Central Texas Gardener - January 15th, 2011 Tips

To Do This Week

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Week of January 15th, 2011

Prune dormant trees and shrubs. You need to wrap that up by about the end of January. When we start to get a few warmer days and nights, our trees will start to leaf out and we do want to prune them before that begins to happen.
Dormant trees and shrubs will not have leaves on them right now. But plants such as live oaks are considered semi-evergreen, which means that they drop their leaves only in the spring, right before the new ones grow. So since live oaks do have leaves on them, you might consider them not dormant but it is also time to prune those live oaks as well. Especially with the danger of oak wilt, it's a great time to prune your oaks before those insects get active soon.
But, wait until February to prune evergreens. We don't want to encourage new growth when freezing temperatures could still be coming. Also, avoid pruning citrus until the last freeze date. Get these proper pruning techniques and guidelines for dates.
Prune evergreen perennials like Salvia greggii to encourage new growth. Cut to the ground browned salvias like Indigo Spires or other dormant, browned perennials.
Transplant shrubs, tree, roses, and winter-hardy perennials while they are dormant. Avoid moving marginally tender plants like Esperanza and plumbago or your tropicals.
Start tomatoes from seed indoors.
Continue planting cold-weather vegetables in the garden: radish, broccoli, greens, lettuce, spinach, and carrots.
Plant bare root trees, including fruit trees.