Pro Tips for your Lawn & Garden for the month of May

Check out these Pro Tips for what to do to help your lawn and garden thrive in May, and beyond. 

🌼Pinch azaleas and rhododendron blossoms as they fade. Double-flowered azaleas need no pinching. Fertilize azaleas after bloom. Use a formulation which has an acid reaction.
🌼Watch your pine trees closely – especially Scotch and mugo – for sawfly activity on new shoots.
🌼Apply Tree & Shrub Systemic Drench annually to trees or shrubs that have or have had borer issues, depending upon the size of the tree or shrub. Ask our staff if you have questions. Always follow label directions for use and storage.
🌼Begin planting gladiolus bulbs toward the first of the month, as the ground warms. Continue at 2-week intervals.
🌼Deadhead spring blooming bulbs, but let the foliage grow until it yellows.
🌼Deadhead and begin replacing pansies and primroses as the blossoms fade.
🌼Give everything a good feeding, to get things growing.
🌼Divide crowded perennials for use in other areas of your space. Share with neighbors if you have more than you need.
🌼Protective fungicidal sprays should be applied to apples, crab apples and hawthorns susceptible to rust disease, beginning when these trees bloom. Prune unwanted shoots as they appear on fruit trees.
🌼Make sure tall perennials are staked. We have what you need in our Garden Center. 
🌼Resist the temptation to put out heat-lovers until the end of the month, when night time temps remain above 50 degrees F.
🌼 Begin planting warm-season annuals the second week of May. Plant summer bulbs such as caladiums, dahlias, cannas and elephant ears around mid-month. Near the end of the month, begin fertilizing annuals, continuing at regular intervals.
🌼Pinch back mums the last week of the month to promote bushy growth.
🌼Plant or transplant trees and shrubs before the heat of summer sets in.
🌼Prune forsythia, viburnums, and other spring-blooming shrubs before they set next year’s buds.
🌼Cut older branches back to ground level to encourage new flowering branches.
🌼Keep bluegrass cut at 1.5 to 2.5 inch height. Mow tall fescue at 2 to 3.5 inch height. Mow zoysia lawns at 1.5 inch height. Remove no more than one-half inch at each mowing.
🌼To keep your lawn healthy and weed-free, see the information on our website on what products to apply, and when, to fertilize and fight weeds and pests.
🌼Slugs will hide during the daytime beneath a board placed over damp ground. Check each morning and destroy any slugs that have gathered on the underside of the board.
🌼Set out tomato plants in early May, as the soil warms. Place support stakes or tomato cages at planting time. Set out peppers and eggplants after soils have warmed. Plant sweet potatoes toward the end of the month.
🌼Place a stake by seeds of squash and cucumbers when planting in hills to locate the root zone watering site after the vines have started to run.
🌼Near the end of May, make new sowings of warm-season vegetables after harvesting early crops.
🌼Herbs planted in average soils need no extra fertilizer. Too much may reduce flavor and pungency at harvest.
🌼Houseplants can be taken outdoors when night temperatures consistently remain above 50 degrees. Most prefer direct sun only in the morning. Sink houseplants up to their rims in soil or mulch to conserve moisture. Repot houseplants if needed, using new soil. Fertilize regularly.

Have questions? Our Pro Staff has answers! Stop by our Garden Center.
We have everything you need for your lawn and garden – including the answers to all your questions!

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