Another Freeze

We had a freeze last night, February 27.  It got down to 31 degrees.  Another freeze is predicted next week, beyond our last average freeze date of March 2.  It's been a long winter...  We couldn't risk losing plants so we covered the most sensitive pots and other we brought into the garage.  So far we have not lost anything but someday we may get careless.  It would break my heart to lose a plant at this late state of the game.

Spring Gardening Chores

Spring Gardening Chores

By Joe and Susan Noonan, Bexar County Master Gardeners

It’s springtime and there are lots of gardening chores for April and May.   Consider replacing your turf this year with either hardscaping or drought tolerant ground covers. Always remember that in south Texas we are either in a drought, going into a drought or recovering from a drought.

Color

--Warm-season color includes trailing lantanas, cosmos, zinnias, firebush, copper plant, moss rose, purslane, Dahlberg daisy, purple fountain grass, bachelor buttons and pentas.  For shade areas choose from begonia, impatiens, caladiums, coleus and pentas.  Wait on periwinkles until late May.

--Mandevilla, bougainvilleas and hibiscus are great patio plants.  Let your bougainvillea get root-bound and stressed between watering for best blooms.

--Deadhead (pinch/cut off) spent flowers to encourage more bloom.

--Roses should be blooming with color.  Continue to fertilize them for continued blooming.

--Let your wildflowers go to seed before mowing.

--Seeds that may be sown directly in the warm soil include amaranthus, celosia, morning glory, sunflowers, and zinnias.

--Fertilize container plants and hanging baskets plants on a regular basis with a water soluble fertilizer product and be sure that a slow-release fertilizer such as Osmocote has been mixed into the potting medium at the label-recommended amount.

--Remove pansies, snapdragons, dianthus, calendulas, kale and other winter plants when they get ragged.

Ornamentals

--Plant caladium tubers after mid-April when the soil warms and night temperatures are above 60 F.  Caladiums prefer a loose, well-drained soil with plenty of organic matter.  They thrive in shade with dappled light, and their colors of green-white, green-pink or green-red fit into almost any landscape.

--Firebush for sun and firespike for full shade are two of the best hummingbird plants.  Hibiscus, cigar plant, dwarf Chinese trumpet creeper, lantana, and firebush on the patio will bring hummingbirds in close for observation.

Shade Trees and Shrubs

--Do not prune oak trees now.    This is prime oak wilt season.  If you make any kind of wound from a trimmer or mower on an oak tree, paint it quickly with some type of latex paint.

--You can still plant new shrubs and trees in April if they are container-grown.  Use generous amounts of mulch on the surface over the roots and water as the soil dries, usually about once per week through the hot summer.

--In heavily shaded parts of the landscape where grass is difficult to maintain, choose one of the well-adapted ground covers such as English or Algerian ivy, Asian jasmine, or mondo grass.

--Prune pillar or climbing roses, wisteria and Carolina jasmine as soon as they have finished flowering.  Vigorous landscape shrubs will need frequent pruning.  These include eleagnus, pyracantha, ligustrum and photinia.  As spring flowering shrubs complete their blooming, do any necessary pruning.  Prune to retain the natural shape of the plant.

Turf Grass

--Proper mowing, efficient watering and good nutrition are the best way to minimize weeds in turf grass.  Spot apply liquid broad-leaf weed killers on warm days to eliminate henbit, chickweed, dandelions, clover and non-grassy weeds.  Read and follow label instructions.  Always read the labels on lawn products.  For example, Scott’s Bonus S Fertilizer should never be used under oak trees which can be a negative issue in our neighborhood.

--Fertilize your lawn after the second “real” mowing.  A “real” mowing is when you are cutting lawn grass and not winter weeds.  April 15, tax-filing day, is a good target.  Use a slow-release lawn fertilizer with a ratio of 3-1-2 or 4-1-2---Nitrogen (N), Phosphorus (P) and Potassium (K) such as 15-5-10 or 19-5-9 or 20-5-10.

--Mow St. Augustine at 3 inches, Zoysia at 2 inches and Bermuda at 1.5 inches.  Mow when the grass is ⅓ higher than the recommended height.  Never cut off more than ⅓ the height of the blades of grass.

From www.thehillcountrygardener.com  Tom Harris, Ph.D.   See also www.plantanswers.com by Jerry Parsons, Ph.D.

Finding the Right Arborist

Finding the Right Arborist to Trim Your Live Oaks

by

Susan Noonan, Bexar County Master Gardener

Do not trim your live oak trees now.   Wait until July when the weather is hot and the beetle that carries the oak wilt virus is inactive.  The best months to trim live oak trees are during the heat of summer and deep winter.  Always paint cuts on branches larger than 1” with a latex paint.

Before you hire an arborist to trim your trees, do your homework.  Mark A. Peterson, a conservation project coordinator with the San Antonio Water System  wrote the following article, “Finding the Right Arborist” for the weekly SAWs newsletter published on January 20, 2014:

During my long tenure at the Texas Forest Service, people frequently asked for arborist

recommendations.  But as a public servant, I was-and still am-often reluctant to

provide references unless the individuals or companies have gone through an objective

training or screening process.  Still, I’m always happy to provide direction, especially

when it comes to selecting a professional arborist to care for your trees.  For starters,

you’ll want to ask a potential contractor if he practices tree topping.  If the answer is

yes, move on to another contractor.  If the answer is no, proceed by asking for:

1.  Proof of membership  with one of the professional arborist associations including

the American Society of Consulting Arborists, International Society of Arborists, or the

Tree Care Industry Association.

2.  Credentials from the International Society of Arboriculture, which demonstrates

professionalism and a desire to improve his or her knowledge of tree care.

3.  Certificate of insurance, including proof of liability for personal and property

damage, and worker’s compensation.  Phone the insurance company or agent to

ensure the policy is current.

4.  A written contract that fully explains the work to be done, on what day, and the price

per service performed.

Winter is the best time to prune your trees.  Make sure you have the best arborist for the

job.  

Late Winter Blooms

Late winter is actually the beginning of the spring flowers for south Texas.  Petunias planted in the fall, reach peak right now.  Geraniums are spectacular in March.  Inpatients love the cool night time temperatures.  I still need to pay attention to those last minute freezes....but I don't see anything in the forecast.  Diluted fertilizer every week or so encourages peak blooms.

As I pull out my winter veggies, I've been adding compost to the raised beds.  The broccoli and cabbage are at peak with the broccoli starting to flower.  I'm still serving chard, collards, salad greens, beets, carrots and spinach.  The onions are growing nicely and as I thin, I add the green onions to salads.   The onions should be fertilized every 2-3 weeks.

Anticipating spring weather, I've potted up Tycoon & cherry tomatoes and banana peppers, and set out seeds for cucumber, basil and chives.  Seeds are so much cheaper than six packs or individual pots.

Other gardening chores include cutting back shrubs and adding top dressing to the grass.  Last week I cut back my knock out roses.   I'm slowly working through my compost pile and adding this organic material to the beds.  The leaves are falling and the Monterrey oak is nearly bare.  The live oaks are just starting to drop so I expect a mess for the next few weeks.

If only we could get rain.  We have had less than two inches of rain since Thanksgiving.  All the storms seem to stay north and east.  It's getting very dry and I'm so afraid that we are in another year of terrible drought.

Warming Up

A few bulbs and annuals are blooming.  Soon wave petunias and geraniums will be at their peak.  It's sure different than last year when annuals were in full bloom.  We still had several freezes this week...but for the next 10 days there are warmer temperatures with highs in the upper 70s and no freezes.  That's all it took for me to set out my potted plants.  I fertilized with a water soluble fertilizer and hope to see many more blooms.

Yesterday I cut back my knock out roses by 2/3rds and fertilized.  Today I fertilized bulbs.  I'm optimistic that Spring is arriving here in south Texas.  The only gloom is the lack of rain.  We have not had a significant rainfall since Thanksgiving last year.  It just seems to drizzle and give us .08 rain according to my electronic rain gauge.  I'm glad we had drip in most of the yard.

Rodeo is on......so soon I will be potting up tomatoes.  I need to get at the compost pile and sift out to get the good stuff.  We've been slowly adding top dressing to the grass.  With our small yard, we are using bags purchased from Lowe's.

View from the Kitchen Window--Early February

WINTER!!--Another week of temperatures below freezing