May Gardening Calendar 2024

Deadhead spring bulbs after flowering. Let the foliage die back naturally. The nutrients in the foliage gets stored in the bulb for next year’s nutrients and blooms.

Stay ahead of your weeding chores. The month of May is when weeds start showing their ugly heads. I recommend using a Pre-Emergent Weed Control. Just make sure it is recommended safe to use around trees, shrubs, and perennials. Some Pre-Emergent’s are also recommended to use around your vegetable garden. Always read the label to see where you can use a pre-emergent. The way a pre-emergent works is by preventing the weed seeds from germinating. Before applying a pre-emergent pull all existing weeds by the roots because a pre-emergent will not kill existing weeds. Use a weed-N-Feed for your lawns. Check the label to make sure you can use the product on your lawn variety.

Fertilize trees and shrubs. After fertilizing apply a fresh layer of mulch. Applying mulch to your beds helps to keep the roots cool in the spring–summer months and warm in the fall-winter months.

As the weather gets warmer your cool-season vegetables will start to bolt-flower. Start harvesting your last crop and compost. Get the planting bed ready for the spring -summer veggies and herbs.

It is recommended to check your irrigation each year. It boggles the mind when you turn on your irrigation in the spring and an irrigation head is pointing in the wrong direction. When that head was working perfectly last year and pointing in the right direction.

Prune ornamental grasses and clean perennial flowers before new growth starts in the spring.

Prune Azaleas, forsythias, hydrangeas, and gardenias after blooming. You can fertilize Azaleas monthly until the end of August. Be on the lookout for lace bugs on your Azaleas. The bugs are hard to see, but the damage is not. The damage looks like very small white dots on the leaves where the bugs sucked out the chlorophyll. Spray with appropriate insecticide.

It is warm enough to bring the houseplants out that you over wintered outdoors. Place the plants in shade to begin with and slowly move the plants to a sunnier location, if required by the plant. Some tropicals will grow in full sun.

Mother's Day is Sunday May 12th this year. Hibiscusandmore.com features fine art prints of tropical plants for Mother's Day. Click Here Fine Art Prints.

Hibiscusandmore.com has new products just in time for the spring -summer months. We offer personized greeting cards. Click Here to view. Greeting Cards.

Need more gardening advice? Follow our BlogSpot for current sales, daily specials, and sound gardening advice. Simply click on Join This Site Link under Followers. Sign Up Is Free.

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All photographs and digital images are ©Cheryl Ann Meola. All Rights Reserved. All photographs and digital images displayed in this newsletter are for viewing purposes only and cannot be duplicated or copied.

 

 

 

 

April Gardening Calendar

                                  April Gardening Calendar

Start planning for Spring. April is the perfect month to start planning your garden for the current year. As a refresher for last year’s thoughts, ideas or plants you were thinking about purchasing, dust off your gardening journal to see what changes or additions you wanted to make this year. A garden is always evolving.

Irrigation: In zones where your irrigation was turned off for the winter. Irrigation should be checked each year in spring. Turn on the irrigation to make sure the irrigation heads are working properly. Check for leaks, cracked heads, and spray direction. Some issues you may be able to fix yourself, if not call an irrigation specialist.

Roses: Your roses should be trimmed between February 12 – 20, if you have not pruned your hybrid tea roses it’s not too late to trim them now. For more information on trimming, caring, and fertilizing your roses click on my blog article on Rose Care.

Vegetable Gardening: Till the soil when you have a designated area for vegetables in your garden. This preventative measure helps to eliminate weeds, insects, and nematodes. Don’t have room for a vegetable garden, but would like to grow your own vegetables? All vegetables can be grown in large planters. The recommended size for vegetables is 16 inches or larger. In fact, that’s how I grow my vegetables each season. Garden center retailers are still reporting skyrocketing sales for vegetable starts and seeds this year versus last year’s sales. Start planning and planting your vegetable garden now to reap the rewards of homegrown vegetables, if you are thinking about having a vegetable garden this year, today is the time to start. Put on your gardening gloves and reap the rewards and benefits of a spring vegetable garden. For more information on Spring VegetableGardening Click Here.

Color Annuals: April is the month to start thinking about replacing your cool weather color annuals with spring and summer annuals. Here are a few of my favorites: Caladiums, Celosia, Coleus, Cosmos, Dahlberg Daisy, Dusty Miller, Gazania, Geranium, Gerbera Daisy, Ivy Geranium, Lantana, Marigolds, Mexican Sunflower, Moss Rose, Periwinkle, Petunia, Primrose, Purslane, Salvia, Snapdragons, Verbena, Wax Begonia, and Zinnia. All of the annuals mentioned can be planted in soil or in containers.

Bulbs: If you have spring bulbs that are still blooming you may want to enjoy a few of the flowers as fresh cuts indoors. On all perennial bulbs, let the foliage die back naturally, as the foliage dies the bulb transports the nutrients from the foliage to the bulb and will use the nutrients from the foliage and stores the nutrients to the bulb for next year’s growth and flowers. As the foliage dies and it may look untidy and displeasing. To alleviate this annoyance, you can pull up the foliage in a bunch and then roll the foliage down as you would a paper bag, and then tie the rolled-up foliage with a rubber band.

Shrubs: Trim your spring flowering shrubs after they finish blooming and fertilize with the appropriate plant food.

Azaleas: Once your azaleas finish blooming trim back to shape. Azaleas bloom on last year’s growth so it is important to trim your Azaleas no later than the middle of June. Azalea’s set their blooms during the fall months, and this is one reason to trim your Azaleas during the time frame that is provided. After pruning your Azaleas, you need to fertilize them with an Azalea plant food and also add a new layer of mulch. Instead of throwing your spent coffee or tea grounds away your Azaleas will benefit from sprinkling the grounds around your Azalea bushes. 

Prune Pampas Grass and other ornamental grasses trim to about 12 to 24 inches. Prune Lantana and Cannas to about 6 to 10 inches. Shape Crepe Myrtles and Altheas and remove old seed heads. Do not hat rack the Crepe Myrtles. Crepe Myrtles do better without being trimmed to 4 – 6 feet above the ground.

Decorate Your Patio With Tropical Color: Now is the time to start thinking about spring-cleaning your patio and your patio furniture. After sprucing up your patio you may want to redecorate the patio for summer fun with tropical plants that really know how to beat the summer heat. Tropical plants will bloom repeatedly throughout the summer until first frost. Here are a few of my tropical color favorites: Allamanda, Bougainvillea, Copper Plant, Hibiscus, Mandevilla, Pentas, and Shrimp Plant. Hibiscusandmore.com features fine art prints of tropical plants. Click Here Fine Art Prints.

Need more gardening advice? Follow our BlogSpot for current sales, daily specials, and sound gardening advice. Simply click on Join This Site Link under Followers. Sign Up Is Free. We don’t share your information. 

For more information on Landscape gardening   Butterfly Gardening and Design

Growing Houseplants in your home or office

Fine Art Prints by Cheryl Ann Meola

Need floral stock photography? Click here. Need botanical stock photography? Click here

All photographs and digital images are ©Cheryl Ann Meola. All Rights Reserved. All photographs and digital images displayed in this newsletter are for viewing purposes only and cannot be duplicated or copied.

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