decrease insects and ward off small animal buffet attendance.
- Fertilize. Regular watering of your garden, while needed, can also cause some nutrients to be washed out of the soil. Some prefer to fertilize prior to rain/watering and others after. Considering that the fertilizer could end up in the stormwater system after heavy rain or watering, waiting until afterward may be a better option. Don’t forget to hit your lawn up with a bit of fertilizer too during this time of year.
We are pumped for planting season and dying to get some dirt under our nails and dig our toes in some mud! We have some here that are secretly counting down to go mud runnin’ too, oh and the brush runs in Crandon and…well, we could have a whole additional post on all things mud.
The dreams we have for our garden are on par with Keukenhof with a touch of Eden. Come on in and let’s daydream together on how to grow a botanical garden in your backyard.
If you want to learn more about what we love mud under our nails or to learn more about what is happening at our Emerald City, please sign up to join our email list.
