It’s not too early to be out preparing your vegetable garden and flowerbeds for spring planting. Spading and/or tilling should be done as soon as possible. Add lots of organic matter (such as recently fallen leaves) to improve your soil.
According to the Travis County Extension Service, you should be planting carrots, leaf lettuce, onion plants, radishes, shallots and spinach in the garden now. By mid February beets, chard, endive, parsley, potatoes and turnips can be planted. Seeds of most all other vegetables and spring annual flowers can be sown indoors during January and February for later transplanting to the garden or bed after danger of frost is past.
All dormant season pruning can be done now through late February. Use proper tools and make cuts close and clean. Wait to prune forsythia, spirea, gardenias, climbing roses, azaleas, camellias, and other spring flowering shrubs until after they bloom. Prune with a purpose, not because there is nothing else to do. January is the best month to prune oak trees susceptible to oak wilt disease (for example, live oaks and red oaks). Even so, you should still plan to use an approved tree wound dressing/sealer, especially on the larger cuts of one inch or more in diameter.
January through early February is a great time to apply dormant oil sprays to control scale and other hard to manage insect pests. Be sure to read and follow label directions. If necessary you may also want to go out and give your yard another raking to keep the fallen leaves from smothering your grass. Don’t throw them away. Instead, spade or till them into your garden, put them in your compost pile, or use them for mulch. Those of you with live oak trees can expect more falling leaves in a couple months.
By now, you have probably received several seed catalogs in the mail. Don’t be misled by all of the pretty pictures. Not all varieties of vegetables and flowers do well in Central Texas even if it says they will grow in our hardiness zone. Check with the Travis County Extension Horticulturist, 1600B Smith Road, Austin 78721 (telephone 473-9600) for a list of recommended varieties. (Editor)
According to the Travis County Extension Service, you should be planting carrots, leaf lettuce, onion plants, radishes, shallots and spinach in the garden now. By mid February beets, chard, endive, parsley, potatoes and turnips can be planted. Seeds of most all other vegetables and spring annual flowers can be sown indoors during January and February for later transplanting to the garden or bed after danger of frost is past.
All dormant season pruning can be done now through late February. Use proper tools and make cuts close and clean. Wait to prune forsythia, spirea, gardenias, climbing roses, azaleas, camellias, and other spring flowering shrubs until after they bloom. Prune with a purpose, not because there is nothing else to do. January is the best month to prune oak trees susceptible to oak wilt disease (for example, live oaks and red oaks). Even so, you should still plan to use an approved tree wound dressing/sealer, especially on the larger cuts of one inch or more in diameter.
January through early February is a great time to apply dormant oil sprays to control scale and other hard to manage insect pests. Be sure to read and follow label directions. If necessary you may also want to go out and give your yard another raking to keep the fallen leaves from smothering your grass. Don’t throw them away. Instead, spade or till them into your garden, put them in your compost pile, or use them for mulch. Those of you with live oak trees can expect more falling leaves in a couple months.
By now, you have probably received several seed catalogs in the mail. Don’t be misled by all of the pretty pictures. Not all varieties of vegetables and flowers do well in Central Texas even if it says they will grow in our hardiness zone. Check with the Travis County Extension Horticulturist, 1600B Smith Road, Austin 78721 (telephone 473-9600) for a list of recommended varieties. (Editor)
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please leave a comment!