9 May 2025
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Ruth gets to grips with the most important May tasks
The first ever event ofAmateur Gardeningwas cut 140 years ago this month and I am certain that Victorian gardener were kept as in use in their plots at this time of year as we are today . There is so much to think about in May – from pruning and Chelsea chopping to sow directly into the soil , pricking out seedlings , cabbage out young flora to encourage shaggy growth , keeping plants safe from pest and disease and making certain you still have some isolate fleece to pass on in case of unexpected late frosts .
Over the next few days I will be ignore back our early - blossom shrubs , the winter - blooming clematis and forsythia , and afterwards in the month also commit our bushy shrubs the first chop of the year to keep them tidy and productive . Winter - bloom clematis such asC.cirrhosa‘Freckles ’ are easy to keep dandy – you simply take your shears and run them over the flora , removing dead prime and any leaves that are grow outside their allotted spot .
The forsythia necessitate pruning directly after it has flowered because each year ’s bloom are produce on wood that produce the previous year – so if you cut it back in autumn , when most deciduous shrubs are cut back , you will lose the heyday - bearing wood . It can also grow leggy and unproductive if left to farm untamed , with a tangle of au naturel root and just a few blooms above head height .
Remove congested halt inside the flora , specially imperfect shoots growing from the al-Qaida , as well as tenuous and lank leg and any that look idle , damaged and diseased .
If the weather takes a twist for the bad , use the time to make certain the plants in your nursery are thriving . ensure your undercover outer space is well ventilate , with door and windows depart unfastened , and find out industrial plant for pestilence , dealing with any immediately .
On very hot days , wet the glasshouse floor with water to raise humidness and reduce the endangerment of glasshouse red wanderer mites – belittled sap - sucking pests that prosper in still dry standard atmosphere and quickly colonise and weaken your plants .
Rose care
Give them a good starting line
1 . Remove suckers growing a short way from the base of rose plant . They arrive from the rootstock and are more vigorous than the master plant and will drain its vim . Remove soil from around the mug and draw in it liberal – do n’t cut it as this will encourage regrowth .
2 . Remove and dispose of any leaves that show early sign of the fungous disease dim smirch , and never add them to the compost mint . Mulch generously around your rose to inhume any disease spores .
A few quick jobs
