The Gill’s Garden Talk series continues this Saturday, 2/11/23 at 10am! Join us for Re-Thinking Your Landscape: Smart Choices for South Texas with Kathy Hubner, professional Landscape Designer here at Gill’s. Kathy has a reputation for landscapes that endure and she’ll share her ideas for plants that can withstand freezes and South Texas summers. This is a great opportunity to ask questions and get inspiration for your landscape. One attendee will win a $100 Gill’s gift card, and we’ll do some other giveaways too! Watch Kathy’s video invitation below – see you Saturday! p.s. – we’ll have heaters on the patio and if it’s too chilly, we’ll move inside.
Video
Have you set your 2024 new year’s gardening resolution?! January is time to get moving and set yourself up for big success this spring and beyond. Beds need prepping, veggie seeds need starting, citrus trees need feeding, and YES you can get a head start on planting too! Here are our top must-do’s (and don’t do’s!) this month.
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. Plan and Prep Beds for Spring Planting
January is our month to plan and prep for spring. Clean up, remove weeds, and most importantly, prep your garden beds by adding some compost! We love Nature’s Blend Compost for veggie and landscape beds, including raised beds. A good ratio is 1 bag per 12 sq. ft. of bed space. If you make your own compost, that approximate ratio works well. It doesn’t have to be exact. If working out is part of your new year’s resolution, get outside, grab your garden forks or a shovel, and turn some compost into the first few inches of soil!
2. Feed Your Citrus Trees
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 and highly effective. 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.
3. Wait to Prune!
Remember – wait to do any major pruning of most plants until February! We can be tempted to want to do too much pruning in January, but you don’t want plants to think its time to start putting on new growth since we still may have another cold snap. Even if we do get a cold snap that damages some foliage, wait to prune because that damaged foliage will help insulate against more possible cold weather.
Ornamental grasses, like Pink Muhly or Purple Fountain grass, are a January 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 with your shears.
4. Start Veggie Seeds!
January is time to start tomatoes, kale, chard, onions, carrots, beets, parsley and more from seed. We carry seed-starting trays, peat pots, and Espoma Organic Seed Starter 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. And stay tuned because we’re planning all kinds of cool events for 2024, including a seed starting workshop this month!
5. Grow Potatoes and Onions!
January is prime time to plant potatoes and onions! We carry Red La Soda and Yukon Gold potatoes because they are better suited for South Texas growing conditions than larger varieties. Watch Matt’s video guide to planting potatoes here!
Plant onions in a row every 3-4″ then thin them by plucking every other green top as they grow. This will allow the onions to grow to full size. Keep in mind that both potatoes and onions need well-drained soil. Great for raised beds!
6. Adjust Lighting and Water for Houseplants
Generally, most houseplants will need more light and less water this month. A moisture meter will come in handy to be sure you’re not overwatering. Experiment with moving houseplants to sunnier windows, and take them outside for a sunny day or 2. Keep their leaves clean to help them take up sunlight and prevent bad bugs. We like using a very light solution of Neem oil + water to wipe down leaves here at Gill’s.
7. Yes, You Can Plant It in January!
Why wait?? Trees, shrubs, and blooming perennials planted now will build healthy root systems during their winter dormancy making for stronger, healthier plants in spring and summer. Not to mention all kinds of cool season flowers and veggies that love our January weather. Keep an eye on the forecast, but remember that new plants are easy to cover with frost blankets if we get a cold spell.
We’re back this Saturday at 10am with another event here at Gill’s! Since fall is the ideal time to plant trees, we’ve invited John Wood, owner of The Tree Amigos to give a talk on proper tree planting and tree care. John is a certified arborist and our go-to local expert for tree advice. He’s got lots of critical information to share to make sure you have long term success with the trees you plant this fall. Check out John’s invite video below and don’t miss this talk! p.s. – if it rains (fingers crossed!) we’ll move the talk indoors.
This event is free and open to everyone, plus we’ll be doing some gift card and other giveaways! Can’t wait to see you all this Saturday!
Are your mature trees struggling this summer? We’ve noticed a lot of stressed and thirsty trees around town, and we’ve been encouraging everyone to give them long, deep waterings, which is a commitment! Now there’s an easy way…
Enter the Treehugger sprinkler! Since trees need to be watered at the drip line (the outer edge of the tree canopy), we’ve often recommended starting a sprinkler in 1 position, then repositioning it around the tree until you’ve watered all the way around. Now it’s as simple as setting up the Treehugger and turning on the water! The Treehugger sprinkler sprays 360 degrees outward from the tree trunk. By adjusting water pressure at the sprinkler or at the faucet, you can target water right at the drip line. Great design!!
With summer temps and a lack of depth moisture in the ground, mature trees need a slow, deep watering every 2 to 4 weeks. If your trees are showing signs of stress, (looking dull, dropping leaves), water them deeply once a week to rehydrate.
Join us this Saturday, 5/20 at 10am for a special houseplant event! Creating Your Own Houseplant Soil Cocktail with Ori! Different houseplants have different soil moisture and soil consistency requirements. Ori will demonstrate how to use potting soil amendments like perlite, vermiculite, expanded clay, coconut chips, and more to create the right soil blend for each plant. If you have a houseplant you’ve been wanting to re-pot, bring it to the event and let us help you experiment with a new soil cocktail. Or just come watch and learn! Watch Ori’s preview video below, and see you Saturday!
Join us for our Mother’s Day pressed flower workshop this Saturday, May 13th at 10am! We’ll have plenty of flowers and cuttings available for you to press. Or bring your own! And we’ll provide the flower press for you to take home, while supplies last. This hands-on workshop is free and for all ages. Come learn how to press and preserve flowers and cuttings! Will be lots of fun – rain or shine! Check out the video preview below!
James is retired these days, but he loves talking plants! We’re excited to have him back for a garden talk this Saturday, May 6th to discuss ideas for using tough Texas native plants in your landscape. James has a passion for natives and recently received his Texas Master Naturalist certification, plus he’s been designing with native plants for many years. He can tell you the importance of planting natives, and also where and how to use them and what to expect. Bring your 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!
Spring is here!! Look around and you’ll see lots of happy and healthy plants enjoying the sunshine and putting on fresh new growth. We hope you feel the same way! Here are our top must-do’s in the garden this month to help you have the best Spring season and beyond.
Check out our March Garden Guide for more tips!
1. Plant Level – Not Too Deep!
When planting this Spring, DON’T PLANT TOO DEEP! Plant level with the surrounding soil (or even slightly higher) and don’t cover the top of the root ball with soil. Most plants have tiny feeder roots on the surface of the root ball that are critical for taking up nutrients and for oxygen exchange. If you bury these surface feeder roots, the plant will suffocate and decline. After you plant, remember that plants need long, deep drinks of water. Watering often does not equal watering well. Use a moisture meter to be sure you’re getting moisture down into the ground when you water.
2. Start Your Spring Veggie Garden!
It’s time! We are thrilled to have a big healthy selection of Spring veggies and fruit trees this year. One thing we recommend for starting all veggie gardens is Nature’s Blend compost – the closest thing we’ve seen to ‘magic in a bag’! One bag improves about 12 sq ft of clay or sandy soil and gets it ready for planting. That’s a good approximate ratio if you make your own compost too. Remember that you can grow food almost anywhere! Re-watch James Gill’s container gardening video for tips and inspiration.
3. Invite Pollinator Friends to Your Garden
Now is a great time to incorporate plants into your garden that attract & feed the birds, bees, butterflies, and other pollinators. They need your help finding food and shelter, and you need their help pollinating your blooming plants, increasing your veggie production, and eating bad bugs. Bees are drawn to most anything with a bloom but some fav’s are native Gregg’s Mist Flower, Esperanza, & Lantana. Butterflies love Salvias and Mexican Flame Vine too. Native plants like Turks Cap and Yaupon Holly produce berries for birds, and Hummers love Duranta, Mexican Honeysuckle, & lots more! Keep in mind that pollinators need help locating these food sources. Think about planting several of the same plant together to help make them more visible to our pollinator friends.
4. Fertilize Now – Except Lawns
Spring’s here and plants are actively growing. That means they need food, just like us! Flowers and veggies are especially heavy feeders because they’re working to produce a bloom and fruit. And you will certainly notice a difference with your ornamental plants as well. Apply a good all-purpose organic food like Plant Tone or Medina Growin Green once a month for great results. Don’t sprinkle your granular fertilizer right up against the trunk of the plant. Instead, sprinkle at the drip line, aka where rainwater would drip off the outermost leaves. That’s the zone where plants take up nutrients. After you’ve applied your granular food, circle back every 2 weeks to supplement with liquid Hasta Gro. Almost everything should be fed this time of year, except lawns. More on lawns below…
5. Apply Pre-Emergent Weed Control Now and Wait to Fertilize Lawns
Lawns are coming out of dormancy and just now starting to actively grow, which means we need to wait a few more weeks before applying fertilizer. But right now is the time to apply pre-emergent weed control to kill weeds before they emerge. We recommend Hi Yield Weed and Grass Stopper with Dimension. Remember that pre-emergent weed controls are root growth inhibitors. They work by penetrating down into the top layer of soil where weed seeds are, but not down deep enough to affect grass roots. They should only be used in areas where you have thick, healthy grass with established roots, not areas where you plan to plant more grass this spring or thin areas where you want grass to fill in. If you have weeds that have already sprouted, spray lawns with Weed B Gon, Image, or organic Captain Jack’s Lawn Weed Brew. All three are safe for Floratam St. Augustine lawns. Or you can spot treat weeds with organic Captain Jack’s Dead Weed Brew. Bottom line: control weeds now BEFORE you fertilize in late March/early April. This is why we don’t recommend using “weed and feed” type products.
