Fertilizing
- Fertilize summer flowering plants like crape myrtle and rose- of-Sharon this month.
- Do not forget to sidedress or fertilize your vegetable six to eight weeks after germination.
Planting
- Plant gladioli bulbs (corms) this month.
- Plant summer annuals like begonia, geranium, marigold, petunia and zinnia this month.
- The following vegetable plants can be set out this month: eggplant, pepper, tomato and sweet potato.
- The following vegetables can be planted this month: beans, lima beans, cantaloupe, corn, cucumbers, okra, southern peas, pumpkin, squash and watermelon.
- Plant warm season herbs such as basil. Divide and transplant mature herb plantings.
Pruning
- Prune your hybrid rhododendron after they finish flowering.
- Prune any hedges that have outgrown their desired shape.
- Begin pinching your chrysanthemums and continue through early July.
- Pick off azalea leaf galls as they form.
- Do NOT cut back spring bulb foliage until it turns yellow and brown.
Spraying
- Spray the following landscape shrubs for the following insect pests: arborvitae-bag worm, azalea-lace bug, boxwood-leaf miner, euonymus-scale, hemlock and juniper-spruce mites, pyracantha-lace bug and hybrid rhododendron borer.
- Spray iris beds for iris borers.
- Spray the following vegetables if insects are observed: cucumber (cucumber beetle), squash (squash borer and aphids, tomato and eggplant (flea beetle), broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower (worms).
- Weekly sprays on red-tip photinia if leaf spot is observed.
- Continue with rose spray program.
- Keep spraying your tree fruits and bunch grapes with a fungicide program.
- Use pesticides sparingly. Spray only when needed.
Lawn Care
- Fertilize zoysia this month after it has greened up. Do NOT fertilize tall fescue now.
- Start warm season lawns like zoysia in May.
- Mowing heights for your lawn are important. Cut tall fescue and bluegrass at three inches, zoysia at one inch.
Propagation
- Take softwood cuttings of plants like azalea, rhododendron, forsythia, clematis, chrysanthemum and geranium in late May if you have a misting system.
Specific Chores
- Purchase locally grown strawberries.
- Move houseplants outside if desired.
- If weather has been dry, give favorite plants a good soaking once a week.
Extension Master Gardener Volunteers of Durham County 