May is a vital month to get your garden in order for the summer, and Monty Don has shared a vital tip to make sure your plants don’t die off when they make the big move outside
We might not all be gardening experts, but there’s one person we can rely on to get things in shape: Monty Don. Rather than going in blind, it’s handy to have someone around to lead you in the right direction – and Monty’s latest tip is super simple and could save your plants from a painful death.
As you might know, May is a massive month for gardening. As the weather changes, many plants and flowers can move location or even be planted for the first time, and it’s a good chance to get ready in advance to make sure that your garden is thriving by summer.
One thing you’re probably thinking about at the moment is sprucing up your garden space with annual plants – meaning the type that can’t be planted year-round and won’t last in the garden forever.
However, BBC star Monty warns not to be too hasty, and advises that a simple step can stop plants from dying off after being moved outside.
On his website, the Gardeners’ World presenter explains that the middle of May is the ideal time to plant ‘tender annuals’, including sunflowers, zinnias, and tobacco plants. For the most part, these can all happily go outside now unless your garden is particularly cold.
The key thing to ensure their health and growth, however, is ‘hardening them off’ for a week or more. In short, this means giving the plants a bit of time to acclimatise to the outside world before putting them straight in the soil.
Monty explains: “Hardening off is important and will mean much faster growing and longer-lasting flowers – so if you buy any of these annuals from a garden centre over the coming weeks, do not plant them out immediately but put them in a sheltered place for a week to acclimatise to your garden, as they will probably have been kept sheltered for best retail display.”
So, you’ve completed the hardening off period, but you might still be a bit unsure exactly how or where to plant the tender annuals. Thankfully, Monty also has some advice for that.
In his own garden, the expert prefers to focus on aesthetics, grouping them around to break up the bedding and add a bit more diversity. For planting, he suggests to “space them about 12 – 18 inches apart in a sunny situation that is sheltered from strong winds and water them in well.”
Alongside tender annuals, you might also want to get some use out of your garden in way of food – and May is also a great time for that. The Mirror recently revealed which fruits are best to plant now if you want to be able to pluck a snack directly from your garden by summer.
This is your last chance to grow certain fruits if you want them to flourish, so it’s best to get outside as soon as you can. The best fruits to focus on are strawberries, gooseberries, citrus fruits, and figs, all of which should give you a decent haul and impress the neighbours.