Monthly Garden "To Dos"

• Southern Magnolia, Golden Chain Tree, Kousa Dogwood, Hybrid Rhododendron, Mountain Laurel, Satsuki Azalea, Scotch Broom, Deutzia, Beauty Bush, Weigela, Gumpo Azalea, Roses, Clematis, Honeysuckle, Dianthus, Sweet William, Candytuft, Bearded Iris, Peony, Coreopsis, Poppy, Lady Slipper and summer annuals.

• Fertilize summer flowering plants like crape myrtle and Rose-of-Sharon this month.
• Be sure to sidedress or fertilize your vegetables 6 to 8 weeks after germination.

Planting

• Plant gladioli bulbs(corms) this month, and continue through mid-June.
• Continue setting out summer annual such as begonia, geranium, marigold, petunia and zinnia this month.
• The following vegetable plants can be set out this month: eggplant, pepper, tomato and sweet potato.
• The following vegetables can be planted this month: beans, lima beans, cantaloupe, corn, cucumbers, southern peas, pumpkin, sqaush and watermelon.

Pruning

• Prune your hybrid rhododendron after they finish flowering.
• Prune any hedges that have outgrown their desired shape.
• Begin pinching your chrysanthemums and continue through mid-July.
• Pick off azalea and sasanqua leaf galls as they form.
• Do NOT cut back spring bulb foliage until it turns yellow and brown.

Spraying

• Spray the following landscape shrubs for the following insect pests: arborvitae-bagworm, azalea-lace bug, boxwood-leaf miner, camellia-tea scale, euonymous-scale, hemlock and juniper-spider mites, pyracantha-lace bug and hybrid rhododendron-borer.
• Spray iris beds for iris borers.
• Spray the following vegetables if insects are observed: cucumber (cucumber beetle), squash (squash borer and aphids) , tomato and eggplant (flea beetle), broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower (worms).
• Begin corn ear worm control at early silking and continue through late silking stages.
• Spray your blueberry plants for blueberry borers in mid-May.
• Continue with rose spray program.
• Keep spraying your fruit trees and bunch grapes with a fungicide.
• To control poison ivy and honeysuckle, begin spraying with a recommended weed killer.
• Use pesticides sparingly. Spray only when needed.

• Fertilize warm season grasses like Bermuda grass, centipede grass and zoysia this month. Do not fertilize tall fescue now.
• Start any warm season grasses like zoysia, Bermuda grass and centipede grass in May.
• Mowing heights for your lawn are important. Cut tall fescue at three inches and Bermuda grass, centipede grass and zoysia at one inch.

Propagation

• Take softwood cuttings of plants like clematis, chrysanthemum and geranium in late May if you have a misting system.

Specific Chores