pruning

The freeze certainly damaged some plants, but chances are a lot of them are still alive and will be just fine, even though they look rough right now. Here are a few tips for assessing damage and moving forward into spring!

The Scratch Test

Use the scratch test for most blooming perennials (like Turk’s Cap, different salvias, and Lantana) and woody plants (like Bougainvillea, Esperanza, and Hibiscus). Using your thumbnail, a dime, or pruners, start at the tips of branches and lightly scratch through just the outer layer of bark. If the cambium layer underneath is brown, keep working your way down the branch. Once you see bright green cambium under the bark, you know the plant is still alive! This also tells you where to prune when the time comes (not yet!). See Harry’s video below for a demonstration.

Don’t Prune Just Yet

Since we still have a chance for more cold weather, your best bet is to wait until mid February to cut back the freeze damaged parts of most plants. The ugly freeze-damaged foliage helps insulate the plant against any additional cold snaps. Plus, pruning signals to the plant that it’s time to start putting on new growth. Since that new growth is the most susceptible to cold damage, you want to wait.

Freeze-damaged Turk’s Cap – still very much alive!!

What About “Mushy” Plants?

If you have succulents or plants like Purple Heart or Elephant Ears that turned to mush after the freeze, go ahead and cut away the mushy parts. Leaving those slimy, mushy parts can encourage fungus. When you cut the mush away, you can apply Dusting Sulphur to help seal the wound and prevent fungus. Even a lot of these plants are expected to come back! Time will tell.

Click to Watch – How to do the Scratch Test!

We are beyond excited to host you all in person for our first Garden Talk of 2022! James’ ‘Get Ready for Spring’ talk is a long-standing tradition. If you’ve got questions or just want to learn more about how to prep your garden and landscape for big Spring growth, join us at 10am this Saturday. Here’s a preview from James of some of the topics he plans to cover.

Prune Old Growth to Make Way for New Growth

Clean, sharpen, and lubricate your pruning tools before starting, and before putting tools away. Remember that once you have cut it, you can’t put it back on, this applies to tree limbs, and to human digits, so proceed carefully! My feeling is, cut old growth before new growth has started, to avoid wasting carbohydrate reserves of the plant, and to minimize damage to tender new growth when dragging cut branches out of the plant.

Prepare Your Soil and Get Planting!

Before planting new shubs, vegetables, or annual or perennial flowers, we should prepare the soil with compost. My favorite is Natures Blend Compost, the closest thing to “magic in a bag”. It keeps clay soil lighter and looser, or in sand, helps hold moisture and nutrients available for roots, and provides slow release organic fertility and growth stimulants. Cold tolerant trees, shrubs, annuals, and perennials benefit from being planted as far away from summer heat as possible, so NOW! And it’s time to get your spring veggie garden planted too. Follow up with a good organic mulch after planting, such as our hardwood mulch, that will suppress weeds, retain moisture, moderate soil temperatures as it gets hotter, and contribute to soil texture and fertility as it decomposes.

Early Spring Lawn Care

Do not apply lawn fertilizer on grass too early. When lawns are actively growing and need mowing once a week, that is the time to fertilize grass, usually around the first of March. Some weeds will be coming up in beds and lawns, and some of them can be controlled by hand pulling after a rain, some by mowing regularly so they don’t get tall enough to make seed. But some will be best controlled by applying Bonide Weed Beater Complete, LAWNS ONLY, to kill existing broadleaf weeds and prevent new weeds from sprouting. Or in beds, Bonide Crabgrass and Weed Preventer, which will not kill existing weeds, but prevents new weeds from sprouting. Always read and follow label directions for best results. I like Ortho GroundClear Weed & Grass Killer to help control emerged weeds in flower beds. It is organic, and safer to use around desirable shrubs.

Feed Your Fruit Trees

Now is time to fertilize fruit trees with Espoma Organic Citrus-tone, or Fertilome Fruit, Citrus, and Pecan Tree Food. The nitrogen in both is critical to production of healthy foliage, which is what provides necessary carbohydrates for fruit. You will repeat application later in spring, and again in fall. Also, citrus trees should have sprouts removed that come from below the graft, as they will produce only sour fruit.

When to Remove Stakes from Newly Planted Trees

If you have trees planted in the last year or two, with stakes still holding it upright, late winter/very early spring is a good time to check that staking. Loosen the ties, then try to rock the tree. If the rootball stays stable but the trunk bends, remove the staking and ties. If the rootball still moves, the staking should stay another season, but the loop around the trunk may need to be loosened so the new growth is not choked by the staking tie.

Check Your Sprinkler System and Hoses

If you have an automatic sprinkler system, hopefully it has been turned off most of the winter. It would make sense to do a run-through now, to take notes and make repairs on any plugged, sunken, or missing heads, line breaks, or non-functional valves. You may need to start watering once a week in March. If you use hoses and sprinklers, now is time to mend hoses and replace missing hose washers.

Fire Ants and Other Pests

If you are seeing fire ant activity, you can apply Come and Get It Fire Ant Bait now, but my favorite times are at the spring and fall daylight saving time changes. All Seasons Horticultural & Dormant Spray Oil is best applied before new leaves emerge to control scale, mealybug, and other problem insects that may be overwintering on your shrubs or ornamental trees, such as bicolor iris and bird of paradise.

-James

We had such a great turnout at our garden talk last Saturday, so let’s do it again! This Saturday, February 19^th at 10am, join Gill’s resident tree expert, Mike Montgomery as he demonstrates the do’s and don’ts of tree pruning. You’ll walk away with the info you need to sculpt small trees yourself and to make sure nobody else harms your trees by pruning them improperly. Here’s a preview from Mike.

1. Less is best.

A good rule of thumb is to not cut branches larger than your thumb! With trees, unless there’s a very good reason (like branches rubbing on the house), you typically don’t need to do a lot of pruning. Start with the ‘less is best’ mindset.

2. Bottom up, not top down.

When we prune shrubs and perennials, we take a little off the top. Don’t do that with trees! Think of a tree (even small trees like crape myrtles or yaupon holly) as a sculpture. In order to get a good tree form, and to keep the tree healthy, start from the bottom and work your way up.

3. For big trees, hire a trusted arborist or tree service.

Very important – don’t let just anybody trim your trees. This time of year, you will see lots of amateurs with chainsaws offering great deals to trim your trees. Some of them know what they’re doing, and lots don’t. Taking proper care of existing trees is just as important as planting new ones. Gill’s does not do tree trimming, but we can help you identify issues and recommend a trusted arborist or tree service.

See you Saturday!

-Mike

Why does Mark Scott, community leader and eight-term city councilman, grow zinnias? So he can keep fresh flowers on his wife Carol’s bathroom counter for a big portion of the year!

They were college sweethearts and have been married for 38 years. I think there’s a lesson for us all!

Mark and Carol welcomed me into their home a few weeks back. I wanted to see his zinnia garden in person. I’d seen it on social media and could tell from the photos he was serious about growing them. Come to find out, he purchases exotic zinnia seeds from all over the world; this year they came from Washington, California, Maine, England, Latvia, and Japan.

Zinnias grow native primarily in Mexico, as far south as Guatemala, and as far north as Colorado.

They are members of the Aster family and are closely related to the daisy. Zinnias were available by seed as early as the late 1700s, but it wasn’t until the mid-1800s when the French developed the double form of the plant that they became wildly popular in the United States.

Zinnias are one of the most giving summer bloomers in South Texas and they come in a wonderful range of colors from pinks, corals, and whites to yellows, purples, and oranges. You can buy one package of mixed California Giant Zinnias, plant them in your garden with full sun and regular watering and be sure to have flowers on your dining room table all summer long. My mother grew zinnias when I was a young girl because she loved the bright colors. And because they were easy!

Mark dedicates about 10’ x 40’ of a sunny portion of his backyard to his zinnias. He works his soil each year in February with compost to enrich it and builds raised beds for planting his seed. He plants rows 24” apart with weed mat between each row. In March, Mark digs a small trench, drops seed in, and once seedlings are 2” tall (within about a week) he pulls excess seedlings to give plants room to grow. Zinnias are prone to getting a bit of fungus on leaves if they stay wet so Mark uses soaker hoses to water from below. That keeps the soil moist and leaves dry!

Mark loves sharing his zinnias. Beyond gifting his flowers to Carol – especially the purple blossoms – her favorite, Mark delivers them to his friends and family. People know when they open their front door and see a mason jar with zinnias on the front porch, Mark has been there. What a great way to make a person’s day better!!

Mark begins every morning outside. After a bike ride, he sits in his beautiful courtyard, shaded by pecans and oak, and plays fetch with his dogs. Carol and Mark spend time most evenings in their courtyard, drinking a bit of wine, picking and pruning on their plants, and reflecting on the day. Their love of nature and family and friends is beautifully reflected in their garden; thank you for sharing your gift with us, Mark and Carol!

– Sally Gill

December is here! These last few weeks of 2022 are sure to fly by. Our advice: make sure you spend some time in the garden to balance out the hectic holiday season. Here are our top to-do’s this month: what to plant, gift ideas, holiday plant care, and more.

Check out our December 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 These in December

There’s always the BEST time to get plants growing and here’s a few that LOVE this season as much as we do!

Strawberries…who could resist picking these sweet jewels in the Spring?

Onions…we grow short-day onion varieties here in South Texas. Lucky for us the 1015 Texas Supersweet is one of those along with tasty Texas Early White & Southern Belle Red.

Roses…our mild winters are perfect for big, beautiful roses & the cooler temps will only make them prettier and the flower color richer.

Trees…shade, flowering, small, big, they all benefit from planting now. Good root development during the cooler months of winter gives them better growth in spring and a deeper, stronger root system to withstand the summer heat.

Ornamental Cabbage…these winter classics need to be planted early this month and enjoyed through the season! Easy care, vibrant colors, and unique texture in the garden.

Alyssum…gorgeous white blooms all winter long. Did you know Alyssum flowers and leaves are edible? They have a pungent horseradish-y flavor.

2. Tips for Holiday Plants

Fresh-cut Christmas Trees…we give all of our trees a fresh cut and get them in water immediately to preserve their freshness. Many customers ask us for another fresh cut before they take the tree home. If you decide to have us do another fresh cut, or if you do it yourself, keep in mind that you have 10 minutes to get the tree in water before that cut seals over! Check water in your tree stand daily and keep it full. If you have pets who like to drink or splash the water, try covering with a piece of foil.

Poinsettias…Think of poinsettias as succulents – because they are! They are a type of euphorbia. That means give them a good drink, but let them dry out between waterings. Also, the leaves bruise and break easily, so avoid touching them as much as possible. So tempting to touch!

Christmas Cactus…Probably the easiest of all holiday plants, and they can last a LONG time! There are stories of Christmas Cacti that have been gifted and passed down through families for 100+ years. They like well-lit areas, but not direct sunlight. Let dry between waterings, then mist the leaves as well as water the soil when its time to water.

Living Holiday Trees…Junipers, Norfolk Pines, Loblolly Pines, Magnolias and Ficus trees all make great Christmas trees that can be planted outside after the holidays. If you bring these in for decorating, be sure they have good bright natural light. Keep watered but not too much, and as soon as the holidays are done…take them outdoors for a breath of fresh air and get them in the ground.

3. Think Gifts for Gardeners!

If you have gardeners on your list this year, we’ve got you covered! Quality tools like these classic French pruning sets, plant-able Christmas cards with wildflowers seeds embedded in them, self-watering ceramic mushrooms, and lots more unique garden gifts. And of course, plants!! If they’re picky, you can’t go wrong with a Gill’s gift card.

4. Plant, Feed, Water Winter Flowers

Winter flowers are AMAZING right now! Violas and Pansies are breathtaking and Geraniums are full of buds and blooms. All that blooming makes them hungry, so take a moment and fertilize your beauties. We love Plant Tone and or Hasta Gro. Both are organic and give you big results. Have that “one more empty pot” to fill?

5. Adjust Your Houseplant Care for Winter

Most houseplants will not experience a complete dormancy period during winter, but they will slow down growth and react to climatic changes like drier conditions inside the house. Give your houseplants more light and less water as temperatures and the amount of daylight hours drop. Dust/shine leaves regularly to ward off insects. Cooler temps = drier conditions and less of the humidity that houseplants love. Try grouping them together to create more humidity, or use a humidifier.

Happy 2023! January is time to get started on garden resolutions. Planning a veggie garden? New landscape beds? More Texas native plants to support wildlife? So many possibilities, and we’re here to help. Here are our top must-do’s this month to set your projects up for success.

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. Prep Beds for Spring Planting

January is our month to plan and prep for Spring. Clean up, remove weeds, and prep your garden beds by adding some compost! We love Nature’s Blend Compost for veggie and landscape beds. A good ratio is 1 bag per 12 sq. ft. of space. If you make your own compost, that approximate ratio works well. It doesn’t have to be exact. Turn the compost a few inches into the soil with a shovel or garden forks for a good full-body workout!

2. Yes, You Can Plant in January!

Trees, shrubs, and perennials will build healthy root systems during their winter dormancy making for stronger, healthier plants in Spring and Summer. Just a few days after the freeze, we planted a butterfly garden with Texas Lantana, Mystic Spires Salvia, Texas Frogfruit, Skeleton leaf Goldeneye, and more. Yes, we plan to cover it if we get any more cold weather, but those plants are getting a head start now and will be ready to burst with growth this Spring!

3. Feed Your Citrus Trees

Meyer Lemons on the left with fertilizer, Meyer lemons on the right without!

Fertilize your citrus trees in January for more blooms, again in May/June for better fruit set, and again in September/October for nutrients. We recommend fertilizing with Espoma Citrus-Tone – all organic. Remember to fertilize trees, including citrus, at the drip line. That means spread fertilizer in a circle where the rain naturally drips down from the leaves, not right up against the trunk.

4. Start Veggie Seeds!

January is time to start tomatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, chard, onions, carrots, beets, parsley and more from seed. We carry seed-starting trays, peat pots, and special cutting/seedling soil for starting seeds indoors or on a protected/covered patio. A good rule of thumb is that once the seedlings have made their first true set of leaves, they are ready to be transplanted into a larger container outside or directly into the garden bed.

Check out our full Spring planting guide here.

5. Start Your Post-Freeze Clean Up, but Not Too Much Pruning!

Remember – wait to do any major pruning of freeze-damaged plants until February. You don’t want the plant to think its time to start putting on new growth since we still may have another cold snap. However, there’s definitely some clean-up that can be started now. As a general rule, if freeze-damaged plants are mushy and slimy, go ahead and clean out the mushy parts. If freeze-damaged plants are dry and crunchy, leave them alone. That dry, crunchy foliage will help insulate against any more possible freezes.

Ornamental grasses, like Pink Muhly or Purple Fountain grass, are an exception. They should be cut back this month. Trim them straight across (no cupcakes) 3”-4“ from the ground. Use a bungee cord or piece of rope to gather them up, then cut straight across.

6. Spend Time with Your Houseplants

Most houseplants will need more light and less water this month. Keep their leaves clean to help them take up sunlight and prevent bad bugs. Experiment with lighting/placement, and take them outside for a sunny day or 2.

FYI – the Gill team (Ori, Debbie, and Jesse) are headed to the Tropical Plant International Expo in Tampa this month. We can’t wait to tour houseplant growing operations and get the scoop on new varieties!

The Mesquite trees say Spring is coming! Join us here at Gill’s this Saturday, 1/28/23 at 10am for James Gill’s ‘Get Ready for Spring’ garden talk. James will go over proper pruning techniques, what to plant, how to fertilize, and lots more. Bring your gardening questions! Our talks are always free, fun, and open to everyone. And one attendee will win a $100 Gill’s gift card! Watch James’ video invite below. See you Saturday!

Are you as ready as we are to get outside and garden?! If the Mesquite trees are right, Spring is just around the corner. Here’s our top 6 to focus on in February to kickstart 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. Be Ready for Cool Weather and Start Planting!

Keep your eye on the forecast for cold snaps like we’ve had this week, but don’t delay your planting projects. We are already seeing Mesquite trees start to bud up, which almost always means no more hard freezes! As James Gill shared with us at his garden talk last weekend, he’s only seen 2 years out of almost 70 where the Mesquites were wrong on this. That’s a lot more accurate than the weather man!

2. Start Your Veggies!

Beloved tomato growing is rewarding and can be challenging. Planting them early this month is important. Tomatoes need cooler nights to have good fruit set. When you plant tomatoes, be sure to install a tomato cage 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. You can go ahead and start other favs like squash, cucumbers, beans, & lettuces/greens either by seed or transplants too. Stop by and we’ll help you plan your veggie garden and get you everything you’ll need for a bountiful harvest!

3. Come Learn and Share Houseplant Tips This Saturday!

This Saturday, 2/4/23, we’ll be inside greenhouse here at Gill’s, having an open and interactive discussion about how to care for your indoor plant friends. Join us for Houseplant Jungle with Ori Roldan, Gill’s houseplant connoisseur and assistant buyer. Ori will share lots of care tips and demonstrate easy ways to propagate. Bring your questions or share your plant knowledge as we hang out and talk about everything houseplants. One attendee will win a $100 Gill’s gift card, and we’ll do some other giveaways too!

4. Feed Veggies & Flowers

Blooming plants need food! Veggies are especially heavy feeders – they need to be able to sustain blooming and producing fruit. We recommend mixing in a little Bio-Tone Starter when you plant, which contains mycorrhizal fungi that promotes root growth. Then feed with a good organic, granular plant food like Plant-Tone or Medina Growin Green once a month, and supplement with liquid organic Hasta Gro in between. An easy way to remember this is to set an alarm or calendar event for granular feeding on the 1st of the month, then Hasta Gro on the 15th. These will add nutrients to your plants and keep your soil alive and healthy too.

5. February = Time to Prune!

February is the time to get plants cut back to make way for big spring growth! Most perennials like Lantana, Turk’s Cap, and Salvias need a good pruning back to about 4-8″ – don’t be shy! For any plants with woody stems/branches (like Esperanza and Hibiscus) that look dead or damaged, do the scratch test before pruning. Start up high and scratch with your fingernail, a dime, or the back side of a knife. Don’t scratch too deep. If you see the bright green cambium layer (like the photo), that means it’s still alive! If you see brown/gray when you scratch, keep working your way down the plant until you see green. That will tell you where to cut. As always, contact Gill’s if you’re not sure or have questions about whether or how to prune specific plants.

6. 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, but it must be done now. The oil spray literally coats and suffocates the the eggs that are waiting for spring to hatch. It’s also good for treating indoor plants that may have scale or spider mites.

Check out our February Garden Guide for more tips!