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Our February garden talks wrap up this Saturday, 2/25/23 at 10am! Join us here at Gill’s for Planting to Support Our Local Ecosystem with Sara Jose, Preserve Manager at the Oso Bay Wetlands Preserve & Education Center. Sara is an avid gardener, birdwatcher, and environmental educator who encourages the community to think of nature as something that happens IN our yards, not something we visit on vacation. She’ll discuss how to choose and incorporate native plants, why we should be growing “bug food”, and the importance of creating habitats that support birds, bees, and other plant pollinators. If you want to learn how you can make a big impact on our local ecosystem, even in small spaces, don’t miss this talk! As always, Saturday’s talk is free and open to everyone, and one attendee will win a $100 Gill’s gift card!

Come take a stroll through our garden and do a little stress-free shopping. We can help you pick out the perfect gifts that grow and other useful gifts that the gardeners on your list will love. Here are 10 gift ideas for green thumbs.

1. Gifts That Grow

Now is a great time to plant winter flowers like petunias, geraniums, and snapdragons are great right now, and they’re quick and easy to plant! Easy for Santa to sneak in and secretly plant a few flowers.

Roses, herbs, strawberries, and onions are all great to plant right now too. Or if you want to make it a truly memorable holiday, plant a tree! Remember that trees benefit greatly from being planted in Fall and Winter, including citrus trees!

2. Poinsettias and Other Holiday Classics

Poinsettias are THE classic holiday décor and centerpiece for holiday meals. They make great gifts for teachers, bosses, coworkers, and friendly acquaintances – they just make people happy!

A blooming Christmas Cactus or Kalanchoe is great too, or a small living holiday tree like a juniper, Norfolk pine, or rosemary. We can gift wrap these for you. Done!

3. Custom-Planted Pottery

Let us help you put together something totally unique! Choose the pots and plants and we can pot it all up for you. Houseplants, flowers, herbs, native plants for pollinators, and lots more can stand alone or be combined in the right pot.

4. Fine Gardening Tools

These French-made hand tool sets from Opinel have been a hit with the pros here at Gill’s. Or a nice set of pruners or loppers. Or even a quality sharp-shooter shovel. Working with quality tools makes gardening a lot more fun.

5. Soothing Wind Chimes

Lots of different tones and styles for relaxing in the garden.

6. Something for the Birds

Birdbaths, feeders, houses, seed, and native plants to attract birds to your loved one’s yard. Watching birds is better than TV!

7. Wildflower Seed Bombs

Maybe the best stocking stuffer for the planet? These little lumps of dirt contain 28 varieties of wildflower seeds that provide food for bees and other pollinators. Just place them where they make contact with bare soil, and wait for flowers to pop up next Spring!

8. Plant-Me Holiday Cards

Our holiday cards this year are completely biodegradable and they have flower seeds embedded in them! Find a sunny spot and plant the card in the ground after the holiday season.

9. Dried Flower Bouquets and Bundles

Come pick and choose different bundles and create your own dried flower bouquet or choose one we’ve put together. No watering or fertilizer required!

10. When in Doubt – Gift Card!

Can’t go wrong with a Gill’s gift card! Good for plants or services too. You could give the gift of landscape design, a food garden next Spring, a planted tree, or anything else we provide. We can help you with ideas there too!

Recent rains + lots of sunshine + a cool front coming this weekend = AMAZING time to garden! We’re all busy planting, re-designing, fertilizing, and getting ready for holidays and weekends outside with family and friends. Here are our top tips for making the most of a very important month in the garden.

1. Feed Your Plants, Trees, and Lawns Too

Feeding your plants this month is a must. This includes lawns, trees, and most plants. Everything is actively growing, which means they’ll need more food to continue looking their best. Medina Growin Green is a great multi-purpose food for landscape plants, shrubs, trees, veggies, lawns, you name it! For blooming perennials, annual flowers, and veggies we really like using a good organic granular food like Medina Growin Green, Plant Tone by Espoma, or Rose Glo in combination with Medina Hasta Gro liquid. Feed with the granular on the 1st of each month, then follow up with liquid Hasta Gro on the 15th. Add these reminders to your calendar and you can’t go wrong!

Yes, you can still fertilize your lawn, even though our lawn watering is limited. Using a good organic lawn food, like our go-to Medina Growin Green, promotes root growth and long-term health, which makes lawns more tolerant of less water. Ideally you’d want to water the fertilizer in, but you don’t have to. Medina Growin Green is gentle and won’t burn your lawn. You can apply it now and water it in slowly over a few weeks. If you have trees in your yard, keep in mind that fertilizer and water need to be applied at the drip line, aka where rainwater naturally drips off the outer edge of the canopy. Therefore, if you apply fertilizer to your lawn and water it in for the trees, your lawn will get the benefit too. You can also try to time your lawn fertilizing with a light rain. We typically don’t recommend waiting for rain to fertilize since a heavy rain would wash most of the fertilizer granules away. But, given the watering limitations, taking advantage of a light rain is a good solution.

Homeowners can also collect free effluent water at the Oso Wastewater Treatment Plant to use to water lawns. Apply for a quick and easy residential permit from the City of Corpus Christi here.

2. Watering Wands Win!

Hand watering with a watering wand that has a cutoff valve is the most efficient and best way to water, especially for new plantings. Watering plants low to the ground keeps water from escaping via wind and evaporation and keeps water off the leaves which can invite fungal issues. Watering slowly (by turning down the pressure on your watering wand or kinking your hose) ensures that more water gets down to the roots instead of running off the surface.

Keep in mind that hand watering and drip irrigation are allowed during current watering restrictions. You can hand water any day before 10am or after 6pm, and you can supplement with drip irrigation once every other week. We carry the pro watering wands that we use here at Gill’s as well as moisture meters, timers, and soaker hoses.

For any new plantings, including turfgrass, you can apply for a temporary exemption to watering restrictions and use sprinklers and irrigation systems in order to help get plants, lawns, and trees established. We can help you file for the exemption if you like – it’s a straightforward process.

3. Plant Blooming Perennials for Pollinators

April is time to add some blooming perennials to attract pollinators like butterflies, bees, and birds to your garden. You support pollinators (and the planet!) and in return they help you have more blooms, better production on your veggies, and a more vibrant landscape! Remember – April is when we start seeing hummingbirds! We’ve just seen our first hummingbirds of the season here at Gill’s this week! Add a few of their favorites like this native Salvia greggii, native Flame Acanthus, or firebush and make your backyard a preferred stop.

4. Plant Your Warm Weather Veggies

It’s time to plant hot peppers, squash, zucchini, basil, beans, and more! When starting veggies, the trick is to get the soil as active and alive as possible. Amend your existing soil with Nature’s Blend Compost (about 1 bag per 12 sq. ft.), then add a little Bio Tone starter fertilizer with mycorrhizal fungi and a good handful of worm castings when you plant each plant. Then follow our trusted fertilizer schedule – Plant Tone on the 1st of the month and liquid Hasta Gro on the 15th! Remember that veggies use a lot of energy and need these regular feedings to produce. Plus, strong, vigorous veggie plants are less susceptible to pest damage.

5. Mulch! Not Just for Good Looks…

We all know that fresh mulch is like a fresh coat of paint for your garden – instant makeover! But did you know that applying a proper 3” layer of natural mulch keeps underlying soil temps more than 20 degrees cooler?! A good mulch layer keeps weeds at bay, and as it breaks down over time, it add nutrients to your soil. And perhaps most importantly right now, a good mulch layer retains moisture, which means big water savings.

6. Get Ready for Guests

Get outside and enjoy the gorgeous weather and prep for gathering with family and friends! For the quickest and easiest impact outdoors, think hanging baskets full of Impatiens, Vinca, Purslane, Geraniums and more overflowing with color. Some pops of color plus fresh mulch in your beds and you’re ready to host! For indoors, our favorite flower arrangements are those cut fresh from the garden and landscape.

Check out our April Garden Guide for more tips!

Yay for May! Everything’s growing and blooming and supercharged by recent rains! We hope you are too. May is Mental Health Awareness Month, which is a good time to think about the peace of mind that gardening brings us. Gardeners know all the research is true – gardening is one of the healthiest, most satisfying, and most fulfilling things humans can do! Here are our Top 7 Must Do’s this May to keep you and your garden feelin’ good.

1. Join Us for Workshops & Events!

We’ve got a big May planned here at Gill’s with another round of fun workshops and events. Next weekend, on Saturday, May 9th, we’re inviting kids to come pot up a free flower for Mom for Mother’s Day. The following week, we’re hosting our first ever Ikebana workshop led by our fav local floral designer, Julia Prohorova aka Wild Veggie Bouquet! We’ve got Bigfoot’s Rockeaters coming for a cactus growing talk later this month, plus round 2 of our Nightbloom Market after-hours shopping event – this time with more vendors! Click here for more info, RSVPs, and tickets!

2. Plant Blooming Perennials and Trees

It’s time to plant lots of different blooming perennials and blooming trees. Get them established in May so they are rooted and acclimated to withstand warmer temps this summer. Staples like Esperanza, many varieties of Salvia, Lantana, and tons more are all blooming beautifully right now. And blooming native trees like Retama and Wild Olive are looking great right now. Added bonus: blooming perennials and trees attract lots of butterflies and hummingbirds!

3. Plant and Harvest Veggies

Warm weather veggie time! Plant all kinds of peppers, zucchini, squash, melons, and okra this month for continued harvesting into the summer months. If you planted tomatoes, cucumbers, and other early spring veggies, you’ll be harvesting now or very soon. Be sure to harvest often! It keeps birds & insects from finding them first, and helps redirect energy to produce more fruit. If you do have insect issues in your veggie garden, our go-to organic control is Spinosad soap – safe for food but takes care of a lot of common bad bugs.

4. Mulch for Many Reasons!

We all know that fresh mulch is the quickest garden makeover! But did you know that applying a proper 3” layer of natural mulch keeps underlying soil temps more than 20 degrees cooler?! A good mulch layer keeps weeds at bay, and as it breaks down over time, it add nutrients to your soil. And perhaps most importantly right now, a good mulch layer retains moisture, which means big water savings.

5. What About Watering?

Speaking of watering, despite long-term drought conditions and potential water emergencies in the news, we need to continue to water smartly. Watering consistently now (just enough) will help maintain depth moisture, make the most of rainfall, and help plant roots grow deeper – all of which will reduce water needs and save water in the long run. Does all of our plant water need to come from the tap? Nope! You can conserve a lot of city water by collecting rainwater, A/C condensate, water from dehumidifiers, and re-using gray water from washing machines and dishwashers. If you’re interested in collecting a lot of rainwater, the Gill’s landscape team installs custom rainwater collection systems using stainless steel cisterns that are very attractive in the landscape and last a lifetime. Just 1″ of rain on 1,000 square feet of roof space can catch 600 gallons of rainwater. Get in touch!

6. Set Your Mosquito Traps!

We are big fans of the simple bucket mosquito trap. Just fill a bucket 3/4 with water, add a good handful of lawn or plant clippings, and toss in a Mosquito Dunk or Mosquito Bits. These dissolve in the water and release bacteria that target mosquito larvae and kill them before they hatch. And they’re organic and not harmful to birds, bees, pets or humans! Set a few of these traps, sprinkle some organic Mosquito Beater granules around walkways and patios, and use Skeeter Screen incense sticks near where you’re working or hanging out outside. Remember that using chemical mosquito foggers kills all the good bugs too, some of which help control mosquitos and other bad bugs.

7. Gifts for Mother’s Day and Graduations

Let us help you find something pretty, useful, or both for the gardening moms and grads in your life. Pottery, birdbaths, wind chimes, quality garden tools, hats, gloves, garden decor, plantable greeting cards, gardening books – lots of options. You can purchase Gill gift cards online here. Or come find the gift that gardeners love most – plants 🙂

Rain in the forecast, wonderful temperatures, holidays with family and friends = AMAZING time to garden! We’re all busy planting, re-designing, fertilizing, and getting ready for outdoor fun with guests. Here are our top tips for making the most of a very important month in the garden.

1. Feed Your Plants, Trees, and Lawns Too