Watering

Summertime is a great time for succulents. We’ve got a big selection of fun and unusual varieties for lots of color and texture combinations. Check out our quick video and tips for keeping your succulents happy.

1. Use ½ soil + ½ perlite or sand for happy succulents

We recommend using a mixture of half perlite or sand and half potting soil as the medium for your succulents to be potted into. Don’t use beach sand because it has too much salt! Having well-draining soil is especially important for succulents and cacti to help prevent them from being overwatered and rotting.

2. Succulents need food and water too!

Succulents and cacti prefer not to sit in wet soil for very long. Our favorite way to check the dampness of the soil is by using a moisture meter to make sure that all of the soil in the pot is dry before watering again. To keep your succulents happy and healthy, fertilize during the Spring and Summer seasons – we like using organic Hastagro every 2-3 weeks.

3. Most succulents need morning sun

Most succulents thrive in direct morning sun and afternoon shade, while most cacti make great all-day direct sun plants. Keep that in mind when looking for the perfect spot. Succulents do great outside, but if you want to keep them indoors, find a place that gets bright light.

Happy Gardening!

-Kelsie

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.

We are lucky that we can garden year-round here in South Texas, but Fall is our best season for planting – especially for trees! Here’s why.

Trees (shrubs and perennials, too) 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 tree to grow roots instead of foliage all through this time.

So, a tree planted in the ground in Fall will grow much faster the following Spring due to having already developed a healthy root system. That root system will also help the tree take up deeper moisture and not suffer as much stress during its first South Texas Summer.

More Tips for Tree Success:

Consider size: starting with a small 3 to 15 gallon size tree makes planting easier and you get to watch it grow. Planting a larger tree gives you instant impact in your landscape, but planting is more involved. Be sure to choose a space suited for the size the tree will be once it has matured. We can help you choose the right tree and location and take care of the planting for you if you like.
Dig the hole as deep as the container & about 12” wider. Plant the tree so the top of the root ball is level with the surrounding ground or slightly higher. Don’t plant too deep!
Use Nature’s Blend compost to improve existing soil when planting. Don’t put the compost in the hole – mix it with the soil that you dig up, then back fill with the soil + compost mixture. Better yet, spread compost over the area where the tree will be planted, till it into the soil using a roto-tiller, then dig your hole and plant your tree in the middle.
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 instructions. New trees need TLC and W!

– James and Debbie

It’s Wyatt again – welcome to part 3 of my Fall Veggie Vlog. I decided to start all my cool weather veggies this year from seed and share video tips along the way – take a look at Part 1 and Part 2 (ICYMI). After sprouting in peat pots, my seedlings are ready to transplant into the ground. Check out my tips for transplanting young seedlings, including protecting them from still-warm temps, spacing, watering, and feeding.

Video Recap:

Protect Cool Weather Seedlings from High Temperatures

It’s time to get cool weather veggies like cabbage and broccoli planted into the ground, but we are still having some 90+ degree days. Using a thin layer of Pine Straw Mulch over your young plants can help protect their surface roots from heat and help retain moisture.

Tips for Transplanting

Not too deep! Be sure to plant level with the surrounding soil so you don’t suffocate the surface/feeder roots. Use a good organic starter fertilizer like Biotone when you plant. Mix a small handful with the soil, then backfill around your new plant.

Give Them Plenty of Space

A good rule of thumb is 12-16” spacing between most cool weather veggies. Visualize their full-grown size. Plants that are too crowded can encourage bad bug infestations.

Gentle Watering!

Don’t blast your tender young plants with a water hose. They need a gentle “blessing” of water from a watering can. Since you can’t drench them yet, they will likely need a gentle watering 2-3 times a day until they are established.

Feed Regularly

Liquid Hastagro is an excellent organic plant food that’s great for young plants. You can hook it up to your hose and broadcast it over the whole garden about once every 2 weeks. Liquid fertilizer is easier to apply accurately on young plants. Using a granular is ok too, but it’s easy to use too much.

-Wyatt

There’s an abundant palette of garden herbs & flowers that thrive when planted in Fall. No need to keep them separated – pair them together for the perfect garden to table companions.

The classic herbs for the Fall season align with those familiar flavors for soups and holiday meals. Sage, Thyme, Rosemary, Parsley, Oregano, Cilantro, and Chives are well known and very successful in South Texas gardens.

Epazote, Yerba Buena, and Yerba Anís (aka Mexican Mint Marigold or Mexican Tarragon) also grow well here in South Texas. Epazote is used when cooking beans to ease digestion. Yerba Buena is a relative of mint commonly used in teas and to freshen breath. Yerba Anís is the flavor associated with licorice, but the fresh leaves + oil and vinegar make an amazing salad dressing.

Fall is prime time for flowers too: Pansies, Violas, Calendulas, Nasturtiums, Roses, Lavender, Anise Hyssop, Marigolds, & Ornamental Cabbage and Kale are all beautiful AND edible with proper care. (Remember to not use chemical fertilizers & treatments on your flowers, especially if you plan to eat them.)

Instead of thinking of separate herb and flowerpots or beds, try planting them together. Maybe a soup garden with Parsley, Sage, Thyme, and Violas. Or a salsa garden in a large pot with Cilantro, Mexican Oregano, and Pansies for color.

Herbs and flowers can be planted in ground; making sure the soil is well drained; or in containers using a good potting mix. All will need at least 4-6 hours of sun and regular watering, especially at first planting.

Our go-to organic solutions for herbs and flowers (and all things edible):

Hasta Gro, Espoma Plant Tone, & BioTone for feeding.
Spinosad, Neem Oil, and Beesafe 3 in 1 spray to prevent and control pests.

Need more ideas? Come see us!

-Debbie

This past week, one of our customers explained that her squash plant had great foliage and lots of blooms, but it was not producing any squash. This can often be attributed to a watering or fertilizer issue, but sometimes you might have a pollination problem. So, what’s the solution?

Bees! Bees are the best pollinators, and they are the reason many of your veggies are able to produce. Bees move pollen back and forth between male and female flowers on your plants. The transfer of pollen fertilizes the female flower allowing the plant to fruit.

The best way to attract these powerful pollinators to your garden is to plant pollinizer plants. Here are some of our favorite plants to bring home the bees:

Magic Mountain Basil or Thai Basil: excellent varieties for cooking and irresistible to bees!
Dwarf Calliandra (powder puff plant): popular landscape shrub that has beautiful “powder puff” blooms.

Mystic Spires Salvia: long purple spires that attract a variety of pollinators to the garden including bees and hummingbirds.
Alyssum: low- growing annual with purple or white blooms and a lovely fragrance that’s attractive to humans and bees.

Pro tip: On occasion, the bees can miss some plants. You can “false pollinate” your plants with a Q tip or a small paint brush. Lightly brush inside the male flower, then brush inside the female flower to help transfer pollen.

-Wyatt

Brown patch/Large patch fungus and Take-all Root Rot (TARR) are two unwelcome Fall and Winter visitors to our South Texas lawns. Cool nighttime temperatures and moisture on the grass from rain, dew, or excessive watering frequency are the two main factors promoting these diseases. Large patch is relatively easy to diagnose visually if you are familiar with the symptoms. TARR has more subtle and varying symptoms and requires 60x or greater magnification to positively ID. Large patch is an unsightly annoyance for Fall and Winter, but damaged grass will regrow in Spring. TARR does not show much damage while the disease is spreading over Winter, but when hot temperatures arrive in Summer, the weakened roots and runners are unable to support the water requirements of the infected areas, and they decline or die.

There is no “curing” or eliminating these diseases, but you can attempt to prevent them, or manage them, by various means. Culturally, you should “goldilocks” your lawn: not too much water, not too little, but just right. Water deeply when needed to avoid drought stress but keep the frequency of application to a minimum. Mow as often as needed. Do not let grass grow too tall, but do not cut it too short. Fertilize according to recommended timing and quantity, not too much or too little. If you see a fungus damaged area, mow it last to minimize spreading into healthy areas. Keep mower blades sharp, so grass is cleanly sliced rather than ripped with slower-healing ragged edges. Any stresses make the lawn more vulnerable to infection by a harmful fungus.

We have fungicides that can help prevent or suppress harmful fungus, but keep in mind that there are also beneficial fungal organisms that recycle dead organic matter into plant nutrients and help prevent thatch. So excessive fungicide use, like most excesses, can cause new problems. My personal recommendation is to let large patch fungus run its course, as it does no permanent damage, just temporary unsightliness. But I recommend topdressing TARR infected lawns with peat moss, to control (can’t eliminate) the disease, as the damage is permanent. Best is for you to bring in some samples (still alive but with symptoms) and photos for us to look at, and offer to you various courses of action, for you to choose whatever approach you are most comfortable with.

-James

We’re thankful that many of you come to Gill’s to look for special gifts – we want to help you find (or create) something memorable for Mom! Here are a few ideas. Happy Mother’s Day!

1. Create a Living Arrangement (or pick one of ours)

Choose your pot and plants for a unique living arrangement that Mom will love. Or let us help you put something special together.

2. Bring Butterflies and Hummingbirds to Mom’s House

Right now is prime time to plant some hummingbird plants and/or add some feeders. Hummingbirds (and other birds) are hungry and looking. And don’t forget about the butterflies!

3. Outfit Mom with Gardening Gear

Hats, gloves, nice hand tools, garden décor, mosquito-repelling incense sticks, watering cans, wind chimes, and lots more to get Mom ready to garden.

4. Plant a Tree in Mom’s Honor

The gift that keeps giving. You’ll always remember when you planted it and why.

5. Let Mom Decide

When in doubt, a gift card is great. We always have gift cards at the register or give us a call to order with a nice gift envelope for Mom.