After all the spring rains giving us lush green lawns, it sure didn’t take long for the dog days of summer to take its toll on some. We are diagnosing lots of chinch bugs and grub worm damage. James has a couple of videos on our website and You Tube about lawns. Be sure to check those out to help you diagnose your problems. You can also bring in a sample for us to look at. Use a shovel and dig us up a shovel width square of grass with the soil attached. You will be able to take the sample back home and put it back in the hole you dug. We will help diagnose your problem and get you the best solution to fix it. Spreading Natures Blend Compost over the area will help it to recover quicker. Continue with your once a week slow and deep watering through September and October, but after that, we should be able to cut back to every other week due to shorter days and cooler temperatures and hopefully more rainfall.
Bugs
Some of you remember Stuart as an infant in his baby carrier, plopped on the sales counter at our Airline store while I ran the cash register. Some of you remember his working in your garden or helping you select your Christmas tree or coming to your home with James on a house call. We laugh out loud when we recall Stuart, around 10 at the time, diagnosing chinch bugs in a customer’s yard. He clearly was paying attention to his dad. And then there was the time, at about the same age, when he suggested that we start staying open 24 hours a day, allowing inventory to be stocked while customers were asleep! We haven’t implemented his system, but we recognize it has merit. As a young boy, Stuart travelled with us on tours of plant growers around Texas. James, Stuart and I would jump in the grower’s vehicle and drive the fields, trying to find the best plants for our garden center. James and I devised a system for grading plants, A+ being the best to F being the worst, all recorded on paper, but never revealed to our salesperson. On one of these trips, Stuart announced to the group that he thought the dwarf pittosporum was a C grade. We covered up his comment as best we could, but laughed later. Bottom line, Stuart lived Gill Landscape Nursery from a very early age.
Stuart has always been adventurous. I’m embarrassed to say friends would report seeing him on his bike, all over Corpus Christi. He loved exploring. He loved seeing other neighborhoods. He loved seeing the way others lived. His earliest out-of-town adventures included fishing with his brother Trevor at his uncle Lanny’s “Baja Laguna”, kayaking on Texas rivers, exploring around my parents’ cabin in Colorado, camping with his dad, brother and grandmother on Matagorda Island, exploring South Texas brush in Ingleside, and many, many trips to the beach with his dad. As he got older, he worked to travel, often alone. Between school and jobs he travelled to countries in Europe, Central and South America. On one of his surf trips with his dad to Ecuador, he met two women from Seattle. After getting to know Stuart, they recommended he move to Seattle. They thought he would like it. He had finished his degree at the University of Texas and was working in Napa, California.
Stuart packed his bags and moved to Seattle. He started working in the landscape industry, and then moved into carpentry. Stuart has always had a great appreciation for fine craftsmanship. He found good people to work with, he started from the bottom learning the trade, and eventually began purchasing his own tools, the best he could find. He now works with Ambrose Construction, managing beautiful residential remodels and additions.
Stuart met Anne in February of 2013. She hadn’t been in Seattle long. They found they had a lot in common. They both love good food and literature; they both love the outdoors and adventure. Plus she’s very pretty with beautiful blue eyes. Anne also has travelled to many foreign destinations with her parents and lived in Indonesia. Anne works in a public relations firm, representing independent restaurants in Seattle. She is a skier, runner & yoga instructor. She is kind, gentle and smart, she loves Stuart, and she’s about to become our daughter-in-law!
So…that’s an update on our son, Stuart. You know, the day he was born, James’ and my lives changed forever. He has truly been a joy for us, someone who is always on our minds, someone with whom we look forward to spending time with. Even though Stuart doesn’t live in Corpus Christi anymore, he is still a part of Gill’s. He knows and loves our Gill family. He continues to help us think through work challenges. He is always there to celebrate our successes.
One more thing… Anne and Stuart are doing a bike tour of Indonesia for their honeymoon. Happy, Happy!
-Sally
It seems everywhere I turn I see bugs. Chinch bugs in the grass, worms eating bougainvilleas, scale on irises and lilies, mealy bugs on tropicals. To spray, or not to spray? That is the question. We need to raise our tolerance of what is acceptable in our landscapes. A few bugs here or there or a little plant damage is all o.k. Did you know that only about 5% of insects are bad? Many insects are even beneficial. This fact is the reason you must decide whether or not to spray. Lots of times nature will take care of itself if you wait a few days. Keep your plants as healthy as possible, and you will not have many insect or disease problems.
First, make sure you have the right plant in the right place, proper sun exposure, correct spacing of plants to insure air circulation, regular feeding, mulched beds, watering. All of these things reduce stress and result in perfect growing conditions for your plants keeping them happy and healthy. We call it IPM or Integrated Pest Management. If you do determine you need to treat a problem insect, start with the least toxic approach.
- Insects and disease go for the weak and stressed plants first.
- A few aphids can be controlled with a blast of water.
- A cluster of mealybugs on the tips of plants can be remedied by pruning and discarding the area.
- Using Insecticidal Soap, Neem Oil, or Thuricide sprayed on plants with insects is your next approach.
- Never spray everything just because one plant has a problem.
So look around your yard; see what’s happening. If you’re not sure whether you have a beneficial or a problem insect, just put a sample in a ziplock bag and bring it to us. We will help identify the bug and tell you if you need a control solution.
-Deanna
(DeAnna’s truck – always there, at 6:30am!)
In a few weeks we’ll be closing the stores early on a Saturday to have a pool party at our home to celebrate our Gill’s nursery & landscape staff. We recognize those who have been with Gill’s 1 year, 5 years, 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 years. This year we’re celebrating DeAnna’s, our Alameda store manager, 30th year with Gill’s!
DeAnna Baumgartner is a local girl, graduating from Flour Bluff High School. Upon graduation, she played basketball for McLennon Community College and Baylor University, qualifying for the 1980 Summer Olympic Team. She joined us in 1984, and became a Texas Certified Nursery Professional in 1986.
In the fall of 1986, James started thinking we needed a small garden center in central Corpus Christi for the spring season since our Airline location was so far from town. I was pregnant with our second son, Trevor, and honestly wasn’t too keen on the idea. James convinced me it was just for five months, February through June, and then we would go back to a single store operation. DeAnna was our first choice to manage our little temporary store. She accepted, and we all know the rest of the story; she’s been the number one lady in charge of Gill’s Alameda for 28 years!
DeAnna gets to her store around 6:30 in the morning, many times has swept the nursery, done some spot watering and maybe even unloaded a truck or two before the doors open at 8 a.m. DeAnna is a hands-on manager. She works alongside anyone and everyone who needs a helping hand. She hires, she trains, she motivates, she brings treats and sometimes she’s been known to do a little counseling, to help staff through various life challenges. DeAnna is just as close to many of her customers as she is to her staff. She calls David Dunn her week-end boyfriend, I think because he’s there every Saturday. Billy Johnson used to bring her donuts EVERY Saturday morning. I’ve heard of customers calling ahead, placing their order, and DeAnna running to their car with their garden supplies.
DeAnna took it upon herself many years ago to learn not only everything she could about plants that do well in our area, but also how to take care of them. She studied how to enrich the soil, which fertilizers plants responded best to, what bugs get on them and what insecticides could be used on them with the least toxicity, everything to help her customers be successful with gardening. When DeAnna attended national trade shows, she was the first to ask if a label could be changed to better describe its benefits. She shared what her customers needed with the manufacturers and they listened. A year or two later, what she asked for would be on our shelves. Because DeAnna stays current to the challenges we are faced with in our gardens, our local extension agents call on her for advice and information.
As part of her volunteer Master Gardener role, in 2006 DeAnna became the Nueces County “Learning To Grow” coordinator, building vegetable gardens in elementary schools from Agua Dulce to Port Aransas. She has planned and assisted with the installation of over 300 vegetable gardens to date, including every CCISD elementary, middle and high school, private schools, the Mother Theresa Shelter, La Mirada Housing Project and the Food Bank of Corpus Christi. Her goal is to open young peoples’ eyes to the wonder of gardening and the importance of healthy eating. She continues to build gardens each new season, adding to her list private schools, church schools and non-profits. In the fall and spring of each year, seed and seedlings are delivered to our Alameda store. From there, she along with other Master Gardeners organize and pack product to go to each of the participating gardens. In 2013, DeAnna was awarded 2nd place State of Texas “Master Gardener Of The Year” for her contributions to the “Learn To Grow” program in our area.
In 2010 DeAnna helped to resurrect the Ray High School Greenhouse for the science classes and the botany club, which has become an award winning project. The Master Gardener program this year awarded their first scholarship to a Ray High School student for their hard work and dedication to horticulture.
On her days off, when not working with the Master Gardeners, she enjoys vegetable and container gardening in her own back yard (she does know a great place to get plants!) as well as spending time with her husband, Clint Knight, and very best friend, Carol Krank, of the South Texas Botanical Gardens and Nature Center. The girls celebrate each week with 3 M’s, Mexican food, margaritas and movies.
James and I admire DeAnna for her leadership and product knowledge. We’re thankful for her commitment to learning and sharing her garden knowledge, for providing a safe and good place for our community to work and shop and we’re thankful for her commitment to quality. She cares about her customers and their gardening success. Thank you DeAnna!
-Sally
Chinese Hat aka Holmskioldia tettensis (that’s a mouthful☺)
The Chinese Hat has become one of our favorite plants since we purchased one to try 5 or 6 years ago. It grew 3 to 4 feet its first year, and another 3 to 4 feet the following. It now stands above our 6 foot fence covered with clusters of pink and purple flowers resembling the conical Chinese hat worn in many Asian cultures. It responds well to trimming, no bugs, grows fast, long bloom season, and unique that not everyone has it, are reasons enough to try one! Hope you enjoy as much as we do.
-Mike
Fleas are a huge a problem here in South Texas because they love warm temperatures and high humidity. That describes our weather almost year around. You don’t even have to own a pet to have a flea problem. But if you do, you should treat in 3 ways. Treat the pet, treat the house, treat the yard. For your pet, consult your veterinarian for the best treatment for your particular pet. For the house we carry an organic product called Essentria Broadcast Insecticide in an aerosol can. It contains natural essential plant oils and has a fresh scent. Safe on carpets, bedding, and furniture. For the yard, we recommend Natural Guard Spinosad in a hose-end sprayer. Be sure to re-apply every 5-7 days to catch a rehatch since the Spinosad only kills adult fleas. Be persistant and you can win this battle.
–DeAnna
Organic Insecticide: Insecticidal Soap is based on potassium fatty acids and is used to control many plant pests. Because insecticidal soap only works on direct contact with the pests, it is important to thoroughly spray the entire area of the plant where you see the pests. It is used to kill aphids, scales, whitefly, mealybugs and spider mites.
Some plants can be sensitive to it, so be sure and read the label before spraying. (You should spray a small part of the plant, wait a couple of days to see if there is any reaction before you spray the entire plant.) It also cannot be sprayed when the temperatures are above 90 degrees. I usually recommend to spray in the early evening once the plants are in the shade. This gives them all night to dry before the sun hits them the next day. The same is true for Neem Oil. It works to kill and repel a wide variety of insects.
It also can be used as a fungicide and miticide. Neem Oil is not known to be harmful to mammals, birds, earthworms or some beneficial insects such as butterflies, honeybees and ladybugs if it is not concentrated directly into their area of habitat or on their food source. Spinosad is another insecticide used to kill borers, bagworms, caterpillars, leafminers, thrips, fleas , scales and beetles to name a few.
It is also available in a granular bait form to kill fire ants. And lastly Diatomaceaous Earth. This is a powder used to scratch the exoskeleton of insects causing them to dehydrate and die. Works on roaches, fleas, pill bugs, ants and more. Depending on what insects you are trying to control, we can help you find the best product to meet your needs.
-DeAnna
A Few Summer Tips
- If your watering hose is in the sun, make sure to let the water run through for a little while before watering your plants. Hot hoses make for hot water!
- Caladiums last longer if you pinch off the bloom stalks, which are always great for bouquets.
- If your tomatoes or cucumbers remind you of Jack and the Beanstalk, use Takiron stakes and jute twine to lengthen your cage and keep those veggies contained.
- You CAN give perennials a haircut in the summertime if you need to, but please nothing too drastic. Shearing blooms and gentle pruning are great ways to keep perennials looking fresh.
- Weeds love to encroach on your garden beds in the summer. Walk your beds once a week! Pulling up small weeds now is always
easier, and can save you a lot of sweat. - If you have to spray insecticides or fungicides, do in early in the morning or late afternoon, not in the middle of the day! Water droplets have this nasty little habit of acting like magnifying glasses in 90 degree weather, and can cause burns.
easier, and can save you a lot of sweat. -Marta
Got webbing on your trees?
It is not webworms! Webbing on the bark of trunks and branches is a good thing. Don’t spray!! Bark lice is natures clean-up crew. These tiny creatures are scouring the bark for plant, animal, or fungus life which they eat, and while they perform this housekeeping chore, they spin this web for protection. Usually the web will disintegrate in two or three days and will disappear almost a suddenly as it appeared. Leave them alone and let them do their job of cleaning up your trees or shrubs. Thank goodness for good bugs!
-DeAnna
