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!
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