Plants are growing quickly now, so make sure that you’ve got supports in for taller herbaceous perennials like Delphiniums. The end of the month is also time for the “Chelsea Chop” to keep herbaceous perennials compact and strong. Weeds are also growing well now, so hand weed or hoe nice and early to stop them getting a strong hold.

If you are looking to increase stocks of your favourite plants, May is the perfect time for softwood cuttings of Fuchsias, Pelargoniums and Verbena.

Fuchsia Cuttings

As the risk of frosts passes, you can start to harden off and plant out tender plants like Cannas and Dahlias and get creative by planting up summer containers. As the weather warms up, remember to keep watering anything that you planted over the winter/spring. They’ll need a full year to get properly established.

Grass will now be growing strongly and as well as mowing, feeding and scarifying will help to improve both the health and look of lawns.

Raspberry canes will be sprouting vigorously now, so thin out your bed and also remove the stray canes that are starting to spread, otherwise your whole garden will soon be a raspberry patch.

As in the ornamental garden, make sure that you’ve got supports ready in the kitchen garden for beans, peas and other taller plants. Tie in peas regularly until they start to support themselves.  We have found that using left over bits of rabbit fence supported by a couple of sturdy stakes provides a nice framework for pea tendrils to cling to.

Peas clinging to rabbit fencing

Warmer weather also brings out the critters, Viburnum beetles will be appearing now and pheromone traps amongst apples and pears will highlight the presence of Codling moths.

This month’s article is different to any that we’ve written before for fairly obvious reasons. Official healthcare advice is emphasising the importance of social isolation. However, both exercise and retaining a positive outlook are vital to good health (both physical and mental). Therefore, if you are physically able and have access to a garden or allotment, this spring is a time to throw yourself into gardening. Not only is it good physical exercise, many of the tasks are based on optimism. We sow seeds in the expectation of plants in the future; we prune now to have healthier plants later in the year and so on.

As spring progresses, some early flowering shrubs such as Forsythia and Chaenomeles will be getting past their peak, so now is the perfect time to prune them. Next year’s Forsythia flowers will come on this year’s growth, so you can take it back quite a long way if desired. You can also trim back Lavender now to prevent it getting woody, and it will help generate bushy flowering shoots. Similarly it is an ideal time to prune woody herbs such as thyme, sage and rosemary, all of which can get leggy without a bit of attention.

Early April is prime potato planting time. As shoots emerge, make sure that you keep them earthed up to increase the yield and to protect the tender tips from late frosts.

Earthing up potatoes

Now is also the time to sow more tender crops such as beans, squashes and courgettes under cover ready for planting out in May. Prick out tomatoes, aubergines etc. that you’ve already sown once the true leaves emerge to develop strong individual plants.

Keep well and stay positive.