Category: garden tasks

To Do in The Garden: May 2026

On By durhammastergardenersIn Accidental Cottage Garden, Durham NC, garden tasks, Gardening calendar, Uncategorized

By Gary Crispell, NC State Extension Master Gardener SM volunteer of Durham County

Ahh, May.  The lovely month.  The month for mothers, proms, college graduations, and the first great beach weekend—Memorial Day. It is generally not too hot and rarely too cool. The month of balmy days that lead to enchanting evenings on the veranda (deck, patio, veranda—whatever).  Enjoy the evening. There’s gardening to be done on the morrow.

A garden scene featuring purple irises and various colorful flowers surrounded by lush greenery under a clear blue sky.

Despite the drought, the ACG springs to life. The purple of the iris (Iris germanica) shines against a bright blue sky. (Image credit: Gary Crispell)

Speaking of the morrow, there’s sooo much to be done in the Accidental Cottage Garden (ACG).  Being essentially out of commission for six months puts one rather much behind gardening wise.  Nature continues on no matter what your condition.  We were most fortunate to have 7 generous and caring Extension Master GardenerSM volunteers descend upon the ACG and clean it up in preparation for spring.  Never were friends more welcome.  The reward for their efforts is a plethora of blooming plants.  There are flax (Linum vesitatissimum), dianthus (Dianthus deltoides), rocket larkspur (Delphinium ajacis), English daisy (Bella perennis), and false vervain (Verbena canadensis) which will be around all summer.  The iris (Iris germanica) were amazing.  Some of them had been in 3 gallon nursery pots since we moved eight years ago.  I think they were overjoyed to get their roots into something other than C-horizon subsoil.

A vibrant garden scene featuring clusters of colorful flowers, including the red, pink, and white blooms of sweet William plants surrounded by green foliage and brown mulch.
Close-up of a gallardia flower--a vibrant pink and yellow flower with pointed petals, surrounded by green foliage.

(Left to right) Cottage garden staples, multicolored sweet Williams are popping, and the always drought resistant, tried-and true-gallardia has returned. (Image credit: Gary Crispell; Melinda Heigel)

The gallardia (Gallardia pulcherella) has also begun its summer-long show, while the peonies (Paeonia suffruticossa x hybrid) came and went in less than a week—too hot and dry, I reckon.  What we really enjoy right now are the many-hued sweet Williams (Dianthus barbadus).  They just cover the white/pink/red/violet spectrum.

This year’s experiment (There’s always one.) will be with a lot of zinnia (Zinnia elegans) seeds and not quite as many cosmos (C. bipinnatus & C. sulphureus).  Going for the cut flower thing.  I wanted to sow them a month ago, but I have (like everyone else) been waiting for rain.  Now that we’ve had some, let’s go play in the garden!  

Lawn Care

Warm season grass people, it is your turn.  If you didn’t fertilize the lawn in April, get to it.  A good slow-release fertilizer that meets the requirements notated in your SOIL TEST results is in order.  Also, sharpen those mower blades.

Cool season grass folks, just mow it, but not less than 3”.  Do not, he repeated, fertilize cool season grasses until fall.

Fertilizing

Speaking of fertilizing; long-season vegetable crops like tomatoes, beans, and squash (among others) will benefit from a side dressing1 6-8 weeks after germination.  (What?!  You didn’t start your own from seed?  You bought plants at a Big Box?  Give them a week or two in the ground and then side dress.)

While you have the bag open throw some fert at your summer annuals and perennials, too.

Azaleas and rhododendrons and camellias and other ericaceous (acid loving) plants will benefit from a shot of acid fertilizer about now.

Planting

May is the second best time in the veggie garden.  (Everybody knows harvest is the best time.)  It is time to plant beans (snap, pole, bush limas, etc.), cantaloupe, cucumbers, eggplant, okra, southern peas, peppers sweet and hot, pumpkins, squash, watermelon and, for you non-competitive types, tomatoes.

Gladioli bulbs may be planted now as may begonias, geraniums and other annuals that you didn’t plant in late April.

Pruning

A photo of a hot pink azalea bush in full bloom with dark green leaves and a photo of a spent camellia bloom, now brown, surrounded by glossy dark-green leaves.
A wilted brown flower surrounded by green leaves.

May is a good time for pruning late-winter and spring-blooming woody plants like camellias and camellias–once the bloom show has ceased.(Image credit:Jim Robbins CC BY-NC-ND 4.0; Cathy DeWitt CC BY 4.0)

Spring-flowering shrubs (e.g. azaleas, camellias, etc.) may be pruned as soon as the blooms fade.  Azaleas may be pruned until the 4th of July without cutting off next year’s buds.

Overgrown hedges can still be pruned.

Keep pinching back garden mums until mid-July.

Hand prune azalea and camellia leaf galls.  They are generally not harmful to the plant but are most unattractive.

I realize your grandmother always cut back the daffodils and iris and other spring bulbs as soon as the flowers faded.  I urge you to resist the temptation to carry on that tradition.  The bulbs need that foliage to make the sugars that will provide the energy to bloom again next year.  Wait until the foliage itself yellows before whacking it off and relegating it to the compost heap.  The bulbs thank you.

Spraying

Monitor rhododendron species including azaleas for borers.  Spray if necessary.

Spray iris beds for iris borers which you probably will not see.

Scout for and spray as necessary for bag worms.  They are on the move this month.

May is a good time to begin to try to eliminate poison ivy/oak (Rhus radicans) and Japanese honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica).  Best wishes.

Begin spraying squash vines for borers.

Monitor the blueberry plants for borers.  Spray as necessary.

Continue the never-ending spray programs for roses, fruit trees and bunch grapes.

Other insect pests active now include azalea lace bugs, boxwood leaf miners, euonymus and tea scales, spider mites (especially on coniferous evergreens), the ubiquitous aphids, and the bane of my gardening existence–white flies.

If (or more likely when) your tomatoes show signs of blight begin a fungicide regimen.

Always, always only spray when necessary and READ & FOLLOW label directions.

OTHER THINGS TO DO IN MAY THAT COULD QUITE POSSIBLY INCLUDE THE GARDEN

Celebrate Cinco de Mayo with mariachis and an appropriate libation (and friends, of course).

Mulch stuff.  You and the plants will be much happier through the summer (of drought and water restrictions?).

Perhaps Sunday afternoon tea on the veranda (or wine and cheese–nobody’s judging.)

Put out a flag on Memorial Day and thank a veteran.

A most merry May, Y’all.

Notes

1–Side dressing refers to the placement of fertilizer alongside plant rows or plants. This is typically done once plants have started to grow.

Resources and Additional Information

Caring for spring bulbs after flowering

Tips on pruning camellias

Fundamentals of fertilizing

How to direct sew flower seed in spring

Edited by Melinda Heigel, NC State Extension Master Gardener SM volunteer of Durham County

Article Short Link: https://wp.me/p2nIr1-7rV

To Do in the Garden: February 2026

On By durhammastergardenersIn garden tasks, Gardening calendar, gardening NC, pruning, Uncategorized

By Gary Crispell, NC State Extension Master GardenerSM volunteer of Durham County

Closeup of plant twig covered with ice and snow.
Shrub whose branches are heavy and bending under the weight of snow.
Spent seed heads of black eyed Susan plant covered in snow.

In central North Carolina, frigid temperatures and snow are ushering in February 2026. (Image credits: Sabrina can den Heuvel/Pixabay; Melinda Heigel)

Well, friends, wasn’t January fun?  I haven’t worn so many clothes simultaneously for so long since the BIG SNOW of 2000 (or maybe since I was a kid in upstate New York).  It has been (expletive deleted) COLD!! 

The Accidental Cottage Garden (ACG) has gone into deep hibernation.  I have managed to get a solid covering of wood chips on some of it.  (Good thing I kept the tractor when I dissolved the landscape company.)  My barely functioning left knee prevented any detail work in the ACG.  (By the time you read this that problem will have been taken care of.)

February is the official start of gardening season (if there isn’t any white stuff covering the beds).  I know that is a fact.  I saw it on the internet.  There are many more things to do this month than in January, so lets put on all of our clothing and get started.

Lawn Care

Cool season grasses (i.e. fescue and bluegrass) should be fertilized with a slow-release fertilizer following the recommendation of your SOIL TEST.

Late February/early March is the best time to apply a preemergent crabgrass preventer.  There are several easy to use granular products on the market.  Be sure to read and follow the directions on the label for safe and proper handling and application.  Calibrate your spreader to ensure accurate application amounts.  Too little will not give you effective control and too much may damage the turf.

Fertilizing

See Lawn Care above and Planting below.

Planting

And so, it begins.  The vegetable garden.  The reason for existence, for frozen fingers in February, summer sunburn and the endless supply of liniment in the medicine cabinet.

Kale crop covered in heavy frost.

According to NC State experts, “Some cool season crops like Brussels sprouts, beets, collards, kale, parsley, and spinach will survive even if the temperature drops below 26 ºF for an extended period of time.” (Image credit: NC State Extension)

It is time for root vegetables and salad (and beef Bourguignon—which you can’t grow in the garden).  Early “plantables” include cabbage, carrots, leaf lettuce, onions, potatoes, radishes, rutabagas, spinach and turnips.  Work a little fertilizer into the soil that was tested in October (while it was still free to do so) following the recommendations of said SOIL TEST. More winter weather ahead into spring? Learn how to protect your crops.

Be cognizant of soil moisture levels.  Mother Nature has not done much in that department since October of 2025, but she can be really fickle.  We’ll probably have monsoons in April.

Pruning

If you have been ignoring previous posts, now it would be a good time to prune bunch grapes and fruit trees.

Also due for judicious trimming are summer flowering shrubs and small trees.  That list includes rose of Sharon (Hibiscus seriatcus) crape myrtle (Lagerstroemia spp.), butterfly bush (Buddleia davidii), and hydrangeas that bloom on new wood (Hydrangea arborescens & H. paniculata). Note: now is not the time to prune spring-flowering shrubs. You should prune these shrubs AFTER they have flowered in spring, but before the next year’s flower buds are set. If you prune these shrubs in winter or early spring, you will remove many of the flower buds and have fewer if any spring blooms. Spring-flowering shrubs that sucker readily from the base can benefit from some thinning (more here). Examples of spring-flowering shrubs are lilacs, forsythia, viburnums, honeysuckle, chokeberry, mock orange, and weigela.

While you’re out there, late winter to early spring is the time to whack back the ornamental grasses, also. 

Got some overgrown shrubs that you’ve been meaning to (or are reluctant to) prune heavily?  Go for it now.  I understand that if you’ve never done it before it can be a bit intimidating, trust me.  The plant will almost always not only survive but also thrive.  I am aware of the never-more-than-a-third rule, but sometimes that is not enough.  This is known as renewal or rejuvenation pruning and can benefit overgrown and mature specimens. So if it needs to go back to 12”-18” …. go for it.  Chances are you and the plant will be glad you did.

Spraying

The orchard needs attention.  Peaches and nectarines should be sprayed with a fungicide to prevent leaf curl. Spraying a dormant oil on the fruit trees will help control several insects later in the year.

Other Fun Stuff to do Outside in February

It’s the perfect time to propagate trees and shrubs through hardwood cuttings and tidy up unoccupied bluebird houses. (Image credit: University of New Hampshire Extension; NC Cooperative Extension)

Perennials can be divided as we head into spring.  Do it before the above-mentioned monsoons. Read up on it now and be ready.

Many landscape plants can be propagated via hardwood cuttings this time of the year.  Some of the plants in the category are crape myrtle (Lagerstroemia spp.), flowering quince (Chaenomoles spp.), junipers (Juniperus spp.), spiraea (Spiraea spp.) and weigelia (Weigelia spp).

Bluebirds will be most appreciative of a thorough house cleaning before the spring nesting season.  Remove all the old nesting materials and let them start afresh.  It’s like clean linens for them.

Oh, yeah.  Lest we forget…order flowers or other living things from the plant kingdom for your significant other.  Just for the record, guys like flowers and plants, too.  Happy Valentine’s Day, Y’all. Think positive thoughts about an early spring sans late freezes.

Resources and Additional Information

Learn what vegetables to start now on the blog from Master Gardener volunteer Kathryn Hamilton: https://wp.me/p2nIr1-2F1

Prune like a pro with this guide from NC State Extension: https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/general-pruning-techniques

From Clemson Cooperative Extension, learn more about providing for bluebirds through nest boxes: https://hgic.clemson.edu/factsheet/providing-for-bluebirds-guidance-for-bluebird-nest-box-establishment-in-south-carolina/

Edited by Melinda Heigel, NC State Extension Master GardenerSM volunteer of Durham County

Article Short Link: https://wp.me/p2nIr1-70W