GARDENINGHTML Copyright © 2001-2002, awsltd.netThe merry month of May usually brings the beginning of the rainy season, an event which changes our gardening habits considerably. We don't have to water the garden very much but we do have to mow the lawn just about every week.
If you haven't fertilized your citrus and fruit trees for spring, May is a good time to do it. A generous sprinkling of an all purpose granular fertilizer around the trunk and along the drip line of the trees will do part of the job and a spray of minor nutrients will do the rest.
This the one time of the year when you should treat all your shrubs to some fertilizer. The ground is wet and this ensures that more of the fertilizer will be available to the roots of your shrubs and ornamental trees. It's also the time of greatest growth and y
May is an excellent time to do some pruning for shape. New foliage will appear quickly and give an air of freshness to your garden. You may have to do without blossoms for a while.
May is also a wonderful time to set out cuttings. Always take cuttings from a healthy donor and make sure they come from parts that have brown bark on them. Green cuttings need misting and will not survive an ordinary transplant. I would suggest putting your cuttings in your garden where you want them to grow, rather than potting them and transplanting later. Now is also a good time to moss those shrubs and fruit trees that are hard to propagate from cuttings.
The rains also bring us pests, the most obvious being snai
If you have pets or young children, or if you prefer not to use poisons in such a widespread fashion, try one of these completely organic methods of destruction. Use a pair of long, cheap pliers then take a walk in your garden by the dawn's early light and crush away, nutcracker style. Take a flashlight an hour after twilight's last gleaming and you can repeat the process. After a few sorties like these your snail and slug proble
The second method is for the less energetic and involves getting lots of snails into one place. Snails love cool, moist, dark places during the day. Place a piece of plywood on four rocks about two inches in diameter in a sheltered place in your garden near where snails tend to feed. A quarter sheet of plywood is the largest size you should use. Leave it there for a few days and then lift it up during the daylight hours. Your snail motel will be packed with skulking mollusks. Bring your cheap pliers or half a brick and go to town.
Chewing and sucking insects also thrive during our summer months. The best remedy is to spray you garden regularly (once a month during winter, more frequently in summer) with a soap solution. Safer's produces a proprietary brand but you
If you have a sudden and severe infestation you'll have to resort to tougher measures. There are several all-purpose insecticides available that will help you repel the invasion. Orthene is a systemic that can be used on your flowering shrubs and roses and which provides long term effectiveness.
The last of the summer jobs is probably the most enjoyable: plant a new tree. Whether fruit or ornamental, young trees planted during spring should be fully rooted by the time dry late autumn and winter comes around.
Having given you plenty to do, I'm taking the next three months off. See you in September...