Gardening This Weekend: November 22, 2018
Here is a short list of things you might want to tackle as time allows.
PLANT
• Cool-season color, including pansies, violas, pinks, snaps, ornamental cabbage and kale, and in protected areas, sweet alyssum, Iceland poppies, wallflowers and “hardy” cyclamen.
• 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. These plants may be in the very back of the garden center, way behind the Christmas trees, and if they are, 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 to remove 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 hastily brought in from the patio last week.
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
• Fire ant mounds that have sprung up following fall 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 now that trees have lost 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.