Gardening This Weekend: November 4, 2021

Here are things that come to mind first for early November – goals I’d set up as we head into mid-fall across Texas.

PLANT
Replace tired and worn summer color plants with pansies, violas, pinks, snapdragons, ornamental cabbage and kale, sweet alyssum and other cold-hardy plants that are suited to your part of Texas.
Trees and shrubs as nurseries make final reductions before Christmas trees start arriving. (I can’t believe I just wrote that. Where has 2021 gone!)

PRUNE
Dead and damaged branches off trees so that they won’t drop during winter storms. Even slow rains and winds can cause limbs to snap and fall, particularly those that were weakened or killed by last February’s cold.
Even though turf growth has slowed, mow lawn regularly to keep fallen leaves and weeds picked up.
Overgrown patio plants as needed to get them into the house or greenhouse. Storing them in the garage is really a terrible idea. It’s too dark and too cold there.

FERTILIZE
Winter annuals with water-soluble or liquid, high-nitrogen fertilizer to keep them growing at a rapid pace.
Cut way back on fertilizer you give houseplants once you have them indoors under lower light intensities of winter.
Ryegrass or fescue if you’ve not yet done so. These are cool-season grasses, meaning they grow most actively in late fall and from late winter through spring.

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ON THE LOOKOUT
Patio plants as you bring them indoors, for signs of persistent pests such as scale insects or whiteflies. It’s best to eliminate them while you can treat the plants outside or in the garage and before you bring them indoors for the winter.
If you have brought plants inside for the winter be sure they’re getting adequate light. As you are reading in this special issue, ferns, rubber plants, scheffleras, crotons and others need more light than they often get indoors. They soon start dropping lower leaves, and new leaves that are produced are malformed and unattractive. The solution is to move them to brighter locations.
Broadleafed weeds in your lawn, including clover, dandelions, dichondra, dollar weed and others. Read and follow label directions carefully.

Posted by Neil Sperry
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