May 2009 Gardening Checklist

Prune spring-flowering shrubs
a few weeks after they bloom
• If needed, prune early spring-flowering trees and shrubs, such as lilac, viburnum, forsythia and dogwood, within about four weeks after flowers fade. If you delay this task much longer, you run the risk of pruning off next year’s flowers.
  
• Plant tender plants outdoors after danger of frost is past. This includes tomatoes, corn, peppers, eggplant, vine crops, most annual flowers and tender perennials or bulbs, such as cannas, gladiolus, dahlias, tuberous begonias and caladiums. It also includes annuals, including impatiens, coleus, petunias and salvias.
  
• Apply Preen Vegetable Garden Weed Preventer when transplanting crops.
  
• Harvest spring-planted crops, such as lettuces, spinach and peas.
  
• Apply Preen Mulch Plus to garden beds. It provides better, more effective controls for six months, longer than any other mulch on the market. Preen Mulch Plus in Russet Red, Midnight Black and Cocoa Brown are guaranteed not to fade for at least one year.
  
  

  Divide tulips (above), daffodils
  and other spring bulbs.

  © Jo Ellen Meyers Sharp
• Divide or transplant hardy perennials, such as chrysanthemum, aster and hosta. Apply Preen Garden Weed Preventer with Brilliant Blooms Fertilizer, which effectively combines the two steps of weed prevention and fertilizing into one easy step. Preen Garden Weed Preventer with Brilliant Blooms Fertilizer prevents summer and winter annual weeds from growing in flower and vegetable beds and around trees and shrubs for up to three months.
  
• Allow foliage of spring-flowering bulbs to ripen and yellow or brown before cutting back. Leaves make the food reserves stored in the bulbs that bring next year's flowers. Divide or transplant spring-flowering bulbs after they've finished blooming. Mark empty spaces in the landscape to show where to plant spring-flowering bulbs next fall.
  
• Pinch chrysanthemums and certain annuals, such as impatiens and petunias to keep them compact and well branched.
  
• Move houseplants to a shady location outdoors when danger of frost has past, usually mid-May. The soil in the pots will dry out faster outdoors, so check it frequently.
  
• Take cuttings from houseplants to increase collection or share. Root cuttings in media such as vermiculite, perlite or potting soil.
  
• Fertilize houseplants according to label directions.