Check It Off: May gardening tasks

May is one of the most pleasant months in Northern California gardens. Many plants are in full bloom and the weather is usually balmy and sunny. Naturally, the gardener, who recognizes a blessing when it appears, wishes to spend many hours in the garden. And there are plenty of enjoyable tasks to be done, starting with preparing the summer flower beds and establishing the vegetable garden, which will take months to mature.
Sow summer flower seeds such as coreopsis, cosmos, marigold and zinnia, which are all easy to grow from seed. Plant summer annuals from nursery-grown cell packs.

In the vegetable garden, sow seeds of bush beans, carrots, chard, corn, cucumbers, melons, pumpkins, radishes and squash. Buy eggplant, pepper and tomato plants, which take months to mature to fruition.

If you applied fertilizer in April, wait four weeks before feeding again. If you have not fertilized, start now. An all-purpose fertilizer, high in nitrogen, can be applied to everything: lawns, landscape plants, established annuals and perennials.

Azaleas, camellias and rhododendrons prefer acid-type fertilizer after blooming - they can be mulched with used coffee grinds. Citrus prefer citrus fertilizer with iron.

Roses should be reaching perfection this month. Blast aphids off roses with a strong spray of water. Water early in the day, prune to open the plant to good air circulation and pick up the diseased leaves.

Weed.


Continue to pursue slugs and snails.

Aerate the lawn to increase water penetration.

Prune uneven or unshapely growth on hedges, shrubs and vines. Cut out dead wood wherever you find it.

Continue to thin fruits when they are as big as a dime.

Cymbidiums should be repotted now if they are outgrowing their pots or if the planting medium is breaking down.

Fertilize indoor plants.