We’ve passed the halfway point for 2026…that was fast! We hope you’re having lots of fun this summer – holidays, BBQs, weekend trips, and garden projects! Here are our top must-do’s to keep your plants healthy and happy in July, including tips for planting, watering, and summer pests to watch out for.
1. Yes, You Can Plant in the Summer!
Myth: I’ve heard that you can’t plant in the summer because its too hot… FACT: Of course you can!! You can plant just about anything in our summers, including trees, as long as you have a good plan for watering. In fact, summer is a great time to plant crape myrtles because they’re blooming and you get to choose the color IRL! While we’re past the season for spring veggies like tomatoes, there are still plenty of summer veggies like okra, peppers, eggplant, and melons to plant now. If you want your own fresh pumpkins for Halloween, start ’em in July. Plus, now’s a great time to set table for the fall hummingbird migration with their fav blooming perennials like Firebush, Firecracker plant (pictured), native flame Acanthus, and Dicliptera aka Hummingbird Bush. Don’t let any myths discourage your summer gardening!
2. Watering: Think Depth, Not Frequency
Proper hydration happens when you get water down to the roots of the plant. This means watering deeply, not more frequently. Plants need long, slow, deep drinks! Encourage those roots to dive deeper for water. Even with recent summer rains (yay!!), continue to watch your watering and maintain that depth moisture. If you notice this summer that you’re having to water your potted plants a lot more often, it could be time to re-pot. As the pot fills up with roots, you end up with less soil and therefore less moisture retention.
3. Mulch to Keep Roots Cool
Another way to save water is to keep landscape beds and gardens mulched through the summer. Studies show that a good 3″ layer of mulch will keep your plant roots more than 20 degrees cooler! Not only that, a good mulch layer also helps retain moisture AND keeps weeds at bay. Healthy plants, less watering, and fewer weeds – that’s a win/win/win! It’s important to use natural wood or pine straw mulch that breaks down over time, NOT the red dyed stuff! As natural mulch breaks down, it adds nutrients and makes your soil more workable. Keep in mind, mulch is also a great placeholder. If you have areas that you plan to plant later, keep them mulched to keep weeds out and keep your soil healthy and ready to plant when you are.
4. Watch for More Bugs in Summer
This is what a mealybug infestation looks like!
Not all bugs are bad, so it’s important to know your bugs before you spray anything, even organics. A few bugs here and there is most likely not cause for alarm. If you do get an infestation, cut the plant back first, give it some fertilizer, then treat for bugs. By pruning first, you won’t have to treat every leaf on the whole plant. We see plants come back better than ever using this method. If you’re not sure about bugs or pruning, we’re here to help. During summer, watch out for mealybugs on plants like Hibiscus and Turk’s Cap, lacebugs on Lantana, and chinch bugs in the lawn – especially near sidewalks and driveways! We’ve got solutions for all of the above.
5. Yes, You Should Fertilize in the Summer!
Continue to feed plants, especially heavy bloomers and veggies through the summer. Keep in mind that strong, healthy plants are less susceptible to pests and disease. Speaking of strong, try a good liquid foliar food like Medina Hasta Gro about every other week in addition to your granular feedings about once a month. The foliar food sprayed directly on the leaves really makes those leaves stronger and more robust. Lots of gardeners like to use liquid seaweed in the summer for a similar purpose, to help fortify and summer-proof your plants. What about lawns? If you haven’t fed your lawn yet, you can still do that too. If you have, you don’t need to feed it again until the fall.
Thanks to your appreciation for good sharp tools, tool sharpening is now an everyday service here! Bring ‘em now for Spring projects.
Pruners, loppers, & axes: $10 ea
Hedge shears: $15 ea
Extra dirty? Add $2
I am an honorary aunt to two adorable little girls who enjoy games and craft projects.Every Sunday I try to find a fun activity that will teach and entertain them.I came across these ideas that incorporate my love of gardening and responsibility to do my part to recycle.
Ever wonder what to do with those Capri Sun empty pouches?They make a great instant flower pot.Just rinse them out and poke holes in the bottom.Fill with dirt and plant a seed or bedding plant of your choice.
Plastic gallon milk jugs are another great opportunity to recycle.Just cut in half and poke holes in the bottom and plant a cooking herb.Keep the top half to use as a cover for cold protection. What fun to cook with fresh ingredients.
Both of these ideas are fun learning opportunities and inexpensive group activities.
-Mary
This past Saturday we had our Creative Container Gardens talk. I enjoy giving this talk because making potted plant combinations is a treat – so easy & fun.
Contrast and repeat for plant selection is key for creating combinations with good visual impact. Choosing the proper container, potting mix, careful planting and using pot feet puts it all together. Timely watering, regular fertilizing, watching our weather, site consideration and pest monitoring helps keep it all going.
Container gardens are versatile. Along with the huge number of plant choices and container styles, you can easily move them around if you need or want to. They can be grouped for greater effect and also raised at varying heights for even more options.
Making a beautiful container garden can also provide more return benefits. They give us the opportunity to experiment, practice patience, engage creativity, see connections, feed curiosity, practice pragmatics, learn – unlearn, slow down, relax, share, play, re-evaluate “perfect”, and even be a little silly – hence the glasses on cacti!
Collect rainwater and pronounce names any way you want.
“I cultivate my garden and my garden cultivates me.” – Robert Braught
Beautifully contains it all.
-Merlien
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
This is a project I have been wanting to do for a while now, and it was a lot easier than I was expecting. So naturally, I want to share the project idea with our customers!
Staghorn ferns are eye-catching plants that make for a beautiful indoor addition to any home! This fern is naturally epiphytic, meaning that it generally grows on trees or other surfaces. In this case, a slab of wood!
The staghorn fern would be happy indoors in bright indirect light or in a shady area in your backyard. Watering requires a heavy misting and the frequency will depend on if you intend for it to be outdoors or indoors.
All you need for this project is wood, a hammer and 25-30 nails, scissors and twine, sphagnum moss, and a staghorn fern!
First you will want to assemble your wooden base.
This can be made of scrap wood, drift wood, or anything lying around. Before long, the plant will steal any attention away from the wood backing, so don’t worry if it’s imperfect. I used some scrap wood I found in my garage.
Next, you will want to take your fern out of the pot, and gently brush away as much dirt as you can to expose the roots.
Staghorn ferns don’t need soil to root in, so we will be replacing much of this with our sphagnum moss. Lay the fern onto the wood until you’ve got it in a place that looks best, making sure to try and leave the fern’s shield in tact. These will eventually grow over the sphagnum root-ball holding the plant to the wood.
Once the plant is set, trace your circle for your nails and get to work!
The nails encircling the plant will be what holds everything in place, so don’t be stingy with the nails! I used 25-30 nails and got them about a half-inch away from one another. Leave the nails half way out of the wood so you will have plenty of anchorage for the twine.
Next you’ll need to wet a couple of handfuls of moss in a shallow dish, and press it down over the fern’s roots, making sure to cover everything from the shield down.
I used the twine to anchor the plant until I felt it was completely secure, and then finished nailing the nails in all of the way into the wood. And that’s all, folks! Super easy and super fun project that only took about 45 minutes.
-Kady
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
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.
This is what a mealybug infestation looks like!
-Mary
-Merlien
How To: 
-Kady
– Jesse Jenkins
