fertilizer

Anytime between mid-September and mid-October 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 season and taking up the nutrients provided. Once the weather starts cooling down plants begin going into dormancy and therefore are not as likely to take up the nutrients needed for the fall and winter. Remember to water in the fertilizer with at least a ½ inch of irrigation. Never depend on the rain to water in your fertilizer, because as you know, it never rains when predicted, and also never gives us that perfect ½ inch. It either rains too much, too little, or not at all. Making sure the timing is right and proper amount of water is applied assures your lawn of getting the full benefit of the nutrients it needs to maintain healthy leaves and roots for the dormant season. We carry our Gill Lawn and Garden and also several organic lawn fertilizers. Never use Weed and Feed if you have any trees or shrubs in the yard. Trees are a broadleaf just like a weed, so it will try to kill them as well. Weed killers and weed preventers can be used in October once our temperatures moderate in the 80’s. We will talk about them more as the season approaches.

-DeAnna

Water lilies are a wonderful way to add color and the coolness of water to your patio or landscape. A large pond or lake is not necessary for these floating beauties, they can be enjoyed in any container that holds water. They only need a depth of 18 inches and around 24 inches across. They come in submersible pots. Place them in at least partial sun. Water circulation is not necessary. Feed with Pond Tabs Fertilizer Tablets every month. Water lilies love heavy clay soil which we have plenty of. When your lily outgrows its pot, find a slightly larger pot, go dig up some clay dirt and mix with water, make a “mud pie”, place your lily in the new pot, pour your mud around it. It’s good to put some pebbles on top of the mud to help keep your water clean. Water gardens draw lots of fun bugs like dragonflies but also grow mosquitoes so be sure to throw in a mosquito dunk, ok for good bugs…death to those flying vampires! Or put in a guppie or two and they will eat ’em up. Have Fun!

-Debbie

New Tree Do’s and Don’ts!

Do plant the tree at the right depth, with the top of the root ball as high or slightly higher than surrounding soil.
Do eliminate competition from lawn by clearing the grass out a minimum of 18″ (more is better) from the trunk and keeping the cleared area mulched.
Don’t “volcano mulch” the trunk of your new tree, 2″ of mulch over the roots and 1″ or less touching the trunk.
Don’t let a string trimmer get close enough to strip off the bark of your new tree.
Don’t use “weed-and-feed” fertilizer near your new tree.
Don’t excessively prune all lower growth off your new tree thinking it will make your tree grow up faster; it will actually slow growth of roots, trunk diameter, and height.
Do check watering frequently through the first summer and water as
needed.

Spring Insect Explosion

With the warm wet days of spring, the insect population explodes. Mother Nature multiplies at an amazing rate. Aphids, scale, thrips, and caterpillars of every size and shape have appeared. Do not hesitate to prevent these insects now.

We talked a couple of weeks ago about using the Bayer Tree and Shrub Protect and Feed as a drench to prevent the big spring bug invasion. Well, it is upon us, but still not too late to treat. We have plenty in stock, so come see us soon.

We are also hearing a lot about snails, slugs, pill bugs and cutworms out in enormous numbers. As soon as we plant our pretty spring flowers these bugs look at it as their own breakfast buffet. A safe and effective organic treatment is Monterey Sluggo Plus. Safe to use around vegetables, fruit trees, citrus, berries, flowers, ornamentals and all landscape plants. 1 lb. treats 2000 sq. ft. and lasts up to 4 weeks. Evening is the best time to apply the bait as pest travel and feed mostly by night or early morning.

Life has Never Been So Easy!

“A month ago, I installed a “Livin’ Easy” Rose in one of my front beds. It started out at about 18″ tall. Now, its 4 feet tall and full of bright orange 4 inch blooms which smell wonderful! The “Livin’ Easy” Rose is very “gardener friendly”, even for beginners. I look forward to many years of this wonderful Floribunda’s show. For roses and for other flowering plants, I recommend Maestro Rose Glo as a great source of nutrition to keep ’em blooming and looking their best!”

-Matt

Mosquito Solutions: 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 shaker,for larger ponds or ditches, Mosquito Dunks, both totally safe for birds and frogs. We have several ways to kill, control and repel them.Mosquito Beater hose-end (Permethrin) is an easy spray to killmosquitoes, ants, fleas & tics throughout the yard. It is safe to spray on all plants where mosquitoes hide. We also carry Mosquito Beater Granules which is a combination of natural essential oils to repel. It contains citronella oil, garlic, geranium oil, cedar oil and lemon grass oil. Covers 4000 sq. ft and lasts up to 3 weeks. Patio Egg Diffuser is an easy safe and effective way to help deter mosquitoes and other biting insects from your patio, porch and other outdoor living areas. It protects up to 200 sq. ft. and comes with enough refill oil to last up to 4 months.

Time To Fertilize Your Lawn, Trees & Shrubs! Use Gill Lawn and Garden for all your trees, shrubs, vines and groundcovers. Also good on your vegetable garden. Covers 6000 sq. ft. per bag. A good organic lawn fertilizer (which feeds the soil & microorganisms) is Medina Growin Green, which covers 3000 sq. ft. per bag.

Protect Your Roses: Roses are flushing with new growth, setting buds and blooming. That means aphids, thrips, black spot and powdery mildew are next. Bayer 3-in1 Insect, Disease and Mite Control works on all of these in one easy spray. Treat every 10 days to 2 weeks to maintain beautiful roses insect and disease free.Bayer Rose and Flower Care is an excellent fertilizer with systemic insecticide to keep them healthy, blooming and insect free as well. Apply this granules every 6 weeks to prevent aphids and thrips from attacking your roses.

-DeAnna

START TRIMMING NOW!

Start trimming back now your ornamental grasses (like purple fountain grass and muhly grasses), trees, woody shrubs and vines (except indian hawthorne, azaleas, carolina jasmine that bloom in early spring). I would recommend waiting on the tropicals just a few more weeks, just in case we have a late cold snap.

WAIT TO FERTILIZE YOUR LAWN.

We all want our lawns to look lush and green all the time but it can’t be in the winter. Don’t think you can “wake up your grass” with fertilizer; fertilizer is taken up with growth, and since the grass is still dormant, it will do no good to feed now. It is best to wait until the grass comes out of winter dormancy which is usually mid March. The best way to tell when to feed is when you need to mow the grass (and not the weeds) every week or so. If you wait to feed, you will see the results you are looking for. It’s also best to attack existing weeds in warm weather (not hot) and sunshine. Since February can be our coldest month, it is usually March before we can take care of those weeds. My thought is, kill the weeds in early March and then fertilize the lawn afterwards. There is no sense in feeding the weeds.

PLANT WILDFLOWERS.

If you missed sowing your wildflowers in the fall, you can try to sow them out right
now. We also have bluebonnet plants in 6 packs ready to transplant, your favorite Ladybird Blue and Aggie Maroon. Seeds of sweet peas and nasturtiums can also be sown in the garden now for spring blooms.

Still time to apply pre-emergents Greenlight Amaze or Fertilome Weed Control With Dimension to prevent more weeds from sprouting and AllSeasons Oil Spray for overwintering insects. Spring is right around the corner and we are all ready for a little gardening therapy. See you in the dirt.

Lots of folks will find freeze damage on some of their favorite tropical blooming succulents. Neglecting these damaged plants may not mean the end of them, but most of us are itching to do something to help them!

I have seen frozen plumeria tips shrivel, dry up, and then drop off, replaced by new tips sprouting below the damaged tip. But if cool and rainy weather persists, it may encourage rot to occur in the damaged tips and proceed to damage healthy tissue. If you want to be proactive, squeeze the stem until you find you are below any squishy or shriveled portions, to a healthy portion of stem that feels firm like a fresh carrot.Make a pruning cut in the healthy stem to remove any damaged tissue. Sterilize pruning shears with alcohol before the initial cut and any subsequent cuts. Check lower down on the stem, because if you have damaged areas below healthy areas, you are wasting time by not cutting out the lowest damaged area.

Some folks like to coat the fresh cut tip surface with DAP latex caulk to seal out any moisture and rot, and some do not bother. Do not try to encourage new growth with watering and fertilizer while temperatures are still cool, wait until you see healthy vigorous growth.

Cold-damaged Crown of Thorns.

Tiny new growth emerging from cold-damaged Crown of Thorns.

More new growth.

Crown of thorns will be much the same, except you are more likely to get healthy growth from the base of the plant after pruning, rather than just below your cut, and people generally do not use caulk on the cuts.

Healthy, protected Desert Rose.

Cold-damaged Desert Rose

Rot starting at the base to remove Desert Rose.

Desert rose may also need pruning to remove dead tissue, and if a portion of the base, below the branching, is freeze damaged, surgery to remove that tissue, followed by dusting sulfur to inhibit rot, may be the call.

If your plant is small enough to travel, and you’re not sure what to do, you are welcome to bring it by for diagnosis. And if it is too big, send us a photo on Facebook and we’ll have a look.

–James

It’s harvest time around my house and I have to admit the bounty is big this winter.

This past fall, I planted later than usual (Oct 13th) due to rainy days and a total kitchen remodel! Mother Nature was my advocate, though. Rain, sun, and many cool fronts did amazing work with little help from me, other than a feeding of Hasta Gro 4 weeks after planting and pulling a few weeds.

The end result is a fridge full of delicious broccoli, nice size cabbage, sweet carrots, good-for-you kale, a huge stand of cilantro (from seed), celery, and a freezer full of fresh squeezed Meyer Lemon juice. Our Brussels sprouts are looking good, still just a little small. We will wait patiently for these culinary jewels. Life is really good!

So, what’s next? Well, we’ll clean out the old, do a turn of the soil, and set our sights on tomatoes, peppers, basil, zucchini, and whatever else tickles our delight to try… like having fun with potatoes.

James Gill fondly tells a story about how much fun he and his boys had planting potatoes. They were young, so playing in the dirt was a given and harvest time even better as they dug into the dirt to pull out bunches of potatoes from just the one that they planted!

It’s time to plant potatoes now through the end of February, so here’s our recipe for success:

– Cut potato into 2-4 pieces…or you can plant the whole potato. Best to buy non-treated potatoes. We have Red Lasota seed potatoes for sale.
– Coat with dusting sulphur and let cure for a few days.
– Prepare an area to plant…mostly sun and good drainage is very important. Loosen the soil and work compost into the dirt. Or you can plant in large pots using potting soil.
– Work fertilizer into the soil 8-10” deep…Plant Tone is great. Do NOT fertilize after planting
– Plant potatoes 3” deep and space them about 12” apart
– In about 3 weeks bank 3-4” of fresh soil over the base of each plant. Continue mounding soil every few weeks as the plant grows
– Potatoes are ready to harvest when mature plants begin to yellow and die (around 3-4 months).
– Start digging and have fun!

The spring planting season is starting – see you soon!

-Debbie

P.S. – check our Spring Vegetable Planting Guide for more tips!

The last week of January to first week of February is the best time to prune ornamental grasses.

New spring growth will not emerge properly and abundantly if plants are not cut timely and severely. You can cut with sharp power or manual hedge shears, or a serrated bread knife.

Cut straight across, parallel with the ground, 3” to 4” above ground. Do not leave a nub, mound, cone, or pouffe, just a straight-across flat top, close to the ground.

You can follow up in late February or early March with a small amount of fertilizer, but be stingy, as excess fertilizer will cause ornamental grasses to grow too succulent and too fast, and they will flop over instead of standing up.