the Austin Garden | Hitting the Reset Button in the Garden | trends for 2021

Happy new year, readers. It is exciting to step into a new year today, with the welcome prospect of happier times ahead. A big question for nurseries at the moment is: will the mighty 'pandemic gardening' trend continue through this year. My guess is yes. Across the world people have reconnected with the soil, and once you make that connection, it's hard to stop! / A big thank you to writers Renee Studebaker, Amanda Moon and Chris Winslow for their fine articles over the past year, and thanks also to Linda Anderson and Beatrice Baldwin for such beautiful artwork. ❦

Austin Organic Gardeners: join Zoom on Jan 11 at 6 p.m. for 'Regenerative Soil: the Science & Solution,' a lecture by author/educator Matt Powers. The event is free. You can however join and show support for this amazing group of local gardeners for just $10. Powers Lecture ❦

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Nursery notes: from William Glenn, new co-owner of Barton Springs Nursery... as of today ; - ) Baby tree sale, Jan 9 and 10. 25% off 12 types of trees, 1 gal., 5 gal. Selected perennials and pottery also on sale. Barton Springs Nursery / The Natural Gardener seeks enthusiastic new members to add to its team for the spring. To apply, text ‘Plants’ to 512-548-8918. TNG ❦

The Grasslands of the Ney: watch the latest issue of Mino Giunta's celebration of the restored prairielands of the Elisabet Ney Museum. Comments Mino: "I think there's a feeling perhaps that Fall is a drab time in Texas landscapes, and I hope this video proves otherwise. There are so many amazing plants and textures and colors to see!" Ney Grasslands ❦

Garden Design trends for 2021: Learning and buying on-line, choosing one color and "going for it," and adding more houseplants are some of the new trends which began last year - and editors at Garden Design believe they are are set to continue for a while. Garden Design ❦

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Creating space for nature play at home: In this on-line class from the Wildflower Center, gardeners will learn how to use natural elements to create playtime areas within the garden. January 9, 9 - 11 a.m. $45. Wildflower Center ❦

The promise of Spring: Artist Beatrice Baldwin grew up in San Francisco and moved to Austin in 2004. "Each of my paintings develops from a partially formed idea," she writes. " I often work by combining observation with imagination, and much of my work incorporates a sense of whimsy and/or irony." www.beatricebaldwin.com ❦

Please help us turn Hancock Golf Course into beautiful open parkland in central Austin, open to all. Here's the link to a petition to sign: Hancock Conservancy Poll. ❦

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Central Texas Gardener: after 46 years in UT's College of Communications Building, CTG is moving to a chic new studio at the ACC Highland Campus."New horizons await us in the adventure we call 2021," writes Linda Lehmusvirta in her blog. "We can't know the outcome, as dilligently as we may plot it. All we can do is step on the trail and move forward." CTG moves ❦

photos: renee studebaker

Hit the Reset Button in the Garden

by Renee Studebaker

I’m not a fan of New Year’s resolutions. When I get an urge to make improvements — in my life or in my garden — I generally don’t wait for the new year to get things going. The way I see it, anytime is a good time for a fresh start.

But today, given the awfulness of 2020, I’m definitely feeling the “fresh start effect” that behavioral scientists say comes with the dawning of the new year. I couldn’t find any specific research on gardeners and this effect, but I’d wager that they also have this feeling when the seasons change and whenever they repair their gardens after a hailstorm or a prolonged drought.

According to research, January 1 (or a significant birthday or even the beginning of a new week) can act as mental reset button that compels us to refocus or renew our efforts to get things done, especially things that are truly important to us.

So without further ado, here’s what I hope to get done in my gardens in 2021:

1. Take advantage of climate change. With fewer overnight freezes expected, it should be easier to grow two rounds of broccoli and cabbage, with one planting in mid-January and another in early October.

2. Plant more warm weather greens. Amaranth can tolerate the increasing number of over-100 days that are predicted in the coming years. It’s also a pretty good substitute for spinach.

3. Plant more field peas (vigna unguiculata). They’re more drought tolerant than other warm weather legumes. Purple Hull Peas are my favorites, but this year I’d like to add a bed of Texas Cream Peas.

4. Find a new source of wood chips. This is a hard one. I tried getchipdrop.com but never got a reply. If you’re a tree trimmer and would like a reliable place to dump large loads of coarse wood chips, please contact me. My 6,000 square foot school garden needs a steady supply.

5. Say goodbye to the backyard pond. It draws too many raccoons, and it requires too much maintenance. I will add a couple of small bird baths to keep the backyard birds and bees watered, and I’ll try using solar-powered water fountains to keep the water moving.

6. Take a break (maybe permanently) from growing pomegranate trees. My fruit has suffered from heart rot for the past few years. I’m going to try growing a pineapple guava instead.

7. Consider planting my potted Meyer lemon tree in the ground. I lost a lovely productive Meyer lemon tree to a hard freeze some years ago, so this is a gamble. My 2020 harvest — six lemons — was so delicious that I’m now fantasizing about how wonderful it would be to harvest three or four times that number in the future. Fingers crossed.

8. Add more flowers and grasses in my front yard beds. I have plenty of space for vegetable gardening in the school garden where I work, so I’ve been phasing vegetables out of my front yard in favor of perennials, grasses and reseeding annual flowers. I currently have Larkspur and Blackfoot Daisies intermixed with feather grass and other native perennials. This year I plan to add Blanket Flowers (Gaillardia pulchella) and a Gulf Muhly (Muhlenbergia capillaris).

9. Try (again) to establish native milkweeds in my front yard beds. I am growing Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberosa) and Antelope Horns (Asclepias asperula) in the Smith Elementary garden, but I have failed twice to get these plants established in my front yard. Now that monarchs have been officially classified as endangered, I’m ready to try again.

10. Strive to feel content with whatever progress I make on these resolutions. Given the inherent challenges of gardening (and the frequent failures), I will frequently remind myself that any time is a good time for a fresh start. ❦

Longtime Austin gardener and writer Renee Studebaker is a retired newspaper journalist who now teaches children how to grow and cook vegetables.