Watering

Trees, shrubs, and perennials get a great bonus when planted in Fall. South Texas enjoys relatively warm soil temperatures through Fall and Winter, and cooler air temperatures direct the new plant to grow roots all through this time.

So, a plant put into the ground in Fall will grow twice as fast the following Spring as one planted in Spring due to having developed twice the root system, and it will also suffer much less stress in its first South Texas Summer.

We are lucky that we can garden year-round here, but Fall is our best season for planting!

Do These for Tree Success:

Choose a space suited for the size of mature trees
Plant in Fall to benefit from cooler temps & root development. Dig the hole as deep as the container & about 12” wider. Use compost to improve existing soil if needed.
Fertilize with Agriform tablets or Plant Tone mixed into soil around the root ball.
Mulch around trees & keep grass & weed eaters away from tree trunks
Stake trees especially in high wind areas
Follow watering directions

(click to expand)

fall-planting

-James and Debbie

Lots of folks will find freeze damage on some of their favorite tropical blooming succulents. Neglecting these damaged plants may not mean the end of them, but most of us are itching to do something to help them!

I have seen frozen plumeria tips shrivel, dry up, and then drop off, replaced by new tips sprouting below the damaged tip. But if cool and rainy weather persists, it may encourage rot to occur in the damaged tips and proceed to damage healthy tissue. If you want to be proactive, squeeze the stem until you find you are below any squishy or shriveled portions, to a healthy portion of stem that feels firm like a fresh carrot.Make a pruning cut in the healthy stem to remove any damaged tissue. Sterilize pruning shears with alcohol before the initial cut and any subsequent cuts. Check lower down on the stem, because if you have damaged areas below healthy areas, you are wasting time by not cutting out the lowest damaged area.

Some folks like to coat the fresh cut tip surface with DAP latex caulk to seal out any moisture and rot, and some do not bother. Do not try to encourage new growth with watering and fertilizer while temperatures are still cool, wait until you see healthy vigorous growth.

Cold-damaged Crown of Thorns.

Tiny new growth emerging from cold-damaged Crown of Thorns.

More new growth.

Crown of thorns will be much the same, except you are more likely to get healthy growth from the base of the plant after pruning, rather than just below your cut, and people generally do not use caulk on the cuts.

Healthy, protected Desert Rose.

Cold-damaged Desert Rose

Rot starting at the base to remove Desert Rose.

Desert rose may also need pruning to remove dead tissue, and if a portion of the base, below the branching, is freeze damaged, surgery to remove that tissue, followed by dusting sulfur to inhibit rot, may be the call.

If your plant is small enough to travel, and you’re not sure what to do, you are welcome to bring it by for diagnosis. And if it is too big, send us a photo on Facebook and we’ll have a look.

–James

We had a great garden talk last Saturday about plants for the indoors from Margaret Hicks, owner of Charlie Cook Associates in Dallas. Below are some of her top tips and picks.

Margaret recommends talking to them, not loving them to death with too much water and fertilizer. Most indoor plants can go 2 to 4 weeks between watering. It’s not the soil at the top but the soil in the lower part of the container to check. When it’s dry, then you water. Water them well, then let dry. We use a moisture meter to help us here at the nursery.

Light is important to all plants, unless you’re a mushroom. A great way to tell how much light a plant would need is the darker the leaf, the less light required. The more variegation in the leaf, the more light required. It’s not an absolute rule but a good guide.

I asked Margaret what she thinks are the top 5 picks for houseplant success:

Hoya is her top choice. Hoya can go virtually anywhere in your home there’s light. No natural light is required and very little water. Plus they bloom a cluster of star shaped flowers that look like wax. Very cool.

Aglaonema aka Chinese evergreen are good for low to medium light depending on the leaf color. They add interest with patterned leaves. They do not get too tall so are good as table accents.

Dracaena Janet Craig compacta is a rich dark green color with more rigid leaves, another low light low water plant.

Sanseveria aka snake plant or mother in law’s tongue have tall or short rigid blades that look like sculpture. They are patterned or solid colors and will grow with minimal care.

Tillandsias aka air bromeliads truly need no soil and low light. Perfect for hanging, driftwood, or holey rocks. Just give them a spritz of water every couple of weeks.

Want more? Come in, we can help!

–Debbie

Do plant the tree at the right depth, with the top of the root ball as high or slightly higher than surrounding soil.

Do eliminate competition from lawn by clearing the grass out a minimum of 18″ (more is better) from the trunk and keeping the cleared area mulched.

Don’t “volcano mulch” the trunk of your new tree, 2″ of mulch over the roots and 1″ or less touching the trunk.

Don’t let a string trimmer get close enough to strip off the bark of your new tree.

Don’t use “weed-and-feed” fertilizer near your new tree.

Don’t excessively prune all lower growth off your new tree thinking it will make your tree grow up faster; it will actually slow growth of roots, trunk diameter, and height.

Do check watering frequently through the first summer and water as
needed.

-James

Watering slow and deep but not too often is the key to a strong and deep root system. By contrast, frequent, short watering encourages roots to stay shallow, in a zone that dries out faster. Texas A&M recommends applying one inch of water once a week or less, on your chosen watering day. You can measure this by setting out a rain gauge or a tuna fish can. If you find water running off into the gutter before you get one inch (likely) then you need to break your watering into two or three applications on the same day (Learn more: Cycle Soak Method of Lawn Irrigation) The second watering and third watering will push the water down deeper into the soil, to help grow a deeper root system. Remember, shallow watering every few days forces the roots to rise to the surface where the moisture is. Shallow roots demand more watering and make for a weaker plant.

Newly planted trees, shrubs and grass will require more frequent watering since they do not have an extensive root system. Annual flowers and vegetables require more also due to their limited root system. So start now, and water slow and deep to maintain that beautiful lawn and landscape for the summer with minimal care.

-DeAnna

Water! It’s a vital part of having a healthy lawn and landscape. Rain is always our best source of water but since summer is here and rain is scarce, I want to show you a little trick I learned.

Personally, I love to hand water with a hose, watering pots and flowerbeds, playing with dogs, cooling myself off in the process. It’s fun and gets the job done! Now watering with a sprinkler, that’s a bit of a hassle. Setting it out, making sure the spray is in my lawn and not on the street, remembering to move it and then turning it off. You get the picture! And a sprinkler can only cover a limited space. Aughhh!

<span data-mce-type="bookmark" style="display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;" class="mce_SELRES_start"></span><span data-mce-type="bookmark" style="display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;" class="mce_SELRES_start"></span>

But now I can cover more ground with my new Melnor pulsating sprinklers we have here at Gill’s. You can attach them end to end… doubling the watering area in the same amount of time. WOW! Plus, I added a Melnor mechanical timer to my faucet that can be set to run up to 2 hours and then will automatically turn off. A double WOW! I attached 1 sprinkler to my 100’ hose, unscrewed the other side and attached a 50’ hose, attached the 2nd sprinkler, set the sprinkler tabs to keep the water in my yard, turned the water on, fine-tuned the stops, set the timer, done!

Now my yard, trees, shrubs are much happier and so am I.

Remember, you can water your lawn with a sprinkler from 6pm to 10am, one day of the week. Your choice of day. You can hand water or use a soaker hose, any day, any time, for however long you like.

-Debbie

If your watering hose is in the sun, make sure to let the water run through for a little while before watering your plants. Hot hoses make for hot water!

Caladiums last longer if you pinch off the bloom stalks, which are always great for bouquets.

If your tomatoes or cucumbers remind you of Jack and the Beanstalk, use Takiron stakes and jute twine to lengthen your cage and keep those veggies contained.

You CAN give perennials a haircut in the summertime if you need to, but please nothing too drastic. Shearing blooms and gentle pruning are great ways to keep perennials looking fresh.

Weeds love to encroach on your garden beds in the summer. Walk your beds once a week! Pulling up small weeds now is alwayseasier, and can save you a lot of sweat.

If you have to spray insecticides or fungicides, do in early in the morning or late afternoon, not in the middle of the day! Water droplets have this nasty little habit of acting like magnifying glasses in 90 degree weather, and can cause burns.

-Marta

Last week James and I were visiting some friends of ours, Anita & Rolf Nelson, also in the garden center business. They own Nelson’s Water Gardens in Katy, Texas. Anita reads our blogs and read what we recommended for whitefly.

She shared with me their way of controlling whitefly in the garden, organically. They spread worm castings in late spring at the base of plants that are susceptible to white fly. The digestive system of earthworms produces an enzyme called chitinase, which repels insects. They recommend working into the top few inches of soil and then watering in. Then in the dog days of summer when insects abound, your plants become a repellant to the sucking insects.

Great to know! Next May we’ll post in our monthly to do’s to add worm castings to your soil! Thank you Anita and Rolf!

-Sally

Watering

Footer