Landscape Design

Our Top Plant Picks For Summer

Of all the plants that we sell throughout the year, there are always those the really rise above the rest for each season. For summer these are the plants we think outshine many for their blooms, toughness, carefree maintenance, and best of all, they will look beautiful in your landscape during our hot summer months! Plant these now, so that they bloom in your garden all summer long!

Crape Myrtles
Poincianas
Bougainvilleas
Lantana
Coral Vine (before it blooms)
Periwinkles
Esperanza
Texas Sage
Red Yucca
Rock Rose
Turks Cap
Firebush

-Marta

JUST LIKE MAGIC!

Few weeks back, Grace, James’ landscape design assistant, got to spend her morning with several hundred 2nd & 3rd graders at the Early Scholars Academy next to London School. Grace taught kinder through 8th grade in Banquette before she joined us at Gill’s, so this was like “old home week” for her. Grace spoke to the kids about her job at Gill’s. They were fascinated that Grace could be given a pencil drawn rough sketch and she could transform it into a colorful scaled landscape using an computer aided drafting program. Just like magic!

-Sally

I recently moved into a new house, and after living in apartments for years, I was so excited to have a real garden! Our new home had green plants, but only of the weed variety. I figured since I help people plan their gardens all day here at the nursery that it would be a snap to design my new garden and install it. I was wrong. So wrong. As soon as I walked into Gill’s to get all my supplies, my thoughts on what plants to get flew out the window! After walking around for a while I remembered a customer who came in the day before who had a blank space in their garden too. So I decided to treat myself like I would a customer, and it all became clear! So if you have a new space to plan, here’s my advice.

Decide on a color palette or a style of garden that you want. It’ll help keep your mind focused as you walk through the store.
Check your soil. As soon as we started digging we discovered that our house is firmly situated in pure clay. So we had to come back and get Expanded Shale, Landscaper’s Mix and Cotton Burr Compost to amend it.
If you’re working on a project with somebody take a few minutes to just walk around the store and point out what you like. It will not only inspire you, but it’ll help you both decide what will make you happy.
Measure, measure, measure! It’s so important to have a clear idea of the size space you’re working with, because there is nothing worse than coming home with too many plants or too few.
Still flummoxed? Try breaking down the area into smaller chunks. Do one bed at a time, or just decide on one focal plant. As you work on a more specific goal, it will get easier to make progress.

After a lot of sweat and cursing at clay (which unfortunately doesn’t help break it up), we finished our front beds next to the house. Now all we have left is the entire backyard. It’ll keep us busy at least!

-Marta

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 knowledge – enjoy!

Orchidacaea is the largest flowering plant family in the world. This family has more than 25,000 documented species which is about four times the number of mammal species in the world today! The Royal Horticultural Society estimates that we are close to nearing half a million hybridized varieties, along with new orchids being created in labs or discovered every day.

Orchids are a very diverse plant species as they occur naturally on every continent except Antarctica. They can grow as epiphytes which attach to trees, lithophytes which attach to rocks, or terrestrial which grow in the ground like most plants. They are known for being the tropical, bright-colored beauties in the rainforests and they are also known for being the state flower of Minnesota – the Showy Lady’s slipper. Orchids also occur in every color except for true black or true blue – if you see these colors it is likely that they are either dyed or you are seeing a very vibrant spectrum of purple.

Perhaps the most beneficial orchid is Vanilla planifolia – the vanilla plant. This is a vining species whose roots start in the ground and began to attach to a tree and vine to the top. When this orchid flower is pollinated and creates a seed pod, the seeds are the little black specs that you see in your vanilla bean ice cream! This is the only orchid that is being farmed for industrial purposed in the food and cosmetic industry.

The one thing that almost every orchid species has in common is their floral arrangement: The outer three flower parts are sepals and the inner three flower parts are beautifully colored petals. A fun fact is that a study has been done to prove that humans have such a fascination with orchids because the orchid flower has bilateral symmetry – like a human face – which makes humans have an affinity to caring for them. It has been said that “When someone looks at an orchid, it looks back at you.”

Orchids can see out of reach for many of us as they are one of the oldest plants to live on Earth – over ten million years! On average they take seven years to grow from seed to flower! And people have been known to catch “orchid fever” when collecting them (read the book Orchid Fever by Eric Hansen!) But, it is important to not became intimidated by orchids. In fact, they require a certain amount of neglect in order for them to grow happily. Here are some tips for growing your own orchid collection:

Here in Corpus Christi, you can grow your orchids outside year round – only needing to bring them inside if the temperature is going to drop below 40 degrees, or 45 if you want to play it safe.
Keeping in mind that most of the orchids you will find for sale grow epiphytically on tree trunks, they receive dappled light under the tree canopy. Try to mimic that environment always. If you are growing indoors, Eastern facing light is always best as it is the cool, bright light of the morning.
Next, think again of the natural environment of your orchid. The root systems are exposed in nature and not potted. A good way to mimic this is to water once a week by leaching the pot, allowing the water to drain through the bottom for a few minutes. Never let your orchid sit in water as this will rot its roots – this would never happen in nature because after a rain storm the wind would dry the orchid’s roots. Air flow is vital to the health of your orchid.
Fertilizing your orchid should be thought of as giving a vitamin supplement. You should not fertilize with the intention of encouraging blooming. You will want to feed a balanced fertilized, like Fertilome Water Soluble Plant Food 20-20-20, and remember the “weekly/weakly” solution: feed fertilizer once a week at a 50% dilution rate.
Pest control is best done with a preventative mindset rather than waiting until you have a problem to treat it. I believe the best preventative is neem oil (Natural Guard Neem Ready To Use) – this is an organic treatment that you can apply to your orchids twice a month. The crucial part of applying neem oil is to be sure to never apply it in temperatures over 85 degrees or in the sunlight as it can burn the leaves of your plants. The best solution is to spray in the evenings so that it has all night to dry.
Repotting your orchid should only occur when your plant’s roots began growing over the side and attaching to the pot. It is normal to have aerial roots that stick out of the pot. Simply remove your orchid from the pot, throw away all of the old bark or sphagnum moss mixture, clean up the roots by pulling dead roots away with your hands (try to avoid cutting anything) and then re-pot in a bark mixture.
A special note on Phalaenopsis, the most popular orchid kept as a houseplant, is that this particular orchid does part of its photosynthetic process through its roots – this makes it very important to keep it potted in a clear plastic container so that its roots can see the light

Please take some time to enjoy some of the beautiful orchids in my life and find some inspiration to be patient with yours!

–Emily

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 will produce more than enough flowers to make a bouquet for yourself and a friend each week. Your garden plot must be in a place that receives at least 6-8 hours of sunlight every day. If you are unsure about the amount of full sun a certain spot receives each day, dedicate a day to checking the same spot hourly: from 8am until 5pm. Take notes each hour on what the sun conditions in that spot are. This may sound menial, but when planting near trees, the sunlight can be tricky! The next thing to consider is the location of your garden in reference to a viable water source. Keep it simple for yourself rather than having to constantly drag a garden hose. The final thought in choosing a location for your cutting garden is to place it out of sight. This may sound crazy to you, but will you be able to cut the beautiful flowers if you can see them from your favorite spot in the house or on the porch?

Creating your garden bed is the most important part of starting to grow any plants, especially cut flowers. You will need enough compost to add 6 inches to your 3’ x 10’ bed and enough mulch to cover 3-4 inches to cover your 3’ x 10’ bed. Feeding your plants with fertilizer is not the same thing as feeding your soil, you must plan to continuously add compost to be feeding your soil. You should be mindful of the hundreds of thousands beneficial microbes in the top 6 inches of your soil and your goal should be to constantly feed them and keep them in your garden as they are helping to keep the bad bugs away and to keep your garden soil aerated and stronger. By continuously adding organic matter, you are setting your garden up to become more self-sustainable each season.

My sweet boy, Baylor, always loves to inspect my freshly prepped garden beds. Photo courtesy of The Honey Bee & the Hound

To start making your 3’ x 10’ garden bed, first you must clear the designated area of any vegetation. Burn Out and Horticultural Vinegar are great organic herbicides. Once your bed area is free and clear of grass and weeds, you will start turning the soil in your bed simply by using a shovel. You will dig down as far as you can and place the shovel-full of dirt and make a pile of the dirt you have dug out. You should be digging out 3”-6” of soil. Next you will need a fork to put in the very bottom of the bed you have dug out to aerate and open the sub-soil. Your goal should be to make as many little holes in the very bottom of the bed as possible. Now you will need to get some compost, such as Cotton Burr Compost, to add about 3” of compost to the bottom of the newly dug-out bed. After you have added some compost, you will now add back in the soil that you have dug out to begin with. To top off your bed, you will add another 2”-3” of compost. Your end result should be a 3’ x 10’ bed that is raised about 6” above the ground. While this method of “double-digging” is much more labor-intensive than using a piece of machinery such as a tiller, but it more beneficial for your garden in many ways: it protects the beneficial insects and tiny microbes living in the top six inches of your soil that protect your plants from harmful pests and keeps the soil a healthy, living, necessary part of your healthy, happy flowers. It also helps to keep you accountable for your care of your garden – when you put that much work into starting a garden, you are bound to keep it up and to love and care for it often!

My favorite activity these days is riding around to find someone to share my flowers with! Photo courtesy of The Honey Bee & the Hound Cut Flower Farm

Next is the fun part: picking out the seeds to plant in your brand new garden bed! My three recommendations would be a Zinnia (Pumila Cut & Come Again), a Basil (such as Petra), and a
Sunflower. You will plant all of your seeds on a 6” x 6” grid. This will give the plants enough room to fully grow in while utilizing every bit of your space. With this combination of flowers you will easily have flowers for a bouquet that smells good and will come back week after week in your garden.

Fresh bouquets of zinnia and basil – photo courtesy of The Honey Bee & the Hound Cut Flower Farm

In order to maintain your new cut flower garden, you must stay on top of the weeds! The easiest way to get ahead of the weeds is to begin mulching your garden when your seedlings have grown 6” tall. Add 3” of mulch at a time using grass cuttings and old leaves that you have collected. This should allow you to have a whole season of no weeding necessary!

Enlisting your feathered ladies to help keep the weeds and pests down is always a good idea as long as they do not try to sit on your seedlings! – Photo courtesy of The Honey Bee & the Hound Cut Flower Farm

Lastly, when you go to cut your flowers be sure to do it in the cool part of the early mornings or late evenings. If you cut during the high noon sun, your flowers will likely wilt. Allow your flowers to sit in a bucket of water for at least six hours before beginning to arrange them in a bouquet. This allows them to get maximum hydration. Once you have gone through a season with your first cutting garden, I encourage you to begin looking for the seeds of the flowers that your mother and grandmother grew. This is what helps to make me feel so connected with my cutting gardens – I can cut the same bouquet that my late grandmother used to put on her dining room table and it makes me connect with her in a very special way. Enjoy!

To learn more, be sure to come to Gill’s on Airline this Saturday (September 10, 2016) for Emily’s Garden Talk:

”From Beginning to Bouquets – Cultivating Cut Flowers”

If you would like to connect with a local cut flower farm, visit

www.thehoneybeeandthehound.com

-Emily Capule, Flower Farmer and Gill’s Landscape Design Assistant

An International Landscape Conference Worth Traveling 3,000 Miles to Experience!

That’s right, last week I flew 3,000 miles round trip to Toronto, Canada to meet with 137 landscape design colleagues from the U.S., U.K., Canada, and Saudi Arabia. We bonded with a “full mist” experience at Niagara Falls, wearing our Canadian red rain ponchos.

Then we promptly dried off and got down to business exploring the Niagara Botanical Gardens. I re-discovered old garden favorites such as amaranthus, copper plant, and strawberry fields gomphrena re-imagined in an unusual tapestry of hot summer colors. The plants were alive with birds, butterflies, and bees!

Over the next two days we toured 15 gardens of all sizes and styles. One of my favorites is a tiny 4 year old garden showcasing diversity through materials. The materials came from far and wide, contributing to the result… lumber from a barn in southwest Ontario, a reclaimed mask from New York city, ledge rock from a church in Cambridge, building stone from north eastern Pennsylvania, windows from the home that previously existed on the site and even perennials from the designer’s mom’s garden that were ‘just the right item for that corner’.

Fast forward to the Toronto Botanical Garden where Paul Zammit (renowned garden container designer) told me the benefits of using parsley in garden containers. That’s right, PARSLEY!! I’ll share the “why” and “how tos” with you at my Garden Talk, Saturday September 29th, 10 am, Gill’s, 2810 Airline Road!

-Kathy

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

We are excited to share that Kathy Hubner, one of our landscape designers here at Gill Landscape Nursery, has become only the second Texan and first from Corpus Christi to be named a fellow of the Association of Professional Landscape Designers (APLD)! Kathy is one of only 83 APLD Fellows in the United States. She will receive her designation during the 2019 APLD Conference this summer in Seattle.

As an APLD Fellow, Kathy has been recognized for her significant design contributions, as well as service to the profession of landscape design. She served eight years on the Board of Directors of the APLD from 2000-2007, has been Chair of the APLD Awards Committee since 2014 and has been Treasurer of the Texas Chapter of the APLD since 2012. “It is an honor to receive this designation from my peers in the APLD,” Kathy said. “I’ve dedicated my career to enhancing the professionalism and standards and continuously learning about landscaping technology, science, and practices that translate into quality products for our customers.”

Kathy is one of APLD’s most award-winning designers specializing in complete landscape planning for residential, commercial, and ranch country properties, including patios, pools, outdoor kitchens, water features, shade structures, and updates for existing landscapes. She also specializes in Xeriscape (low water use) planning. Kathy is certified to prepare landscape ordinance plans for commercial projects. In her 30-year career at Gill’s, she has designed and installed landscaping projects throughout the Coastal Bend and South Texas in a wide variety of styles; from Mediterranean to Contemporary to Hill Country/Ranch style.

Visit our landscape department online, call us at 361.992.9674, or stop by 2810 Airline Road to start planning your project with Kathy or any of our other professional landscape designers.

Akasha Yoga is a great example of a collaborative design between property owners and Gill’s landscape designer Harry Villarreal. The owners’ vision for Akasha was to harmonize and integrate the indoor and outdoor spaces. To compliment the modern interior design, the owners used earthy, grounding updates to the exterior including the wooden sign, steel planter boxes, and a gabion rock wall out front.

Harry had the task of tying the existing design elements together with carefully chosen plantings. The owners knew they wanted a low-maintenance landscape with a strong visual impact to accent the clean lines of the space, so Harry kept it minimal: a decomposed granite bed with a single line of Blue Glow Agave and Hedgehog Aloe, Orange Bulbine that can take the heat of the steel planter boxes, and soft Purple Fountain Grass to frame the corner of the gabion wall.

Such a fun, collaborative project for Gill’s that we get to drive by and see on Airline Road every day!

-Jesse