It’s the start of a busy month
Ruth gets to grips with the most important May tasks
The first ever issue of Amateur Gardening was issued 140 years ago this month and I am sure that Victorian gardeners were kept as busy in their plots at this time of year as we are today. There is so much to think about in May - from pruning and Chelsea chopping to sowing directly into the soil, pricking out seedlings, pinching out young plants to encourage bushy growth, keeping plants safe from pests and disease and making sure you still have some insulating fleece to hand in case of unexpected late frosts.
Over the next few days I will be cutting back our early-flowering shrubs, the winter-blooming clematis and forsythia, and later in the month also giving our bushy shrubs the first chop of the year to keep them tidy and productive. Winter-flowering clematis such as ‘Freckles’ are easy to keep neat - you simply take your shears and run them over the plants, removing dead flowers and any leaves that are growing outside
