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May Gardening Jobs

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Now that May has arrived, summer is just around the corner. It’s the perfect time to tidy up the garden, take care of any lingering spring tasks, and set things up for a thriving, colourful summer. Whether you're planting, feeding, trimming or weeding, here’s your essential checklist of gardening jobs to tackle this month.

General Gardening Tasks for May

Water Wisely As temperatures rise, keep your plants well-watered—especially containers and hanging baskets.
Weed Control Weeds will be popping up quickly now, so keep them under control with regular hoeing or the use of suitable weed control products. Browse our weed control range
Watch for Late Frosts Keep fleece or cloches handy to protect tender plants from unexpected chilly nights.
Feed Containers Feed potted and container plants every two weeks to keep them healthy and blooming.

This Month’s Garden To-Do List

Plant Out Half-Hardy Annuals Brighten up beds and borders with colourful bedding plants once the risk of frost has passed.
Earth Up Potatoes Mound soil around growing potato plants to stop tubers from forming on the surface.
Sow Succession Crops Keep salad leaves and other fast-growing crops coming by sowing small batches every few weeks.
Plant Out Tender Veg Courgettes, squash, and runner beans can now go outside. Just make sure the seedlings are strong and well-established.
Stay on Top of Weeds Hoe and pull weeds regularly to keep beds tidy and productive.

Lawn Care in May

May is a brilliant time to focus on your lawn—it’ll be growing fast and full of life. Browse our grass seed range

Time to Mow!

Begin mowing regularly to keep your lawn neat. Avoid cutting it too short, especially if the weather is dry.

Weed the Lawn

Use a selective lawn weed killer to tackle weeds like dandelions without damaging your grass. Shop lawn weed killers

Fix Water-Resistant Soils

Dry soils can end up becoming water resistant, resulting in the grass being starved of moisture and nutrients. Apply a wetting agent to re-energise the soil and overcome this issue. Some great products to use are A1 Lawn Hydrate Plu s or Amvista Liquid Seaweed.

Feed and Repair

Apply a lawn fertiliser suitable for spring/summer and overseed any bare patches. Shop lawn fertilisers

Avoid Lawn Damage

Rotate garden furniture and heavy pots to prevent compacting the grass underneath.

Fruit & Vegetables to Plant in May

It’s a busy and exciting time in the veg garden—lots to sow and plant out now.

Vegetables

Tomatoes
Squash
Pumpkins
Sweetcorn
Courgettes
Cucumbers
Runner beans
Cauliflowers
Broccoli
Carrots

Herbs

Coriander
Dill

Top Tip: Place straw around strawberries to keep fruit clean and free from mould.
Keep vegetable beds weed-free and watch for fast-spreading offenders like bindweed—pull it up by the root before it takes over.

Flowers to Plant in May

Summer Bedding

Once all danger of frost has passed, plant out summer bedding directly into the garden. If you’ve grown them in the greenhouse, harden them off by putting them outside during the day and bringing them in at night.

Dahlias & Hardy Annuals

These can be planted outdoors towards the end of the month, once they’re hardened off and the soil is weed-free and pest-free.

Late Starters Welcome

If you didn’t have time to sow seeds or plant tubers earlier in spring, don’t worry—there’s still time to plant directly into the garden. Your flowers may bloom slightly later, but they’ll still give great colour.

Keep Deadheading

Regularly remove faded blooms from bedding plants to keep them flowering throughout the summer.

Trees, Shrubs, and Hedges

Trim Box & Formal Evergreens

May is the perfect time to give box (buxus) and other formal evergreen hedging a light trim.

Feed After Trimming

After trimming, we would recommend that you give the hedging a light feed using Amvista Arbor Gold.

Prune Spring-Flowering Shrubs

Once their display is over, prune to shape and encourage healthy new growth.

Beds and Borders

Prepare for Planting

Enrich your soil, remove weeds and get beds ready for summer planting.

Sow Perennials Outdoors

Hardy perennials can now be sown directly into the ground for long-term colour.

The warmer weather gives us plenty more to do in the garden. Want to look ahead in the calendar? Check out our June gardening jobs guide. If you have any further questions, check out our wide range of guides or contact our friendly team.