Gardening in May

This is the month to get all your summer vegetables planted if you haven’t already. The cooler days of May gray is a perfect time to get the last of your summer seedlings in the ground.

Seed a second round of beans and squash, anything that didn’t germinate. It’s also a good time for more rounds of succession planting – last chance for lettuce, chard, radishes, arugula, bok choi and mustard greens.

Lettuce and Mustard Greens planted last month are ready to harvest.

For anything you planted in April, begin fertilizing monthly with an organic granular fertilizer specific for vegetable gardens. Apply around the base of plants and gently scrape it into the top ½” of soil. If you prefer liquid fertilizer, apply this in a sprayer attached to your hose every two weeks according to the manufacturers’ application rate. Give your herbs an extra boost by soaking the soil with diluted fish emulsion, this is high in nitrogen and will encourage deep green leaves and robust growth. Apply bone meal to your tomatoes to encourage blooms and avoid blossom end rot.

Weeds will be constant now, pull these when they are small sprouts to avoid letting them reseed. Apply 2” of compost throughout the bed (not up against stems) to suppress the weeds and maintain moisture.

Purslane - most consider this a weed. It can take over your vegetable beds. However its edible and makes a wonderful addition to salad, harvest when young for the best flavor and tenderness, before it goes to seed.

May gray also means the onset of pests and disease. Every time you are in the garden inspect your plants closely, looking for damage. Black spot and powdery mildew are the most common on your squash and tomatoes. For both, cut off affected leaves and spray with neem oil. To pre-emptively combat powdery mildew spray all summer and winter squash weekly with a dose of one part milk to two parts water.

Watch for aphids, they will cluster under leaves and on new growth. For severe infestations I often trim off the damaged leaves and stems, then spray with insecticidal soap.

Aphids left unchecked will weaken the plant.

This is the month to finish install of new sprinkler systems and check existing for leaks. It’s likely you will need to start running these more regularly. I enjoy hand watering and do this occasionally, but I rely on my sprinkler systems to help out in my busy schedule when I can’t make it outside for several days. Be sure to water regularly, and keep the soil evenly moist in your vegetable garden for seeded beds. You will be able to begin harvesting this month and enjoying the reward of your early efforts.

Gaillardia - trim in May and these regrow through the summer. Great cut flowers!

Work in the native plant beds slows down now. If you did all the preparations in the proceeding months during the winter and spring, planting, trimming and applying compost, you can sit back and enjoy the garden for the months to come. Remember to pick flowers to bring inside – my favorite is Cleveland Sage!