Now is the perfect time to get your garden ready for hot-weather activities – and one gardener has revealed his top five tasks you must complete this May and June
Spring is a busy time for gardeners, and with the weather getting warmer many of us will be spending more time outdoors, trying to get our gardens in tip-top shape for the summer.
Whether you are hoping for blooming flowers, vibrant and nourishing vegetables, or simply a lush, green lawn to host BBQs, there are a whole selection of tasks that need to be done this month to make it happen.
A gardening expert has revealed the five most important tasks that need to be done this month – and doing so will make your garden a source of envy for friends and neighbours.
Michael, known to his more than 297,000 TikTok followers as @themediterraneangardener, said that now is the perfect time to tie the new shoots of climbing plants like wisteria and clematis to their supports.
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He also explained May was the right month to harden off your plants raised indoors, and to rid your garden of pests by going on regular slug and snail hunts. Another spring task to tick off the list as we go into June is to plant out summer bedding in your pots, borders, and hanging baskets.
Hardening your plants off will allow them to adapt from being indoors to harsher outdoor conditions without going into shock. The aim is to “thicken and alter” the plant’s leaf structure and increase leaf waxiness, the Royal Horticultural Society explained.
“This is your last chance to get your lawn ready for summer, so if you’re going to do it, aerate, scarify and over-seed now,” Michael added. “You could also add a lawn fertiliser, which will green up your lawn and encourage leafy growth.”
Scarification is the process that rids your lawn of any thatch and moss that has accumulated – as this can inhibit airflow around the grass. Before doing anything, you want to mow the lawn as “this will make the whole process easier”, Michael said. Then, gently pull a flexible spring-time rake over the lawn multiple times while criss-crossing your way across the garden.
After this, you will need to scoop up the materials and begin the aeration process. For this, you need to take a garden fork and plunge it in the ground about four-to-five inches deep, before pulling it back a little.
Finally, pull the fork out fully and repeat these steps every six inches across the garden. The gardener told followers: “You can leave the holes open or fill it with horticultural sand for drainage. If you don’t fancy the work or you have a larger lawn, you could consider a mechanical aerator.” Now it’s time to over-seed your lawn.