Weeds

Spring is in full swing and everyone is ready to get their lawn and landscape in shape for the season. Take these 3 steps to healthy grass that looks and feels great.

Remember – a healthy lawn keeps weeds and disease away. If you are having a problem with either, we can help! Bring us a sample of your grass, and we’ll diagnose and supply the best solution.

Wait for the right time to fertilize. Grass has just started to come out of Winter dormancy, and as we continue to get warmer, it will grow quicker. Once you are mowing your lawn once a week, you know it’s time to fertilize – wait until then! If you fertilize too early, before the grass is actively growing, the fertilizer will not be able to do its best work. We recommend using organic Medina Growin’ Green or our Gill Food. Feeding your lawn at the right time will give it the nutrients it needs to thrive through our Summer until we fertilize again in the Fall.
Water thoroughly, not frequently. As we start to warm up, lawns need to be watered once a week with one inch of water. You should maintain this watering now through the Summer. It’s always better to water thoroughly not frequently in order to maintain adequate soil moisture. If you find water running off into the gutter before you get one inch, you need to break your watering into two or three applications on the same day (Cycle Soak Method of Lawn Irrigation). The second and third watering will push the water down deeper into the soil, to help grow a deeper root system.
- Pro tip: Use the Tuna Can Test. Place an empty tuna or cat food can in the area where you are watering, or where your sprinkler is watering. Water the area until the can fills up with 1” of water, and you’ll know you’ve watered thoroughly.
Nature’s Blend: your lawn’s best friend. If you have dead or thin areas in your lawn, now is the time to fix them. Begin with raking out the dead grass in those spots, then spread a thin layer of Nature’s Blend compost across the dirt (about a quarter inch thick). The organic material will encourage new runners in those areas so they can start to grow and fill in. For any dead area 3ft. wide or greater, we recommend plugging in small pieces of sod. If the majority of the lawn is dead, it’s probably time to till, regrade, and re-sod.
- Pro tip: You can spread Nature’s Blend on your lawn 2-3 times a year to enhance your soil structure and prevent Take All Root Rot.

We’re so happy with the results we’ve seen from spreading Nature’s Blend that Gill’s is now offering this service! Give us a call if you’re interested in having us come out with our compost spreader and do the work for you.

– Wyatt

Landscape plants, trees, and lawns are waking up for spring and putting on new growth, which means…time to fertilize!! Using a good organic fertilizer makes big difference: healthier, stronger, more disease and pest-resistant, more drought-tolerant, and more beautiful plants. Now that Stage 3 watering rules have been revised, we can water in fertilizer for landscape beds and trees without issue. But should we still fertilize lawns if we can’t water lawns?

The short answer is yes! Using a good organic lawn food, like our go-to Medina Growin Green, promotes root growth and long-term health, which makes lawns more tolerant of less water. Ideally you’d want to water the fertilizer in, but you don’t have to. Medina Growin Green is gentle and won’t burn your lawn. You can apply it now and water it in slowly over a few weeks. If you have trees in your yard, keep in mind that fertilizer and water need to be applied at the drip line, aka where rainwater naturally drips off the outer edge of the canopy. Therefore, if you apply fertilizer to your lawn and water it in for the trees, your lawn will get the benefit too. You can also try to time your lawn fertilizing with a light rain. We typically don’t recommend waiting for rain to fertilize since a heavy rain would wash most of the fertilizer granules away. But, given the watering limitations, taking advantage of a light rain is a good solution.

Homeowners can also collect free effluent water at the Oso Wastewater Treatment Plant to use to water lawns. Apply for a quick and easy residential permit from the City of Corpus Christi here. Gill’s plans to provide this service as well, but the permitting process for businesses takes a while longer. Once we receive our permit, we’ll get the word out.

Another great option is to collect rainwater or recycled gray water at home. If your washing machine is in an accessible location, it can be as simple as connecting a water hose and having it drain into a rain barrel or water tank. Just 1 single washing machine load can produce 15-30 gallons of water. Talk to a plumber about setting this up if your washing machine is not as accessible. Dishwasher too! As long as you use the gentle “free and clear” or fragrance/chemical-free detergents and soaps, your gray water will be great for the lawn.

Very important: We do not recommend using chemical lawn fertilizers, especially when water is limited. With chemical fertilizers, you get a quicker green-up and more top growth, which requires more water to maintain. Whereas with a good organic, you get deeper roots that can withstand less water. Also, don’t try to treat for weeds and fertilize at the same time. It doesn’t work! That’s why we don’t sell and don’t recommend “weed and feed” type products. Treat for weeds first, wait a couple weeks, then fertilize.

We carry a few different fertilizers that do slightly different things for different plants, but you really only need one – Medina Growin Green! One 40lb bag of Medina Growin Green covers 3,000 sq. ft. of lawn and you can use it on everything else too! It’s all organic and works like magic on lawns, veggie gardens, trees, shrubs, flowers, blooming perennials, you name it.

Woohoo for rain here in town and in the watershed!! Makes for a lot of happy plants and people. But with rain comes a major increase in bug activity, some of which can cause major problems. Here are the main offenders to watch out for and how to get rid of them.

Dreaded Aphids

You’re bound to encounter aphids sooner or later. They’re commonly found in the veggie garden and attacking new growth of landscape plants like hibiscus, Indian Hawthorn, and even Texas Sage. If it’s just a few, you can blast them off with a steady stream of water. Or use organic Spinosad Soap or systemic Cyonara if the outbreak is bad and causing a lot of damage. Ladybugs are also a great natural control – they love eating aphids.

Disgusting Spider Mites

Look for these little white specks and fine webbing…spider mites! They’re also common in the veggie garden and they like plumeria, junipers, and all kinds of houseplants. Spinosad soap is a good control.

Menacing Mealy Bugs

Look on the tips, stems, and undersides of the leaves for these white insects clustered together. If they go unnoticed for a short period of time , they will produce a protective cottony barrier over their bodies to protect themselves. Many times we hear “I have a white fungus on my plants”, but it’s usually mealybugs. Spinosad Soap and Cyonara can be used to kill these pests. Multiple applications may be needed. Thorough coverage is a must, and we recommend spraying once a week for 2-3 weeks to make sure you have killed them all. If you only have a few clusters of them at the tips of your plants you could smash them with your fingers and rinse, or cut off the affected tips and throw away the bugs in a sealed bag.

Hungry Caterpillars

Look for 2 main signs and you’ll know its caterpillars: big holes chewed through leaves and black speckles of frass (poop). If you inspect your garden every day and it’s just a few chewed leaves here and there, you can usually find the caterpillar and relocate it. If they’re causing more damage than you’re comfortable with, you can treat with organic Bt. The active ingredient, Bacillus thuringiensis targets caterpillars only. It’s harmless to birds, bees, pets, and people. We carry Bt in a hose-end sprayer, a hand spray bottle, and in powdered form called Dipel Dust. The nice thing about the dust is that its super easy to sprinkle and you can easily see where you’ve applied it.

Annoying Ants

If fire ants are present underground, you’ll see their mounds pop up after a rain. We’ve had good success using organic Come & Get It Bait to take care of them. Sprinkle on the mound, and they’ll take the bait down into the colony and die. You can also drench the mound with Spinsosad soap or Orange oil.

Nasty Squash Borers

Your squashes are in danger! Squash borers love to bore into the mases of the stem of your squash plants and eat them from the inside. To prevent them from getting in, spray the stems of your squashes with Spinosad Soap. You can also inject your squashes with a simple solution of Bt to kill them if they’re already inside. Just mix Bt with water as the label recommends, then fill a syringe and inject the base of the stem.

Gross Scale Insects

The photo above is a leaf from a Cast Iron plant that a customer brought in. This one happens to be infested with 2 different types of scale insects. Notice the white specks and the brown gunky spots. There are many different types of scale that go after our common landscape plants like Cast Iron plant, Flax Lily, Hibiscus, Indian Hawthorn, and more. Have no fear! All-Seasons Horticultural & Dormant Oil Spray is here! Horticultural oil is a mineral oil solution that works by coating the insects and suffocating them. It’s safe and harmless for humans, pets, birds, and other wildlife, but very effective against scale insects and other plant pests. Just don’t use it when temperatures get above 90 degrees or you’ll risk burning your plants. If temps warm up, use Neem Oil sprayed in the evening.

Artistic Leaf Miners

Have you seen these abstract paintings on the leaves of your pepper plants? Leaf miners! Aside from their obvious scrawlings, they typically don’t affect plant health much. If it’s just a few leaves here and there, just remove those leaves and carry on. If it’s a lot of damage, remove the affected leaves and spray the remaining leaves with spinosad soap or neem oil, which will signal to the flying leaf miners that this is not a good place to land and lay eggs.

Flying Flea Beetles

Flea beetles are tiny – about ¼” or smaller. They leave their signature pin size chew holes in newly planted herbs & veggies. They’re also fond of flower buds just before they open. Spinsosad soap will take care of them. Plan to spray late in the day or early evening when bees are not foraging. It is safe for bees once the spray dries.

Grubby Grub Worms

We’ve been seeing June bugs, which means grub worms will follow soon, typically early to mid May. If you want to prevent them from doing damage to your lawn, use Bonide Insect and Grub Killer granules. In this case, ‘season long’ means about 3 months. So, you may need another application in mid July.

Abundant Pill Bugs

Pill bugs aka rolly-polies are everywhere right now. They’re actually crustaceans, not insects. They usually don’t cause much damage to plants, but if they’re out of hand, you can treat with organic Sluggo Plus. Or, you can get them drunk… Fill a cat food or tuna can half way with beer, and the pill bugs will crawl in, get drunk, and drown.

Vampiric Mosquitos

They’re sure to be hatching as we speak… To prevent mosquitos, use organic Mosquito Dunks or Bits in your rain barrels, bird baths, and anywhere you have standing water. They’re harmless to birds, pets, and other bugs, but they prevent mosquito larvae from hatching. These can also be used to create very effective mosquito traps. Just fill a bucket with water and some leaf/grass clippings, and add a dunk or granular bits.

Water + Mulch to Maintain Depth Moisture – Very Important!

This may sound counterintuitive, but you need to continue watering regularly even when we’re getting good rainfall. Supplemental watering after a rain will help push moisture further down into the soil and allow the soil to hold depth moisture for a longer period. This is very important during spring before we reach warmer summer temps. The better depth moisture we maintain now, the deeper plant roots will grow, which will allow plants to withstand warmer temps and longer periods between waterings. Keep in mind, it takes far less water to improve and maintain depth moisture than it does to rebuild it once the soil gets really dry. And remember – mulch is your best friend! A good 2-3″ mulch layer works wonders for retaining moisture and reducing water needs. It also insulates roots and keeps them cooler and healthier.

If you’re interested in capturing a large amount of rainwater every time it rains, reach out to us here to discuss adding rainwater cisterns to your landscape. You’d be surprised how much you can collect. Just 1 inch of rain on 1,000 sq ft of roof = 600 gallons of water!

A Few Easy Solutions for Bugs After a Rain

If you haven’t noticed already, you’ll soon notice a lot more bug activity in your garden. Don’t worry, and don’t over-treat, just stay observant. For 2 very common culprits, aphids and spider mites, use organic Spinosad Soap. If caterpillars are causing a lot of damage in the veggie garden, you can use organic Bt spray or dust. To prevent mosquitos, use organic Mosquito Dunks or Bits in your rain barrels, bird baths, and anywhere you have standing water. They’re harmless to birds, pets, and other bugs, but they prevent mosquito larvae from hatching. These can also be used to create very effective mosquito traps. Just fill a bucket with water and some leaf/grass clippings, and add a dunk or granular bits.

You may have also seen fire ant mounds appear out of nowhere after the rain. We’ve had good success using organic Come & Get It Bait to take care of them. If you have other bug questions, give us a call or stop by.

What About Weeds?

If you’re thinking of treating for weeds, keep in mind that most weed killers need several days of sunshine to be effective. So, not a good idea to use them when we have intermittent rain in the forecast. Instead, the best plan of attacking weeds right now is to take advantage of the soft ground and pull em up! One of the most satisfying sounds in the garden is that “pop” you hear when you pull a weed and get the entire root. And once again, mulch is your best friend for suppressing weeds too!

-Jesse

February is time to really get going on pruning, prepping, and planting to kick off spring! We always say – spring in the Coastal Bend starts on Valentine’s Day. We’re stocking up on veggies, Texas native plants, trees, lots of flowers and blooming perennials, and we’re hosting lots of garden talks and events starting this Saturday! Here are our top 8 gardening tasks to focus on this month as we head into an amazing garden season.

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 7th 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. Next up is our Valentine’s Potted Arrangement Workshop on Thursday, February 12th at 6pm.

2. Prep Beds & Plant Your Veggies!

It’s time to start veggie favs like tomatoes, squash, cucumbers, beans, lettuces/greens, & more! Work some Nature’s Blend compost into your beds and get going. Or fill containers and 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 our Spring Veggie Garden Talk with DeAnna and Wyatt coming up on February 21st. Come learn and share with a group of seasoned and aspiring gardeners!

3. 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.

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. Keep Watch for Scale 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 houseplants that may have scale or spider mites.

Check out our February Garden Guide for more tips!

Welcome to 2026! It’s time to set our gardening resolutions! What do you hope to learn more about in the garden this year? What new plants are you going to try? What areas are you planning to revamp? 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. Mulch for Many Reasons!

Let’s start off with the simplest and most effective garden must-do…JUST MULCH! A good 2-3″ deep layer of mulch is our best protection against dry drought conditions and against cold snaps/freezes. Think of mulch as insulation for your plant roots – it helps retain moisture in the soil and it provides a barrier to keep cold air out. Natural mulches also break down over time and add nutrients to your soil. Maintain a good layer of mulch, but don’t pile mulch up around the base of trees and plants. Give your trunks and root flares (where the roots meet the main trunks/stems) a few inches of breathing room for better oxygen exchange and to prevent potential fungal problems. Mulch is also an excellent place holder this month for areas that you plan to plant this spring. Mulch will help keep underlying soil active and alive, while suppressing weed growth. Clean up and mulch now, then easy planting when you’re ready!

2. Prep Soil Now 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 – the best kind of exercise! Again, you can prep beds with compost and add a layer of mulch as a placeholder until you’re ready to plant.

3. Wait to Prune!

Remember – wait to do any major pruning of most plants until February! We can be tempted to do too much pruning in January because we want plants to look pretty, but you don’t want plants to think its time to start putting on new growth while we still have potential for cold snaps. 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. We need to tolerate some wintery-looking plants this month.

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 – just like the photo above.

4. 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.

5. Start Veggie Seeds!

January is time to start tomatoes, kale, chard, onions, carrots, beets, parsley and more from seed. We carry easy 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.

6. 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! Potatoes will be arriving any day now!

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 and containers!

7. 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.