This continues to be a busy (and joyful!) season for gardeners,

especially with all the rain we've had this week. I wish you all every

success with your gardening ventures this month – and don’t forget to

visit this weekend’s Zilker Garden Festival in Austin. It’s always fun

to meet up and chat with fellow Hays and Travis County gardeners.

1. Spring vegetable gardening Plant those warm season crops. This

list includes beans, black-eyed peas, okra, squash, cantaloupe, toma-

toes, peppers, cucumbers, watermelon, corn,  and eggplant. There is

still time to plant cooler season crops like lettuce, radishes and carrots.

2. Fertilize your garden Do this organically with compost. Other

sources of nutrition are dried fish flakes and organic fertilizers formu-

lated for garden use. You can also use liquid fertilizers, such as fish

emulsion.

3. Control weeds   Keep them down with mulch and by weeding a

little bit every day.

4. Plant spring annuals  This is the perfect time. Work compost

into your flower beds and you will give these new plants just the

food they need to flower through the summer. Here are some ideas: 

begonias, zinnias, marigolds, petunias, coleus, periwinkle, cosmos,

larkspur, portulaca, and purslane.

5. Plant perennials  Choose some of your favorites from the exten-

sive lists available, or visit your neighborhood nursery and browse.

Look for the many varieties of drought tolerant and showy lantanas

and salvias. Also blackfoot daisies, skullcaps, purple coneflowers,

black-eyed Susan, plumbagos, columbines, rockrose, ruella, and

verbena.

6. Ornamental grasses   Native varieties are best due to their heat

and drought tolerance. My favorites are big muhley, coastal muhley

and the maiden grasses. For a short grass in a very dry place, you

might like Mexican feather grass. It is blond-colored, reaches 1.5

foot in height, and makes a beautiful accent plant that moves so grace-

fully with the slightest breeze.

7. Fertilize lawn  Use a slow release organic fertilizer. A 3-1-2 ratio

is best. Allow 10 pounds of fertilizer for every 1,000 square feet of

lawn. Mowing height should be 2.5 inches for St. Augustine grass

and 2 inches for Bermuda and zoysia. I like to return the grass

clippings to the turf. These clippings act as a mulch and help to

reduce weeds. Water infrequently and deeply to encourage a deep

root system. This practice will train your lawn grass to be more

drought tolerant and help to conserve water.

8. Fertilize shrubs, trees Mulch with a compost-mulch blend to

provide nutrients and conserve water. Deep, infrequent watering of

shrubs and trees will encourage deep, drought tolerant root systems.

Remember to seal pruning cuts on oak trees. It might save them from

oak wilt.        

                              Happy springtime gardening everyone!