peppers

It may not feel like it yet, but Fall is coming! It’s already time to plant your tomatoes and peppers. We want to make sure you get a big harvest with plenty to share! Here are a few key tips.

Tips for Tomatoes

Start tomatoes in a bed enriched with Nature’s Blend Compost, about 1 bag per 12 square feet mixed into the existing soil. You can also plant them in pots, but make sure the pot is large enough; tomato plants get big! Use a good potting mix if planting in pots. As you plant, add a couple tablespoons of Bio-tone plant starter under the roots. This will help your plants get off to a rapid start and develop a strong root system. Tomatoes are one of the very few plants that can and should be planted deep. Plant deep and new roots will grow off the main stem. Key tip: add a tomato cage when you plant! If you try to add it later, you’ll end up breaking branches.

Feed tomatoes once a month with a good organic like Plant-tone or Medina Growin’ Green, and supplement every 2 weeks with liquid Hasta Gro to ensure good production. Set a calendar reminder for the 1^st (granular food) and the 15^th of the month (liquid food) to make this easy.

Be sure to rotate where you plant your tomatoes! This will help in the prevention of root knot nematodes as well as other problems that can occur. Learn more about crop rotation here.

Tips for Peppers

Peppers love warm weather and sunlight, so its important to get them going now to get good production before temps get too cool. Unlike tomatoes, peppers should be planted level with the surrounding soil or slightly higher. Like most plants, they have feeder roots on the surface of the root ball which should not be buried with soil. Otherwise, use the same procedure as tomatoes. Enrich the existing soil with Nature’s Blend Compost and add Bio-tone plant starter when you plant.

Peppers are heavy feeders too if you want good production. You can follow the same feeding schedule: 1st of the month with a granular organic food, then 15^th of the month with liquid Hasta Gro.

Tips for Watering!

Since it’s still very warm out, be sure you have a good plan for watering your garden. New veggie plants will need water every day, at least until they get established. It’s a good idea to position your veggie beds near a water source if you’re planning to water by hand. Soaker hoses are great for veggie beds too. Just snake a soaker hose around your plants in the bed and turn on the water as needed. Soaker hoses also help ensure proper watering – remember that plants should be watered at ground level, not sprayed from above. A good layer of mulch over your veggie beds will help retain moisture. And we’ll say it again…a moisture meter will come in handy and take out the guesswork.

It may not feel like it today, but we are soooo close to a gorgeous Spring, and there’s lots to do in the garden. Here’s our top 5 to focus on in February to prep for an amazing Spring season.

Check out our February 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. Stay Ahead of Big Weather Changes

As we’re seeing right now, seasonal transitions can be a roller coaster of weather events. Beautiful one day, frigid the next. It’s important to know what’s coming our way so you can plan your gardening projects & protect newly planted gardens if needed. We use NOAA as our go to for current weather & upcoming forecasts.

2. Plant Spring Edibles. Tomatoes sooner; Peppers later.

Beloved tomato growing is rewarding and can be challenging. Planting them early this month is a good step toward a bountiful harvest. Tomatoes need cooler nights to have good fruit set. When you buy your tomato starts, buy a tomato cage to install while they’re small. It can act as a frame for cold weather protection (a bag or blanket) if needed and a frame to support your plants as they grow.

Peppers, on the flip side, will be stunted (even killed) by cooler temps. Below 55 is no good for heat-loving peppers. Wait to plant peppers the end of Feb into March. You can go ahead and start other favs like squash, cucumbers, beans, & greens either by seed or transplants mid-Feb.

3. Feed Veggies & Flowers

The warm weather has sent most flowers & veggies on a growing spurt. A good meal of organic plant food like Plant Tone or Medina Growin Green will ensure they continue to look and produce their best for your garden. Both of these are granules that can easily be spread around plants then watered in. Plus, they feed the soil to keep it healthy.

4. Cut back ornamental grasses.

Most of these grasses like Purple Fountain Grass, Muhly Grass, & others are in need of a good shearing to look nice again this Spring. Do this now before the new growth starts. Have a sharp pair of hedge or hand pruners, tie up the grass clump with twine or rope to see the base of the grass. Cut straight across about 4-6in above the ground. This exposes the crown to more light helping to begin their fresh new growth. And you will not have to clean old brown blades out of the new green ones later this Spring.

5. Keep Watch for Winter Insects

Scale is a hard bodied sucking insect that looks like a brown booger stuck to the leaves of plants. Some of their favorites are Burford Holly, Bird of Paradise, Flax Lily, & Irises. They are easily controlled with a spray of organic All Seasons Oil Spray. It literally coats and suffocates the insect. It’s also good for treating indoor plants that may have scale or spider mites.

Check out our February Garden Guide for more tips!

We’ve met so many kids over the years (as young as 10 months old) who really get a kick out of gardening. While kids and teachers are on a much-needed break from school next week, and the weather warms up, try a fun gardening project at home!

March is the perfect time to plant vegetables from seeds, including beans, okra, radishes, pumpkins, and watermelons. Now is also a great time to start small tomato plants, peppers, cucumbers, squash, eggplant, and strawberries. You don’t need to be an expert or have a ton of space to get started – these fruits and veggies can be grown in garden beds or in containers. Kids love watching their plants start to grow and getting to eat their fresh and healthy food once its ripe!

Fruits and veggies are fun and so are flowers! Plant Cosmos, Zinnias, and Sunflower seeds now to get beautiful color and attract butterflies and birds. Marigolds and Petunias are nice and easy!

We have child-sized gardening tools and gloves, colorful flags, bird houses, bug houses, and all the seeds, plants, and supplies you might need to create a fun space for kids to enjoy gardening.

-Jesse

As the spring equinox arrives, I’m wondering if Mr. Sunshine is ever coming back from his southern hemisphere vacation? Well, there’s no time to wait for the sun; I’m making hay without it! So, I’ve started pulling up the winter garden and sharing our final harvest.

The cool cloudy days make working in the yard wonderful! The plants are happy, the pets are frisky, and I’m not having a heat stroke in March. Gardening is an instant boost to the gloomy moods of cloudy days. Tons of research supports those words, but still the best is to get out and “see for yourself”.

Here’s some tips for instant “feel goods” in your garden. No sun needed!

Plant Some Color!

Spring flowers make me smile and my soil has not been too wet to plant. I’m adding color to my pots with new flowers and coleus. We have a new potting mix at Gill’s called Premium Potting Mix. It’s made by Back to Nature and I can’t wait to try it! Every plant’s getting a dose of Hasta Gro plant food.

Trim-Clean-Weed

Trimming off damaged branches and ugly foliage is helping my plants and me. I’m getting a great workout and they’ll be healthier with the spring flush of new growth.

Pulling weeds in our courtyard gets me face to face with my dogs; always a happy place!

Plant Tomatoes & Spring Veggies

The cool and clouds have prolonged tomato planting time. I’ll be putting in mine this coming weekend, rain permitting…LOL. I’m planning for peppers, squash, tomatillos, basil, maybe cucumbers, and eggplant. The cool cloudy days are keeping the bugs at bay too! At least so far…can I get an Amen?

Mulch It

Fresh mulch around your trees and flower beds makes everything look really good…really! I love hardwood mulch and pine straw. It’s a matter of taste; black, red, cypress, cedar, rock…they’re all available at Gills.

Bring It In!

If the weather just won’t let you get outside, there’s always something for your indoors. For instance, I did this air bromeliad project last weekend while it was raining. I bought a piece of our new driftwood, several tillandsias, a bag of royal pool moss from the nursery; dug out my old glue gun and had a blast putting this all together!

Happy Gardening Anytime! Rain or Shine!

-Debbie

April is here! We’re cruising right into a beautiful Spring – there’s lots to do to make the most of all this sunshine and new growth! Here’s our list to get done this month.

Check out our April 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. Feed Your Lawn and Plants

Fertilizing/feeding your plants this month is a must. This includes lawns, trees, and most plants. Everything is actively growing, which means they’ll need more food to continue looking their best. For lawns we love organic Medina Growin’ Green or our Gill Lawn and Garden Food. Growin’ Green is great for shrubs and trees too. For blooming perennials and annual flowers, we really like organic Plant Tone by Espoma and Medina Hasta Gro liquid.

2. Anchor Your Landscape with Trees and Shrubs

Trees and shrubs are like the bones of your landscape. They provide structure for you to embellish with all sorts of other textures and color. You can plant most trees year-round, but these favs will greatly benefit by planting now: Citrus, Crape Myrtles, Mountain Laurels, Wild Olive, and Bottlebrush. Classic shrubs like Boxwoods, Ligustrum, Viburnum, Pineapple Guava, Eleagnus, and Texas Sage are all great to plant right now too. Planting now gives them time to start growing and you more time to enjoy.

3. Attract Helpful Guests

Add some blooming perennials to attract pollinators like butterflies, bees, and birds to your garden. You’ll enjoy watching them work and they’ll help you have more blooms and better production on your veggies! Think all kinds of Salvias, Butterfly Weed, Lantana, and Mist Flower for butterflies, anything that blooms for bees, and natives like Turk’s Cap that produce a fruit or berry for birds.

4. Plant Your Warm Weather Veggies

It’s still time to plant hot peppers, squash, zucchini, basil, beans, and more. Tomato time has almost passed, but if you still really want to plant a tomato, choose a cherry tomato that can still set fruit in warmer weather.

5. Share Tips with New Gardeners

One of our favorite things about Spring is meeting folks who are new to gardening. There’s so much to share! Chances are, if you’re a regular here at Gill’s, you know a thing or 2 about gardening. Now is a great time to share tips for success (or lessons from failure) with friends and neighbors. You can always connect with us on Facebook and Instagram or send questions & pics to info@gillnursery.com. Help us encourage new gardeners to subscribe to the Gill Garden News!

Check out our April Garden Guide for more tips!

May means Mom’s Day, graduations, and more BBQs and family holidays outside! May is also Mental Health Awareness Month. As gardeners, we know growing plants and being outdoors are necessary for our wellbeing…and so much fun! Here are our Top 5 Must Do’s this May to help you and your garden make the transition to warmer weather.

Check out our May 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. Plant Blooming Perennials

It’s still time to plant lots of different blooming perennials. Get them established now so they are better adapted to withstand warmer temps this Summer. Staples like Esperanza, many varieties of Salvia, Jatropha, Lantana, and more are all blooming beautifully right now. We’re excited about Cape Town Honeysuckle this month (see pic above). It grows to about 4-5’ tall and wide, whereas its relative, Cape Honeysuckle, grows to 8’ or more. Lots of blooms and lots more options for placement. Added bonus: these blooming perennials attract pollinators like butterflies and hummingbirds!

2. Plant and Harvest Veggies

Warm weather veggie time! Plant peppers, zucchini, squash, and okra this month for continued harvesting into the Summer months. If you planted tomatoes, cucumbers, and other early Spring veggies, you’ll be harvesting now or soon. Be sure to harvest often! It keeps birds & insects from finding them first. If you do have insect issues in your veggie garden, our go-to organic control is Spinosad – safe for food but takes care of bugs. And remember to keep watering as the weather warms up. Soaker hoses are great to snake around your plants keeping water close to the ground and root systems.

3. Tend Your Lawn

It’s vital to water your lawn once a week unless we have rain. Invest in a sprinkler that’ll do the work – we have them. Hand watering the lawn may feel therapeutic, but you won’t get good coverage and depth.

When mowing, the proper height for St. Augustine lawns is around 3 inches. For Bermuda lawns keep mowed to around 2-2.5 inches.

Feed with Natural Fertilizers: Medina Growin Green or Milorganite. These feed the lawn and the soil with great results. Water in to get them started.
Watch for lawn insects & treat when needed. Grub worms & chinch bugs are easy to control when caught early but there’s no need to treat unless you have them. Bayer Season-long Grub Control will do the trick for grubs. Cyonara takes care of chinch bugs.

4. Look for Thirsty Plants

Watch your plants and they will show you when they need a drink. Most show signs of wilting (see photo). That’s a sign they need water soon. Once you give them a drink, they perk up quickly. But some will not tell you until it is too late, like a live oak tree. Invest in a moisture meter. They help to read the moisture with a poke into the soil around the roots. We have them and they’re very easy to use.

5. Gifts for Moms and Grads

Let us help you find something pretty, useful, or both for the gardening moms and grads in your life. Pottery, birdbaths, wind chimes, garden tools, hats, gloves – lots of options. Or the gift that gardeners love most – plants!

Check out our May Garden Guide for more tips! Happy gardening!

August is the homestretch to that next great planting season…Fall! So, no surprise August is about getting ready for cooler days ahead while keeping everything hydrated and pretty.

Check out our August 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. Prepare gardens for planting

Clean out, pull up tired veggies, herbs, & flowers. Weed garden beds, add Cotton Burr Compost or Nature’s Blend Compost to your planting areas. Healthy soil makes healthy plants!

2. Keep Your Lawn and Landscape Watered

So important that plants, trees, and your lawn get enough H2O. Established trees, shrubs and lawns need an average of 1 inch of water per week if we don’t get rain. Newly planted plants & grass need more.

3. An Oasis for Wildlife

With summer heat, local wildlife is searching for water. Add a place you can keep a birdbath or shallow dish with fresh water for birds, butterflies, frogs, lizards, and others to get a much-needed drink. Change it often.

4. Start Seeds & Transplant

Start them in small pots to transplant later in the month or plant transplants & sow directly into the soil. Keep seed beds and starter plants shaded from afternoon sun until they acclimate to full sun. Tomatoes, peppers, and host of veggies & herbs will be here in seed and transplants. If you want pumpkins for Halloween, you need to start the seeds this month!

5. Feed Your Plants

Most tropical plants & summer bloomers will need a good meal by now. Plant Tone, Rose Glo, and Hasta Gro are all effective organic fertilizers that help your plants and soil. Hibiscus Food is a favorite for many as well. All will give your plants a good feeding.

We’re all ready to start our edible gardens. Early veggies & herbs are coming next week beginning August 13th! Starting with fresh peppers, tomatoes, and herbs that can take summer temps. Every week we will add more to the mix.