“Coming home” at the end of a day can be even
more important to us now than ever before. Times are changing and everyone is
busier than before. So, enjoy daylight savings time and extend your living
quarters to your yard and garden. Think of your outdoor spaces as an extension
of your home. And in doing so, consider the floor, walls, and ceiling per se.
Adding resting areas is easy to do…hang a hammock in a tree, set a bistro set
in the perennial garden, or put benches in your hosta beds. Let the nature in
your yard tickle your senses with the sounds of birds, smells of flowers, sound
of running water, and splashes of color. Hardscapes can enhance your outdoor
rooms by adding a “floor” to your area of enjoyment.
While you are
enjoying your yard, here are some items to put onto your gardening checklist.
Begin planting summer annuals to add color and spice to the landscape, and
don’t stop with just the flowerbeds. There are many new color introductions
available in annuals that will prove to be very exciting.
Container
gardening continues to be a trendy thing. The many choices, styles, shapes, and
colors of containers make great accent pieces for inside or out. Let your
imagination soar and express yourself. Use imaginative containers you pick up
at flea markets and auction yards. Learn
to mix annuals and perennials for great combinations. Try hostas with begonias
and impatiens….or hydrangeas with groundcovers. These containers can make great
accent pieces on the front porch, the back deck, in a flowerbed, around the pool,
or at the end of the driveway. In addition, you can rearrange them as often as
you wish. No room for a vegetable garden? Try one in a container. You can enjoy
fresh tomatoes easily this way
Plant summer
bulbs now and fertilize with bone meal or bulb food. Pinch hardy garden mums back
now and continue to do so until July 4 to insure proper fall blooming. Treat
slugs in your garden with organic diatomaceous earth. This powder product is
100% safe, and is good for the treatment of slugs, ants, fleas and ticks
outside, as well as roaches and ants indoors. This organic product is very safe
to use and a good one to have on hand. “Natural Gardening” with eco-friendly
products is a very “trendy” and SAFE thing to do for your own health as well as
the environment. Check out the chemical-free options available to you today.
Then sit back and watch your kids and pets enjoy the beautiful outdoors.
Other May tips
include:
·
Do not remove spring bulb foliage too early or
next year’s flower production will decline. Let the foliage die back naturally.
·
Plant hardy water lilies now.
·
Begin fertilizing annuals now and continue at
regular intervals all season long.
·
Apply post-emergence broadleaf weed controls to
the lawn now if needed.
·
Begin planting sweet corn, tomato plants,
peppers and sweet potatoes as the soil warms up.
·
Keep asparagus harvested for continued spear
production.
·
Remove rhubarb seed stalks as they appear.
·
Do not spray any fruits while in bloom, you may
ruin the pollination process.
·
Birds eat many insects so attract them to your
garden by providing good nesting habitats.
·
Herbs planted in average soils need no extra
fertilizer. Too much may reduce flavor and pungency at harvest.
·
Watch for fireflies on warm nights. Both adults
and larvae are important predators for plant damaging insects.
Until next month,
enjoy connecting with nature and….see you in the garden….
Sandi Hillermann
McDonald
