Gardening This Weekend: November 24, 2016
Here is a short list of things you might want to accomplish while the weather is still fairly nice this weekend and early next week.
PLANT
• Bermuda sod if you have a slope that is likely to erode before better planting times return in the spring. It’s far too late to plant St. Augustine because of the likelihood of winter damage.
• Daffodils and grape hyacinths now. Leave tulips and Dutch hyacinths in the refrigerator at 45 degrees until mid- to late December. The “pre-chilling” will fool them into thinking they’ve had a real winter.
• Nursery stock. It may be in the very back of the garden center, way behind the Christmas trees, and if it is, odds are that the trees and shrubs have been marked down considerably. Except for types that are tender in your area, planting at this time is just fine.
PRUNE
• Continue mowing your lawn at the recommended height as long as there are green blades, winter weeds or fallen leaves.
• Remove rose bushes that have been infected with Rose Rosette Virus. This fatal disease is most prevalent in the DFW Metroplex and its surroundings. Here is information on my website.
• Trim to shape foliage plants you’re bringing in from the patio for winter.
FERTILIZE
• Ryegrass and fescue (cool-season grasses) with high-nitrogen or all-nitrogen lawn food. Water immediately after feeding.
• Pansies, pinks and other winter color with high-nitrogen, water-soluble plant food to keep them growing vigorously. Failure to feed adequately is a common cause of poor plant performance.
• Houseplants monthly with high-nitrogen, water-soluble plant food at half the recommended rate. Your goal for the winter is to maintain them status quo, not to encourage them to grow while they’re in the darker conditions indoors.
On the Lookout
• Stinging caterpillars such as puss caterpillars (“asps”), IO moths, Hag moths and others. They’re likely to be on recently fallen tree leaves. Watch, too, for snakes that may have crawled into the piles of leaves.
• Fire ant mounds that have sprung up following recent rains. Treat with one of the extended-control, area-wide baits for best results.
• Bacterial stem canker of plums and peach leaf curl of peaches. Apply a copper-based fungicide soon after the trees lose their leaves.
• Broadleafed weedkiller spray on a sunny, warm and relatively still day to kill cool-season broadleafed weeds before winter moves in. Read and follow label directions.