Central Texas Gardener - April 30th, 2011

Episode of the Week

browse by: date

April 30th, 2011

Preview the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center's Gardens on Tour. John Dromgoole has organic tips for fire ants, grub worms and chinch bugs.

This text will be replaced

Prune spring flowering trees, shrubs, and vining roses. This is a good time to shape those plants to encourage lush growth and more flowers for next year.
This does not apply to your fruit trees, but you do need to thin out the fruit for better harvest. So once those flowers are spent, be watching for the fruit so you can prune them out and have larger fruit.
Mulch.
Cut back spring-flowering bulbs. It's okay to move them now while you can see where they are!
Dead head roses and tidy up. You may want to fertilize your roses again since they've been busy.
Continue planting warm weather vegetables, like okra, peppers, melons, and southern peas.
Keep those weeds mowed down or pulled out. They are going to seed and each seed multiplies the headache next year.
Plant summer annuals like cosmos, zinnia, celosia, sunflowers, and gourds.
Collect seeds of spring-blooming annuals to dry and store for next fall.
More Tips