VOLUME 16, ISSUE 14 • April 2, 2020

Neil Sperry editor. Gretchen Drew design and circulation.

 
 
 
 

Welcome to April. Welcome to e-gardens. I hope you've stayed home and stayed safe. I've put together what should be a good issue of our little communique just for you.

In this edition…
• Beautiful crossvine;
• Tricks to thicker turf;
• Why is my tree losing bark?
• A to-do list for the weekend; and
• What happened to my crape myrtle?

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Photo: Native crossvine has been at peak bloom this week.

 
 
 
   

Crossvine Hits the Big Time

This must be "the" year for crossvines. Folks have come out of the woods to share photos on my Facebook page the past several days - enough so that I decided it might be a good time to feature it here.

Photo: Tangerine Beauty crossvine at its best! Photo by Cyndi G.

 
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Question of the Week Number 1: April 2, 2020

"My lawn has been puny looking. How can I get it to thicken up?"

I can narrow it down to four things. I’ll explain them for you.

Photo: This lawn could be your goal. I have suggestions.

 
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Gardening This Weekend

In the hopes that you'll have a bit of time over the next several days to spend out in your landscape and garden, I've created a short list of tall tasks that need your attention. You might want to look through them.

Photo: Planting coleus has always been a ritual of my springtime.

 
 
 
   

Question of the Week - Number 2: April 2, 2020

"Why are pieces of bark falling off my tree?"

I get this question frequently, and it's almost always in the spring. I'll explain what is happening and why it's now.

Photo: Bark is popping off mature elm.

 
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Question of the Week - Number 3: April 2, 2020

"My crape myrtles don't look like they're going to put out any leaves. Are they dead? What would have caused that?"

They're not dead, but they've been sent back to "Go." I have the details.

Photo: Sadly, we're seeing crape myrtles that look like this.

 
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And, in closing…

That's what we have for you in this week's e-gardens. If you know someone who might enjoy this, here's a link so they can see it. https://neilsperry.com/e-gardens/

Until next week, please stay well and stay safe. I'll be on the radio, on Facebook, writing my newspaper columns, updating my website, and pretty much living right here at my desk.

Worship this weekend! We all really need it. Your church, whatever your faith, will be livestreaming. Ours will, too. First United Methodist Church of McKinney. Join us for live stream at 10:05 (traditional) or 11:10 (contemporary) at sharingtheheart.org.

Until next week,

Thanks for reading…

And happy gardening!

 
 

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