- Check your irrigation systems now before they are needed this summer. Don’t wait until natural rainfall requires supplemental irrigation.
- Monitor weekly rainfall using a coffee can and measuring stick or buy a rain gauge at your local garden center. When weekly rainfall is less than 1 inch supplemental irrigation may be necessary. When in doubt dig down 8-12 inches and see if the soil is uniformly moist.
- Weeds are becoming more active so this is a good time to use mulches to smother them.
- Visit local public gardens this month. Mother’s Day is a favorite day to visit a garden. Bring a notebook to jot down ideas and plant combinations for your garden.
- Deadhead Rhododendrons, Azaleas, Mountain Laurels and Lilacs as the blooms fade. This directs more of the plants energy to new growth and flower buds for next year.
- Prune early blooming woody plants that bloom on previous season’s growth if necessary. Prune these plants right after they finish flowering: Cherries, Magnolias, Lilacs, Rhododendrons, Azaleas, Dogwoods, Mountain Laurels, Forsythia, Flowering Quince , Flowering currants,Pieris.
- Prune late blooming woody plants that bloom on current season’s growth. Glossy Abelia, Butterflybush , Beautyberry , Shrub Althea, Oakleaf, Goldenraintree , Hybrid Tea Rose.
- Last call to transplant small trees and shrubs. Take advantage of the natural rainfall and cooler weather.
- Pinch back new soft growth of needled evergreens if you wish to control their growth and keep them compact and bushy.
- Last call for spring lawn feeding and pH correction. Test your soil for Nitrogen Phosphorus and Potash and pH with a soil test kit before fertilizing or liming for best results. Lawn mowing begins in earnest. Check length weekly and strive not to cut more than 1/3 of the existing growth at a time.
- Plant tender summer bulbs like Calla and Canna Lilies, Dahlias and Gladiolus.
