Top Tips

Routine Maintenance

Removing passed over flowers, (deadhead), from your bedding plants and repeat-flowering perennials to help ensure a continuous flowering throughout summer.
The lawn may benefit from a quick liquid summer feed, to help replenish some of the nutrients removed from constant mowing.
Stubborn perennial weeds are best dealt with in the summer when the weeds are actively growing. Digging out is an option, but applying a systemic weedkiller such as Roundup can be more practical for large areas.
Regular checking of containerised plants for water is essential during this month to prevent drying out.
Certain grafted or standard trees and shrubs may produce suckers or unwanted shoots from the base. These are best cut right back to the soil or removed.

Marvellous May!

We're now into the busiest month of the gardening year and its plants, plants plants! We have summer bedding plants in abundance and now have a full range vegetables and herbs - be quick though as it 's hard to keep up with demand thanks to the "Oliver" effect!

Get growing!

I'ts time to pot up bedding plant plugs in preparation for the summer - don't forget that it is still too cold for these plants, so they will all need protection.

Some vegetable and salad plants are ready to plant now, including lettuce, cabbage, cauliflower and Broccoli. Again, protect them from the worst of the cold.

Tattie time

It's time now to plant early seed potatoes as well as onions, shallots and garlic.

In the ornamental garden it's time to plant summer-flowering bulbs and tubers such as Dahlias and Begonias.

Slugs are also becoming active and they love the fresh new growth of your plants at this time of year - make sure you don't give them a chance by protecting them with bird-friendly slug pellets.

Winter Tidy

Give the garden a "winter tidy". Collect any leaves and prune deciduous plants such as roses.

Water Features

Empty water features likely to freeze over winter or at least remove the water pump to prevent damage.

Shelter from frost

Protect tender plants from frost by either moving them to a sheltered spot or wrapping them with frost fleece.

Winter Plants for Birds

Make sure you have evergreen shrubs in the garden to provide shelter for birds over winter.