*Liz post*
We don’t have a big garden and with three children, I don’t have oodles of time to create a thing of beauty… but we are all spending a lot more time in it.
We’ve seen new creatures too, butterflies and two very tame blue tits who sit on the garden furniture when we eat outside.
However, I’m not a gardener, never have been, but during this time, I have really wanted to make it look better.
May is one of the busiest months for gardening and even us non-gardeners might be spurred into action by the sunny weather!
Here are some great tips for gardening in May from the RSPB website. The pictures are from my garden, Maddie grew the sunflower last year!
Feel free to share any of your pictures.
1/ Now is a good time to prepare beds for planting by digging them over, weeding and adding compost, even if you can’t get hold of any plants right now.
2/ Maybe bring some of the countryside into the garden and bring some wild flowers in from your walks and put them in a pot.
3/ Trim back any winter flowering heathers.
4/ Make some hanging baskets together.
5/ Plant herbs sold in pots
6/ Sow vegetable crops outdoors including salad crops, peas and cabbages.
Early May is also a great time to plant sunflower seeds in your garden. They are suitable for any size of garden, even a balcony. You could consider growing a few with your family and have a race to see which one grows the tallest.
1/ Sow your sunflower seeds directly into the ground in early May.
2/ Protect them as best you can from slug and snail damage by using broken eggshells. You might need to do an evening patrol!
3/ As the sunflowers grow, you may need to tie them to canes to stop them blowing over. Keep well watered through the summer.
4/ Bees and butterflies love the nectar and will feed on the flowers. Greenfinches and goldfinches much on the drying seedheads.
You will need:
1/ Your bird bath should have very shallow sloping sides, a maximum depth of only 10cm or so, and be as wide as possible, ideally 30cm across.
2/ lay out four bricks on a piece of open lawn or border where the birds have a good view all around.
3/ Put an upturned old dustbin lid or bowl lid on top of the bricks. Make sure it is stable.
4/ If it’s too slippy, put some pebbles or rocks in the bottom to give birds a better grip.
5/ Fill with tap water and watch! You’ll need to keep the bird bath topped up in summer and ice-free in winter.
There are lots of other tips and easy gardening activities here: RSPB
