Welcome to 2022! January is the planning month for South Texas gardeners. Time to think about what/where/when/how, and most importantly, why to plant! Here are our top January to-do’s to set you up for a fun and successful Spring.
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. Set Your Gardening Intention
What are your reasons for gardening this year? Could be for stress relief, exercise, improving the environment, growing and cooking delicious food, attracting birds, or just enjoying being outside. Think about why you want to garden first, then use the month to plan your new garden spaces, clean up beds, and prepare your planting areas.
2. Keep Planting – But Watch The Weather
Our South Texas Spring is only about 45 days away! Pleasant weather brings the itch to start planting everything, but January weather is quite unpredictable, and temps can drop suddenly. January is a perfect time to plant trees & shrubs, greens & herbs, and cool weather flowers, just hold off on the tender tropicals.
3. Fertilize Your Citrus Trees
Use organic Citrus Tone by Espoma once you’ve finished your harvest. This helps your citrus get ready to bloom this Spring and produce a bumper crop next Fall-Winter. Reapply in June. You can feed in between with organic Hasta Gro.
4. Plant Climbing Roses
Our favorite climbing rose, the Peggy Martin variety, are blooming like crazy right now. Climbing roses benefit from being planted now and should not be cut back until after they have totally gone out of bloom. Other shrub roses should be cut back late January/early Feb to promote new growth and more Spring blooms.
5. Houseplants – Find a Good Spot
The key to vibrant and healthy houseplants is often just finding the right spot. A good starting point is to place near windows that get good indirect light for at least some portion of the day. Be sure to keep houseplants away from A/C and heat vents, which will dry them out. This Pilea is happy on a high shelf about 5 feet from a Western-facing window that gets indirect/dappled light through the trees outside.
6. Lawn Care
This Winter we’ve been diagnosing and treating fungal issues in lawns including the dreaded Take-All Root Rot. Check out our tips for prevention which include applying Peat Moss and making sure that you are not overwatering. For weeds, Bonide Weed & Crabgrass Preventer will help stop weed seeds from sprouting. Weed Beater Complete kills existing weeds and helps stop new weeds from sprouting.
Brad Kisner says
I have clover in my back yard. How do I get rid of it. It seems not to ever go to the front yard, only in back.
DeAnna says
The first thing you can do is spread a pre-emergent, Crabgrass and Weed Preventor granules to prevent more from sprouting. Typically this is done October and January. Next spray Weed B Gon hose-end spray when the weather is warm and sunny with no rain in the forecast. This week looks good to spray. You may need to reapply in 3-4 weeks.
Kim L Cosby says
What products can I use to kill crabgrass/weeds in and around my landscaping beds?
Jesse says
Hi Kim – we are liking a new organic weed killer called GroundClear for this purpose. Horticultural vinegar is another organic option. Both of these should be sprayed according to the label/directions and only on the weed(s) you want to kill.