Talking Plants
I was recently speaking with a customer and a co-worker regarding mycorrhizal fungi and it’s benefits. This reminded me of a documentary I saw on PBS that mentioned a field […]
Top Tips for Summer Success
We all know how hard you’ve worked to have a beautiful landscape. Now how do you keep it thriving and surviving the summer heat? Here are some of our top […]
Quick Easy Summer Color!
A couple of weeks ago I grabbed some hot pink Samba portuluca, orange profusion zinnias, purple angelonia, and purple gomphrena (some of my favorites), planted them in two large pots […]
Current Lawn Irrigation Guidelines From The City
Update: The city’s current irrigation guidelines limit watering to once a week, between the hours of 6:00 pm and 10:00 am, using a sprinkler or sprinkler system. Hand watering can […]
My Dad, Mr. Roy M. Munroe
Shortly after graduating from the University of Texas, I began dating a handsome young man, our very own James Gill. Months after we started dating, we got the idea (from […]
Positively Charged
Have you ever wondered why everything looks so green after a thunderstorm? The air in the atmosphere is 78% nitrogen. Plants require nitrogen to grow, but are unable to absorb […]
Mosquitoes In Your Garden
With all the recent rains, mosquitoes are here. First of all, remove any sources of standing water (that’s where they breed). For your favorite birdbath, use Mosquito Bits in the […]
How do I keep my plants looking healthy and blooming through our summers?
Proper watering is key to keeping your plants looking good in the summer. The best time to water is early in the morning so they are well hydrated going through […]
Journey to The Caribbean
Monday night I had the pleasure of viewing the newly completed Caribbean Journey Exhibit. I am proud of what the Texas State Aquarium brings to our community and to be […]
Easy Gardening With Garden Troughs!
Garden Troughs are a great way to grow vegetables in a raised bed. They are bigger than most pots but easier than working in the dirt and can be placed […]
Texas Sage Eaten by Caterpillars?
Texas Sage eaten by caterpillars? Take a close look at your Texas sage and see if you find small black spiny caterpillars. They are the larvae of the Silvery Checkerspot […]
It’s Grubworm Time Again!
When you begin seeing June bugs flying around the porch light, you wait 5-6 weeks and then treat with Bayer Season Long Grub Control Granules. If you have not fertilized […]
Katrina Iris
I love my Katrina Iris! It’s always in bloom…always! I planted it about 4 years ago and it has quadrupled in size or more. It gets full hot west sun […]
A Time To Remember
This coming week and weekend is a time many people from around the world remember their heritage and celebrate their faith. The Jewish Passover begins at sundown April 10th and […]
A Fascinating Field Trip to Los Ramaderos of South Texas
Sally and I, as members of the South Texas Chapter of the Native Plant Society of Texas, spent a very pleasant day touring Rancho Lomitas Native Plant Nursery and RV […]
Does Your Hackberry Have Wooly Aphids?
Hackberry is a wonderful tree for birds with their berries and it also is the host plant for the Snout butterfly. It’s a great tree but boy they can be […]
Are Your Bougainvilleas Being Chewed?
Small little caterpillars are eating bougainvillea leaves as fast as they can sprout. Years ago nothing bothered a bougainvillea. Now it seems to be a constant battle. There are a […]
Who’s Your Garden Friend?
My definition of a garden friend is someone who happily shares their garden knowledge and passion with you. Earlier this week, I took a break from my piles of paper for a […]
Time for Tomatoes!
Hopefully we have seen our last big cold snap of the season, so it’s time to get tomatoes in the ground. Tomatoes need full sun for their entire growing season. […]
One Of Sally’s Favorites – Mystic Spires Salvia!
We have a grower that does an outstanding job growing Mystic Spires Saliva in “tubs”. Wow, they are gorgeous! They can be planted in containers or in the ground. I […]
How to Repair Dead Patches in Your Lawn
Dead patches in your grass? James shares tips on plugging damaged lawn areas with Floratam Sod.
Early Spring Pruning
Time for a little cleanup! James explains techniques to use for early spring pruning.
Early Spring: Time to Fertilize and Get Rid of the Weeds!
Days are staying warm and our lawns are growing. Now’s the time, sometime in the next few weeks, to get your lawn, trees and shrubs fertilized. Great for the spring […]
Garden Tips Library
March 7, 2017/gillnursery/Comments Off on Garden Tips Library Posted in
How Do I Revive My March Lawn?
The 2 days of freezing weather did not help our lawns at all, but I think there may be more happening than just the cold weather. I am hearing customers […]
Fertilize Your Citrus Now!
January-February is prime time to fertilize your citrus plants. We recommend Espoma Citrus-tone for organic gardening. It is long lasting and it feeds the soil and the tree. Citrus-tone recommends to feed […]
A Few of My Favorite Things
You may recall Julie Andrew’s favorite things in The Sound of Music: “Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens, etc…” Her delightfully orchestrated breath of happiness made us all smile. […]
Growing Fresh Food – Part III
Growing Fresh Food Part I, Part II Photos from Debbie’s Last Fall Veggie Garden We talked about watering and fertilizing last week. Now the fun stuff – watching your garden […]
Growing Fresh Food – Part II
Growing Fresh Food – Part I So now that you’ve done all your decision making and soil prep, let’s talk about planting. Most spring veggies love warm days and cool […]
Growing Fresh Food – Pt. 1
Food from a garden is one of life’s best experiences. You get to play in dirt, sweat with a purpose, and the payoff is just plain rewarding: nutritious, delicious foods […]
Freeze Alert
We’re getting our first freeze tonight. It shouldn’t be too bad, but there will be some damage. Watch for info from James on what needs to be covered or brought […]
Why Won’t My Weed Killer Work?
One day you look outside at your lawn and BAM, you notice there are weeds everywhere! Before you start spraying with an herbicide, make sure you read the label. Some […]
Meyer Lemons For Friends & Neighbors!
(Citrus × meyeri, the Meyer lemon, is a citrus fruit native to China thought to be a cross between a true lemon and either a mandarin or common orange, from Wikipedia) What do you do when Sally Gill gives you lemons from […]
Gill Holiday Guide
GREEN GIFTS Succulent Bowl A great low-maintenance green gift! Work with us to order the perfect custom-made bowl or let us help you assemble your own. Easy care and looks […]
Winter Weather Freeze Protection
We’re having a cold spell tonight, but it’s not too much of a cause for panic for plant lovers. A customer called checking on their Mountain Laurel, but it, along […]
Yucky Whitefly
Not flies, not moths, whitefly are about the size of gnats. If you see these little clusters of flies when you brush through your foliage, you need to control them. […]
Thank You to My Families – Personal & Business!
This is my favorite holiday because like many, I have so much to be thankful for. First and most importantly, I am thankful to James, my husband of 39 years […]
Post-Summer Lawn Recovery
How to heal your lawn from a long summer: identify and treat damage from Chinch Bugs and Sod Webworms; apply pre-emergent to prevent weeds; fertilize in fall for healthy roots […]
DIY Mounted Staghorn Fern
This is a project I have been wanting to do for a while now, and it was a lot easier than I was expecting. So naturally, I want to share […]
Watch: Brown Patch Fungus
Watch this video from James to help you identify & prevent Brown Patch Fungus. With shorter days and cooler, damp nights, your lawn is susceptible to this disease.
Nasturtiums: Edible Beauties
With cooler months finally upon us, now is the time for planting some of my favorite winter annuals, one being the ever vibrant, versatile and easy to grow Nasturtium. Here […]
How to Trim Your Mums for a Second Bloom
Don’t give up on your mums before they’ve had a chance to live out their season! Sally explains how to trim your mums for new growth throughout the fall: 1. […]
Zika, Dengue, and Chikungunya, Oh My!
Zika – slight fever and joint pain, but causing serious birth defects. Dengue – fever, headache, back and joint pain, some fatalities. Chikungunya – fever, back and joint pain, headache, […]
Another Favorite Fall Vine!
Mexican Flame Vine is a wonderful vine with a long blooming period until the first good frost. It has deep green leaves back-dropping beautiful orange daisy flowers. Very easy to […]
Mona Lavender…Not the True Lavender
When most people think of Lavender, they are thinking of true Lavender from the Lavendula genus, which is known for its wonderful fragrance. Mona Lavender is an annual plant from […]
Oh, the Wonders of Coral Vine!
I suspect most of you have noticed the hot pink flowers cascading over fences all over town. It’s what we fondly call Coral Vine-Antigonon leptopus. It is the prettiest vine […]
What’s Bugging You Now?
There are so many different problems that homeowners may face in their yard. Most recently, chinch bugs, followed by armyworms, in lawns, and now caterpillars chewing the leaves off live […]
Top Five Tips for a Beautiful Lawn
1. Fertilize in Fall. It’s great to fertilize in spring, and again early summer, but fall fertilization is probably the most important of all, and the most neglected. September 15 […]
Success With Fall Flowers
The fall season brings a whole new garden of flowers to enjoy. Plus it is great fun to get your hands dirty! So here’s a few tips to help you […]
We miss Alameda too!
I hear customers daily say how much they miss the Alameda Store. We all miss it! What started out to be a temporary three month spring location turned out to […]
Time To Fertilize for Fall
Anytime between mid-September to mid-November is prime time to fertilize the lawn, trees, shrubs, vines and groundcovers. Fertilizing while it is still warm is best because plants are still in their active growing […]
Planting by the Moon
Since prehistoric times, man has been planting and harvesting crops according to the phases of the moon. In a nutshell, it means that various plants do best when planted or […]
Time To Fertilize For Fall
Anytime between mid-September to mid-November is prime time to fertilize the lawn, trees, shrubs, vines and groundcovers. Fertilizing while it is still warm is best because plants are still in their active growing […]
Where to begin? How much can I fit? What will get left out? I love this stuff!!! What a story!!!
All from a shiny reddish ball. Or a fuzzy white ball. Or a corky brown ball. I’m talking oak galls, which commonly strike terror into the hearts of live oak […]
September: Get Your Tomatoes & Peppers Planted Now!
Believe it or not, we do have seasons in South Texas. As they come and go, so does our selection of vegetables. It’s end of season for hot weather veggies like […]
Cut Flower Gardening
Starting your first cutting garden may be much easier than you would think. Planning your garden is the best way to start: a 3 foot x 10 foot garden bed […]
Plumeria, Frangipanis, Hawaiian Lei Flower
Plumeria, Frangipanis, Hawaiian Lei Flower, no matter what you call them they are beautiful and one of the easiest plants to grow in South Texas! Native to Central America, Mexico, […]
Success With Backyard Chickens
Having backyard chickens in urban neighborhoods is becoming more of a trend with each changing of (gardening) seasons. While many may think that having some hens running amuck in their […]
Crape Myrtle Scorch + Grass on Rootball
Crape Myrtles will always have some leaf scorch the first summer, despite adequate watering, and we should inform customers of that. Also, that watering needs to be frequent – apply […]
Mystic Spires Salvia In The Garden!
This is one of my favorites. It has the most beautiful blue blooms all fall, winter and spring. They love the sun. I fertilize mine periodically with Medina Hasta-Gro Fertilizer and […]
Darn Those Summer Bugs!
Chinch Bugs Chinch bugs in the lawn are still active and can be all summer as long as the weather stays hot and dry. Treat as needed with hose-end Bayer […]
Benefits Of Marigolds In Your Veggie Garden!
You may have heard that marigolds are a great companion plant for tomatoes or other veggies, but why? Marigolds actually have a compound in their root system called alpha-terthienyl, which […]
Fall’s around the corner; it’s GARDEN TIME!
Mid August is the time to make plans for what’s happening in and around your fall garden. Now when I say garden, I’m talking about ALL gardens, not just food […]
Is Your Grass Stressed?
In the past week or two lawns all over town are looking like they are drying up from the heat of summer. Well, this could be true if you are not […]
Big Changes at Gill’s!
[vc_row padding_top=”0px” padding_bottom=”0px”][vc_column fade_animation_offset=”45px” width=”1/1″][image src=”2617″ alt=”” href=”” title=”” info_content=”” lightbox_caption=”” id=”” class=”” style=”width:100%;”][text_output]We believe by blending our two nursery staffs and increasing the inventory selection at our Airline store, […]
The Coastal Bend Beekeepers and Gill’s Landscape Nursery presents the Texas Honey Queen!
[vc_row no_margin=”true” padding_top=”0px” padding_bottom=”0px” bg_video=”” class=”” style=””][vc_column fade_animation_offset=”45px” width=”1/1″][text_output] Hope Pettibon, the 2016 Texas Honey Queen, will speak with local gardeners on Friday, August 5, 2016 at 4 PM at […]
Does your Ficus Tree have curled leaves?
Cuban Ficus Thrips have been attacking these trees for several years now. The new growth is curled with small white and black insects inside. Since the leaves are curled the […]
A Life Well Lived, Remembering Our Friend & Co-worker Mary Coffman
Mary was a bright smiling face of down home goodness. She had a twinkle in her baby blues and gently bent hands that only come from using them, working them […]
Time to Prep Your Fall Garden
The Fall Season is getting closer every day and that means thinking about your fall gardening plans. If you’ve kept your garden tended; pulling weeds, keeping the ground well-watered and […]
Check For Chinch Bugs If Your Lawn Looks Dry Even Though You Know It’s Not!
Now that the temperatures have soared and the rain has stopped, be on the lookout for Chinch bugs in the lawn. The areas of the lawn near the sidewalk and […]
How-To For A Fun Garden Art Project
Be a garden artist and paint your own fun and colorful garden art! Supplies: Cement block, single hole, 7 1/2″ square (McCoy’s) Drylock Masonry Waterproofer – color white (McCoy’s) FolkArt […]
A Child’s Spaceship
Crape Myrtles always hold a special place in my heart, not just because they’re outrageously pretty when they bloom in the early summer, but because of the memories I have […]
Wooly Aphids on Hackberry Trees
Over the past few weeks there have been numerous inquiries about whiteflies on trees. However, these insects are not whiteflies. They are actually a large infestation of Asian wooly aphids. Wooly aphids […]
Water Only Once A Week, Pick Your Day!
This new flyer from the City Of Corpus Christi explains our current landscape water guidelines. We’re happy we are able to pick the one day of the week that works […]
“This American Life” Comes To Corpus Christi
In 2009 our youngest son Trevor was driving around Houston, working his first job after college. Many days he listened to “This American Life” on public radio. Trevor commented to […]
My Ugly Tomato Plant
My sister-in-law asked me this week-end if there was anything to do to make her tomato plant healthier. She said it was looking bad, but it was still producing good […]
10 Tips For A Beautiful Summer South Texas Landscape
1. Proper Watering – This is the most important of all. Water slow and deep to make sure at least one inch of water is applied to all established lawn and landscape plants for our long hot summers. Smaller bedding plants such as annual color and perennial beds will require a second supplemental watering since they have a smaller root system.
The Youngest Of Gardeners
Meet Elliott, my grandson from Denver, Colorado. Last year, at the ripe old age of 10 months his favorite thing was digging in the dirt. He’d happily dig in a […]
Mealy Bugs Are Showing Up On Hibiscus
Mealybugs are here! Look on the tips, stems, and undersides of the leaves for these white insects clustered together. If they go unnoticed for a short period of time , […]
Dreams Do Come True, June 2016
One of James’ dreams for Gill’s was to build a business where enthusiastic, energetic people would want to work. He wanted to build a business where folks would line up […]
Creative Container Gardens
This past Saturday we had our Creative Container Gardens talk. I enjoy giving this talk because making potted plant combinations is a treat – so easy & fun. Contrast and […]
One of My Favorite Plants: Firespike
One of my favorite plants: Firespike, aka Firespike Odontonema strictum. This is one the easiest plants to grow whether in the ground or in a pot. Break off a piece, […]
“Bring Home the Butterflies”
This weekend I gave a “Bring Home the Butterflies” talk at the Airline store. Here’s a recap for those who missed it! We are lucky enough to have almost 400 […]
Wait… You Want What?
Working here always brings its share of surprises. On Sunday I had a customer come in and ask if we had any tomato hornworms on our plants in the garden. […]
My Veggie Garden!
May 25th Its Memorial Day weekend and summer’s around the corner. Our spring garden is wrapping up its abundance. The beans have been harvested, the peppers are producing, and the […]
Bobby & Grandpa, The Story Of Two Memorable Characters!
Many years ago, we had a lovable character working for us, Bobby. He was a grizzled old country boy from round about Uvalde, Texas. He loved trees, he loved people, […]
Vinca- a favorite summer flower!
Vinca a.k.a. Periwinkle is one the best summer flowers you can grow when planted at the right time and with a few extra steps to insure success. First, wait for […]
Mike Haby: Retired Professor & Extension Economist, Texas A&M, Husband-Gardener-Nature-Lover
This spring, I talked with Mike Haby several times at our Airline store, and could tell he was very excited and proud of his garden. One day, I asked if […]
Unmistakably Beautiful Antique Roses
If you want an old fashioned rose, come in and get them while they’re here! Unlike shrub roses, antique roses have a full rich fragrance, and often have a much […]
Yes, The Mosquitoes Are Back!
We love the rain, but so do the skeeters. We have everything you need to repel and kill them. Mosquito Beater Liquid Hose-end can be sprayed across the lawn, shrubs […]
Not All Caterpillars are Bad!
We all hate to see our plants being eaten, but did you know that some of our favorite plants are the food source for many caterpillars. The most common example […]
Lynn’s Amaryllis: A Gift From Mom For a Lifetime
Lynn Fernand has been working with us at Gill’s since 1991, that’s 25 years! She has as much love and energy for plants as anyone I know; her passion is […]
Girl Scout Troop 9638 Visits Gills!
Last week I had the pleasure and absolute delight of giving a tour of our Nursery to Girl Scout Troop 9638. As I lead the girls and one boy (younger […]
It’s Grubworm Time Again!
With our mild winter, grub beetles emerged from the soil early this year. When you begin seeing June bugs flying around the porch light, you wait 5-6 weeks and then […]
Snails and Beer!
Do you have plants toppling over? Are the stems of your begonias being eaten at the base? Do you have uneven holes in your veggies along the bottom of the […]
Meet Gillian, our “Junior Gill Gardener”!
Gillian is my neighbor and her older brother, Michael, works at Gill’s. The other day her mom, Ann, sent me a photo of a fairy garden in a hanging basket […]
Temperatures are perfect for applying weed control products!
For weed control in your lawn, use Weed B Gon For St. Augustine. We have a new formulation that is safe to use on Floratam St. Augustine Grass. Treats up to […]
Don’t Panic, Just Run Like H&##!
In South Texas, bees swarm to form new colonies April through July. Two of my landscapers were attacked yesterday, and stung over 200 times. But they are back at work […]
All About Orchids!
Emily, a Landscape Design Assistant here at Gill’s, loves orchids. Before joining us, she worked at the Naples Botanical Gardens in Naples, Florida, growing orchids. Emily, pictured here, shares her […]
Garden Talks
Join us on Saturday mornings for Gill Garden Talks! Check out the season schedule and join us in the garden for expert advice from our awesome staff.
We design and install, you enjoy!
Gill Landscape Design and Installation
