If you have a dry area around the house why not try and plant up a small rockery garden?

Alpines are tolerant of cold weather but they hate wet conditions, so incorporate large handfuls of grit into each planting hole and mulch the area with rocks and pea gravel. Make sure the grit or gravel is tucked right under the plant to prevent any contact of the foliage with the soil.

Monitor your roses, lilacs and fruit trees and tear off any suckers that appear at the base of the plant - do not cut them as this will encourage more vigorous growth.

Support your border plants as they grow as you will find it easier to encourage new growth through a plant support structure than to tie up stems that have collapsed over the border. Peonies, delphiniums and hollyhocks are among some of the plants that benefit from a stout manufactured support which are available in the Plant Centre.

Once the magnificent display of tulips is over, it is a good idea to deadhead them and let them die back. Most need warm dry summers while they are dormant so it is a good idea to lift them if they are not in a warm, dry sunny spot. Lift and heel them in close together or put them into pots of compost in full sunlight. Once the foliage has died down lift the bulbs and dry them in the sun outdoors or under glass. After a week or so rub off the foliage and roots and store them in a dry place until November.

Plants for May are:

• The cottage garden plants like Aquilegia
• Alliums for their rich globular heads while not forgetting
• Peonies and the late tulips

Shrubs to include would be:

• Lilacs
• Mock oranges (Philadelphus) and
• Deutzia

For a more ideas on plants for your garden this May, browse our full listing, or check out our Garden Plants page.