new trees for Hancock Golf Course 🌿 resolutions 🌿 trends for '25 🌿 Green Corn wish-lilst

NURSERY NOTES: visit the Natural Gardener tomorrow (Jan 11) at 10 a.m. for "Tomato Varieties: Know Before You Grow," a free class by Patty Leander. TNG. (Happy birthday John Dromgoole!) 🌿 On Monday, Austin Organic Gardeners welcomes speaker Colleen Dieter from Central Texas Seed Savers. p.m. Free (membership encouraged) Zilker Botanical Garden. AOG 🌿 The Green Corn Project has a wish-list for the new year: gardening tools, bags of garden compost and soil, gift cards to the Natural Gardener, Brite Ideas and Home Depot. contact@greencornproject.org 🌿

GARDENING RESOLUTIONS FOR 2025: thanks to readers Cheryl, Cindy and Nathan for sharing their plans for the new year.

Cheryl Sandoval 1. Be more determined to use perennials in containers on my deck. 2. Enjoy my deck more often. 3. Get professional design help for one garden that simply never looks good.

Cindy Dorfler-Hederer 1. Create a couple of raised vegetable/flower beds. 2. Repair/replace plants in a side flower bed that was damaged last year.

Nathan Speck-Ewer 1. This year create a trellis system for my tomatoes and squash. 2. Plant new blackberry canes and extend the crop 3. Put another trellis in for additional crops.❦

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GARDENING TRENDS 2025: If you are one to follow trends, then you will need to "find harmony in a less-tidy garden," factor in fire resistance in garden design, and take note of a focus on the "new natives" that gardeners are concocting. Garden Design ❦

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this publication) Many thanks in advance. PayPal link ❦

New Native Trees for

Hancock Golf Course

by Darrel Mayers

While driving by Hancock Golf Course early one morning last month, my puzzlement at seeing lots of day-glo yellow vests gathering in the mist turned to wonder, when I saw a massive collection of trees about to be planted — 148 to be exact.

Heading this project is Jesse Neumann, horticultural supervisor with Parks & Recreation’s urban forestry program. While Jesse chose the native trees and mapped out where they should go, it was the Austin’s American YouthWorks who put the boots on the ground, digging the holes and planting the trees.

The folks at Hancock Golf course also offered assistance in the form of backhoes and a backhoe operator. “They know how to get things done," commented Jesse. They have also tapped into Hancock's grey water irrigation system to keep the new trees watered.

While it is a beautiful sight to see all the trees while driving along Peck on the western edge, Jesse mentions this is only phase one. Along the eastern side, by Red River, you can expect to see an additional 158 trees towards the end of this year. ❦

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Complete plant list: 8 cedar elms, 8 live oaks, 6 pecans, 9 Mexican sycamores, 7 arroyo sweetwoods, 6 desert willows, 6 rough leaf dogwoods, 15 cherry laurels, 10 Mexican buckeyes, 9 mountain laurels, 11 Mexican plums, 23 Texas redbuds, 10 smoke trees, 10 flame leaf sumacs, and 10 yaupon hollies.