Checklist: Things To Do in the Garden in May

Spring is here, flowers are blooming, and it’s time to plant veggies!

Chives
Chives (Allium schoenoprasum)

This checklist will help you plan your garden fun and get set up for a successful season.

Who Is This For?

Our garden checklist is designed for gardeners interested in growing food and healthy ecosystems.

We live in the Northern Hemisphere in USDA Zone 7. These recommendations can be applied to many gardens in Zone 6-8.

Not sure what your zone is? Find your USDA zone here.

Not in the U.S.? This pdf comparing international zone systems may help.

Quick 3 for Busy Gardeners

If you have limited time for gardening, I suggest you focus on these three areas:

  1. Establish a Daily Visit habit. Set a time you will walk through your garden each day. If your garden isn’t close to home, this might be a bi-weekly habit.

    Some days you’ll make a quick pass – pull a few weeds and pick something for dinner. Other days, you might take a few photos and notes. And then, there will be the wonderful days that you get to dig in on your latest gardening projects.

    The key to making this a habit to have a regular time or clear “trigger” that gets you moving in the right direction. Perhaps you go out after pouring your morning coffee, or you walk out after you arrive home for the day. What a nice way to unwind! We go each evening after dinner (at least on nights when we don’t have Cub Scouts or soccer πŸ˜‰)
  2. Weed. It’s so much easier to manage weeds when they are small. Even aggressive weeds (like poison ivy, bindweed, goutweed, goatheads, and non-native honeysuckle) are less intimidating early in the season.
  3. Plant! Lots of ideas about what to plant in the first section of the checklist below. To avoid overwhelm, keep your purpose in mind. What’s most important to you about gardening this year? Focus on the plants and projects that will get you there. The rest can wait. For example, if you really want to make lots of homemade salsa, you’d focus first on preparing for and planting tomatoes and peppers.

May Garden Checklist

Plants

  • Buy seeds and/or transplants.
    Local sources (farmers’ markets, small nurseries, regional seed companies) are likely to offer plants well-adapted to your climate.
  • Yay! Tomatoes. Get them planted.
    For a jump-start, use seedlings. Important: double check the weather forecast just in case. A late frost would kill your heat-loving tomato seedlings.
  • Plant summer crops…corn, beans, peppers, cucumbers, melons, and squash.
    Warm-season seeds germinate best with soil temps > 65 degrees. You can measure with a kitchen or compost thermometer. Keep an eye on that weather forecast if transplanting seedlings.
  • Plan to add a summer cover crop in bare areas.
    Protect your soil by growing something that you can harvest for compost/mulch, like cowpeads, sorghum, or sudangrass. Or sow some buckwheat which grows quickly and produces flowers for pollinators.
  • Keep freshly-planted seeds damp.
    Water often (but not too deep) until seeds germinate. If germination isn’t light dependent, apply a light mulch.
  • Plant summer bulbs.
    Tender bulbs like dahlias, gladiolus and calla lilies don’t tolerate freezing. Best to dig up each fall and re-plant in spring.
Mexican sunflower (Tithonia rotundifolia)
Mexican sunflower (Tithonia rotundifolia)
  • Plant annual flowers and frost-senstive herbs.
    Now’s the time to plant cosmos, marigolds, sunflowers, zinnias, and other annuals. It’s likely safe to plant tender herbs like basil, lemongrass, and chamomile.
  • Move houseplants outside and water well.
    Most houseplants will welcome a shady outdoor location for summer. Water them until clear water drains. This flushes out salts accumulated during winter.
  • Harvest cool season crops.
    Enjoy fresh snap peas, greens, broccoli, and other goodies planted in early spring.
  • Prune spring-blooming shrubs.
    Forsythia, spirea, lilacs, azaleas and most other spring-bloomers have flowers on the previous year’s growth. If pruning is needed, cut them back after they flower in spring. (Or cut while they flower and bring the trimmings inside!)
  • Allow leaves from daffodils or other spring bulbs to linger.
    These leaves are feeding the bulbs that will bloom again next year. If they become unsightly, you can add annuals to β€œhide” them until they finish this important work.

Compost binsSoil

  • Start a compost bin.
    New to composting? Here’s our mini-course to get started. If you have one bin, start another!
  • Harvest or turn your compost pile.
    If your compost pile has been sitting all winter, see if compost is ready to harvest. If not, turn and water the pile to help speed it along.
  • Do a soil test.
    If you haven’t done a soil test yet, do one now to get useful information about how you may need to amend your soil for best results. Your local cooperative extension service may offer free kits.
  • Mulch.
    Add a good layer of mulch to your beds, trees and shrubs. Mulch will conserve water and save a bunch of time weeding this summer.

Gear

  • Get your garden tools organized.
    If you haven’t already, make sure your garden equipment is ready and in good working order. Clean and sharpen pruners, shovels and hoes.
  • Setup or service your irrigation system.
    Whether you use drip, soaker hoses, or a plain water hose, make sure they are clean, working, and leak-free. Easy to lose AND easy to replace, washers are one key to leak-free hoses, sprinklers, and sprayers.
  • Get your garden journal up to date. If you haven’t a journal yet, start one.
    You can’t remember everything. Write down details like dates, weather, successes, and failures. It will help you learn and make good decisions. Find a way that works for you, from low-tech pen and paper to a high-tech mobile app. (We use Evernote.)
  • Take a walk with your camera and journal.
    One of my favorite things about gardening is being in the moment. So I have to remind myself to step back and do some observation and recording. Take a few minutes to walk through with your camera or sit down with a garden journal to record what you see. You can’t remember everything, and it’s helpful to have the reference and learn from what works and what doesn’t.

Wildlife

  • Invite pollinators to your garden.
    Add plants to your garden to attract pollinators and other beneficial insects. Get started with our class on How to Grow a Pollinator CafΓ©.
  • Put up your hummingbird feeders.
    Hummingbirds are here! If you haven’t already, clean your feeder well and fill it in a way that’s safe for the birds.
  • Knock out aphids early.
    Blast aphids off plants with a spray from the water hose. Most of them can’t climb back up the plant. If you’ve got an infestation, you could try an insecticidal soap.
  • Watch for slugs and snails.
    Here are seventeen ideas for stopping these slimy plant eaters, from beer to garlic to ducks!
tulips-public-garden
Tulips at Bullington Gardens just down the road from our farm

Beyond Your Garden

  • Seek out plant sales.
    Many nurseries are having plant sales now. It’s a good time to pick up your transplants or invest in perennials. Just make sure you don’t buy more than you can get planted!
  • Visit a public garden for inspiration.
    Your local public garden might offer a special for National Public Gardens Day.
  • Connect with local gardeners.
    Grow a network of neighbors to compare notes and help identify plants and problems. Farmers’ markets, Master Gardeners, cooperative extension offices, public gardens, nurseries, garden shops, food co-ops, social media groups, and community gardens (even if you don’t garden there!) are great places to start.
  • Celebrate National Wildflower Week.
    In many places, the wildflower parade of color is in full swing! National Wildflower Week is usually the first week of May. Find local wildflower groups and events here.

Kids

Helping in the garden
  • Plant a sunflower house.
    Sunflower Houses by Sharon Lovejoy is full of fun ideas for “children and their adults.”
  • Invite your kids to help.
    Brainstorm ways to get the whole family involved in (or playing near) the garden. Give kids their own section to plan, plant and tend. If kids are reluctant, try and try again.

Now, I’d love to hear from you!

What garden tasks are at the top of your list this month?

What projects are you excited about? Any chores are you dreading? Let me know in the comments below.

6 Comments

  1. Andrea Olson on May 5 at 1:26 pm

    Lovely checklist Amy! Thanks!! We are going to make another green bean teepee in the new garden and also get the irrigation up and my baby seed starts (mini plants!) into the ground. We are also going to take your advice and cover crop and/or lay weeds down in the beds we are not yet ready to plant. Looking forward to ticking things off the list!



    • Amy on May 7 at 9:27 am

      Thank you, Andrea! Your plans sound fantastic. πŸ™‚ I bet your kids will love playing in the bean teepee. Anything “secret” is always a favorite around here!



  2. Michelle on May 13 at 3:18 pm

    Love the list! Very organized and informative. We have pepper, tomato and cabbage plants in the ground, a small herb garden planted and getting ready to put the rest of our veggie seeds in. I’m already planning some new things for next year like blueberry and strawberry areas and fruit trees!



    • Amy on May 19 at 8:47 pm

      Yay, Michelle! Hopefully, you were able to get those seeds in before this week’s rain. I didn’t quite get everything planted, but I’m not complaining. πŸ™‚ We’ll just have a later start on our squashes and pumpkins!



  3. Gail Vance on April 29 at 8:03 am

    Thought I’d check out your list to see how far behind I am lol. Glad to see I’m keeping up. Are you going to Planting in the Mountains this weekend or Herbfest next weekend? Both at the WNC Farmer’s Market. I used to work Herbfest for a community gardening project, it’s great fun. I’m going the 5th.



    • Amy on May 4 at 1:56 pm

      Yay! Glad you’re not behind, Gail. With the rains, we’ve found it a little challenging to get out into the garden as much as we’d like. πŸ™‚

      We aren’t planning to go to the events, but Herbfest sounds amazing! I’m looking forward to going when the boys are a little older (or when Colby’s available to watch them that day! πŸ™‚ ) I’ll have to check out Platning in the Mountains, too!