Perennials, Annuals & Bulbs
- Let leaves of spring bulbs die back naturally, so they can manufacture enough food for next year’s blooms.
- Fertilize all spring-flowering shrubs and vines after they bloom.
- Fertilize crepe Myrtles, buddleia and hibiscus now.
- Apply 1-3 inches of fine mulch around your plants to help them conserve water during summer's heat and humidity.
- Too much mulch can suffocate your plants.
- Most herbs require little to no mulch, preferring dryer growing conditions.
- Too much mulch can suffocate your plants.
- By Memorial Day, cut or pinch back perennials to delay flowering and encourage compact growth and more blooms.
- Examples of the flowers include: Asters, Golden Rod, Chrysanthemum and Swamp Sunflower.
- Pinch back first flowers of summer annuals to encourage more blooms later.
- Pick off spent blooms of daylilies and deadhead spent blooms from annuals and perennials to help plants bloom longer.
- Deadhead butterfly weed after blooming. It will bloom again in about a month.
Vegetables and Fruit
- Plant vegetables such as squash, cucumbers, tomatoes and peppers.
- Mulch tomatoes to keep the soil borne fungus spores from splashing on the leaves when watering.
- Water low (not with an overhead sprinkler), or better yet, use drip irrigation.
- For larger tomatoes, pinch the suckers.
- If leaving the suckers on, your plants will produce more tomatoes, but they will be smaller.
- Water low (not with an overhead sprinkler), or better yet, use drip irrigation.
- Fertilize vegetables that have begun to set fruit.
- Watch for fireblight on apples, pears and pyracantha
- Clip out affected foliage using pruners dipped in a 10:1 solution of water and bleach.
- Begin fungicide sprays on fruit crops: apples, peaches, plums and grapes.
Trees, Shrubs & Groundcovers
- Prune early flowering trees and shrubs (azaleas, forsythia, flowering quince, spiraea, weigela) as soon as blooms have faded.
- Prune deciduous vines, like wisteria and Lady Banks roses, after flowering.
- Some roses need regular spraying: black spot, powdery mildew and Japanese beetles are coming.
- Remove leaves and petals that fall around plants to keep diseases and fungi from returning.
- Check leaves of ornamentals
- If faded yellow with green veins, chlorosis could be the problem.
- Cure with light application of Epsom salts around plants. If this treatment fails to solve problem, check for poor drainage, damaged or compacted roots.
- If faded yellow with green veins, chlorosis could be the problem.
- Remove bands from trees.
Lawn & Landscaping
- Plant warm-season grasses now and into June.
- Mow frequently, removing less than 1/3 of the height as you mow.
- Leave clippings on the ground unless you have too many clippings piling up.
- Check lawns for white grubs and control, if necessary.
- Water as needed to prevent drought, but not more than 1 inch per week.
Miscellaneous
- Watch for damaging insects, such as scale, aphids, spider mites, lacebugs, leaf miner, spittlebug, and leaf hopper, which are prevalent now.
- Avoid applying insecticidal soaps when temperatures exceed 86 degrees (F).
- It’s time to weed!