lawn

Feeding your lawn and garden during Fall (mid-September thru early November) provides the nutrients needed for Fall & Winter; AND a healthy start for next Spring.

While the soil is still warm, plants and lawns are actively growing. They take up and store food, but not so much as it gets colder. Fall fertilizing helps your lawn and landscape look their very best now. Prime time is passing quickly so don’t put this off.

We highly recommend our Gill Lawn & Garden Fertilizer. Around here we call it Gill Food. It is specifically blended for our area. It combines fast, slow, and organic forms of nitrogen with micronutrients. Think of it as a great meal for your landscape!

Also high on our list is Medina Growin Green Organic Fertilizer, made from humate, poultry manure, & molasses. It provides balanced nutrient supply, improves soil health, and nutrient availability.

Both of these need to be watered in to work. So plan to water with at least ½ inch of irrigation. And please don’t wait for it to rain… we all know that’s dependable… or not… LOL

See ya soon!

-Debbie

November in South Texas is all about spending time outdoors and gathering with family & friends. Cool weather, crisp evenings, outdoor fires & a beautiful garden… a welcome invitation. Here are our tips to help.

Check out our November Garden Guide for more tips and remember that trees, shrubs, and perennials can be planted 12 months out of the year! The only difference is the amount of water they need depending on temperatures and wind!

1. Spruce Up With Fall Flowers

Here’s our list of Fall/Winter flowers – tons of choices for outdoor color to redo pots & inground plantings. Flowers take a little time to grow and bloom. Plant early this month so they can be WOW for the holidays! Once they’re all planted, give them a good meal of organic Plant Tone or Hasta Gro.

2. Plant Trees and Shrubs

Now is the best time to plant cold-hardy shrubs and trees. They grow & develop a good root system for better success next Spring and Summer. They will need water & care, just not as much as during warmer seasons. Always fertilize when you plant and follow our watering instructions.

3. Last Chance to Feed Your Lawn!

Fertilize now if you have not done so this Fall. Our top choices: Medina Growin’ Green or Gill Lawn & GardenFood. Apply pre-emergent for winter weed control & treat brown spots in lawns with peat moss or Nature’s Blend Compost to help with fungus control. You can also lay new sod or overseed with winter rye grass in lawn areas that are unsightly.

4. Freshen Up Inside and Out

Time to freshen up before the guests arrive! If you have houseplants that aren’t looking their best, take them to a shady spot outside on a warm day to get some fresh air. Some fresh air + a shot of liquid Hasta Gro works wonders for houseplants. There’s plenty to do outside too: pull weeds, trim shrubs a little to shape, rake beds, then feed your plants with a good organic fertilizer such as Plant Tone or Rose Glo. Finally, add new mulch to give everything a polished look! Water once a week if we don’t get rain.

5. Fall Herbs For Holiday Cooking

Cooking without herbs would be such a waste of thyme! Sage, Rosemary, Cilantro, Parsley, Fennel, Dill, (and Thyme) are just a few herbs that thrive in our Fall & Winter months. Limited space? A sunny spot, container & a few favorite herbs is all you need. We can even pot them up for you.

Take-All Root Rot (TARR), or Take-All Patch, is a serious fungal disease affecting St. Augustine and Bermuda grass lawns in the Coastal Bend. I have diagnosed 4 cases in the last 7 days, with lawn damage ranging from a few small dead spots up to an 80% dead lawn overrun by weeds, which last year was a great source of pride to the now-dismayed owner.

High soil pH, soil compaction, too much or too little fertilizer, too much or too little irrigation, or herbicide injury are all stress factors that can make lawns more susceptible to TARR. TARR is related to but different from Large Patch (Brown Patch), which we commonly see in Fall and Winter. Large Patch results in temporary brown roughly circular patches during Winter but the lawn revives in Spring, whereas TARR kills roots and runners completely and the lawn will not recover on its own.

TARR, like Large Patch, can be spread by mowers, foot traffic, birds, and wind. TARR cannot be cured or eliminated, but it can be suppressed by cultural practices or by fungicide use. We prefer to treat organically by spreading one 3.8 cubic foot bale of Canadian peat moss over 1000 square feet of lawn in October or November, followed in March by Natures Blend compost at one bag per 50 square feet of lawn. We have had good results in restoring lawns with this method. Or you can choose to apply Fertilome F-Stop fungicide granules in October, November, December, and January, once a month. For patches 3 feet across or more, I recommend plugging Floratam St. Augustine into the dead areas, with a little Natures Blend compost beneath and on top.

First visual symptoms of TARR are yellow patches or strips, followed by thinning brown patches of lawn with a few unhealthy tufts of green, showing some dead brown runners and darkened, weak, unhealthy roots. Confirmation of TARR requires a microscope to observe a network of black filaments running over the surface of infected stolons (runners). Bring in a sample of diseased but still living runners (not completely brown and dead), and we can advise you on best cultural practices to have the best lawn possible.

– James Gill

If your lawn is showing symptoms of this disease (see last week’s blog), you can treat with Disease EX fungicide with the active ingredient Azoxystrobin. Or treat organically by top dressing with Peat Moss in the Fall followed by Natures’ Blend Compost in the Spring. If you suspect any problems with your lawn, we can diagnose and help find the right solution. Watch Wyatt’s video on how to collect a grass sample.

Welcome to 2022! January is the planning month for South Texas gardeners. Time to think about what/where/when/how, and most importantly, why to plant! Here are our top January to-do’s to set you up for a fun and successful Spring.

Check out our January Garden Guide for more tips and remember that trees, shrubs, and perennials can be planted 12 months out of the year! The only difference is the amount of water they need depending on temperatures and wind!

1. Set Your Gardening Intention

What are your reasons for gardening this year? Could be for stress relief, exercise, improving the environment, growing and cooking delicious food, attracting birds, or just enjoying being outside. Think about why you want to garden first, then use the month to plan your new garden spaces, clean up beds, and prepare your planting areas.

2. Keep Planting – But Watch The Weather

Our South Texas Spring is only about 45 days away! Pleasant weather brings the itch to start planting everything, but January weather is quite unpredictable, and temps can drop suddenly. January is a perfect time to plant trees & shrubs, greens & herbs, and cool weather flowers, just hold off on the tender tropicals.

3. Fertilize Your Citrus Trees

Use organic Citrus Tone by Espoma once you’ve finished your harvest. This helps your citrus get ready to bloom this Spring and produce a bumper crop next Fall-Winter. Reapply in June. You can feed in between with organic Hasta Gro.

4. Plant Climbing Roses

Our favorite climbing rose, the Peggy Martin variety, are blooming like crazy right now. Climbing roses benefit from being planted now and should not be cut back until after they have totally gone out of bloom. Other shrub roses should be cut back late January/early Feb to promote new growth and more Spring blooms.

5. Houseplants – Find a Good Spot

The key to vibrant and healthy houseplants is often just finding the right spot. A good starting point is to place near windows that get good indirect light for at least some portion of the day. Be sure to keep houseplants away from A/C and heat vents, which will dry them out. This Pilea is happy on a high shelf about 5 feet from a Western-facing window that gets indirect/dappled light through the trees outside.

6. Lawn Care

This Winter we’ve been diagnosing and treating fungal issues in lawns including the dreaded Take-All Root Rot. Check out our tips for prevention which include applying Peat Moss and making sure that you are not overwatering. For weeds, Bonide Weed & Crabgrass Preventer will help stop weed seeds from sprouting. Weed Beater Complete kills existing weeds and helps stop new weeds from sprouting.

James Gill had his annual Get Ready for Spring garden talk here at Gill’s last weekend. As always, it was a big hit – standing room only! In case you missed it, we decided to do a recap:

Pre-Spring Lawn Tips

Prevent and treat Take All Root Rot using Peat Moss: Rake out dead grass, spread Peat Moss, and water it in. Wait until dry to water again.
Know when to water your lawn – if a screwdriver is hard to push into the soil, its’ time to water. If it pushes into the soil easily, you’ve got enough moisture.
Wait to fertilize your lawn until it’s growing, and you need to mow it once a week – usually March
If you get Bermuda grass in your landscape beds, use Grass B Gone
There’s not a practical way to remove Bermuda grass in your St. Augustine lawn – the best way is to keep your St. Augustine healthy (watered and fed) and it will choke out the Bermuda

To Prune or Not to Prune?

Prune Now

Lantana
Esperanza
Plumbago
Hibiscus
Firebush
Jatropha
Grasses
Shrub Roses

Do Not Prune

Crape Myrtles
Citrus Trees
Bougainvillea
Fig Trees

Prune AFTER Spring Bloom

Azaleas
Mountain Laurel
Indian Hawthorn
Climbing Roses

Fertilize Citrus Trees Now

Use organic Citrus Tone
Spread inside and just outside the drip line (where water drips off the tree branches and leaves when you water it)

-James

We have a passion for teaching and seeing your gardening success, and we know that gardening can seem challenging to the beginner since there’s so much to learn. That’s also the beauty of it – you can spend a lifetime gardening and still be learning!

We thought it would be fun to hold a talk for newcomers (either new to gardening or new to South Texas) to teach some secrets specific to our area. Here’s what James and Wyatt say would be their #1 piece of advice for newcomers. They’ll be discussing these topics and more this Saturday here at Gill’s – free and open to everyone!

James Gill – South Texas native, landscape designer, Texas Master Certified Nursery Professional (TMCNP), 42 years gardening and landscaping experience:

“Timing is so important! You don’t get beautiful tomatoes in April by planting them in March. And you’ll harvest way more strawberries in Spring by planting them in Fall. Maintaining a healthy lawn is much easier if you anticipate the seasonal periods that potential lawn problems are most likely to occur. Consistent gardening success is based on planning ahead, and we are here to help you with that.”

Wyatt Page – South Texas transplant, avid gardener, Garden Center Assistant Manager – 5 years gardening experience:

“Always start with the soil! It’s the home for your root system – the health of your plants is based on the quality of your soil. Here in South Texas, we have a somewhat tough soil for planting, but learning how to work with it will make you a successful gardener.”

Spring is in full swing and everyone is ready to get their lawn and landscape in shape for the season. Take these 3 steps to healthy grass that looks and feels great.

Remember – a healthy lawn keeps weeds and disease away. If you are having a problem with either, we can help! Bring us a sample of your grass, and we’ll diagnose and supply the best solution.

Wait for the right time to fertilize. Grass has just started to come out of Winter dormancy, and as we continue to get warmer, it will grow quicker. Once you are mowing your lawn once a week, you know it’s time to fertilize – wait until then! If you fertilize too early, before the grass is actively growing, the fertilizer will not be able to do its best work. We recommend using organic Medina Growin’ Green or our Gill Food. Feeding your lawn at the right time will give it the nutrients it needs to thrive through our Summer until we fertilize again in the Fall.
Water thoroughly, not frequently. As we start to warm up, lawns need to be watered once a week with one inch of water. You should maintain this watering now through the Summer. It’s always better to water thoroughly not frequently in order to maintain adequate soil moisture. If you find water running off into the gutter before you get one inch, you need to break your watering into two or three applications on the same day (Cycle Soak Method of Lawn Irrigation). The second and third watering will push the water down deeper into the soil, to help grow a deeper root system.
- Pro tip: Use the Tuna Can Test. Place an empty tuna or cat food can in the area where you are watering, or where your sprinkler is watering. Water the area until the can fills up with 1” of water, and you’ll know you’ve watered thoroughly.
Nature’s Blend: your lawn’s best friend. If you have dead or thin areas in your lawn, now is the time to fix them. Begin with raking out the dead grass in those spots, then spread a thin layer of Nature’s Blend compost across the dirt (about a quarter inch thick). The organic material will encourage new runners in those areas so they can start to grow and fill in. For any dead area 3ft. wide or greater, we recommend plugging in small pieces of sod. If the majority of the lawn is dead, it’s probably time to till, regrade, and re-sod.
- Pro tip: You can spread Nature’s Blend on your lawn 2-3 times a year to enhance your soil structure and prevent Take All Root Rot.

We’re so happy with the results we’ve seen from spreading Nature’s Blend that Gill’s is now offering this service! Give us a call if you’re interested in having us come out with our compost spreader and do the work for you.

– Wyatt