Things to do Outdoors

Prune leggy Azaleas, Pieris and Rhododendrons as they finish blooming. This will improve the habit yet still ensure proper flower bud development for next year.

Deadhead spring-flowering perennials unless they have showy seedheads or want to collect seed later.

If your tulips were weak-blooming this year, your bulbs may be exhausted. Tulips are less perennial than daffodils (though even those can get exhausted or overcrowded, too). If spent, lift tulips and make note to order new. Otherwise, let bulb foliage turn yellow or light brown before removing to ensure proper bulb and flower development for next year. Do not tie it together, since that reduces that amount of surface area exposed to the sun and ability to produce sugars.

Continue to divide and move perennials, particularly on cooler, wetter days. Water in well, and watch throughout the season to detect stress.

For a neat garden bed or border, edge bed lines to make a clean line and define them - a clean edge makes a real difference.

Top-dress according to label directions with an all-natural organic fertilizer and a layer of finished compost. Finish with an inch and a half or two of good, fine- to medium-textured organic mulch (avoid large sized chips as they take too long to decompose and can often carry bacteria, as well as unnaturally colored or dyed mulch).

Harden off vegetable seedlings before transplanting, bringing them in and out for a few days before setting them free for good.

Then plant out tender annuals after the last frost-free date in your part of the state (generally the first week of May).

For vegetable and annual gardens, turn under any manure or green crops that spread or seeded out last fall. Make certain the soil has drained properly before tilling.

Thin cool season vegetables that were directly sown during April so that they will develop more fully.

Continue sowing carrots, beets, radishes, salad greens, dill. With salad greens, select heat-resistant varieties now for best results as they'll bump into warmer weather.

Remove roots from the basement and plant in a sunny location. They can go into the ground after frost danger passes.

If you didn't get dahlias, cannas, caladiums and such going indoors, plant now, inserting support stakes (if needed, as with dahlias) at planting time to avoid piercing bulbs later

Some perennials such as Asters, Phlox and Sedums should be pinched in mid to late May to prevent them from flopping later in the season.

Soak hard coated seeds, such as nasturtium, moon flower and morning glory seeds overnight, then sow.

Zinnias and marigolds and other familiar summery annuals can be direct sown now, or start in cellpacks and set them out after a month to six weeks.

Plant your containers. Don't limit yourself to annuals - perennials, herbs and hot-house plants also make eye-catching arrangements.

Move houseplants outdoors to a sheltered location with filtered bright light (not direct sun). Pinch back and repot those that need it as you transition them, and begin regular feeding if you didn't already in earlier spring

Let lawn clippings lie on the lawn to return Nitrogen to the soil. If lawn growth or greening is sluggish, make note to apply an all-natural organic fertilizer in fall, when lawn grasses take best advantage of fertilizing to grow strong root systems.

Tender bulbs like cannas, callas, tuberous begonias, and dahlias get a head start if potted up indoors now, then transplanted after all frost danger passes.



Apps for plant identification: Plant Net, Picture This, Plant Snap