Often, we have mild winters in SETX, so when the weather provides warm days make time available to go outside to begin working in the garden, preparing for spring (courtesy: sewrightseeds.com).
John Green, Texas Certified Expert Gardener, Orange TX
The New Year has arrived and provides each of us new ‘gardening’ opportunities. Many of us make new year’s resolutions to better ourselves, i.e. be a nicer person, lose weight, exercise more…most often meeting tragic ends early on! My tendency is to make resolutions that are enjoyable and that are ‘easily’ attainable such as learning how to aquaculture, types of hydroponic growing systems, germinating seeds of new plant varieties, or simply focusing on and improving a specific area of the landscape. I’m of the opinion that gardening will contribute to making anyone a better person!
Our recent weather patterns are balmy, pleasant reminders that Spring will be here before most of us are prepared! Admittedly the weather patterns (while not unusual) seem a bit strange to me when daytime temperatures fluctuate up to 80F! Keep in mind that while our present temperatures are wonderful, the extended 30-day forecast lists daytime temps 20 degrees cooler with several nighttime temperatures in the low to mid 30’s.
We are fortunate this season as our weather is cooperating making the time right for amending flower beds and vegetable gardens. Add 1 to 2-inches of composted manure, leaf mold, pine straw, followed with the same amount of mulch. Remove dead and diseased plants from beds and discard them into waste bins. Speaking from years of experience (experience recently described to me by a Gen Z’er stating it spanned eons…appreciate the compliment?).
Developing an action plan (and working in stages) before beginning gardening activities provides gardeners with the ability to work smarter rather than harder and scheduling the time needed to complete tasks. There is plenty of time before spring arrives to plan and create the ‘best’ landscape, flower bed, or vegetable gardens.
Often, we have mild winters in SETX, so when the weather provides warm days make time available to go outside to begin working in the garden, preparing for spring. Use the list below as a starting point (check list) for tasks which can be accomplished now:
· Create action plans for garden projects
· Develop a task list
· Remove last season’s plants and weeds
· Winter vegetables which are no longer producing- remove
o Cut plant stems to ground level and allow roots to decompose in the soil
· Soil amendments- need to be added in 1 to 2-inch layers
o Amend soil multiple times during the year (at least twice)
o This is the time to feed beneficial microbes in the soil with an organic fertilizer.
* inorganic fertilizers do not aid soil microbes required for nutrient uptake
· Planting list- plant varieties (What would you like to plant in spring?)
· Planting locations- crop rotation required for beans, onions, garlic, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, and potatoes
Even though our weather is cold for a couple of days then warm again, it is okay to plant a few types of winter vegetables, such as mustard green, tatsoi, pak choi, green onions, spinach, turnip greens, Swiss chard, daikon radish, lettuce, radish, beets, carrots, cauliflower, broccoli, collard greens, and potatoes. There are flowers which can be planted now such as dianthus, viola, snapdragon, pansy, sweet alyssum, and daises.
January is the best month to plant trees, since it is less stressful on a tree since they are dormant. Decide on a general area where the tree is to be planted, preferably before purchasing. Remember it will require a large amount of room to grow. Once a location is selected, verify underground utilities will not be affected when digging the planting hole by dialing “811” requesting utility servicemen verify service line locations by placing ‘flags’ above utility service lines. Carefully read the tree planting instructions which provide height and canopy (width) of the tree at maturity. Example: if the tag states the tree will have a height of 30 feet and 30 feet canopy, then plant the tree at least 30 feet from buildings, power lines, underground piping, or any other type of structure.
Check gardening tools and verify they are in good condition. Otherwise, thoroughly clean with soap and water, and allow them to dry. Remove rust from tools utilizing sandpaper or a wire brush then coat with a thin layer of oil to keep rust from returning. Partially fill a 5-gallon bucket with sand and add used oil to the sand and mix well. Store shovels, trowels, and other garden tools in the bucket. Occasionally dip your clippers into the sand to keep them free of grime. It’s amazing how clean the gardening tools will remain!
Germinating seeds indoors several weeks before the last anticipated frost, (~March 10th) allows us to grow seeds into small plants (seedlings). Once the seedlings are 6-8” tall they can be transplanted into the garden. Starting seeds also allows gardeners to grow ‘exactly’ the plant
varieties desired, rather than choosing from meager selections available at big box stores or mega supermarket centers. Plant varieties provided by most of these stores offer limited selections which might not perform well or be best suited to our environment or our growing zone which is 9a or 9b.
Until next time fellow gardeners, let’s go out and grow ourselves a greener and more sustainable world, one ‘checklist’ at a time! Please send your gardening questions to: jongreene57@gmail.com
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