What to Do in May

What to do, this Month

• Keep an eye out for frost that can put an end to lingering warm weather plants. Check the weather forecast daily and have frost cloth at the ready.
• Refresh the mulch all around the garden, to protect the soil from becoming compacted in the harsh winter weather. This helps to lock in nutrients to feed the microbial communities in the soil.
• Weeds grow quickly in the autumn. Stay on top of them by weeding often and don’t let them set seed.
• Don’t forget to think of Mum this month, with gifts from the garden. How about a beautiful plant pot filled with seed packets, bulbs, new gloves, a nice trowel or some chocolate?

Vegie Tasks

• Last chance to sow beetroot, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, fennel, silverbeet, swede and turnips before the soil gets too cold.
• Sow onion seeds now, to plant out into the garden on the shortest day.
• You can start to plant out garlic this month. Choose only the biggest outer cloves to plant out.
• It's a great time to sow broad beans. Sow them straight into the garden where you want them to grow..
• Grow a cover crop in any empty spots, to return nutrients to the soil when you dig it in as a green manure.

Fruit Tree Care

• Gather up fallen fruit and dispose of it in green waste, to reduce the risk of pest and disease problems next season.
• Citrus trees are hungry, hungry plants. Use a good citrus fertiliser to ensure there are plenty of nutrients to support your growing harvest.
• Plant trees now, to give the roots a chance to establish before the tree goes dormant for the winter. Pop some Yates Dynamic Lifter Organic Plant Food in the bottom of the planting hole, to give the tree a gentle boost. 

Flowers Everywhere

• Get a head start on next seasons flower garden now, by sowing seeds. There are plenty to choose from, to suit all garden styles. Try the tall spires of lupins or hollyhock, natural, informal cottage garden mix, or aromatic sweet peas.
• If you're in a cooler area, have a look at Yates Delphinium 'Pacific Giant' for some rich cool blues and lavenders; or Yates Delphinium 'Galahad' for a pure snowy white scheme.
• Chase away winter gloom by planting out pansies, polyanthus and primula to fill your garden with bright, cheerful colour.
• Cut back autumn flowering perennials once they finish blooming, to give them a tidy up and promote healthy new growth in the spring.
• If you're looking for inspiration, try aquilegia. They're perennial, pollinators love them, and they'll give you gorgeous flowers in spring; what's not to like? We have Yates Aquilegia Mixed Columbine in a bright and pretty spring palette, or you can try Yates Aquilegia Winky Double Red-White to make a big carmine red statement! They're both great choices for bringing spring inside, in a vase.
• Sticking with perennials: if you like echinacea, it's the ideal time to sow it. It's one of the easiest ways to attract bees into your garden that we know of.

Love Your Lawn

• Don’t let fallen leaves smother the lawn and harm the grass. Rake up the leaves, but don’t get rid of them, you can retain the nutrients in your garden by using them them to make leaf mould, for a great soil conditioner.
• If it's been raining consistently, drop your mower height down one notch. You don't ever want to scalp the lawn, but keeping it lower during the wettest parts of winter helps to discourage lawn diseases. Then you can adjust the cut higher in spring, and then up even higher in the hottest part of summer to keep the roots cool.
• Deal with problem weeds and reward the lawn for surviving another season, by giving it some autumn love with Yates Weed'n'Feed. It'll be nice to see a happier, healthier lawn.
• While the soil is still warm and soft with autumnal rain, make repairs to fix bald spots and level out the lawn.
• If you need to oversow to fill in gaps, try a Yates Seed'n'Feed Patch Pack, or Yates Lawn Seed Any Time for a larger area. Both options will still germinate in cold soil, down to 3°C, so they give you an extra window of opportunity before the cold weather sets in.