Gardening This Weekend: March 12, 2026
Note before we begin: Gardeners in the cooler parts of Texas need to check weather forecasts for Sunday and Monday nights. Another cold front will be plowing through, and I’m hearing rumors of frosts and freezes. Be ready to take appropriate actions.
About half of Texas is at or near the average date of the last killing freeze of the spring. The other half soon will be. Know what that date is for your county, then you’ll be ready to grow.
PLANT
Nursery stock, including trees, shrubs, vines, and groundcovers. Supplies are reaching peak selections. Shop Thursdays and Fridays when they’re fully stocked and before the weekend crowds. Independent local retail nurseries will offer most reliable advice and most dependable varieties.
Lawns: Soils in South Texas have warmed sufficiently to plant bermuda and St. Augustine. Wait 2-3 weeks in North Texas. Wait until mid-April or even May to seed new bermudagrass.
Vegetables, South Texas and much of Central Texas: green beans, corn, cucumbers and squash (all from seeds). Tomatoes from transplants.
Vegetables, Central and North Texas: finish leafy and root crops from seed, including radishes, carrots, beets, turnips, spinach, lettuce (leafy types only). Check 10-day forecast before planting warm-season crops such as beans, corn, cucumbers, squash and tomatoes. They still come with a fair risk of loss to late frosts like we could have Sunday night.
Annual color, South Texas: transplants of spring and summer annuals, including zinnias, marigolds, celosia, cosmos, fanflower, angelonia, pentas, wax begonias, coleus. Wait two weeks to plant moss rose and purslane. Wait one month to plant caladiums. Wait until late May or even June to plant periwinkles (to avoid water mold funguses).
Annual color, Central and North Texas: transplants of petunias, larkspur, sweet alyssum, calendulas. Wait two weeks to plant spring and summer annuals, then follow guidelines given above for South Texas currently.
PRUNE
• Spring-flowering shrubs and vines to reshape immediately after they finish their spring blooming season. Avoid formal shearing.
• Now that you can assess freeze damage to shrubs and groundcovers, prune to remove dead wood and to reshape as needed.
• If you have a crape myrtle that sadly has been butchered by topping, you can restore its natural growth form by cutting it completely to the ground now, then allowing new shoots to develop this season. In September select the best 7-9 shoots, then next summer narrow the choices down to the final 3-5 that will become the permanent trunks. You’ll be amazed at how quickly you can turn a gnarled old plant into a functional beauty this way.
FERTILIZE
• Almost all plants that you’re growing are at peak pace right now. All will benefit from a high-nitrogen or all-nitrogen fertilizer that has 30 to 40 percent of its nitrogen in coated or encapsulated slow-release form. That’s true for turf, shrubs, trees, flowers, and even vegetables except in the rare instances when a soil test shows a different need.
ON THE LOOKOUT
• Pre-emergent weedkiller granules Balan, Dimension, or Halts should be applied now in the broad middle two-thirds of Texas running east/west – where the average date of the last killing freeze is somewhere between March 10 and March 25. A second, “booster-shot” application will be needed 90 days later to finish out the growing season.
• Broadleafed weedkiller sprays containing 2,4-D can be applied to turf to control dandelions, clover, henbit, chickweed, plantain, and other non-grassy weeds. Read and follow label directions. A tank sprayer set to deliver a fine droplet size gives the best results.
• Aphids congregate on tender new growth. They will always have pear-shaped bodies, but you’ll find them in a variety of colors. They cause distorted growth, and they can transmit plant diseases. You may be able to blast them off with a hard stream of water, but there also are excellent organic and inorganic insecticides to eliminate them.