Once May arrives, it feels as if the gardening year is properly underway. Although we still have to watch out for a late frost, protect non-hardy plants with fleece and make sure potatoes are earthed up.
This month sees the annual RHS Chelsea Flower Show, where climate change and plant diversity will be the big focus. With us experiencing more extremes of weather, plant breeders are taking this into account when introducing new plants so they are robust enough to survive wet winters and springs followed by dry summers. It will be interesting to see which plants are popular this year in the show gardens and the floral marquee.
No Mow May has become very popular. You don’t have to leave your whole lawn uncut, but perhaps just a patch where the grass is left longer, encouraging wildflowers for pollinators.
After daffodils have finished blooming, apply a seaweed liquid fertiliser to encourage flowering next year. Lift and divide overcrowded clumps of daffodil bulbs and replant. Put supports in place for taller herbaceous perennials. It stops them flopping as they grow, and the support is soon hidden by the plant’s growth. From the middle of the month, runner beans and French beans can be direct sown in prepared beds, and continue to sow small rows of carrots, beetroot, lettuce and radishes to enable a continuous supply through the summer. Towards the end of the month, sweetcorn and courgettes can be planted out.
Don’t forget the Thetford Open Gardens plant sale at 28 Arlington Way on Saturday 9th May, starting at 9am. A good time to buy some new plants and support St Nicholas Hospice at the same time. If you have any spare plants, please drop them off, preferably prior to the day, but all plants are accepted, even on the day.
Last month saw the Thetford Garden and Allotment Club (TGAC) hold its Spring Show. Seven people made 45 entries; due to wet, cold weather, entries in general were down, and the warmer weather had then brought daffodils on, so they had gone over. A gardener’s lot is not always a happy one!
The club would welcome new members – for more details, please contact: YvonneRout@gmail.com
Happy Gardening!
Maggie Baldwin
