Cut spent blossoms from Crape Myrtles to extend bloom time.
Fertilize your citrus this month with a good all purpose granular fertilizer such as MicroLife.
If you must have color this month, plant marigolds, salvia,torenia, cora vinca,calendulas, begonias, petunias, ipomoea sweet caroline and perennials like ornamental grasses, Mexican butterfly bush, russelia, false aster and groundcovers. Don’t forget fall tomatoes they go quickly!
Make sure everything is mulched and continue to water deeply.
Foliar feeding each week with Ocean Harvest by San Jacinto Environmental helps the plants withstand the stress of prolonged heat. It will also help with azaelas and camellias set bloom for next season.
And don’t forget adjust your expectations of turf quality in late summer. August and September are times of stress for your turf, so don’t fire your landscaper.
Thank you Michael Dumont for sharing another beautiful picture!
If you work during the day and only get to enjoy your garden at night you might choose to do an all-white garden. In nature, art, and landscaping, white is a natural focal point that draws the eye to it. If you have an area that needs to be lit up at night like a path or front door work it with white!
All of the plants listed are blooming and available right now at Treesearch Farms!
Last week my friend /client asked, when should we plant a fall garden? Dwight MacDonald recommends if you are sowing by seed to start the following fall vegetables: beans, brocolli, mustard, carrots, winter squash, and tomatoes no sooner than August 20th. If you plant the seeds outside you will need to water a few times a day and protect your plants from snails and the hot sun. We recommend sprouting seeds in the house or other protected area.The end of September is the best time for lettuce and the seeds can be planted directly into the ground.
Jen Allgood
Below is an email I received today from my friend, Matt Raney. If anyone is interested in receiving Matt’s garden tips and emails his address is below. He also has a fantastic nursery!
How come my Carrots don’t taste good no mo?
“The answer lies in when you planted them—-they probably experienced a hot snap (above 80 degrees or so-ish) When that happens it burns the sugar in the carrots and that kills the flavor! So yea — your right they don’t taste good no mo.
It is for this very reason you should plant your under ground stuff in fall so that they will stay nice and cool. Plant your above ground stuff in the spring—if you follow that advice your carrots will be nice and sweet next year.”
Last week I was driving to Memorial Park for my morning run and I saw a new landscape job with a stressed tree under an umbrella to shade it. I thought that was a clever idea, so I pulled over to take a picture.
Houston Summer 2010
My mentor and associate,Dwight MacDonaldalso recommends for this tree and every tree you plant in Gulf Coast soil to use an auger, to bore 3 root reservoirs around the root ball that are 30″ deep. Then remove existing soil and fill the holes with ammonium sulphate 3Tbs to gallon every 30 days. He says its not organic but its inexpensive and better than anything you can get at the store for the price. If you are going for the orgainic approach I recommend filling the holes with Super Seaweed Liquid Concentrate.
Organic expert, Mike Serrant ofSan Jacinto Environmental recommends the following products for Summer Landscape Survival.
MicroLife Humate Plus Granular – Help your soils get the most of your rain and irrigation water. Easy to spread. Provides much needed Humates, Kelp, Sugars, Potassium, Minerals, and Bio-Inoculation including the all important Mycorrhizas.
Super Seaweed Liquid Concentrate-The goodness of Super Seaweed will enhance plant color, increase chlorophyll content, build stronger roots, increase plant development and vigor. Reduce heat and drought stress with Super Seaweed. Super Seaweed packs a huge punch with Plant Vitamins, Sugars, Growth Hormones, and needed Minerals.
Soil Moist – Incorporate Soil Moist into the soil to hold more moisture in the root zone. The Soil Moist crystals absorb and release water and create void space for additional oxygen. Soil Moist can reduce water needs by as much as 50%.
My bottlebrush trees continue to have dead to yellowing branches. I cut them out, but they continue to reappear. Do you have any solutions?
Paul H., Bellaire, Texas
Paul, sounds like too much water. I consulted with the growers at Treesearch Farms to verify and they agreed the bottlebrush needs very little water even to get established.
Part 2
Jen,That seems unusual as they were so lush last year, and my watering times and schedules haven’t deviated from last year.
Paul, Most “drought tolerant” plants such as the bottlebrush can survive through an average summer without supplemental watering. The bottlebrush is usually not drought tolerant the first year and regular watering and an application of mulch are good ideas. After that, you can pretty much allow them to fend for themselves with an occasional soaking. Treesearch recommends to stop watering it all together for awhile, then practice a routine of giving it a deep soak and then letting it dry out completely before soaking again.
This week I saw the Cactus King and picked up a beautiful Agave Octopus. Lyn the owner told me it is now time to spray agaves because its main pest the Japanese Beetle typically attacks in late summer which leaves your agave with wilted leaves and will collapse the plant. The Cactus King suggests to spray your agave now with an insecticide which contains pyrethrin or polyurethane . Pyrethrin is an insecticide ingredient prepared from pyrethrum flowers. It is the common active ingredient in many flea and tick preparations which Lyn says will also work.
If you really want to enjoy the day tomorrow and learn something new stop by the Organic Horticulture Business Alliance booth at Discovery Green. I have been asked by Houston’s organic expert, Mike Serant, owner of San Jacinto Environmental and chair member of the Organic Horticulture Business Alliance to help answer questions at our booth along with other landscape professionals in the Houston Metro area. JenScapes Inc. joined OHBA last year to continue our education focusing on soil health, plant health, organic practices, water quality and usage, urban trees and design elements. We hope to see you at our booth so we can share some of our Green knowledge with you.
The festivities kick off with the Mothers for Clean Air Earth Day 5K at 8 a.m. followed by a day-long celebration with family entertainment, environmental education, a Green Expo, music, and much more.
Earth Day Houston hosted activities and displays include:
MUSIC:
11:00 am – 12:30 pm Leah White & The Magic Mirrors
12:45 pm – 2:15 pm Beetle
2:30 pm – 4:00 pm Allen Oldies Band
4:15 pm – 5:45 pm The Norma Zenteno Band
Farmers’ Market/Green Artist Market
Kids Energy Zone
Environmental Education Zone
Earth Zone Featuring Exhibits for AIR, LAND, WATER & RENEWABLE ENERGY
Green Expo
Presented by TXU Energy, Sponsored by: Green Bank, H-E-B, CenterPoint Energy, Bud Light, Mike Calvert Toyota, Waste Management, Community Coffee, Port of Houston, Sysco, and Discovery Green
NON PROFIT HOSTS: LAND – Houston Parks & Recreation Dept, AIR – Air Alliance Houston, RENEWABLE ENERGY – Blackwood Education Land Institute, WATER – Bayou Preservation Assoc., Farmers Market/Green Artist Market – Urban Harvest
MEDIA PARTNERS: KIAH – Channel 39, Greensheet, Houston Community Newspapers, Houston Family Magazine, KSEV Thirty Green
Spring is my favorite time of year to visit TreeSearch farms. The Viburnums, Magnolias, Callary pear, Mexican plum, Red buds and apple trees all look astonishing this spring. Heidi Sheesley says it is from Houston’s few weeks of exceptionally cold weather.
Jenscapes Inc. would like to thank Michael P. Dumont for some of his fabulous spring photography and Mark Montgomery from TreeSearch for the blooming tour!
Today I asked xeriscape expert, Jeff River Law how many times does he recommend watering newly installed plants this spring. I recommended once a week for 12 minutes until it gets in the high 70′s.
River suggests,
” AT most………….unless they are xeriscaped plants . Xeriscaped plants need NO water once established, unless drought conditions.
When you water the top of the soil, you force the plant , no matter what type to send its roots upwards, the opposite of a healthy plant’s needs. It weakens the plant, which attracts bad bugs, and forces the plant, tree, shrub to become dependent on “artificial ” conditions. It won’t send it roots downwards . I imagine that it adds to that mulch “mold” issue too, where it gets that fungus.
It will keep the beds moister for annuals though, and the soil at the top few inches.”
Here is a Spring Tip from my Matt Raney owner of All in One Discount Nursery in Houston. Matt was just missing a picture.
Garden tip for the day:
What is going on—with these weeds:
The weeds are supposed to be there, what they do is cover the land and protect the microbial animals in the soil from the ultra violet rays of the sun. This phenomenon takes place each year in March because your St. Augustine grass is still dormant from winter—it will not wake up and start to grow until April. Thus –you have weeds in March.
What can I do:
Nothing—don’t do anything, just mow the weeds with the lawn mower and go on with your life. In April the St. Augustine will wake up and begin growing and choke all the weeds out—by the end of April you won’t see weeds again until next year. Save your money and wait and the problem will fix itself. When you see the grass wake up and look like it is time to mow—-THAT is when you fertilize it and feed it. Use all organic “Root Vigor 8-2-3” we have plenty at the nursery come get some. Go organic this year and do something to improve the health of your family and pets.
Whatever you do, don’t’ use “weed and feed”:
Never, ever spread poison out on the land you live on. Not only do you kill all the life in the soil but the soil holds these toxins for years and years after you do this. The soil holds memory of what you do to it.
Studies have shown that just using everyday fertilizers like triple 13 (which was very popular for many years until it was shown to have toxic levels of lead) Not only built up lead but extreme levels of salt in the soil from every year use. This high salt content makes it impossible to have worms in the soil—they can’t stand the salt, it kills them. Without the worms the earth would harden up and become a giant rock.
BUT—-if you want strange tumors and weird health problems go ahead and spread poison all over the land where you are living.
