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Corpus Christi, TX Garden Center

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spider mites

You would think with our cold winter, snow and 2 freezes in the 20’s all the insects would have frozen. But no, there seems to be an explosion of nature’s critters this spring. Hot weather insects have started early. Aphids on anything and everything, spider mites are in abundance on roses, angel trumpets, hibiscus, junipers and more. Chinch bugs are beginning in the lawns, and scale is erupting on cast iron, flax lily and more. Be a good bug scout. Look and observe, and remember a few bugs here and there are not always bad. If you see an insect infestation that won’t be controlled by nature or patience and needs treatment, come and see us to help identify the problem and get you the right solution.

-DeAnna

The weather this week is making us want to get outside and garden!! We’re stocking up on veggies, Texas native plants, trees, and lots of flowers and blooming perennials as we head into spring! Here’s our top 8 gardening tasks to focus on this month to kickstart an amazing season. Game on!

1. Join Us for James Gill’s Annual Get Ready for Spring Talk – This Saturday at 10!

If you want to make a really good gardening game plan for spring, join us here at Gill’s this Saturday, February 8th at 10am for James Gill’s annual Get Ready for Spring garden talk. James will go over proper pruning techniques, what to plant, how to fertilize, watering tips, and lots more. James is a walking encyclopedia of local gardening and landscaping knowledge – bring your questions! This talk is free and open to everyone. One attendee will win a $100 Gill’s gift card, and we’ll do some other giveaways too! Take a look at all our upcoming talks and events here. 

2. Watering Rules Update:  More Good News!

On January 28th, City Council voted to move the new draft Drought Contingency Plan forward to a vote. Council will vote on whether to adopt to the new plan on February 11th, and if it passes, better watering rules take effect on February 12th. Under new proposed Stage 3 rules, hand watering is allowed any day before 10:00 a.m. and after 6:00 p.m., and drip irrigation systems can be used to water landscapes on your designated watering day every other week. We feel good about these changes – they will allow us all to keep our community alive and vibrant through the drought. The City has also agreed to grant temporary exemptions to watering rules for new plantings for up to 30 days, which will allow homeowners to continue investing in their property. Homeowners should use the City’s form to apply for an exemption to get new landscapes established, then once they’re established, hand watering and/or drip irrigation will keep them thriving. There’s still time to contact your City Council members and Mayor Guajardo to express your support for these changes to the Stage 3 watering rules before the vote next Tuesday, 2/11 – the more gardeners they hear from, the better! 

3. Plant Your Veggies!

It’s time to start veggie favs like tomatoes, squash, cucumbers, beans, lettuces/greens, & more! Prep those beds with Nature’s Blend compost and get going. If you’re short on space, fill containers or raised beds with Gardener’s Magic soil and plant! Stop by and we’ll help you plan your veggie garden and get you everything you’ll need for a bountiful harvest. We’ve also got 2 fun veggie talks planned this month:  Tomato Kickoff with Andy Chidester on the 15th and Start Your Spring Veggie Garden on the 22nd with Wyatt Page. Come learn and share with a group seasoned and aspiring gardeners!

4. Bring Back the Color!

All our favorite spring annuals, perennials, natives, roses, and bright-blooming tropical plants are arriving at Gill’s daily! We’ve entered February and the forecast looks warm and sunny, so it’s time to create bursts of color in the garden and landscape. Yes, there’s always a chance for a late freeze, but given our forecast this year, those chances are getting slimmer every day. Better to plant early and get a head start on root growth. Plus, small plants are easy to cover if need be. 

5. Keep Feeding Veggies & Flowers on a Regular Schedule

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.

6. Start Your Spring Cleanup & Pruning Now

February is the time to get plants cut back to make way for big spring growth! Typically, we recommend waiting until February 15th to prune, but since the weather is warm and the forecast looks good, game on now! 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 from our recent freeze, 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.

7. Keep Watch for Winter Insects

Scale is a variety of hard bodied sucking insects that range in appearance from white oyster shells to brown boogers 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 before temps get too warm. 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. 

8. Take Care of Weeds Now, But Wait to Fertilize Lawns

Right now, hand pulling the thistle while the ground is moist and keeping the clover mowed before it flowers are the best options to control 2 of our most common weeds. Weed killer sprays (like Weed B Gon) work with warm weather and sunshine with no rain or heavy night fog. The forecast looks good for this next week. Keep in mind – you should only spray for weeds one time or you risk damaging your lawn. Take care of weeds now, but wait to fertilize until March!  

Check out our February Garden Guide for more tips!

The weather this week is making us want to get outside and garden!! We’re stocking up on veggies, Texas native plants, trees, and lots of flowers and blooming perennials as we head into Spring! Here’s our top 7 gardening tasks to focus on this month to kickstart an amazing season.

1. Be Ready for Cool Weather and Start Planting!

Keep your eye on the forecast for cold snaps, but don’t delay your planting projects. Cool season flowers, trees, shrubs, veggies, and more need to be planted this month to take advantage of cool weather and get a head start on root growth. If we do get another freeze, new plants are easy to cover!

2. Start Your Veggies!

It’s time to start veggie favs like tomatoes, squash, cucumbers, beans, lettuces/greens, & more! Prep those beds with Nature’s Blend compost and get going. If you’re short on space, use containers! 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 All About Growing Tomatoes with DeAnna This Saturday at 10!

Tomatoes need to be planted early this month. So….join us this Saturday, 2/3 at 10am for our garden talk, Tomato Time with DeAnna Baumgartner, Gill’s manager and tomato expert! DeAnna will share valuable tips for growing all kinds of tomatoes in the ground and in containers or raised veggie beds. This talk is great for beginners and experienced tomato growers alike. Bring your questions and share your plant knowledge as we hang out and talk about everything tomatoes. We’ll hold the talk outside if the weather’s nice, or inside the greenhouse if not. One attendee will win a $100 Gill’s gift card, and we’ll do some other giveaways too!

4. Keep Feeding 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. Mid February = Time to Prune!

February is the time to get plants cut back to make way for big spring growth! Since we just had a freeze, we recommend waiting another week or so until mid-February. 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 variety of hard bodied sucking insects that range in appearance from white oyster shells to brown boogers 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. 

7. Got Weeds?

Right now, hand pulling the thistle while the ground is moist and keeping the clover mowed before it flowers are the best options to control 2 of our most common weeds. Weed killer sprays (like Weed B Gon) work with warm weather and sunshine with no rain or heavy night fog. We need to wait to spray until temperatures are consistently between 75-80 degrees. Be patient and wait a few more weeks since you should only spray one time or you risk damaging your lawn.

Check out our February Garden Guide for more tips!

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!

I always make it a point to garden in a way that works with nature and promotes life. Using the least toxic products when I have a problem or a pest in the garden is a big part of that equation. All pesticides and fungicides are killers, organic or not, so it is important to choose a product that is selective in what it kills. Bee Safe 3 in 1 Garden Spray is relatively new here at Gills and has quickly become one of my favorites for a few reasons:

  • It works. I use Bee Safe to treat aphids, mealy bugs, and powdery mildew with great success. It is also labeled for spider mites and fungal issues like black spot on roses – hence the name “3 in 1”. 
  • Bee Safe is not a kill all. Bee Safe will not harm bees, butterflies, or hummingbirds. This is important because pollinators play a critical role in a healthy thriving garden. 
  • It’s totally organic. Bee Safe is OMRI certified for organic gardening. The active ingredients are sesame oil and fish oil, which are very safe to use around your pets, your family, and the bees! It is also labeled for “same day use” which means you can spray your veggies and eat them in the same day. I’d still recommend washing them of course. And keep in mind that Bee Safe is an oil-based insecticide, which means you should spray it in the evening to avoid burning. 

Promoting life in the garden is the best way to prevent pests in the first place. Make sure you are attracting pollinizers (like bees, birds, and butterflies), promoting beneficial insects, and adding compost to encourage healthy microbial activity in the soil. All these living things will work together to maintain healthy plants which are not as susceptible to pests.

-Wyatt

August is almost here! It’s time to start making the transition into an exciting new Fall planting season. Here are our top must-do’s for this coming month. 

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. Choose Plants that Provide for Wildlife

Important fact: birds, bats, bees, butterflies, beetles, and small mammals that pollinate plants are responsible for bringing us one out of every three bites of food. Plants attract and provide food for them to keep the cycle going. For example – plant Zinnia and sunflower seeds now, and they’ll be ready to feed migrating birds this Fall. Take it a step further and plant Texas natives! They provide for pollinators and require less water once established.

2. Pick Out Your Seeds

Watching your plants grow from a tiny seed is exciting and rewarding! Our Fall Vegetable Planting Guide provides the specific seed-planting dates to help plan your Fall garden. Most new seeds are already here! Look out for some of the rare and heirloom seeds we’re bringing in over the next couple weeks! We’ve been researching how to use liquid seaweed to improve seed germination. Worth a try! Another tip:  use peat pots or seed starting trays to start seeds indoors, then move to a covered patio once they sprout. This will protect the seedlings and slowly acclimate them to the outdoor heat.

3. Prepare Your Garden Beds

August is the time to start preparing for Fall vegetables. Clean out beds and pull weeds. To get your soil ready, we recommend mixing Nature’s Blend Compost or Cotton Burr Compost into your soil to replenish nutrients and loosen the soil before planting. About 1 bag per 12 sq. ft. is good. Once prepped, add a thick layer of pine straw mulch, which will help retain moisture, keep weeds from sprouting, and keep the soil cooler until you’re ready to plant. As you plan your space, think crop rotation – don’t plant the same veggies in the exact same place you planted them last season, or you encourage pests and diseases. 

4. Water Sufficiently AND Efficiently

With our temps and lack of rain, it’s vital to water your plants and lawn sufficiently AND efficiently. The goal with summer watering (with or without watering restrictions) should be to create depth moisture. For lawns and established plants and trees, this means watering less frequently, but watering deeply when you water. New plantings will require water every day to get the roots established. Use a water wand with a cut-off valve to make it easy on you and conserve water. Pro tip: Conserve water by watering at ground level, not spraying from above. This way, water soaks down to the roots rather than evaporating off the leaves. 

5. Mulch for Moisture Retention

We know fresh mulch is the quickest way to refresh the look of your landscape. Proper mulching has other big benefits, especially during dry and hot weather. A good 2-3” deep layer of mulch will keep your plants and the soil moist and cool for longer after you water. Give the main trunks or stems of your plants a little space – mulch 2-3” deep throughout the bed, but no more than 1” deep against the main trunks/stems of plants.  

6. Beware of Bad Bugs

White cottony clumps on tips, stems, and undersides of leaves in summer are most likely mealy bugs! People often think these are a fungus because of their appearance but one squish with your fingers will tell you they’re insects feeding on your plants. They especially love Hibiscus, Jatropha and some Salvias. We’ve been seeing a lot of spider mites too. You’ll notice a fine webbing and small sandy speckles (see photo). The mites themselves are usually on the underside of leaves. Both can be treated organically with Spinosad soap, Bee Safe 3-in-1 spray, or Neem Oil during cooler evening hours. 

Spring is here again, and as plants and flowers wake up, so do unwanted guests such as aphids and fleas. Some of the most effective ways to eliminate these pests and many others is to use beneficial bugs. We keep Ladybugs, Beneficial Nematodes, and Earthworms on hand here at Gill’s to get rid of pests and improve the health of your lawn and garden. 

Ladybugs

Fun facts about Ladybugs- Ladybugs aren’t really bugs at all, they’re beetles. There are almost 400 different kinds of ladybugs in North America.

Female ladybugs can eat as many as 75 aphids in one day. They also like to eat scale, mealybugs, and spider mites.

Ladybugs smell with their feet and antennae. A ladybug’s jaws chew from side to side instead of up and down like our jaws. The color of a ladybug’s spots begin to fade as it gets older.

Ladybugs are most active when their body temperature is 75 degrees or warmer. A ladybug’s bright color warns birds that it does not taste good. When a ladybug flies, its wings beat 85 times every second. Female ladybugs are larger than male ladybugs.

Aphids are the first pest to hit in the spring and they love the new growth on plants. Buy your ladybugs now and keep them dormant in the refrigerator till your first outbreak of aphids, then release a few hundred at a time.

Use Ladybugs to help eliminate:

  • – Aphids
  • – Scale
  • – Mealybugs
  • – Spider mites

Beneficial Nematodes

Beneficial Nematodes are microscopic creatures that live in soil where they feed on the eggs and larvae of soil borne-pests. They’re voracious predators of fire ants, flea larvae, and white grub worms (the grubs that eat plant roots).

Beneficial Nematodes are the ideal organic pest control because they’re a naturally occurring predator of pests, but they don’t harm plants, animals, or people. They’re completely non-toxic and they’re easy to use.

You mix the nematodes with water, and then put the solution into a watering can or sprayer. A hose-end type sprayer is fine, as city water is fine to mix with the nematodes.

Speaking of water, beneficial nematodes do need rain or supplemental watering in order to live and reproduce in your soil, so they’re not appropriate for dry land farms or completely xeric landscapes. 

Use Nematodes to help eliminate:

  • – Fire ants
  • – Fleas
  • – Grub worms

Earthworms

Earthworms, or Red Worms, are popular due to their many useful applications. Each Red Worm ingests its weight in organic matter every 24 hours.

They excrete a highly effective fertilizer called castings, which are high in nitrogen, phosphorus, magnesium, potash, and calcium, which are all great for your soil, grass, and plants!

These castings can also help repel chewing and sucking insects like aphids, whiteflies, and hard-shelled plant bugs; the chitinase (an enzyme) from the worm castings, which is absorbed by the plant, kills the bad bugs when they eat the plant leaves.  

Use Earthworms and their castings for:

  • – Improving and aerating soil
  • – Fertilizer
  • – Starting compost
  • – Repelling chewing and sucking insects
  • – Fishing bait!

Now is a great time to get some good bugs and worms (ladybugs, beneficial nematodes, and earthworms) – before the bad bugs (aphids, fleas, mealybugs, whiteflies, fire ants, spider mites, and grub worms) arrive! 

-DeAnna

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!

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