Jobs in the garden: May
Here's what to do this month in your fruit and vegetable garden
It's time to...
- Tie in new shoots of blackberries and cane fruits to support wires
- Use twigs pushed into the ground to support tall-growing peas, or use short canes and string
- Feed strawberries with a high potash feed, such as tomato fertiliser
- Sow flowering companions in your veg plot, such as tagetes and poached egg plants, to attract beneficial insects
- Earth-up potatoes by pulling soil up around their stems which encourages higher yields
- Buy pheromone traps to hang in apple and plum trees to control pests
- Pinch off strawberry runners as soon as they develop, to stop them competing with developing fruit for nutrients
- Hang pheromone traps in fruit trees to control moth pests, such as codling moth larvae, which eat apples
- Thin out congested fruit crops on peaches and nectarines, spacing fruits about 10cm apart
- Watch out for signs of powdery mildew or disease on fruit trees and bushes, and treat with a fungicide
What's in and what's out
Vegetable crops that can be sown during May include radishes, spring onions, coriander, parsley and chives, beetroot, parsnips, turnips, onions, peas, mange tout, broad beans, carrots, swedes, turnip, leaf beet and spinach.
This feature originally appeared on the Gardeners' World website.
To find out what jobs you should be doing now in your garden, as well as gardening tips and advice, visit Gardeners World- what to do now
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