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USU offers monthly garden almanac checklist

By Staff | May 7, 2020

LOGAN — April showers bring May flowers – as well as a wide array of gardening tasks. Utah State University Extension’s Gardener’s Almanac provides a checklist for each month as well as links for tips and further information.

The May checklist follows:

•Plant warm-season vegetables and annual flowers once the threat of the last frost has passed. Click here for a listing of the average last and first frost dates.

•By planting tomatoes deeper, they are able to form more roots along the stem, creating a more vigorous plant.

•Consider planting sweet corn in the garden every other week (until early July) to extend the harvest.

•Consider the various types of fertilizers. Click here for information on traditional fertilizer options. Click here for information on organic fertilizers.

•Thin out overcrowded seedlings using a pair of scissors. Try to avoid disturbing the young roots.

•Protect fruit blossoms and tender garden plants from late freezing temperatures. Click here for information on critical temperatures and fruit.

•Plant summer-blooming bulbs including gladiola, begonia, dahlia and canna.

•Divide warm-season ornamental grasses when new growth begins to emerge.

•It’s already time to take notice of weeds. Click here for information.

•Allow the foliage of spring blooming bulbs (tulips, daffodils and crocus) to die down before cutting the leaves off.

•Click here for information on planting a lawn.

•Turfgrass needs minimal irrigation each week. Click here to learn about irrigation needs in your area.

•In compacted sites, aerate with hollow core aerator when turfgrass is actively growing (April to June).

•Control broadleaf weeds in the lawn when temperatures are between 60 and 80 F. Follow the label and stop use of broadleaf herbicides once the temperature is above 85 F.

•Apply a slow-release lawn fertilizer to provide a long-lasting effect throughout the summer months.

Pests and Problems:

•Monitor newly planted vegetables for cutworm and flea beetle damage.

•Monitor for cankerworm damage on scrub oak and Box Elder trees along the foothills.

•Monitor for aphids on lush new spring growth on a variety of plants. Treat for aphids by using “softer” solutions such as spraying them with a hard stream of water or by using an insecticidal soap.

Monitor for slugs and snails. These pests thrive in moist, cool areas of the garden and landscape, feeding on a variety of plant hosts.

•Protect Ash trees from the lilac-ash borer around the first of May

•Control codling moth in apples and pears to reduce wormy fruit. For specific timing, see the Utah Pests Advisories.

•Treat for powdery mildew on apples beginning when leaves are emerging (at ½-inch green) until June.

•Watch for insect pests in raspberries from mid-May thru early June.

•Watch for cutworm damage in turfgrass and new vegetable starts.

•Monitor for damaging turfgrass insects. In areas previously damaged, consider a preventative (systemic) insecticide.

For all things gardening, visit garden.usu.edu. Here you will find videos, checklists, downloadable information, information on our demonstration gardens, and sign-up links for our online gardening courses.

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