On using this list in your garden: The monthly A Way to Garden chores and based on my Zone 5B Berkshire MA/Hudson Valley NY location; adjust accordingly.
VEGETABLE GARDEN
CONTINUE SOWING CARROTS, beets, radishes, lettuce, dill. With salad greens, select heat-resistant varieties now for best results.
DIRECT-SOW BEANS at mid-month and beyond; sow a short row every two weeks, and also sow pole beans for an even later crop. Wait till month’s end, when the weather is settled, to sow summer and winter squash, cucumbers, melons, or start indoors at first of month and set out at end.
WHEN SHOPPING FOR SEEDLINGS of tomatoes (or really anything), pick stocky young plants about 4 inches high and wide—bigger isn’t better.
HEAT-LOVERS LIKE tomatoes go out after frost danger is past, but many people make a ritual of it on Memorial Day weekend (technically a tad early here). Eggplants and peppers can go out then, too. Harden off vegetable seedlings before transplanting, bringing them in and out for a few days before setting them free for good.
MULCH VEGETABLES with baled or chopped straw, partially rotted leaves, or other available organic materials.
FLOWER GARDEN
DEADHEAD SPRING BULBS as blooms fade, but leave foliage intact to wither and ripen the bulbs naturally. I mow my daffodil drifts around July 4th, for example. Deadhead spring-flowering perennials unless they have showy seedheads, or you want to collect seed later (non-hybrids only).
WITH FLOWER SEEDLINGS in 6-packs, “buy green,” as in don’t buy annuals that are flowering madly in tiny cells. Younger, fresher plants are best. They will catch up.
TENDER BULBS started indoors last month for a headstart can go into the ground after frost danger passes. If you didn’t get dahlias, cannas, caladiums and such going indoors, plant now, inserting support stakes (if needed, as with dahlias) at planting time to avoid piercing bulbs later.
SOAK NASTURTIUM and morning glory seeds overnight, then sow.
IF TULIPS WERE WEAK-BLOOMING this year, bulbs may be exhausted. Tulips are less perennial than, say, daffodils (though even those can get exhausted). If spent, lift tulips and order new now. Ordering bulbs this month to take advantage of industry discounts (see Sources for bulb vendors).
TAKE ADVANTAGE of any bouts of cooler, moister weather to divide and move perennials.
ONCE BEDS ARE CLEANED UP, topdress according to label directions with an all-natural organic fertilizer and a layer of finished compost if you didn’t yet. Apply mulch.
WHEN WORKING IN BEDS, be careful not to clean up too roughly; desirable emerging self-sown annuals and biennials (larkspur, clary sage, winter aconite, Verbena bonariensis, perilla) can be disturbed unless you pay attention.
PREPARE NEWS BEDS by smothering grass or weeds with layers of recycled corrugated cardboard or thick layers of newspaper, then put mulch on top.
EDGE BEDS to make a clean line and define them. A clean edge makes a good difference, along with an inch and a half or two of good, fine- to medium-textured organic mulch.
HOUSEPLANTS can spend the summer outdoors starting late this month, in a sheltered location with filtered bright light (not direct sun). Pinch back and repot those that need it as you transition them to outside, and begin regular feeding if you didn’t in earlier spring.
LAWN
DON’T BAG OR RAKE clippings; let them lie on the lawn to return Nitrogen to the soil.
IF LAWN GREENED UP well, no fertilizer is needed; I skip it (and spare yourself the extra mowing, while helping the environment). If growth or greening was sluggish, consider applying an all-natural organic fertilizer in fall, when lawn grasses take best advantage of fertilizing to grow strong root systems.
COMPOST HEAP
DON’T LET THE HEAP DRY out completely, or it will not “cook.” If it wasn’t turned to aerate earlier this season, do so now to hasten decomposition. Use finished, screened material to topdress beds.
