Planting All My Sowings in May
Get ready for some May gardening magic! While we're focusing on moving plants outdoors, there's still a heap of seeding to tackle indoors and out. Inside, I'm sowing late-planted vegetables like cucumbers, and a second round of annual flowers, like stock and celosia. Outside, it's time to start direct seeding vegetables like corn and beans, and annuals like sunflowers.
Lawns
Capitalize on the final rains to help germinate your eco-friendly lawn or clover lawn. Don't worry if you're hesitant about converting your total yard just yet – try seeding a smaller area instead. Mix low-lying flowers like yarrow, English daisy, and multiple clover types into your seed concoction to avoid creating a one-seed monoculture. I use traditional clover for winter coverage, and red and strawberry clover for pops of summer color.
Annuals
Most parts of the U.S. will get enough sunshine in May to directly seed annual flowers like wildflowers right into the soil. Plant your seeds outside as soon as you've safely passed the frost risk. Pay close attention to seed packets for specific planting depths – many seeds need a soil cover to germinate. For instance, your sunflower seeds need at least an inch of soil depth. To scatter seeds evenly for a more natural look, loosen the soil first, then cover them lightly.
Remember summer is fleeting, so if you haven't planted annual flower starts, get cracking before the end of May. Consider stylish ideas like a flower wall or a row of sunflowers at the garden edge to define your area.
Direct-Sown Vegetables
While some veggies like tomatoes and peppers are usually started indoors, others like beans and cucumbers germinate quickly and prefer no root disturbance, making sewing seeds directly in the ground a splendid idea.
Beans are simple to seed outside, as they grow quickly and have shallow roots. Remember, beans can be either bush or vine varieties, and both require support, with vining beans growing up to twelve feet tall.
Cucumbers love the outdoors, and cucamelons (Mexican sour gherkins) are particularly fond of direct sewing. They germinate in a couple of weeks and thrive with undisturbed roots. Plant another round of cucumber seeds in a few weeks for stellar succession planting. Cucumbers can climb on the ground, but using a trellis designed specifically for cucumbers helps save space and keeps your cucs nice and neat.
Pumpkins and squash are easy peasy to seed in the dirt, and pumpkins even benefit from a hilling process. To grow extra-large pumpkins, mound some compost in a hill, sow a couple of seeds, and let nature take its course. For regular-size pumpkins, you can let a few seedlings grow. I've had fantastic success growing pie pumpkins or mini pumpkins on an arch, so the pumpkins hang down. I'll be doing that again this summer with black and white pumpkins.
Most squash will sprout speedily, and although you can buy summer squash and zucchini starts, you have plenty of time to grow from seed in most climates. Give it a whirl this summer.
Corn must be directly seeded, as it's a breeze to germinate and grows rapidly. Remember to plant corn in four by four-foot blocks to ensure proper pollination. Corn has tassels that are pollinated by the wind, so a substantial block of plants is necessary.
Melons and other cucurbits, like cucumbers and squash, can also be direct-sown outside – just keep in mind that they can cross-pollinate, so keep them separated to avoid the dreaded Franken-squash.
Succession Seeding
Take advantage of the last spring rains to seed additional rounds of carrots. As they need constant moisture during germination, the rain can help out. I leave radish, lettuce, green onion, beet, and kohlrabi seeds outside in a protected spot so I won't forget to sow them weekly. Plant just enough seeds for your consumption, and mark your rows to prevent re-sowing the same spot.
My top tip for a summer's worth of lettuce is to direct seed a long, low trough planter of lettuce, but you can also opt for a corner of a planting bed. Dump the whole packet of seeds in, mix it with the top layer of soil, water it well, and as the seeds germinate, you'll have a planter bursting with lettuce. However, if it gets too packed, lettuce won't grow much, so each week I remove a few seedlings and plant them in the garden beds. The planter serves as a holding space for lettuce most of the summer, and I can pluck out a few each week to plant.
Indoor Seeding
There are still seedlings I grow inside this time of year, as growing indoors means less exposure to pesky critters like squirrels, birds, and rabbits, and I can control the environment. If it's a particularly bad year for slugs, I might opt to grow cucumbers inside as starts, and sometimes I grow starts inside for more delicate flowers like stock and celosia. It's just easier to grow them in a controlled environment, and then I can place the grown starts precisely where I want them.
Planting what seeds indoors for a later May transplant, such as cucumbers and annual flowers like stock and celosia, is beneficial for protecting them from outdoor pests. To ensure a continuous supply of home-grown produce, consider direct seeding vegetables like sunflowers, beans, and corn at home and in the garden, following the correct planting depths for optimal germination.
