Georgia Morton
May is here and we can already feel summer on its way. Here are some thoughtful gardening jobs you can do this month to make the most of the warmer days and prepare your patch for the summer's arrival. 🌞
1. Tie in your climbing & rambling plants 🪢
May is prime time for Climbing and Rambling roses to put on a growth spurt—especially if they've recently been pruned. To keep their vigorous shoots in check and encourage them to grow exactly where you want them, now’s the moment to tie them into your chosen support structure, whether that's a trellis, arch, obelisk, pillar, or pergola.
Use soft but sturdy materials like garden twine, flexi-tie, or adjustable tree ties, securing stems every 20cm or so. Gather the stems loosely to avoid damaging them, and try not to bend branches too sharply. Training your roses horizontally as you tie them can even encourage more blooms along the length of each stem—a clever trick for a more floriferous display later in the season!
2. No-Mow May🌿🌼
One of the easiest and most impactful May gardening jobs is actually doing nothing at all—thanks to No Mow May, a campaign by Plantlife encouraging people to put their mowers away for the month. Letting all or part of your lawn grow naturally creates vital habitat for bees and other pollinators, with wildflowers like dandelions and clover providing essential nectar.
At the end of May, you can join Plantlife’s Every Flower Counts survey to see how your lawn measures up—some ‘superlawns’ have been found to support up to 4,000 bees a day! So give mowing a miss this month, and consider leaving a permanent patch wild to keep supporting nature year-round.
3. Plant your dahlias outside 🌿
May is the ideal time to move your dahlias from indoors to the garden, once the danger of frost has passed. Start by hardening them off—placing them outside during the day and bringing them in at night for about a week—so they can adjust to outdoor conditions. Choose a sunny, sheltered spot with well-drained soil, and plant them at the same depth they were in their pots. Water them in well, add a support for taller varieties, and they’ll soon settle in and reward you with a burst of colourful blooms from summer into autumn.
4. Create areas for wildlife 🦔
May is a great time to create spaces in your garden that support local wildlife. Birds are especially active during nesting season and need extra energy, so keeping feeders and bird baths topped up is essential while natural food sources are still scarce. A pond, water feature, or even a shallow dish of water can also attract birds, hedgehogs, and even foxes looking for a drink. Leaving some areas a little wild—like a log pile, long grass, or dense shrubs—can provide valuable shelter for hedgehogs and foxes, helping to turn your garden into a mini nature reserve.
