Gardening This Weekend: October 24, 2024
Here’s a start to a checklist for your upcoming weekend. Feel free to add important activities to it as you see fit.
PLANT
• Winter color from pansies, violas, pinks, snapdragons, ornamental kale and cabbage. Planting into pots gives you the flexibility of being able to move plants into protection should extremely cold weather roll in, but in-ground beds are always easier to maintain otherwise. South Texans can also plant sweet alyssum, petunias, stocks, wallflowers, Iceland poppies and ornamental Swiss chard.
• Daffodils, narcissus, jonquils and grape hyacinths. Buy top-quality bulbs of varieties known to establish and bloom year after year. Pre-chill the tulips and Dutch hyacinths by putting then in the fridge for at least 45 days at 45F. Plant them December 15-31. Without the chilling they will not flower normally. Other bulbs can be planted when you buy them.
• Ryegrass if you intend to overseed bermuda or St. Augustine lawns. Perennial rye (not truly “perennial” in Texas) germinates faster and more uniformly in cooler conditions of late fall and is easier to maintain as it starts growing in spring. It’s also best for holding bare soil over the winter, but plant as quickly as possible.
PRUNE
• Dead or damaged branches from tree limbs while you can easily distinguish them from living limbs. This is especially critical for trees damaged by the cold of February 2021. Some of them have large and very heavy branches that have died. They need to be removed before they fall and cause damage and possibly serious physical harm.
• Dead stubble from perennial gardens and vegetable plots to keep landscape tidy.
• Keep mowing lawn at normal height. Mowing will remove fallen tree leaves. It will also eliminate many new weeds.
• If you have a tree with exposed roots that are starting to cause damage to walks, drives, and even foundations, this is the best time of the year to remove them. It gives trees the longest possible interval between hot weather spells so they can develop replacement roots. If you’re unsure, work with an International Society of Arboriculture certified arborist.
FERTILIZE
• Fescue and ryegrass turf with all-nitrogen lawn food containing a high percentage of slow-release nitrogen (for sustained feeding).
• New annual color transplants with high-nitrogen, water-soluble food to get them off to a quick start. Repeat every couple of weeks.
ON THE LOOKOUT
• Insect pests that are trying to move indoors for the winter. Perimeter applications, both around the foundation and along baseboards will provide sustained control.
• Armyworms are devouring bermudagrass in some parts of Texas. Here is the story we ran last week.
• Broadleafed weeds are getting a good start this fall. Control types such as clover, dandelions, henbit, chickweed, plantain, and others with a broadleafed weedkiller spray (containing 2,4-D) sometime in the next three or four weeks (before it turns cold).