Gardening Tasks in May to Boost Your Garden's Growth
- Mary Anne Giangola
- May 6
- 2 min read
Contributed by Mike Hogan, Hall County Master Gardener
We are off to a great start this year. The weather has been favorable, we got past the
official last frost date without harm and we have had a fair amount of rain. Things
should be picking up in our gardens this month. You may have already direct-planted
seeds for some of your summer crops or put in transplants. Summer annuals are just
now starting to be available in the nurseries or big box stores, while spring and early
summer blooming perennials have begun their beautiful displays.
We garden for a variety of reasons, but mostly for the benefits we derive from our efforts.
Some garden for beauty, some for sustenance, some to stay active, and some to teach a new generaion how to raise food. In the end we all reap these rewards and many more for our efforts. Try some of these recommended tasks for May to help obtain better results from your gardening efforts.
Plant additional vegetables (snap beans, corn, squash, lima beans) late in the
month to prolong your harvest.
Sow squash every 2-3 weeks to time emergence of squash vine
borers to ensure some of your plantings survive without use of pesticides.
Control grass and weeds; they compete for moisture and fertilizer.
Locate mulching materials for such crops as tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, Irish
potatoes, okra, and lima beans. Apply before dry spells occur but after plants are
well established (usually by blooming time).
Dig, divide and transplant your crowded irises and daffodils to a better location, if
needed, after they bloom.
Train pole beans to climb by the time they start running for better results.
Remove leafless limbs from shade trees. If they don’t have leaves by now, they
won’t be coming back.
Now is the time to start removing suckers from tomatoes and tying the plants up.
Scout for pests now. Hand-pick them before they become a problem and require
pesticides.
Water and mulch as needed to suppress weeds and maintain soil moisture as the
temperatures start to rise.
Plant rosemary, basil, oregano, dill and other herbs for savory summer meals.
Prune early-flowering azaleas now that they have finished blooming. Remove tall
sprouts at their base, inside the shrub.
Plant begonias, coleus, geraniums, petunias and vinca for summer-long color in
your landscape.
Make plans for putting up some of your garden produce.
Below are some links with information and more details about May tasks.
May garden tasks - Walter Reeves
UGA Garden calendar for May
These are just some of the many tasks which will make us better gardeners and boost our gardens' growth. If we try to improve one thing each season, we will move closer to the ideal garden that we all hope to achieve.
Until next time, happy gardening.
Mike Hogan is a retired engineer who moved to Georgia from Texas. A member of the Master Gardener Class of 2023, Mike now serves on the Hall County Master Gardener Board of Directors as a Member-at-Large.
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