Tip of the Week – Week 9 in the Zone 9 Garden

Posted on February 24, 2015 by Jay White

According to the forecast this will be a cold and wet weekend in the Zone 9 garden. However, if they are wrong, here are some of the things you can work on:

Peaches, plums and redbuds are beginning to show color.

Vegetables

If you have not already prepared your beds by tilling in lots of compost, you need to do it soon. The nutrients in compost are not readily available. Compost needs time for the microbes and insects in the soil to break it down. After tilling I highly recommend adding lots of mulch to keep down the weeds. I use spoiled hay in my garden because it is easy for me to get. Feel free to use leaves, grass clippings or any other natural product that you have access to.

Since there is a good chance for rain this weekend I am going to do some indoor gardening. It is time for me to up pot my tomato transplants. I started my seeds in coir pellets back in January. They are now big enough to be moved into the solo drink cups that I use for pots. I put the coir pellets into the cup and cover the entire stem of the young transplants. Since tomatoes grow roots along their entire stem, planting deep and covering the stem will encourage the little plant to make lots of roots that will help grow a big healthy plant.

Onions are beginning to take off. Keep down the weeds and apply 6 cups of organic fertilizer like Lady Bug All Purpose Fertilizer (8-2-4) per 25 square feet of plantings once a month.

There is still time to plant turnips, rutabagas and beets from seed.

Ornamentals

Poppies and Larkspur are very noticeable right now. Be careful not to pull them when weeding this week.

Lawns

Henbit and clover are sprouting all over my yard. Both are nearly impossible to control with organic methods. Weed eat them regularly to keep them from flowering and setting seed. If you are not organic you can treat the clover with Trimec starting next month. Trimec will kill clover and not damage St. Augustine.

Trees and Shrubs

If you have black, sooty looking limbs on your crepe myrtles there is a very good chance that you have a scale infestation. Now is a great time to “cleanse” yourself of the problem. Mix up a bucket of soapy water and use a soft brush to scrub any remaining “honey dew” from the tree. This cleansing will also remove any scales or scale eggs that are already in place. You can also spray dormant oil at this time. If you live in north or east Texas be aware that there is a new scale infecting crepe myrtles in your part of the state. Oils are not effective against this new pest. To learn more about controlling this pest click here for a great article from the Aggie entomologists at Insects in the City.

****Be sure to check out my friend Bart’s blog (Our Garden View) for more great tips for the Central and South Central garden!

I share my posts on the HomeAcre Hop. Be sure to stop by the hop. It has tons of great information from gardeners and homesteaders all over the world!

Tip of the Week – Week 8 in the Zone 9 Garden

Posted on February 18, 2015 by Jay White

Yesterday I received some amazing photos from my friend Bruce Leander. Bruce is an awesome photographer and a macro photography enthusiast. He does a lot of work at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. He sent me some very good macro shots of cedar trees (ash juniper) that are beginning to pollinate. While the pictures are incredible they are bad news for those of us that suffer from cedar fever. As his pictures clearly show, if you are not already suffering you will be soon! If you feel up to it (and the rain holds off) there are several things to be done in the garden this weekend.

Male parts of the ash juniper ready to release the pollen that will make so many of us sick in the next few days. Photo by Bruce Leander

Vegetables

This month, when temperatures are above 50 degrees, move your tomato, pepper and eggplant starts outside. Start slow by giving them only an hour or two of sunlight the first several days. Then gradually increase their time outside. This hardens the plants and will prevent sun scald when the go out permanently. Also, the outdoor breezes will help develop much stronger transplants.

As temperatures rise begin to harden off your tomato, pepper and eggplant transplants by taking them outside for a few hours each day.

Ornamentals

Give cool season color like pansies, violas and snap dragons a boost with a water soluble organic fertilizer or a fish emulsion and seaweed mix. Trim back your salvias, especially salvia greggii, to promote more blooms on thick, compact plants.

My favorite shot of my potager. Trim salvias back by half now to encourage flowering.

Lawns

Even though your sprinkler system has been off for the winter now is the time to turn it on and inspect it. Turn on each zone and look for leaks, cracked heads or misaligned heads. If you can fix the issues yourself you will save yourself some money and many gallons of water this summer. If you can’t fix issues yourself remember that it is much easier to book an irrigation specialist in February than it is in June.

An incredible shot of lichen on an oak limb by my friend Bruce Leander of Austin

Trees and Shrubs

Since we have already mentioned cedar (ash juniper) troubles, now is the time to get control of another one of their big problem – bagworms. Bagworms are interesting creatures. The female moth never leaves the foliage covered torpedo shaped case. She has no eyes, legs or wings and cannot eat. In fact, she looks more like a maggot than a moth. The male mates with her through the open end of the cocoon. After mating she dies with thousands of eggs inside her. The eggs hatch and the babies emerge THROUGH the mother. They climb out of the cocoon and the wind blows them to other trees. They then spin their cocoons and the process starts all over.

Bagworms are a serious problem for conifers (and some deciduous trees as well). A severe infestation can permanently disfigure the tree and it will never recover. You can control this problem by removing cocoons whenever you see them, especially now as mating will soon occur in zone 9. For serious infestations spray a bt product (organic) or dust with sevin.

****Be sure to check out my friend Bart’s blog (Our Garden View) for more great tips for the Central and South Central garden!

I share my posts on the HomeAcre Hop. Be sure to stop by the hop. It has tons of great information from gardeners and homesteaders all over the world!

Tip of the Week – Week 7 in the Zone 9 Garden

Posted on February 10, 2015 by Jay White

This past weekend I planted my potatoes. While planting I got a very pleasant surprise – more potatoes! For the past two years I have wanted to try fall potatoes. However, no one sells seed potatoes in the fall. I had my best ever potato crop in the spring so this September I took my left overs and planted them. We had a very mild winter. I covered the potatoes once in December and once in January for light frosts. Then I did not get them covered for the last freeze in January. I thought the freeze ended my experiment. I cut off the frozen vines and forgot about them. That’s why I was so surprised this Sunday. As I dug my trenches for my new potatoes, my fall potatoes were literally turning up all over the place. I harvested over 20 lbs! So, it looks like you definitely can grow fall potatoes in the Zone 9 Garden. Below are more things to consider doing this weekend.

My latest garden experiment proves you can grow fall potatoes – at least in a mild winter

Vegetables

For a complete list of the vegetables you can plant now please check out the planting guide in the sidebar. If you are not sure what particular vegetable varieties to plant check out Patty Leander’s variety list in the sidebar. This is a great tool for new gardeners or for those of us who like to try different things. Also be sure to look at her seed sources. March 15 is go date for most of the veggies we like to grow in the Zone 9 spring garden. If you don’t hurry it will soon be too late to order your seeds.

Valentine’s Day is a great time to prune your roses.

Ornamentals

There are two times to prune roses – Labor Day and Valentine’s Day. This weekend reduce the size of your hybrid roses by up to one half. Also remove any dead wood. It is also a great time to open up the center of the bush. Most shrub roses will look beautiful if you have six to eight healthy, upright canes. Remove all suckers that are smaller than a pencil and top foliage by cutting branches at a 45 degree angle above a bud. Antique roses do not need as much pruning. Reduce them by no more than a third, get rid of all dead wood and open up the centers. DO NOT prune spring blooming climbers until after their first bloom.

Lawns

It is still too early to apply commercial fertilizers to your lawn. However it is a great time to aerate and add compost. When fertilizing your lawn with compost, mow closely and then spread a half to one inch of compost over the lawn. Rake it into the grass and water well. Do not mow again for a least a week. You can fertilize your lawn with compost 2,3 or 4 times a year. You really can’t add too much. Plus compost will often contain macro nutrients and trace elements that are missing from commercial fertilizers.

Buds on my redbud trees mean that all trees will soon be breaking dormancy. Spray horticultural oils now for insect control later.

Trees and Shrubs

My redbud is beginning to bud out. That is the first sign that trees are coming out of dormancy. If you want to plant any fruit trees, bare root or containerized, do it soon. The weather conditions that we have right now are perfect for allowing them to rapidly start producing the roots that will “establish” them in your landscape.

While your crepe myrtles are still bare, spray them with horticultural oil (also known as dormant oils) to mites and scale insects. Horticultural, or dormant, oils are generally refined petroleum products. They are great at controlling several pests in shrubs and fruit trees. However, they are not organic. Look for the organic equivalent that is made from cotton seed oil. Another organic, Neem oil, shows some promise as a dormant oil and research is currently being done on its effectiveness. Do not spray dormant oils after buds have broken on your trees and shrubs.

****Be sure to check out my friend Bart’s blog (Our Garden View) for more great tips for the Central and South Central garden!

I share my posts on the HomeAcre Hop. Be sure to stop by the hop. It has tons of great information from gardeners and homesteaders all over the world!

Tip of the Week – Week 6 in the Zone 9 Garden

Posted on February 3, 2015 by Jay White

I know that Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow, but I think his prediction is wrong. As I drive the back roads of Washington County, I see signs of an early spring everywhere. Now I don’t want to jinx anything, but we are quickly approaching the date when a freeze is highly unlikely. Because of this, there are many, many tasks to be done in the February zone 9 garden. Below are the things I will be doing this weekend

Most years I grow La Soda reds and Kennebek whites. This year I was only able to find La Soda seed potatoes.

Vegetables

There are lots of veggies that can be planted this week. For a complete list check out Patty Leander’s planting calendar on the sidebar of the blog. Since I have planted about all of the seeds I can I am moving on to planting potatoes. A couple of weeks ago I bought ten pounds of red La Soda. I cut them into pieces and have allowed them to “scab” in the kitchen. Plant them 4” deep in loose soil that is in full sun.

Larkspur is so pretty and so reliable. Plant this self-seeding annual once and you may be able to enjoy it for a lifetime.

Ornamentals

It is not too late to plant snap dragons (but is getting close). Place these transplants about a foot apart in full sun. Give them an extra boost with blood meal. Blood meal is a great source of organic nitrogen. The recommended rate is one cup per five feet of row.

If you have not cut back your ornamental grasses, cannas, gingers, asters, salvias and woody perennials, do it now. It is also a great time to start mulching. I love mulch and use it extensively. It suppresses weeds, conserves moisture and insulates roots. Plus, if you use natural mulches, they turn into compost that will feed your plants.

I have tons of poppies, larkspur, marigolds and bachelor buttons (gomphrena) that come back every year. Be careful not to cover these self-seeding annuals with mulch or pull the tender starts while you are weeding.

Concentrated acetic acid makes a great organic weed killer

Lawns

My wife mowed for the first time this past weekend. While the stuff that passes for grass at my house is not growing, lots of weeds are. A weekly mowing will prevent lots of these weeds from going to seed and spreading their problems into future years. For weeds that can’t be reached with a mower use acetic acid as a good natural herbicide. Don’t think you can get by with household vinegar. Real weed killing power is found in the concentrated form at your local garden supply center.

If you are into organic weed control, start putting out corn gluten meal (CGM) now. A weekly application during February is a very effective pre-emergent for all broadleaf weeds. Besides cost, there is absolutely no down side to CGM. Apply CGM at a rate of 20 lbs per thousand square feet of lawn. If you have more lawn than money you can also use CGM as a natural fertilizer. Apply 10 pounds per 1000 square feet to give yor lawn a great boost of natural nitrogen.

****Be sure to check out my friend Bart’s blog (Our Garden View) for more great tips for the Central and South Central garden!

This post has been shared on the HomeAcre Hop. Be sure to stop by the hop. It has tons of great information from gardeners and homesteaders all over the world!