May has finally arrived and there’s not even been time to catch your breath since March. All the tasks in the garden can be overwhelming. It seems like it’s time to do EVERYTHING! Anchorage, surrounding areas and most of the Rocky Mountain region will see the last frost this month, so it is time to kick gardening into high gear. Here’s a checklist to help you keep on top of it all:
1. It’s safe to direct seed all your root crops. Soil temperatures are warming, but germination will still be slow enough to protect them from the worst freezes over the next few weeks.
2. Tender veggies that were started indoors 4-6 weeks ago will benefit from “hardening off” over the next week or two before planting them directly into the garden. Take your starts outdoors to expose them to light breezes, a wider range of temperatures and other outdoor conditions. This will reduce transplant shock when you set them into the garden plot.
3. Be sure to use up all the old compost this time of year. Apply it liberally throughout the garden as mulch and soil amendment. The nutrients and organic matter it adds to the soil are invaluable.
4. Weed with a vengeance this time of year. Hand pull, till, sheet-mulch, spray and keep weeds from setting seed at all cost. The work you do now, may seem labor-intensive, but reducing the weed seed bank (weed seeds that lie in reserve in the soil) is imperative. Glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup, is a non-selective, contact herbicide that is quite a friend to the gardener. It must touch green stems or leaf surface to be absorbed and transported to the roots to kill a plant, so with simply a piece of cardboard to protect plants you want to keep, you can spray right up next to your prize roses and vegetable garden. Be sure to spray on a day with no wind. After spraying, you can replant within 48 hours with no worry about residual affects.
5. Be ready to prune flowering shrubs immediately after their flowers fade. Lilacs, forsythia, rhododendrons, Mock orange, snowball bush, and countless others flower stronger the following year when pruned at the right time.
6. If you haven’t gotten to it by now, it’s time to start mowing all over the Northwest. Don’t neglect to lightly feed your lawn this time of year as growth increases. Warmer weather has kicked growth rates up and consequently; mowing will be a weekly chore soon. As spring rains slow down and temperatures spike for the summer, gradually raise you mowing height to 2 ½ -3 inches. Taller grass blades, encourages deeper roots, though you can cut it very short this time of year to spur formation of additional shoots, thereby thickening your lawn. Over-seed thin patches and keep them moist while the seed germinates.
7. Consult your local county extension office or the local master gardeners. Marketing by nation-wide mega-corporations is filled with advice that has very little to do with scientific fact. Most of the time it has more to do with selling you an idea that keeps their pocketbooks fat. Pest control myths are rampant, so be sure to properly identify WHAT you have on your plants, what type of damage is being done and THEN decide what to use. Too many people rush out to get a spray for EVERYTHING and never really bother to figure out whether they really have a problem or not.
8. Water hanging baskets weekly as you hang them out. Add fertilizer to the water at ¼ strength each time you water rather than using it full-strength once a month.
9. Hang your bird feeders out to attract feathered friends. Hummingbirds are migrating through this time of year and they might just stay if they find favorable conditions. However, if you’re going to feed, be sure to make a commitment to keep the feeders filled all season. Better yet, plant long-blooming plants that will naturally attract them and other beneficials to your garden.
10. Hang out a cedar block with numerous 3/8” holes drilled in it for nesting Orchard Mason Bees. These little native bees are tremendous workers in fruit trees around your yard. Assuring they have adequate nesting habitat is one of the best ways to assure they get all your fruit blossoms pollinated.
11. Fruit trees and shrubs are loaded with blossoms. It’s important to pay attention to any plants putting on flowers or fruit now. A dressing of fertilizer, inspection for aphids and/or other pests and treatment if damage is visible are all tasks that will help they stay healthy and vigorous.
12. Roses should be pruned back to 3-4 canes if you want a few large blooms, 6-9 canes if you want an abundance of mid-sized blooms. Pull mulch back from around the base of each rose bush and fertilize it for the first time this season.
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