Pinch your petunia and earth up your potatoes: A May to-do list to get your garden in shape for summer

Pinch your petunia and earth up your potatoes: A May to-do list to get your garden in shape for summeryear, May is the month of magical things. The first rose. The first swallow. The first properly hot day. The first beech tree in full leaf. The first sighting of wisteria in magnificent lilac bloom, draping itself languidly against a high, sunny wall.

Pinch or cut away limp petunia flowers before they start seeding to encourage regrowth. Photograph: iStock Nature doesn’t care that your carefully nurtured seedlings want to be outside – it’s still prepared to be brutalFor those who garden under cover of a polytunnel or glasshouse, May is the month to get crops in the ground, although it’s still prudent to plan for protection against cool or even frosty night-time conditions until the end of the month .

Although at this stage it’s technically a little late in the growing year to produce optimum results, it’s also still well worthwhile mulching the ground around the base of garden roses, established shrubs and ornamental climbing plants with a 2cm-5cm layer of very well-rotted manure or homemade compost or a commercially produced mulch .

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