Spring is definitely in the air! Many of my roses are in full bloom and one of my chickens just hatched three new baby chicks! This is going to be a great weekend to be outside. The sun is out, temperatures are mild and all of this rain should make those beds a joy to work in.
Vegetables
The middle of April is a great time to plant our heat loving vegetables from seed. Patty Leander just did a great post on growing Butterbeans (Lima Beans). In addition to Butterbeans and Southern peas (black eyes and crowder), this weekend is a great time to plant vining crops like cantaloupe, water melons and gourds. It is also a great time to get your okra in the ground.
Quick note on vining crops. They are water hogs! If you give them as much water as they need by watering overhead you are setting yourself up for the best crop of uncontrollable weeds you have ever seen. Save water and reduce your weed problems by setting up some type of drip system for your watermelons, cantaloupes and gourds.
Ornamentals
Most of my roses are truly beautiful right now. There really is not much in this world that is prettier than a rose bush in full bloom. If you have a rose (or other woody shrub) that you would like to make more of, now is the time to do it. I have found that people are somewhat intimidated by the thought of propagation. Don’t be. Most plants are very tough and adaptable. Making a new one from a cutting is pretty easy once you know a few tips.
If you would like to try your hand at propagation, read my article “Propogating Antique Roses”. It has all the tips you need to save a few bucks by creating your own plants from cuttings.
Lawns
Right now the conditions are perfect for the formation of brown patch in St. Augustine. Brown patch is a fungal disease that forms when rainfall is high and temps or low. It is also more come in lawns that are over fertilized. Brown patch is not fatal. Generally, you can control it by cutting back on watering and fertilization. If it spreads to an area larger than a trash can lid you may want to apply one of several granular fungicides that are designed for control.
If your brown patch does not go away as the temperatures rise you may have Take All Patch. This is another fungal disease that is becoming more common. Unlike brown patch, take all patch is fatal. While there are fungicides for control, this disease is hard to beat once it is established. If you get Take All, you may want to consider replacing your water hungry St Augustine with Bermuda or zoysia. Both require less water and are bothered by fewer pests.
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!
Category Archives: Gardening Basics
Tip of the Week – Week 15 in the Zone 9 Garden
I hope you have your garden in shape because, according to the weather forecast, this weekend is going to be a wash-out. They are predicting at least 2” of rain at my house from Friday through Sunday. There is also a 90% chance of rain on Monday. Oh well, we really do need the rain, especially my friends in Austin. Speaking of Austin, if you are in the area why not come out to Mayfield Park this Saturday? I will be discussing great native and low water adapted plants to bring in pollinators to your garden at the annual Trowel and Error Gardening Symposium. It starts at 9:00. They have three speakers, a plant sale and door prizes. Plus, it really is a beautiful place with lots of peacocks!
Vegetables
This past week I finally got my green beans in. I am way late this year. If you have not planted your beans, squash and cucumbers you are running out of time. Temperatures in the 90s cause pollen grains to burst. Because of this, vegetables planted from seed may still have time to grow and produce some. However your production will be limited to fruit that was pollinated (or set) before the high heat arrived.
It is not too late for transplants. You still have time to put in squash, cucumbers, tomatoes and pepper transplants. If you plant large transplants and give them adequate moisture and nutrition you should still get respectable harvests in June and early July.
If you have sweet potato slips start planting them this week. If you don’t have slips, cut up some sweet potatoes and plant them just like Irish potatoes. Production will be slightly delayed but they will grow and continue to produce all the way through the fall. It is also time to plant southern peas from seed. Both black eyed and crowder peas do well in our hot summers.
You are quickly running out of time to plant beans, squash and cucumbers from seed
Ornamentals
I have an article about caladiums coming out in Texas Gardener next month. I love caladiums and I plant lots of them. Now is the time to get them in the ground. There are two types of caladiums. Fancy Leafed varieties produce large, heart shaped leaves and do best in shade. Strap Leafed varieties produce slightly smaller leaves. However, they take sun better and work well in containers. Plant your bulbs with about an inch of soil over them in well-draining soil.
Weeds are beginning to be a problem in our beds. Pull and add more mulch to control them. The mulch will also regulate the soils temperatures in your bed which will lead to prolonged blooms for your annual flowers.
Caladiums are great plants for the shadier parts of your yard. Photo used with permission from Classic Caladiums
Lawns
Last week I talked about applying commercial fertilizer to your lawns. This week I want to remind you that you can add compost to your lawn at all time. You really cannot over do it with organic products. If you regularly add compost, and leave your grass clippings in place after mowing, you can grow grass that is just as healthy and pretty as the lawns grown with chemical fertilizers. You can also apply Corn Glutten Meal to the yard now. This natural pre-emergent herbicide will stop broad leafs like dandelion and thistle. We are getting to the end of the time where CGM will be effective. However, even if it doesn’t kill any weeds it adds a nice shot of natural nitrogen to the soil.
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 12 in the Zone 9 Garden
Four more days to spring! If the rain doesn’t get us this is a great weekend to be in the garden. So much to see and do.
Vegetables
If the rain kept you from planting last week you still have plenty of time. As you decide what to plant where consider doing a little crop rotation. Tomatoes and cucumbers are heavy feeders. As such, you should periodically change where you grow them in the garden (this will also help with several pest problems). When moving some of these heavy feeders replant their old rows with beans or southern peas. These plants are legumes and they have the ability to trap airborne nitrogen and convert it to a readily available soil born nitrogen. Just FYI, do not plant tomatoes in the same location for more than three years. If you do you greatly increase your chance of contracting all of those diseases listed on the seed packets – V, F, FF, N, T, A, St.
This is a very good weekend to plant tomato and eggplant transplants. Side dress your plants with blood meal or fish meal for a quick shot of nitrogen that will help stimulate leaf production. The recommended rate is one cup per five feet of row.
Grow legumes (like pink eyed purple hulls) in beds where tomatoes and cucucmbers were grown in the past
Ornamentals
Right now I have more larkspur and poppies coming up than I know what to do with. Thin these plants to about a foot apart. They will bloom quicker, get bigger, last longer and be resistant to several pests.
Except for my luecojum, all of the blooms have now faded from my spring blooming bulbs. Allow the clumps of foliage that are left after the bloom to stay intact until it begins to naturally brown. This foliage is what feeds the bulbs so they will be full of the carbs needed to bloom again next spring.
Speaking of bulbs, now is a great time to divide your spider lilies and oxbloods. Once you dig them you can divide and immediately replant or you can let them dry out and keep them in the garage until later in the year.
One of my favorite color plants is Shell Ginger. This is a good time to plant it and all other gingers in the Zone 9 garden.
Besides my luecojum, most of my spring blooming bulbs have played out. Leave their foliage intact until it dies naturally
Trees and Shrubs
Now is a great time to plant many ornamental trees and shrubs. Some of my favorites are Vitex, Eve’s Necklace, Texas Mountain Laurel, Southern Wax Myrtle, Loropetalum, yaupon and dwarf yaupon. Plant these perinnials in a hole that is no deeper than the soil in the pot and about one and a half times as wide. Do not fertilize. Water consistently until fully established.
Now is a great time to plant ornamental trees and shrubs like Vitex
****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!
Springing Forward in the Vegetable Garden-by Patty G. Leander
So long winter, it’s time for you to move on! You have overstayed your welcome, and not just here in Texas but the Midwest and Northeast as well, where the snow keeps growing deeper and the icicles have reached massive lengths (check out these incredible Instagram icicle photos at http://www.boston.com/news/weather/2015/02/11/the-icicles-instagram/YfkqQcjuV5xW7JIEFPVsEJ/story.html).
The spring season is upon us! Photo by Bruce Leander
Here in Austin we’ve had over two inches of gentle rain the last few days, we now have an extra hour of daylight, the forecast is looking good and like most gardeners I am itching to plant. We must proceed with caution though. Working wet soil can cause clumping and compaction so if you’ve had rain it’s best to wait a few days and allow the soil to dry out. One way to know if the soil is too wet is to take a handful and squeeze it in your hand; if it forms a muddy clump then it is too wet, but if it crumbles or breaks apart when dropped from above you are good to go.
Remove over-mature crops before they become infested with unwanted pests. Photo by Bruce Leander
If you have not yet cleaned out your fall and winter crops it’s time to do so. Cool season vegetables that are left in the ground after the weather starts to warm up tend to become a breeding ground for unwanted pests, plus they quickly grow beyond their prime.
Grow transplants of cool season greens in partial shade. Photo by Bruce Leander
As Jay mentioned in his previous post you’ll find transplants of mustard, collards and lettuce available at nurseries but think twice before you reach for that plant. Do you have room for it in your garden or will it be taking up valuable space needed for warm season vegetables like cucumbers, beans, okra or squash? If you’d love to have some fresh greens for spring consider planting these vegetables in pots and place them close to the house in a spot that gets dappled or morning sun.
Swiss chard will take the heat of summer as long as it receives shade during the hottest part of the day. Photo by Bruce Leander
Swiss chard is the most adaptable of the cool weather greens as it will grow happily into summer, especially if you plant it where it will get some shade during the hottest part of the day.
Bread smeared with butter is totally American, but top it with some fresh radishes and a sprinkle of course salt and you have a classic French hors d’oeuvre. Photo by Bruce Leander
Enjoy this time of transition in the vegetable garden and the eating-in-season that comes with it. Radishes are great sliced in a salad but have you ever tried them sliced over buttered bread with a sprinkling of sea salt? Or sautéed with sugar snap peas? Talk about a versatile vegetable, radishes can be grated, steamed, braised or simmered, even the leaves and seed pods are edible. Take this opportunity to branch out from sliced radishes in a salad or cauliflower covered with cheese sauce (not that there’s anything wrong with that!) to bring some exciting new flavors to your kitchen. Below are a few ideas to help with your end-of-winter harvest.
Braised radish and sugar snap peas are different and delicious. Photo by Bruce Leander
Braised Radishes and Sugar Snap Peas
Remove the strings from sugar snap peas and quarter radishes. Melt butter in a skillet and add the peas and radishes. Sauté briefly then add a few tablespoons of water or chicken broth. Cook, partially covered, until radishes and peas are tender. Top with chopped mint or chervil and a splash of vinegar.
Broccoli and Cauliflower don’t have to be steamed! Try roasting them for a healthy and tasty side. Photo by Bruce Leander
Roasted Cauliflower and Broccoli
Cut broccoli and cauliflower into equal sized pieces. Toss in olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper and arrange in a single layer on a large baking sheet. Roast at 425° until golden and slightly charred, about 25-30 minutes.
Try cooking grated cauliflower as a quick side or a flavorful substitute for rice.
Cauliflower “Rice”
Grated cauliflower is a lot like rice yet cooks faster than couscous – you’ve never made cauliflower so quick and easy. We like big, plump Medjool dates but any dates or even raisins will do.
Grate one head of cauliflower into a bowl. Sauté in a small amount of olive oil until golden, about 10 minutes. Add ½ cup chopped dates, sprinkle with ¼- ½ teaspoon turmeric, season with salt and pepper and cook 5-7 minutes longer. Top with chopped cilantro and sliced almonds before serving.
A big pot of greens will yield plenty of pot likker; freeze some of that delicious liquid as a base for flavoring summer vegetables.
Greens
Flavored with some bacon or ham, leaves of collards, kale, kohlrabi, broccoli, beets and cauliflower are all edible and can be cooked together into a nutritious pot of greens with plenty of pot likker. Even though we love to slurp that Southern elixir I always set aside a few jars for freezing and use it to flavor the butter beans and cowpeas that are coming my way this summer.
This post has been shared on the HomeAcre Hop! Please drop by and see what gardeners and homesteaders across the country are doing.
Tip of the Week – Week 7 in the Zone 9 Garden
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
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!
Tip of the Week – Week 5 in the Zone 9 Garden
Between the threat of rain and the Super Bowl it may be hard to get out into the garden this weekend. However, Thursday is supposed to be gorgeous and Friday will be nice. If you can get outside on those days here are some tasks that can be done now:
Vegetables
Right now is a great time to plant your salad fixings. While lettuce (check out my in depth discussion of growing lettuce here)and spinach are the stars, don’t forget that the supporting players like radishes, beets, carrots, kale and mustard greens also can also be planted now. These quick growing greens will be ready for harvest in about 45 days. At that time you will be ready to thin your onions and use them in the salad.
Now is a great time to replant lettuce. My favorites are buttercrisp and black seeded Simpson
Right now is also a good time to start adding compost to your beds. I sprinkle a couple of inches over the areas I am going to plant in March and cover with spoiled hay. It is not warm enough for the compost to start breaking down. However, in conjunction with the hay, it acts as a great mulch that will suppress many spring weeds. It will also feed the worms that will begin taking it down into the soil for you.
Ornamentals
As you know I am a big supporter of field grown flower farmers. Right now my friend Mike at Prickly Pair Farm is planting ammi, stattice and dianthus under cover. You can start the same flowers indoors now. Growing from seed is the best way I know to have a ton of flowers for spring planting without spending a ton of money.
Right now is a great time to begin adding compost to the beds that you will be planting in the March
Lawns
I have a couple hundred daffodils planted in my yard. As I walked around yesterday looking to see if they had broken ground I noticed lots of some very bad weeds beginning to make a stand. Dandelions and thistles are beginning to come on strong. These are easy to take care of with a good sharp hoe. However, my true weed nemesis is Queen Anne’s Lace. Queen Anne’s Lace is actually wild carrot. Right now it is forming its cluster of leaves on the ground. I leave it alone until it sends up its flower stalk then I pull it up, white carrot root and all.
****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. Tons of great information from gardeners and homesteaders all over the world!
Brassicas Rule, Cannas Drool by Patty G. Leander
Cannas may be beautiful in the summer time, but they sure aren’t very pretty after a freeze. Mine bit the dust right around Christmas, when Old Man Winter showed up and decided to stick around for awhile. Of course my small bed of canna lilies dies back every year yet every year I am amazed at the contrast of the gloomy canna skeletons against the vibrant greens, purples and reds of the brassicas that shrug off the cold weather and keep on growing, proving once again that they deserve a prime spot in the winter garden.
Canna lilies would prefer to spend their winter on a tropical island (me too!) but they’ll be back this summer. Photo by Bruce Leander
Seasoned gardeners are well aware of these gems of the winter garden, but for novice gardeners and those who have been on the fence about a winter garden, I’d like to share a few easy-to-grow vegetables to consider planting next fall.
Mustards, kale and Chinese cabbages love the cold weather. Photo by Bruce Leander
I usually plant sugar snap peas twice a year, mid-September and late January. This year I planted a vining variety from Seed Savers Exchange, called ‘Amish Snap’, on September 17. I started picking on November 11 and plants were still producing in December even after several light freezes. On January 8th we experienced a freeze with temperatures that fell into the low 20s; the plants survived but the peas took a hit (Note: a more diligent gardener would have harvested the pods before the arrival of a predicted hard freeze!). The outer pods were damaged but many of the peas inside were perfectly edible, with a flavor slightly reminiscent of, well, frozen peas. Since the vines are healthy and the weather is mild, I’ll leave the vines for now to see if I’ll get a another flush of blooms and pods, but in the meantime I’ll seed another round of peas for a spring harvest.
‘Amish Snap’ peas: planting seeds in September, ready to harvest in November, freeze damage in January. Photo by Bruce Leander
Swiss chard, beets and spinach do not belong to the brassica family but they are ideal specimens for a winter garden.
Beets that were seeded in September have provided roots and lovely greens all winter long. Photo by Bruce Leander
Other stalwarts for the winter garden include onions, spinach, carrots and almost every herb you can imagine, except basil. We still have cold winter days ahead and any of these vegetable or herbs could be planted this month to bridge the gap between winter and spring.
Multiplying onions look grow so well in the winter garden, and they look great too! Photo by Bruce Leander
Brighten up your winter meals with the fresh flavor of multiplier onions, mint, dill and oregano.
Tip of the Week – Week 3 in the Zone 9 Garden
There are two things that really need to be done in January in the lower two thirds of our state–starting tomato, pepper and egg plant seeds for transplant and planting asparagus. It is also time to start pruning fruit trees, grapes and perennial ornamentals that have been killed by the freeze.
Vegetables
I don’t want to sound like a nag, but this week is THE PERFECT TIME to plant your tomato seeds. You can also start your pepper and eggplant seeds too. Eggplant will germinate much like the tomato seeds but be prepared to give you pepper seeds a little extra time to sprout.
Besides tomatoes, asparagus is my absolute favorite vegetable to grow and eat. Plant year old crowns now. My favorite is the heirloom “Mary Washington”. However, I have had much luck with many varieties of the “Jersey” series. For more information on planting asparagus check out my post “Growing Asparagus”.
When planting, spread the roots of asparagus crowns over a mound of compost
Ornamentals
Now that we have had a freeze, it is time to trim back some of our perennials. Clumping grasses can be cut back to about ten inches. If your grass clumps did not bloom this year consider dividing them in February. Salvias can be cut back to half of their size. Root Beer plant (Hoja Santo) can be cut to the ground.
Cut clumping grasses back to 10 to 12 inches
Fruit
January and February are the best times to plant bare root fruit trees. Plant them at the depth they were grown. Determine this depth by noticing where the color changes at the top of the roots and the bottom of the trunk.
January is also a good time to prune fruit trees and grapes in the lower two thirds of our state.
****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. Tons of great information from gardeners and homesteaders all over the world!
January is good time to prune fruit trees. Definitely do a little research before you start cutting.
New Feature for the New Year
Happy New Year! 2014 was the best year ever for the blog. I am truly grateful that you chose to get some of your garden tips from The Masters of Horticulture!
Photo by Bruce Leander
Each year I look for ways to make the blog more useful to all of my fellow organic gardeners. This year I am going to do a weekly “Tip of the Week” feature on the blog. This idea came to me when a Texas Gardener reader contacted me about doing a weekly radio segment that would let Houston area gardeners know what they needed to be doing in their gardens each week of the year. I thought this was a great idea. However, since horticulture is just a hobby for me, I referred the reader to one of the best organic gardeners in the state. Bart Brechter is the Curator of Gardens for the Museum of Fine Arts Houston. He runs the incredibly beautiful gardens at Bayou Bend and he does it organically. He also hosts the “Our Garden View” blog.
Bart did a couple of episodes and then the radio changed formats and dropped the segment. While we were both disappointed, we really thought the radio station was on to something. We both feel that a weekly tip list is a great tool for all gardeners. So, we have decided to work together to provide these weekly tips to our readers. Starting this week, he and I will begin posting weekly tips that will let you know what you can or should be doing in the garden that weekend. Be sure to check out the tips on both blogs. Bart and I are different types of gardeners. By reading both sets of tips you will get a good variety of ideas to try in your own Central Texas Gardens.
Photo by Bruce Leander