kids

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 plastic box of planting soil for an hour, using child sized garden tools from Gills. Now, at almost 2 years he’s advanced to planting and tending his first vegetable and herb garden.

Elliott’s garden has radishes, carrots, squash, lettuce, arugula, tomatoes, mint, and basil. Yes, he really planted them himself! The rows aren’t perfect and more seeds are grouped closer to the edges where he could more easily reach. He doesn’t care. It’s his garden and he’s already reaping and eating its bounty.

The radishes are fast growing and he loves to eat them freshly picked and washed. He enjoys picking mint leaves to chew while playing in the back yard. Soon there will be tomatoes to snack on, then carrots to eat.

I suggested to his mom for next year’s garden, mixing carrot and radish seeds together. It’s a tip I heard on Justin Butts’ radio program. The radishes come up first and their fast growing leaves provide a living mulch for the carrots, which grow more slowly.

We’ll see what Elliott thinks about that!

-Kathy

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 Acrylic Paint, 2 oz. size, your favorite colors (Hobby Lobby)
Inexpensive nylon paint brushes various widths (Hobby Lobby)
Water in a container to clean brushes
Krylon Matte Finish Clear Spray (Hobby Lobby)

How To:

Very thoroughly mix water proofer. Apply two coats over the entire block. Allow to dry between coats.
Draw your design onto block with a pencil and fill in with paint or go freehand.
Spray two coats of Krylon spray over entire block. Allow to dry between coats.

Fun options for your blocks:

Plant herbs or small flowering plants in the hole
Use singly or stack for plant stands
Stack for garden bench legs or table base or birdbath stand

Please share your own garden art block creations on our Facebook page!

-Merlien

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 tips for keeping everyone happy and healthy:

Water….we need it and so do your plants. Water in the morning or evening before 10am or after 6pm. Keep the water on the plants, lawn, flowerbeds, not in the gutter, sidewalk, or street. Sprinkler systems are great for established lawns and landscapes. Water established lawns once a week. New plantings really need to be hand watered to insure the water is getting to the root system. Check new plantings daily for water needs.
Fertilize the lawn, shrubs, trees, and tropicals with Milorganite, Medina Growin Green, or Gill Lawn & Garden Fertilizer. Be sure to apply early morning or evening and water in. Milorganite won’t burn but needs water to start working.
Feed your veggies and herbs Espoma Plant Tone. Citrus and fruit trees with Espoma Citrus Tone.
Treat the lawn with Bayer Season Long Grub Control if you see brown areas in the lawn that are easily pulled up, usually a sign of grubs eating the roots of your grass.
Chinch bugs love hot dry areas in lawns. They make the lawn look dried out along sidewalks and pavement. Treat with Cyonara, or Triazicide in easy ready to spray bottles. For organic control, use Spinosad or Diatomaceous Earth.
Revamp your old spring annuals with some die-hard summer color. Flowers like purslane, zinnias, moss rose, periwinkles and sweet potato vine will need water but thrive in our summer heat. If you are so inclined, try adding spineless prickly pear, Texas sage, and other desert beauties that add color and form to landscapes.
Prune the old spent blooms and seed heads from your crape myrtles. It’ll help them to repeat their summer show of color.
Nothing wrong with playing in the water hose or sprinkler with your kids. My dogs and I have a grand time in the evening playing, cooling off and watering the lawn all at the same time.
Treat for fungus if needed. Roses, crape myrtles, and gerbera daisies are prone to powdery mildew and plumeria develop rust. Good air circulation is important and if needed use Fertilome Systemic Fungicide, Serenade, or Actinovate.
Trim to shape plants to keep good form but avoid heavy pruning during the summer heat. This is good for the plants and you.
Mulch everything including your potted plants to help hold moisture and reduce weeds.
Most important…enjoy some time in your outdoors!

-DeAnna & Debbie

Plant Zinnias with your kids or grandkids, (or just for you!)

I made a quick trip up to Seattle this past week-end to visit my son. After the dinner, breakfast and lunch food orgy (OMG Seattle food is amazing), we decided to get out and walk the neighborhood. One block from Stuart’s home is a beautiful park, full of paths, trees and play equipment and loads of kids, parents & dogs having a good time, playing outdoors in nature. Navaea, Morgan & Christian, cousins who live in the neighborhood, gladly squatted down for a quick photo, before they continued on with their hide and seek adventure. Thanks to Starbucks & other sponsors, families in this neighborhood have a great place to run and play. Another great example of a park in action is here in Corpus Christi, Pope

Park. The homeowners of that neighborhood partnered with the city and most evenings Pope Park is full of people, enjoying the outdoors. Way to go!!!

-Sally

Sally and I recently tripped up to “San Antone” to celebrate my sister Marie’s 70th. So much to see and do, but since all three of us are “plant people”, I think the highlight of the trip for all of us (besides the cake, of course) was the San Antonio Botanical Garden. We have been visiting since it opened in 1980, and have always enjoyed the 33 acres of plants, walkways, stone, and sculptures. On this trip, though, we were surprised to find it received a $22 million expansion this past fall!

The original garden includes a sensory garden full of textures and smells in addition to the visual, a striking fountain, and wisteria arbor, a hilltop overlook, rose gardens and perennial gardens, East Texas and South Texas habitat areas of native plants and pioneer-era cabins, and a lot more. Subsequent additions include the Kumamoto En Japanese Garden, and the Halsell Conservatory, several greenhouses containing exotic cacti and succulents, palms and tropicals, bromeliads and orchids.

The new expansion includes a very attractive entry garden and a culinary garden/teaching center, and a great new gift shop, with more on the way. Next year will see the opening of a new Family Adventure Garden, with nature play and learning areas. We can’t wait to go back, and I highly recommend this trip. Hopefully you can share it with your kids, or grandkids, a niece or nephew, or a friend. Spread a little plant joy, it’s fun and easy at the San Antonio Botanical Garden.

Here is another great article from My San Antonio for more info: First look at the $22 million San Antonio Botanical Garden expansion ahead of its opening.

Great memories of family trips to the gardens back in the 80’s with our son Stuart!

–James

A young Gary, just starting out with his Dad’s firm!

No, numbers aren’t the most glamorous part of a successful garden center, restaurant or sporting goods store. It’s the plants, food and surf boards. That’s why we shop in those stores, but that’s only one of the reasons why those stores continue to thrive!

A very important part of the success of a business is proper accounting and money management. The first lesson, money can’t be managed unless it is properly accounted for.

Very early on in our business I needed accounting help. I immediately thought of Gary Pearce, a good friend and CPA. After graduating from the University of Texas in accounting, he moved back to Corpus Christi to work with his dad, Marshal W. Pearce, in his accounting firm. Gary and I had known each other since elementary school. His parents, Marshal & June, hosted our first boy-girl party in their backyard! I called Gary in March (middle of tax season), 1979. I can’t believe he took my call! We met at the end of tax season to discuss our business venture. Gary, always the optimist, listened to our ideas and encouraged us, giving us guidance in our business. For the next year, Gary did an income statement for us each month, donating his time! He is a very kind man, as many know. James and I had no experience in retail before starting Gill’s. We didn’t know you were supposed to take the register tape out of the cash register at the end of each day to check cash, checks, charges, etc… Oh, there was so much to learn!! To this day we seek Gary’s advice and his services. THANK GOODNESS FOR GARY!

A few years into the business I called Gary again and told him I was having a hard time keeping up with the buying and accounting. He mentioned a woman who had worked for him in the past whom he felt would be a perfect match for us. Betty Maskey. She was a detail person, understood numbers, and loved to garden! She was perfect for Gill’s.

Betty with our son, Trevor, back in the late 80’s.

Betty accounted for inventory coming and going, did our payroll, accounted for our landscape job costs and at the end of every month created an income statement, all by calculator, paper and pen. No computers back then!

James and I did not disagree often, but when we did we would seek Betty’s advice. What a wise woman! I’ll say, beyond wise, she was also kind and unbiased. She didn’t play favorites, even though I know she adored James! Today, we all say in chorus, THANK GOODNESS FOR BETTY!

In the early 90’s, Betty and her husband Harry decided they wanted to be closer to their kids so she turned in her notice. She gave us six months to find a replacement. Again, very, very kind!

Barbara & Stacy taking a break from numbers to play in the snow!

We placed an ad in the Corpus Christi Caller Times for the position and, oh my goodness, the applications came rolling in! I bet we had forty applications. As I looked through them, I kept wishing, “if only I could find someone like Barbara.” My mother had hired Barbara to work at my dad’s engineering firm years ago. I kept looking and looking, and towards the end of the enormous pile was Barbara’s application! What a gift! We hired Barbara immediately. Betty trained Barbara and voila, the transition was made.

As the company continued to grow, we hired assistants for Barbara, including Debbie, and then in the early 2000’s we hired Stacy. Today, Stacy manages our accounts payables and receivables. Stacy has an eagle-eye for accounting mistakes and finds them very quickly. She is a plant lover, too, and always snags beautiful plants as they roll off our vendor’s trucks. I love seeing her finds tucked next to her desk in the accounting office!

Barbara and Stacy make a fabulous accounting team. Their attention to detail, professionalism, reliability and true love for our company are beyond the best. They are the best of the best!!

Sally, James & Betty around Thanksgiving, 2017.

Betty stopped in before the holidays to visit and amazingly, even 25 years later, she can still walk in and we all get excited, “Betty’s here!!”

So, yes, Gill’s is more about plants than anything else, but we could never do it without our people.

THANK GOODNESS FOR GARY, BETTY, BARBARA & STACY, our “numbers people”!

-Sally

This Saturday, October 6th, Gill Landscape Nursery invites the community to come celebrate with our staff 40 Bloomin’ Years in business!

Enter to win Gill’s gift cards, enjoy a cool drink and snacks, and hear live music in the garden. Kids and kid-like adults can enjoy colorful veggie-themed (temporary) tattoos. Everyone is invited to choose a color and help paint a collaborative celebration mural to be displayed in the garden center to commemorate the 40th anniversary.

The garden center is loaded with a great selection of fall annuals, perennials, shrubs, and shade trees along with great savings on veggies, herbs, flowers, and Gill’s Lawn & Garden Fertilizer. And yes, it’s time to do that fall fertilizing!

Fun Facts and Some History

Back in 1978, Corpus Christi natives Sally and James Gill casually decided to start a business. At 22 and 25 years old, fresh out of college, they both needed jobs and thought, “Why not?” James had a background in landscape architecture, Sally in business, they saw a need in the area, and they figured not much start-up cash was needed for a landscape company. They started small; Sally sold her car and they put their meager savings together to buy a tiller, some tools, and a used pickup truck from the City of Austin.

Apparently, in the late 70s, “trenching” (driving a car through an unsuspecting front yard and leaving huge trenches in the grass) was a popular prank among teenagers. James got the bright idea to place large, yet attractive limestone boulders in front yards to discourage such activities. He and Sally would make trips to the Hill Country, push boulders onto Sally’s dad’s trailer by hand, haul them back to Corpus, then go door-to-door in heavily trenched neighborhoods (i.e. South Shores) asking, “How would you like to cause some serious damage to the next car that tries to tear up your yard?” This kind of hard work and ingenuity is what got the business off and running.

While Sally and James describe the decision to start a landscape company as “casual”, it was not an accident. James’ love and respect for plants came from his mother, Ruth Gill, who was an avid gardener and heavily involved in nature conservation efforts. Sally learned her business values and commitment growing up shadowing her father, Roy M. Munroe, who owned a local engineering firm. Sally loves plants too, especially for the ambiance and environments they create. They realized early on that they shared the passion, stamina, and values required to successfully operate a small business. They laugh at how different they are from one another but feel that their combined strengths and the trust they share have allowed them to endure and grow.

The Gill’s also attribute their longevity in business to slow and steady growth. About a year into it, they decided to open the garden center as a showcase for the landscape business. At the time, the only land they could afford was “out in the country”, 2810 Airline Road, which is where the garden center, offices, and landscape department is still based today. Over the years, Corpus Christi has grown up around them as Airline Road has become one of the busiest streets in town.

The company has grown too, adding more land, staff, inventory, and services to meet the changing needs of the community. Sally says their level of commitment ratcheted up with the hiring of their first employee. They both felt and still feel great responsibility and commitment to offer every employee a good, safe place to work. Sally and James both strive to maintain the feel of a small company with some of the perks of a larger business. They want each team member to be a part of earning and maintaining the reputation for quality, service, and expertise that Gill’s is known for.

The Gill Landscape Nursery Team

At Gill Landscape Nursery, building lasting relationships with the community and among the team is the key to continued success. Sally and James love hearing feedback from customers about how each member of the Gill team is helpful and knowledgeable. One customer recently said that the garden center staff, “know what I’m talking about even if I don’t know!” The company culture at Gill’s is centered around the people: 39 great people with a combined 467 years of working at Gill’s and even more combined years of plant knowledge.

These days, while there is an abundance of helpful online garden tips and resources, nothing beats in-person knowledge and expertise. Here in the garden center, customers often bring in plants and samples from their landscapes and get a diagnosis and solution on the spot. Gill’s staff take pride in being comfortable enough with gardening to be able to help people in each unique situation. Sometimes plants even find their way back to Gill’s. DeAnna Baumgartner, Nursery Manager with 33 years at Gill’s, describes many instances where customers have gifted their cherished plants back to DeAnna once they are no longer able to care for them, knowing that the plants will enjoy a good home.

Garden center staff, including Buyer, Debbie Pinkerton are always researching and navigating the complex world of garden products to bring customers the best of the best. While always looking for new plants, new ideas, and new solutions to share with the community, Gill professionals take care to ensure that new products will withstand the local climate and meet customer’s long-term needs.

Out in the community, Gill landscape designers and landscape installation crews work incredibly hard to make each client’s vision a living, growing reality. Residential and commercial landscape design and build projects include everything from plants and garden beds to trees and hardscape construction. Landscape Designer Kathy Hubner with 31 years at Gill’s has seen all sorts of projects come to life. One of her specialties is creating beautiful vignettes and different views within a small space. With one long-term client, she has embarked on a garden adventure and continued to modify their residential space to include plants, materials, and design elements inspired by the client’s world travels. For example, Kathy and her crew planted Viburnum to create a green wall reminiscent of the hedgerows in the Hamptons.

Passion for Learning and Sharing

If you spend 20 minutes walking around outside with James Gill, he will teach you the name(s) of every plant you see (scientific and folk names) and which ones are edible, medicinal, poisonous, or otherwise. James describes himself as a plant evangelist and is dedicated to sharing that deep knowledge with as many people as possible. According to James, the main benefits of gardening are “spiritual first, but it’s also great exercise.” Gardening can be compared to learning music or art; anyone at any age and any level of expertise can enjoy it. Gardening will meet you at your level, but you can spend a lifetime learning and growing.

That passion and excitement for learning and sharing knowledge has become one of the core values at Gill’s. Gill’s regularly conducts community outreach activities including their weekly Gill Garden News, Garden Tips, Garden Talks series, interacting on social media, and partnerships with local schools and nonprofits.

Thank You!

As Gill Landscape Nursery celebrates 40 years of serving the Coastal Bend community, Sally and James look forward to the future. Like most business owners, they want Gill’s to stay vibrant and continue to grow. The Gill team, along with Sally and James, want to thank you for the years of friendship, crazy fun, and challenging times we have all had. Thank you for letting us connect you with plants; we truly love the excitement and energy that is shared with garden successes.

– Jesse Jenkins