Garden jobs month by month
Garden jobs in May
In May you plant out vegetables once the risk of frost has passed in mid-May, prune lilac and other spring-flowering shrubs after flowering, and let the lawn grow for No Mow May. Leave hedges and shrubs alone while birds are nesting in them.
Updated for 2027
What to do in the garden in May
May is the month of blossom and of the nesting season. Leave hedges and shrubs alone if birds are nesting in them, and enjoy the blossom.
- Prune lilac and other spring-flowering shrubs after flowering.
- Pinch back the new shoots (‘candles’) of pines to keep them compact.
- Water pots and young trees.
- Let a patch of lawn grow long for flowers and insects.
- Check for nests in the hedge before you trim it.
What to prune in May?
59 trees and hedges from the guide. When and how for each plant in its pruning guide:
- Privet
- Yew
- Box (buxus)
- Cherry laurel
- Thuja
- Leyland cypress
- Forsythia
- Lilac
- Fig tree
- Olive tree
- Peach tree
- Apricot tree
Nesting season (mid-March to mid-August): don’t prune hedges and shrubs hard, and check for nests first.
Pruning calendar for MayWhat to sow and plant
- Sow indoors
- basil, broccoli, cauliflower, courgette, cucumber, florence fennel, gherkin, kale and 3 more
- Sow outdoors
- annual mallow, beetroot, carrot, chervil, chicory (witloof), chives, Climbing French bean, coriander and 35 more
- Planting out and planting
- annual mallow, aubergine, basil, Black-eyed Susan, broccoli, brussels sprouts, cauliflower, celeriac and 38 more
- Harvest from the vegetable garden
- asparagus, chervil, chives, coriander, kohlrabi, lemon balm, lettuce, Loose-leaf lettuce and 12 more
What to harvest
From trees, shrubs and garden plants:
- Raspberry leaves
- Bramble leaves
- Blackcurrant leaves
- Grapevine leaves
- Elder blossom
- Large-leaved lime leaves
- Small-leaved lime leaves
- Hawthorn blossom
- Silver birch leaves
- Downy birch leaves
- Bamboo young shoots
- Beech leaves
and 82 more
Recipes
- Raspberry leaf tea Raspberry
- Fermented blackberry leaf tea Bramble
- Blackcurrant leaf tea with mint Blackcurrant
- Vine leaves in brine Grapevine
- Elderflower cordial Elder
- Spring salad with young lime leaves Large-leaved lime
What’s flowering for bees?
Trees and shrubs with nectar or pollen for bees and bumblebees:
- Horse chestnut
- Rowan
- Field maple
- Sycamore
- Holly
- Hawthorn
- Swedish whitebeam
- Black cherry
- Bird cherry
- Whitebeam
- Judas tree
- Foxglove tree
and 24 more
All speciesNature in May
- Young birds leave the nest before they can fly well: leave them where they are, their parents are still feeding them.
- Swifts are back, hunting insects high above the houses.
- Ladybirds and hoverflies eat aphids: if you don’t spray, they do the work.
What you can see now
- Hawthorn, guelder rose and elder flower white.
- Horse chestnut and robinia flower in candles and hanging clusters.
- Wisteria and rhododendron are in full bloom.
Challenges of the season
All challenges- Sow 5 vegetablesSow or plant 5 vegetables in your vegetable garden and mark them as sown or planted.
- Make a bee hotelHang a bee hotel in a sunny, dry, south-facing spot, or leave a patch of bare soil for ground-nesting bees.
- No Mow MayLet your lawn grow and flower in May: daisies, clover and dandelions feed bees and butterflies.
- Discover 10 speciesSave 10 different trees or plants in your guide.
Wildlife garden in May
All wildlife garden guidesRead more
All articles- Invasive non-native plants in your garden: how to recognise and replace themSome popular garden plants spread into the wild and crowd out the native plants there. How to recognise them, and some good alternatives.
- When should you cut your hedge? The nesting season and the best timesMost hedges are trimmed twice a year, at the end of June and the end of August. How to take nesting birds into account, and when to trim each type of hedge.
Coming up
Garden jobs in July
Each monthly page is online six to eight weeks ahead, so you can plan in time.