May Backyard and Garden Care Tips

Keep your wild birdfeeders and yard fountains clean.

• Wild bird feeders need constant cleaning to maintain sanitary conditions. Unclean receptacles can develop fungi and bacteria, potentially causing disease and even death of your visiting birds. So it is important to clean your bird feeders once a month all year round. See here for detail cleaning instructions
• Keep your outdoor garden fountains clean. Preventive maintenance is key in countering fungus and algae. Various fountain tips on these methods can be found.here

Monitor your decorative birdhouses and nesting boxes.

• Part of having a bird house is the need to monitor your boxes for unwanted creatures such as house sparrows, starlings, rodents, snakes, insects.
• We have seen some sites that recommend killing the invasive species, but we choose to not take that action. Instead we have found that when invasive species try to use our decorative birdhouses or nesting boxes we just keep removing the nesting material until they give up, which they will eventually.
• See this detailed Bird Nesting Chart for nesting seasons, materials and more for your favorite birds
• More information on monitoring your birdhouses will follow in upcoming weeks..see post

Change your garden birdbath water regularly which is important for the health of your birds. See more information

Clean your outdoor wooden furniture and apply a wood protectant. More specific instructions and considerations are outlined here.

May Garden Chores (specific to Northeast..see below for links to other areas of country)

1)Early May chores that can be completed while evening temperatures remain below 55 degrees includes focusing on perennials, shrubs and trees, and attending to spring bulbs.

• Divide most perennials as long as they're not spring bloomers and as long as the foliage isn't more than 5 or 6 inches high
  
• Deadhead spent flowerheads on spring-blooming bulbs to direct their energy back to their roots so they can build vigor for next year
  
• Finish up any pruning this month with the exception of spring-blooming trees and shrubs.
  
• Plant container-grown trees, shrubs, perennial herbs, and perennial flowers. You can give planting bare-root plants a try this month, but it's getting awfully late and they aren't as likely to thrive at this point as the more established container plants.

2)May Chores completed after the fear of frost has passed includes planting annuals, putting down mulch & complete pruning.

• Plant warm-season annuals (flowers and vegetables). Including plants for containers, pots, windowboxes, and planters. Remove any cool-season flowers, such as pansies, that you may already have there. Work in a slow-release fertilizer.
  
• Good time to move household plants outdoors shaded area. Also good time to repot and fertilize
  
• Once you are done planting and tulips have faded which is usually in the last days of May, put down mulch. Be sure that you pull all weeds prior to laying mulch.
  
• Once spring flowering shrubs have finished blooming, prune the shrubs.
  
• Keep new plantings well-watered.
  
• Memorial Day is a good time to fertilize your lawn with slow release nitrogen.

I obtained much of my information from Living the Country Life and Garden Detective

For those in different areas of the country go to the applicable link below:

• The Pacific Northwest
• The South
• Southern California
• The Midwest
• The Desert Southwest
• Mountain West and High Plains

Remember if you are looking to add a garden decoration to your backyard, make sure you visit my website YourGarden Retreat.com. We offer decorative birdhouses, nesting boxes, wild birdfeeders, garden birdbaths, yard fountains, wooden outdoor furniture and more...

Some other articles that may be of interest to you:
4 Tips for Getting Your Outdoor Fountain Flowing Again
What to Do with those Easter Plants: Lilies, Tulips...
Water will Attract more Birds to Your Backyard