Gill Garden Center + Landscape Co.
Corpus Christi, TX Garden Center
My earliest childhood memories are of flowers. My dad taught me to grow them from seeds–Zinnias, Sweet Peas, Calendulas, Giant Sunflowers. As a mother I gardened with my sons. We grew tomatoes, peppers, squash and, of course, flowers. Now I reap the reward of watching my son and his wife teach their
young son the joy of getting outdoors to garden. And I smile, knowing they are
passing the joy of gardening to another generation.
Gardening…..pass it on!
With spring around the corner, now’s the time to start planning out your butterfly garden! And we are ready with plants that not only attract butterflies, but feed their caterpillars. You’ve probably heard of Milkweed for monarch caterpillars, but did you know that Parsley, Dill, Fennel, Rue and Passion vine also attract butterflies? These host plants are sure to attract Eastern Black Swallowtails, Gulf Fritillaries, and Monarchs. And don’t forget about great nectar plants like Almond Verbena, Pentas, and Duranta. Put these plants in your garden and the butterflies will be sure to thank you!
You can still apply pre-emergents like Amaze or Weed and Grass Preventer with Dimension to prevent weeds, but the temperatures are still fluctuating with cold fronts and cloudy damp weather, so I would wait a little longer on applying weed killer sprays i.e. Image or Weed B Gon. They work best with warm weather and sunshine. Remember to apply your pre-emergents in October to prevent winter weeds and again in January to prevent spring weeds.
TO PREVENT SCALE: If you have not sprayed Bonide All Seasons Oil on your Flax Lily, Irises, Cast Iron, Pittosporum, and Hollies, there is still time to spray to prevent spring insects like scale.
LAWN FUNGUS: The cool, damp rainy weather is perfect for fungus to thrive , so apply F-Stop Fungicide, Bayer Fungicide, or Liquid Systemic Fungicide to either prevent or to cure. An organic alternative is to spread Nature’s Blend Alfalfa Humateacross the lawn at the rate of 1 bag for 50 sq. ft.
Start trimming back now your ornamental grasses (like purple fountain grass and muhly grasses), trees, woody shrubs and vines (except indian hawthorne, azaleas, carolina jasmine that bloom in early spring). I would recommend waiting on the tropicals just a few more weeks, just in case we have a late cold snap.
We all want our lawns to look lush and green all the time but it can’t be in the winter. Don’t think you can “wake up your grass” with fertilizer; fertilizer is taken up with growth, and since the grass is still dormant, it will do no good to feed now. It is best to wait until the grass comes out of winter dormancy which is usually mid March. The best way to tell when to feed is when you need to mow the grass (and not the weeds) every week or so. If you wait to feed, you will see the results you are looking for. It’s also best to attack existing weeds in warm weather (not hot) and sunshine. Since February can be our coldest month, it is usually March before we can take care of those weeds. My thought is, kill the weeds in early March and then fertilize the lawn afterwards. There is no sense in feeding the weeds.
If you missed sowing your wildflowers in the fall, you can try to sow them out right
now. We also have bluebonnet plants in 6 packs ready to transplant, your favorite Ladybird Blue and Aggie Maroon. Seeds of sweet peas and nasturtiums can also be sown in the garden now for spring blooms.
Indian Hawthorn, Mountain Laurel, Carolina Jessamine, Azaleas, and Spirea all bloom in early spring and should be trimmed after they bloom in February and March.
Newly planted or young citrus trees need to be fed ¼ pound of Fertilome Fruit, Citrus, & Pecan Food after they begin growing in the early spring. Repeat feeding every six weeks till June 1. The second year, feed on the same schedule, giving one pound per application. Give established or mature citrus trees one pound of Fruit, Citrus & Pecan Food per inch of trunk diameter. Apply it all in January, or split it between January and May applications. We recommend Espoma Citrus-tone for organic gardening. It is long lasting and it feeds the soil and the tree! Citrus-tone recommends to feed Jan-Feb. as a pre-bloom application to enhance flowering and May-June as a post-bloom application to encourage better fruit set. Apply at the rate of 2 cups per foot of height.
Seed potatoes are not seeds at all, but are actually potatoes that have not been treated and have eyes. They are easy to grow. Cut each potato into 2 ounce pieces with one to two eyes per piece. Treat each cut piece with dusting sulphur and wait several days to allow the cut area to heal. Plant pieces about four inches deep, (cut side down), 10-12 inches apart in rows 2-3 feet apart. As plants grow, pull soil up over and around, and cover with mulch. Continue to mound soil as the plants grow. Harvest young new potatoes by gently probing with fingers beside plant as plants reach full flower. When tops begin to turn brown, dig mature potatoes. Plants can take up to 90 days to mature.
Now’s the time to prepare the soil with fresh compost and plan your garden layout. Sow seeds of root crops, ex. beets, carrots, radish and turnips. Don’t forget your leafy vegetables such as chard, collards, kale, lettuce, mustard and spinach. Transplants of broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower can also be planted now. If you are limited on space, you may want to take this time to let the garden rest. In just a few weeks it will be time to think about tomatoes, beans, corn, cucumbers, squash and more of the warm season veggies. We will begin bringing in tomatoes the middle of the month, but suggest you transplant them into 1 gal pots so you can take them in on the cold nights. If you prefer to wait till after fear of frost, we will have 1 gallon plants already established for you to plant at a later date. The longer you wait, the bigger you need to buy.
Planning For Spring Flowers Let Your Plants Rest…
Resist the temptation your next sunny Saturday…to trim. Our plants are in a dormant state of growth right now due to cold temperatures. If you trim them, it sends a message to the plant that it’s time to grow which will damage the plant with the next cold snap. So…just enjoy the winter season and rest, with your plants.
Get ’em in the ground now!
Plant Impatiens now for winter color in part sun to shade. They will give you show-stopping color into May of next year.
Sow wildflower seeds now for spring blooms.
October is the month to dig and divide mature, crowded Amaryllis bulbs. This needs to be done every 3 years. We are receiving our Amaryllis bulbs next week at both stores.
We have Narcissus Paperwhite bulbs now! For successful bloom, refrigerate now for 4 weeks. Pot them in soil or water the weekend of Thanksgiving and they will be ready to give as gifts with buds and blooms for Christmas.
Ladybugs’ favorite foods are aphids, mealybugs, spider mites, thrips, and many other soft bodied insects. They should be released in the evening or very early morning or when it is cool or overcast. Moisten the infested plants first and then release the Ladybugs at the base of the plant. Each package contains approx. 1500 Ladybugs for $10.00.
Beneficial Nematodes are microscopic worms that seek out and destroy over 200 kinds of soil dwelling insects including grubs, flea larvae, cutworms, and root knot nematodes. Each package contains approx. 5 million Nematodes for $20.00.
Days are staying warm and our lawns are growing. Now’s the time, sometime in the next few weeks, to get your lawn, trees and shrubs fertilized. Great for the spring application is our Gill 13-1-3 Lawn & Garden Fertilizer for all your trees, shrubs, vines and groundcovers. Also feeds the vegetable garden. One bag covers 6,000 square feet.
Winter weeds many times will just go away once your lawn starts growing. Some lawns, though just have too many weeds and need some pro-active weed killing. Ortho Weed B Gon For St. Augustine is safe to use on Floratam St. Augustine and comes in an easy to spray hose-end bottle and kills many, many different types of broadleaf weeds without harming your grass.
Image is great for grassy weeds like grassburs and also works on nutsedge and some broadleaf weeds without hurting your St. Augustine, also available in a easy to use hose end sprayer.
Post emergent weed killers are best used when it will be warm & sunny for a few days.
Another great weed management product is pre-emergent Hi Yield Grass Stopper With Dimension. It can be used any time of year to keep weed seeds from sprouting – in the first place!!
We know it’s a lot to learn. Please know we’re happy to help you make the best product choice for your landscape. And remember, it’s always important to read the label before using any lawn product. Come see us!
– DeAnna
Sally and I, as members of the South Texas Chapter of the Native Plant Society of Texas, spent a very pleasant day touring Rancho Lomitas Native Plant Nursery and RV Park in far South Texas, near Rio Grande City. Our hosts were Benito and Toni Trevino, he is an ethnobotanist (knows plants and how people have utilized them as food, medicine, tools, and such) and Toni is his longtime sidekick/boss.
Our tour started with Toni roasting mature ebony beans to brew up some South Texas coffee substitute, popular with early settlers and vaqueros, as coffee was hard to come by on the frontier. Benito took over with stories of how, as one of 14 siblings (and another 12 cousins) they would gather younger ebony seeds and eat them fresh as a snack, or roast them over mesquite coals for even better flavor, and techniques for gathering and preparing yucca blooms for cooking or pickling and canning. Meanwhile, Toni was roasting up a dish full of nopalitos (young prickly pear cactus pads) and she soon called us for fresh, hot tacos de nopales. As we munched, Benito explained how regular consumption of nopales has shown great benefit for controlling blood sugar levels in diabetics.
We were then loaded into the cattle trailer (the people got to ride that day, while the longhorns walked) and toured their property with Benito giving a running lecture about the native plants and terrain. He pointed out the amargoso with pretty purple blooms, which he and all other family members would use as an anti-dysentery decoction, very necessary as they were often required to drink whatever water was available, whether from the Rio Grande, or even stagnant pools. Benito said the large majority of South Texas folk medicines have not been verified scientifically, but the amargoso is an exception, having been shown to kill amoebas in laboratory conditions.
He showed us how to break off the sharp tip of an Agave lechuguilla and strip out the very strong fiber to use as a needle and thread, for sewing clothes or a shelter or bag, or even an open wound of people or livestock. The lechuguilla is much preferred, as most other Agave species have an extremely caustic sap, causing blistering. As the dust blew up behind the cattle trailer, he told how wild longhorns were driven north to market after the Civil War, and the cowboys in the rear of the herd were riding in almost constant dust. They would relieve the irritation in their eyes with eyewash made of young mesquite leaves crushed in water.
All in all it was a fascinating day in great company. Thanks Benito and Toni, and NPSOT South Texas Chapter.
– James
