What to plant, prune and notice in May

The garden from inside

With flowers fewer and growth slower, the bones of the garden become the view. Evergreen foliage, sculptural branching, glossy leaves, winter flowers. These are the plants that earn their keep through the cooler months, especially when appreciated from the warmth indoors.

A few that do this beautifully right now:

Japanese Maples

Acer palmatum 'Bihō' & 'Senkaki'

Particular varieties earn their place as feature plants for their bark alone. The Bihou has soft yellow-gold stems that glow against winter light, and Senkaki is prized for its vivid coral-red bark. Both come into their own once the leaves have fallen, when the tree's structure and colour are fully on display.

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Camellia

Camellia sasanqua

Glossy evergreen foliage all year, and flowers when little else is blooming. Camellia japonica and sasanqua varieties give you a long flowering window through winter and early spring. Plant where you'll see them from inside.

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Hellebore (Winter Rose)

Helleborus

Small, shade-loving, and quietly generous. Hellebores produce nodding flowers through the coldest months in soft whites, pinks, plums and greens. Beautiful underplanted around deciduous trees or along a shaded path.

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Shrubs that complement

Shrubs do the quieter work of holding a garden together. Soft, evergreen, and especially valuable now when deciduous trees are bare. Viburnum Tinus brings dense foliage and clusters of small white flowers through late winter, ideal for hedging or as a backdrop to more sculptural planting. Pittosporum 'Wonder Screen' offers tight, neat foliage that takes well to shaping, holding its form through winter when many shrubs thin out. And Correa 'Dusky Bells', an Australian native, adds bell-shaped pink-red flowers through the cooler months. It's compact, hardy, and a magnet for honeyeaters.

Groundcovers to finish the picture

Groundcovers are what tie a garden together. They soften edges, fill gaps, and give the planting a finished feel. Especially valuable in winter, when bare soil and fallen leaves can leave a garden looking exposed. Liriope is a hardy, grass-like option that adds texture under trees and along borders with almost no upkeep. Dwarf Mondo Grass offers a neat, evergreen carpet that handles Melbourne winters reliably. For sunnier spots, Creeping Thyme stays low, releases scent when walked on, and looks beautiful tumbling between pavers or stepping stones.

Jobs for May

While the garden slows, there's still plenty to be getting on with. May is the time to continue planting winter vegetables like broccoli, cabbage and kale, get broad beans and peas in the ground, and plant out garlic and onions. It's also a good window to divide and replant perennials before they go fully dormant.

On the maintenance side, top up garden beds with compost and well-rotted manure, and mulch generously to retain warmth and suppress weeds. Keep an eye out for slugs and snails too. They love the cooler, damper conditions as much as your seedlings do.

For pruning and tidying, wait until deciduous trees have fully dropped their leaves before pruning. Cut back spent perennials, clean up fallen leaves (great for the compost), and remove any remaining summer crops.

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For smaller spaces

Not every garden has room for a feature maple or a hedge of viburnum, and honestly, that's part of the fun of working with what you've got. Most of the plants above grow happily in pots when given the right home. A Japanese maple in a generous pot becomes a sculptural feature for a courtyard or balcony. A camellia in a large terracotta pot by the back door flowers all winter at eye level. Hellebores tuck beautifully into a shallow trough or wide bowl under a window.

Choose a pot at least 40cm wide with good drainage, use a quality potting mix, and feed in spring and autumn. Our team is always happy to help match a plant to your space and a pot to your plant.

The finishing touches

A weathered figure tucked into the ivy, a rain chain catching droplets, an iron arch softened over time by what grows around it. These are the small touches that give a garden character through winter, especially when you're appreciating it from inside.