MAY
Mulching is the time-honored way to reduce weeds on a continual basis with no weed killer needed. Three to five inches around plants, shrubs and trees will help them weather heat and humidity as the summer begins to warm up while reducing your water bill too.
Perennials, Annuals & Bulbs
Let leaves of spring bulbs die back naturally, so they can manufacture enough food for next year’s blooms.
Fertilize all spring-flowering shrubs and vines after they bloom.
Fertilize crepe Myrtles, buddleia and hibiscus now.
Apply 1-3 inches of fine mulch around your plants to help them conserve water during summer's heat and humidity.
Too much mulch can suffocate your plants.
Most herbs require little to no mulch, preferring dryer growing conditions.
By Memorial Day, cut or pinch back perennials to delay flowering and encourage compact growth and more blooms.
Examples of the flowers include: Asters, Golden Rod, Chrysanthemum and Swamp Sunflower.
Pinch back first flowers of summer annuals to encourage more blooms later.
Pick off spent blooms of daylilies and deadhead spent blooms from annuals and perennials to help plants bloom longer.
Deadhead butterfly weed after blooming. It will bloom again in about a month.
Vegetables and Fruit
Plant vegetables such as squash, cucumbers, tomatoes and peppers.
Mulch tomatoes to keep the soil borne fungus spores from splashing on the leaves when watering.
Water low (not with an overhead sprinkler), or better yet, use drip irrigation.
For larger tomatoes, pinch the suckers.
If leaving the suckers on, your plants will produce more tomatoes, but they will be smaller.
Fertilize vegetables that have begun to set fruit.
Watch for fireblight on apples, pears and pyracantha
Clip out affected foliage using pruners dipped in a 10:1 solution of water and bleach.
Begin fungicide sprays on fruit crops: apples, peaches, plums and grapes.
Trees, Shrubs & Groundcovers
Prune early flowering trees and shrubs (azaleas, forsythia, flowering quince, spiraea, weigela) as soon as blooms have faded.
Prune deciduous vines, like wisteria and Lady Banks roses, after flowering.
Some roses need regular spraying: black spot, powdery mildew and Japanese beetles are coming.
Remove leaves and petals that fall around plants to keep diseases and fungi from returning.
Check leaves of ornamentals
If faded yellow with green veins, chlorosis could be the problem.
Cure with light application of Epsom salts around plants. If this treatment fails to solve problem, check for poor drainage, damaged or compacted roots.
Remove bands from trees.
Lawn & Landscaping
Plant warm-season grasses now and into June.
Mow frequently, removing less than 1/3 of the height as you mow.
Leave clippings on the ground unless you have too many clippings piling up.
Check lawns for white grubs and control, if necessary.
Water as needed to prevent drought, but not more than 1 inch per week.
Miscellaneous
Watch for damaging insects, such as scale, aphids, spider mites, lacebugs, leaf miner, spittlebug, and leaf hopper, which are prevalent now.
Avoid applying insecticidal soaps when temperatures exceed 86 degrees (F).
It’s time to weed!