MAY GARDENING TIPS

MAY

GARDENING TIPS

May brings warmer sunnier days, cooler nights and springtime rains, the perfect combo to get your newly planted trees, shrubs and perennials established! Here are some timely tips to make the most of your May garden.

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Malus Crabapple photo by keith kurman

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Viburnum burkwoodii photo by Keith Kurman

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Bleeding Hearts photo by Keith Kurman

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SOIL CARE: Feed the Foundation

Nourish your soil! Healthy soil = happy plants. Now is the time to enrich your soil with nutrients that support strong roots and vibrant growth. Whether you’re using bagged compost like Coast of Maine or Fafard, or creating your own from kitchen and yard waste, your plants will thank you.

Pro Tip: Test your soil! We’ve got easy-to-use soil testing kits in stock, so you can give your plants exactly what they need from the ground up.

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FERTILIZE: Give Last Year’s Plantings a Boost

Time to fertilize last years new plantings. Sprinkle organic fertilizer around the drip line (not too close to the base), where roots are actively growing. Organic fertilizers are best for slow, steady feeding and include secondary nutrients like calcium and magnesium, along with the essentials: nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K).

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MULCH: Nature’s Blanket

Leaf compost is a great island resource to use in your garden beds! This imitates the annual forest leaf fall and provides established plants with all the nutrients they need. Use leaves from your own yard and and/or leaf compost (shredded leaf mulch) that we carry to return local island nutrients to your gardens. We carry shredded leaf compost (island grown) as well as bagged Coast of Main mulches.

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Front Garden, Camisitas

Lupine

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ANNUALS: Cool-Weather Favorites Are Ready

Get planting! These hardy varieties love the cooler weather, so take advantage while spring is in full swing. Ready to brighten your beds and containers.

Pansies, Violas, Alyssum, Calendulas, Bachelor Buttons, Argyranthemum Daisies, Osteospermum, Lobelia

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PERENNIALS: Time to Plant and Divide!

It’s prime time to start planting your perennials. Already have some in the ground? If they bloom in summer or fall and are starting to emerge, now is a great time to divide them and spread the beauty.

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VEGETABLE GARDENS: Plant Now, Harvest Later

Prep and plant those garden beds! May is the season for cool-weather veggies, small fruits, and fruit trees. These are available at the nursery now! And a heads-up, mid to late May we will be bringing our basil and tomatoes out from our production facility to the nursery, but hold off planting them until nighttime temps warm up a bit more.

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Cool Weather Greens

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Blueberry flowers

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TREES & SHRUBS: Perfect Planting Weather

Now is a great time to add trees or shrubs to your property. Early May brings sunny day, cool nights and springtime rain which are all great ingredients to get your trees and shrubs established! It’s the sweet spot to help them settle in and thrive through summer and beyond.

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PRUNE: Out With the Old

Now’s the time to prune away dead or diseased wood from trees and deciduous shrubs. Focus on plants that bloom on new growth.

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LAWN CARE: Out With the Old

Want a lush lawn all summer? May lawn tips:

• Water less often, but deeply, to encourage deeper roots.

• Mow a bit higher to prevent browning in the heat of summer.

• Apply fertilizer if you skipped April.

• Lime your lawn if you missed it in the fall, this helps balance soil pH over time. Lime now to ensure a healthy fall lawn.

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Always think ahead when gardening. Timing is everything!

Black Chokecherry

APRIL GARDENING TIPS

APRIL

GARDENING TIPS

Kickstart Your Garden for the Season!

Spring has arrived, and with it comes the excitement of a new gardening season! April is the perfect time to prep your yard, nourish your soil, and start planting for a lush and vibrant summer. Whether you're a seasoned gardener or just starting, here are some essential tips to get your garden in top shape!

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Viburnum burkwoodii photo by keith kurman

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In the greenhouse photo by andrew wiley

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Chiondoxa photo by karen blackerby logan

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Garden Clean-Up

Before diving into planting, clear away the remnants of fall and winter—dead leaves, broken branches, and debris that can harbor pests and diseases. We have a variety of gardening tools at the nursery to make clean-up easier!

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Soil Care

Healthy soil = healthy plants! Give your soil a boost by adding nutrient-rich compost and manure. We carry Coast of Maine compost and manure as well as Fafard products. Not sure what your soil needs? Use a soil testing kit (available at our nursery) to check its composition and adjust accordingly.

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Spring Annuals

Brighten up your garden beds and containers with spring annuals! Pansies are now available, and Sweet Alyssum will be ready soon. Plus, we’re excited to introduce a new selection of fall-sown Hardy Annuals, grown from seed by Andrew Wiley. Look for poppies, bachelor buttons (Centaurea cyanus), Queen Anne’s Lace (Ammi majus Select White), and more! Want to learn how to extend your blooms? Check out our blog post on Hardy Annuals.

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Edibles: Time to Plant!

April is the season to plant cool-weather vegetables, small fruits, and fruit trees. Whether you’re dreaming of homegrown lettuce, berries, or apples, we have everything you need to get started. Learn more about Cool Weather Veggies.

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Trees & Shrubs

Now is an ideal time to plant trees and shrubs! Adding them to your landscape provides beauty, shade, and long-term benefits for the ecosystem.

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Pruning

Spring is the time to prune any diseased or dead wood from your trees and deciduous shrubs. This keeps them healthy and encourages strong new growth.

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Lawn Edging

A crisp lawn edge isn’t just for looks—it also keeps mulch, rocks, and soil neatly separated from your grass. We carry heavy-duty black plastic edging in 10-foot sections to help define your garden beds.

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Winter and early spring are great times to clean and sharpen tools.

Tool Maintenance: Sharpen & Clean

Before tackling your garden projects, take a moment to clean, sharpen, and oil your tools. This makes your work easier and extends the life of your equipment.

Tool Care Essentials:

• A good pair of gloves, bypass pruner, lopper, disinfectant spray, and anti-bacterial wipes will make a big difference.

• Need help sharpening your pruners, loppers, hedge shears, or pruning saws? Bring them to Vineyard Gardens, and Jeremiah Brown will sharpen them for you! (Fee applies.)

• Don’t forget your spades and shovels—keeping them sharp ensures smoother digging.

• Pro Tip: Store your tools in a 5-gallon bucket filled with sand and old motor oil to clean and prevent rust.

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Lawn Care: April is Prime Time!

April is the best month to fertilize and reseed your lawn. Grass thrives in cool weather, making spring the perfect time for new growth.

Fertilization Basics:

• Grass needs a balance of macronutrients (N-P-K: Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potassium) and micronutrients.

• We carry organic fertilizers that release nutrients slowly and inorganic options with higher N-P-K concentrations.

• If you skipped liming your lawn in the fall, now is the time! Lime lowers soil acidity, but it takes months to take effect.

Weed Control & Seeding:

• Apply pre-emergent weed control before Forsythia blooms.

• Looking for an organic option? Try Corn Gluten, which prevents weed seeds from sprouting while adding nutrients.

• For best results when seeding, add a layer of rich soil under the seed and keep it moist.

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**Important Fertilization Law on Martha’s Vineyard**

🚨 Reminder: Fertilizers cannot be applied until April 15. This law helps protect local water sources by ensuring nutrients go into the growing grass instead of leaching into the groundwater.

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April is a month full of gardening possibilities—clean up, plant, and prep for a beautiful season ahead. Stop by the nursery for all your gardening needs, and let’s grow something amazing together!

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GREENS & COOL WEATHER CROPS

GREENS & COOL WEATHER CROPS

“It's nearly springtime when a person’s thoughts should hopefully turn to ....... vegetables! That's right it's time to start our vegetable gardens. Even though our frost free date is technically May 1st, this is a great time of year to start our cool loving vegetables. There are many vegetables that can handle the light frosts we get this time of year. If a colder night were to be predicted, in the high 20s, you can cover your freshly planted vegetables with Reemay, plastic or an old sheet to protect them from the frost. At this point, most greens can be planted and some, like spinach, do much better in cooler weather than in the summer. Broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage are known as cole crops, which sounds like cold crops, all do very well planted at this time a year too. While kids don't always like the spicy taste of radishes, they are a great vegetable for them to plant as they come up in a matter of days and are ready to pick in a few short weeks. “ - Chuck Wiley , owner & founder of Vineyard Gardens Landscaping

We always start a bountiful selection of leafy salad greens

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Leafy greens like cooler temperatures to produce quick, tender leaves for your salads and cooking. the earlier you get them in the ground the better!

COMING SOON!

VEGGIE SIX PACKS ARE GROWING IN OUR GREENHOUSES NOW!

Our spring supply of vegetables in packs will be ready soon!

PEAS: Don’t forget to plant your peas. Soak before seeding, it speeds up germination. They imbibe and more easily split the seed coat so the radicle can anchor itself down to become the root system. The two cotyledons then emerge, sometimes the seed coat stays attached to one of the cotyledons. It’s so beautiful watching the birth of a plant. We have hundreds of plants being born every day at Vineyard Gardens.

BROCCOLIS: We will have a variety of broccolis in packs, such as Calabrese, Romanesco, Waltham and Cauliflower Snowball.

WE WILL HAVE A WONDERFUL SELECTION OF IN-HOUSE GREENS!

Lettuces, Kales, Mustards, Collards and Asian vegetables like Pac Choi and Tatsoi can go in the soil very soon!

Red Leaf Lettuce

Leaf Lettuce

Purple Cabbage

Vineyard Gardens Greens

Mustard Greens

Tatsoi (miniature Chinese cabbage-like)

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Chinese Cabbage

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Gourmet Leaf Endive

Lettuce salad Blend Bistro

Mesculin Mustard Greens

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Cabbage

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Buttercrunch Lettuce

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planting out your beans & peas!

SPRINGTIME AT THE NURSERY

Our plants are growing beautifully! Greenhouse 4 is full at both locations. We are now working on filling Greenhouse 3. Geraniums were potted in House 3 along with the New Guinea impatiens. Debbie has been seeding in Greenhouse 1 at our Vineyard Gardens 2 location. She is done with the first run of cool weather lovers and just started 15 plus different varieties of tomatoes from seed. Come by and ask about the Heirloom varieties we are growing. 

Our hard working team has been potting millions of bells, lobelia and passiflora baskets. We have forced bulbs in pots ready for sale, like tulips, daffodils and hyacinths. Check out this virtual tour of Keukenhof, the Netherlands national flower bulb park for inspiration.

We are also potting some more bare root plants that came in from Walters Gardens in Michigan. We decided to put them right outside and cover them with a double layer of Reemay. That way they develop nicely at the cooler temperature.

COOL WEATHER CROPS

Come check out our spring supply of vegetables in packs. Some of the lettuces, kales and mustards are ready. We also have collards and Asian vegetables like Pac Choi and Tatsoi. These cool weather lovers can go in the soil very soon.

Don’t forget to plant your peas. Soak before seeding, it speeds up germination. They imbibe and more easily split the seed coat so the radicle can anchor itself down to become the root system. The two cotyledons then emerge, sometimes the seed coat stays attached to one of the cotyledons. It’s so beautiful watching the birth of a plant. We have hundreds of plants being born every day at Vineyard Gardens.

VEGGIE SIX PACKS HAVE BEEN HARDENED OFF AND READY TO PLANT