How to cut your grass in the best way, and what is No-Mow May?
Plus: Garden jobs for May, wildlife gardening, and the things I’m NOT doing in the garden this month
I’ve no idea how it happened, but suddenly it’s May, the sun is out (a tiny bit anyway) and we’ve been catapulted into full gardening mode.
This week, I’m listing some gardening jobs that we can be getting on with, along with some not-to-dos:
The whole No-Mow thing reminds me about the time that Chris Packham and I discussed the fact that, having revealed our clover lawn at Hampton Court, the reaction to it really felt like we were on the verge of a lawn revolution. (He called me ‘Jo Thompson: Supreme Dictator of the People’s Garden Front’, and I was very happy with that).
What’s in store in The Gardening Mind this week?
I’ve been really looking forward to this week’s post, which includes:
My May Garden To Do list. The ground is now definitely warm enough to sit on it with your bare bottom.
All those items that I shifted last month to my What Not To Do list are now back on the to-do list, but there are some things that I’m avoiding.
One of the Not-to-dos brings us to the whole To Mow/ Not To Mow debate, so I’m diving into that, and I’m fascinated to hear your thoughts on it.
If you’re heading to a garden centre this weekend, do read the article on how to buy the right plants at a garden centre. It’ll save you money and disappointment.
Our Book Club launched on the Chat; look out for the second instalment on Tuesday. Remember: you can join in with that at any time.
Lots of you have messaged to let me know you’re coming to our Real-Life Meet-Up next month at the wonderful walled gardens at Water Lane in Kent. Water Lane is around a 20 minutes’ drive from the wonderful gardens of Great Dixter and Sissinghurst, for anyone thinking of making a weekend of it.
I’ll be sending an email out in a few days’ time to check on numbers.
And finally, on last week’s Show Us Your Plots on the Chat, I spectacularly got the date wrong and made a few people think they’d gained a week. I won’t be making that mistake on Sunday: look out for the post which starts:
It’s Sunday 5th May and it’s time to SHOW US YOUR PLOTS! This is our weekly get-together on this Chat thread (topic) where we show each other unfiltered, unedited photos of our real gardens or gardening space, wherever we are in the world. Tell us where you are in the world and what’s going on in your garden. If you haven’t used the Chat before, think of it as our very own WhatsApp group - have a play-about with making comments and uploading photos - it’s honestly fun.
What not to do in your garden in May
Let’s break down this grass-cutting etiquette into understandable chunks, and see how it can make life easier: