Author: Desiree Gardens

All About Mulch

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Healthy plants surrounded by a hardwood mulch.Garden mulch is simple topic that is often misunderstood by so many people. Mulch is far more than just a decorative finish for a garden bed. Used properly, mulch is one of the key ingredients for maintaining a healthy landscape. Used improperly and mulch can actually kill plants and drive off precious moisture.

Let’s start by discussing dyed mulches. Mulch that has been dyed red or black is some of the most popular mulch out there, and one doesn’t have to look twice to realize why. It looks fantastic and can really make a boring garden bed pop. It used to be the case that dyed mulches used toxic and unnatural dyes. On occasion, especially with the cheapest mulch from the big box stores, this is still the case. By and large however, most dyed mulches use iron oxide for red and carbon for black and darker brown mulch. The toxicity of the coloring is no longer the issue: The quality and composition of the shredded wood is our main area of concern. With low quality dyed mulch manufacturers of the cheap stuff often use wood that has been stained, treated, or otherwise contaminated with chemicals we’d rather keep out of the garden. Whether it has been treated with creosote, arsenic, or old varnish and stains, any scrap wood is fair game for these unscrupulous manufacturers. Old pallets are another popular source, but the unknown origin of the wood still presents a problem for gardeners.

When it comes to selecting a mulch, look for a seal from the Mulch and Soil Council that certifies that your mulch meets their standards. Here at Desiree Gardens we prefer a shredded hardwood mulch made from all natural wood such as fallen trees. The majority of our in-house mulch comes from arborists who have cut down or pruned trees and need us to recycle it into garden beds. Dyes, if they are used, consist solely of iron oxide (which can be great for your beds needing more iron) or just carbon for the black mulches. Keep in mind that if you are using a black mulch that is dyed with carbon, you will need to rebalance the soil by adding some all-nitrogen fertilizer such as a 15-0-0.

Another solution we use for dark and black mulches is to partially compost the mulch or mix it with an existing compost. At the end of the day mulch is not just decorative, it is designed to break down and amend the soil as freshly composted nutrients wash into and break down into a rich loam. Cheaper bagged mulch is often dried out and actually will repel moisture instead trapping it and keeping it in the soil.

Mulch over cardboard weed barrier.If weed control is one of your goals with mulch you might consider putting down a base layer of cardboard to act as a weed barrier. This all natural product (don’t use the glossy stuff) efficiently controls most weeds and is an excellent solution for helping the soil to retain moisture. Inks in all modern cardboard printing is vegetable based and will not harm your garden. Top your cardboard off with a nice hardwood mulch and the cardboard and mulch will slowly break down to provide nutrients for your soil as it does its job as decorative finish.

The biggest mistake we see with mulch is two-fold: Not raking out old mulch, and adding too much mulch. This phenomenon is most pronounced under trees that have been “mulched” by less scrupulous landscape companies. If you’ve seen mulch “volcanoes” underneath trees then you’ve seen what we’re talking about: 12″-24″ of mulch piled up against the a tree like a miniature mulch volcano with the tree trunk erupting from the middle. Do not do this! Not only is the mulch trapping moisture against the bark of the tree, which can lead to fungal infections, but this practice often results in roots rising up and eventually girdling the tree and killing it.

Properly applied, mulch should be 1″-2″ deep on the ground underneath the tree canopy and extending out to the drip edge. Depending on the size, age, and water requirements of the tree some gardeners make a small berm 4″-6″ tall around the outside of the canopy drip edge. This allows irrigation methods such as using a flood bubbler to deeply water the roots under the mulch circle.

If you’re refreshing mulch, rake out the old mulch first. Adding new mulch over old mulch that hasn’t properly broken down just compounds the problem. If you have old mulch like this, and you are sure it’s an all-natural mulch, simply remove it and add it to your compost bin where it can continue to break down slowly. Now you can replenish the mulch with a moist fresh batch of all natural wood and hopefully a little compost mix as well.

Need help with your irrigation or sprinkler system? Does your garden need an overhaul or just a general checkup? Give us a call at 877-558-1496, or drop us a line and contact us here, to find out how Desiree can help you create a wonderful garden with a budget you can afford.

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4th of July Garden Activities

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Good early summer haul of tomatoes and other veggies.Independence Day is uniquely popular for outdoor activities: socializing, grilling, pool parties, and of course fireworks. Do you have fireworks going off in your garden? You should! The outdoor garden area can be one of the most popular gathering places for your friends and family. Many many summer plants are just absolutely exploding with color right now!

Crape myrtles in particular are showing off their blooms with a dizzying display of color. If you’re interested in planting one, it is the perfect time to select the exact color you want as they are all in bloom at the nursery right now. Here in North Texas almost every crape myrtle you choose will be freeze tolerant for any weather we get with few exceptions. If your crape myrtle is not blooming or even showing substantial dead branches and trunks, AND is shooting up abundant new growth from the ground it has likely suffered from freeze damage. The best action may be to cut away the dead and then cultivate new growth from the ground up. The same applies if your crape myrtles have been “topped.” Topping a crape myrtle results in ugly looking knots at the tops of the tree. There is no way to correct this, other than to cut it down to the ground (in the winter!) and then await the vigorous flush of new growth that will come out at the first hint of warmer weather.

Good early summer haul of tomatoes and other veggies.If tomatoes are your thing they should be ready for the last summer harvest now. In this intense summer heat they will likely stop producing. Most tomato varieties require temperatures at night to fall below 75° in order to set fruit, although there are exceptions. The ever popular cherry tomato can produce amazing crops of fruit throughout the summer. Other varieties include the Heatmaster tomato and the Phoenix tomato. Regardless of what you’re growing, tomatoes in the summer are water intensive. They should be deeply watered in the summer heat, but make sure the soil is well drained. As much as they like the water they don’t like roots that stay constantly wet. You can encourage them further with some shade cloth set up to block the blazing afternoon sun. Some growers even use misters to cool the air through evaporative cooling. If your dream is to cultivate hot summer tomatoes be aware that, unless you’re on well water, you’ll see a marked increase in your water bill!

Any pruning on oaks should be done this month. This is the safest time to prune oak species as the deadly oak wilt fungus is inactive. Any shade trees with low hanging branches can also be cut back. Sometimes these low hangers don’t reveal themselves in the winter dormant season when we would like to prune. They wait until they are burdened with the weight of an abundance of leaves. It won’t hurt to take down one or two of those low hanging branches right now, just don’t go overboard with the pruning. Generally speaking this is the wrong time of year to prune any trees. Now is the time these trees use all the sunlight collected by their leaves to build up reserves, and we want to avoid requiring them to divert energy to healing a wound when they should be at the peak of their growing season.

If you have hanging baskets or container gardens it’s time to add a little slow release fertilizer. Potting soil is a fantastic medium for plants, but it contains very little nutritional value. Your potted plants need those additional feedings of fertilizer that your in ground plantings get from compost and mulch. If you have flowering plants, a simple rose food fertilizer is excellent.

Good early summer haul of tomatoes and other veggies.Of course all this heat means that proper irrigation and watering is more important than ever. Don’t think that you have to water too often: it is more important to water deeply than to water frequently. Most North Texans (with a few exceptions) have a heavy clay soil that cannot absorb as much water as we would like all at once. If you’re seeing runoff onto the sidewalks, driveways, etc. then you are watering more than the soil can absorb. In these cases you will need to cycle your waterings. This means that you will water a short cycle, wait for it to be absorbed, and then water another short cycle. Lather rinse and repeat as many times as it takes for the clay soil to absorb water at least 4-6 inches down. Most modern sprinkler timers are able to be programmed in this way. If yours is older, consider upgrading the controller. Newer digital controllers are easy to program and can be controlled from your phone from anywhere. You can also add a soil moisture meter that will automatically tell your irrigation controller when the soil is too dry.

Need help with your irrigation or sprinkler system? Does your garden need an overhaul or just a general checkup? Give us a call at 877-558-1496, or drop us a line and contact us here, to find out how Desiree can help you create a wonderful garden with a budget you can afford.

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The heat is here!

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Pollinators doing their job.I know everyone has noticed but the heat is here!

Late June and July’s warm temperatures support vigorous growth for a wide range of plants. Heat-loving vegetables like tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, okra, and sweet potatoes thrive during this time, producing abundant yields. Flowers such as zinnias, sunflowers, marigolds, and cosmos are currently displaying vibrant colors and attract pollinators. One thing to note however is that many perennial flowers and shrubs reach their peak bloom in July in North Texas. Examples include daylilies, coneflowers, salvias, butterfly bushes, and hydrangeas. Several fruiting trees, such as peaches, plums, and figs, are also bearing fruit and some of those like sand plums are already ripe, while berries like blackberries and blueberries are also ready for harvesting.

That means it’s time to start planning for fall!

This is also the time when we start to see problems with tomatoes, such as blossom end rot. This condition usually results from a lack of calcium in the soil. You might remember your grandmother scattering egg shells throughout her vegetable garden. While this can help, it is easier and faster to use a calcium glycinate or a calcium nitrate in a liquid form. Bone meal is another option, and can be obtained from most butchers, but some people find the smell offensive and it can attract some undesirable pests.

This heat means that having a well functioning and well designed irrigation system is even more important than ever. Transpiration, the amount of water used by the plants and evaporated into the air is through the roof! Deep watering is crucial to ensure the root zone receives enough moisture. Water your garden early in the morning or late in the evening, when temperatures are low, to minimize evaporation. Pay attention to the specific water needs of different plants and adjust watering each zone accordingly.

July is a busy time for pollinators in North Texas, with bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds frequenting your garden. Planting nectar-rich flowers like bee balm, salvia, lavender, and coneflowers will attract and support these essential pollinators. These plants, when watered adequately, will thrive in the heat and provide a source of food and shelter for your pollinators.

We hear this all the time: “I have so many weeds and it’s so hot! What can I do?” Weeds can quickly take over right now. It is so easy to just resign yourself to the heat and let the garden run rampant. That being said, it is critically important to regularly remove weeds from your garden to prevent them from competing with your plants for resources. If you haven’t done so already, it’s now the time to apply mulch around your plants to help suppress weed growth.

Heat stress management can be an issue for some plants in North Texas. The intense heat we experience during July is harmful to some of your little guys. Consider providing shade for heat-sensitive plants, especially during the hottest parts of the day. Shade cloth, or planting taller plants nearby, can provide relief. Other solutions such as misters can provide a dramatic evaporative cooling effect. Water your plants deeply and consider using an organic mulch to regulate soil temperature and conserve moisture.

Give us a call at 877-558-1496, or drop us a line and contact us here, to find out how Desiree can help you create a wonderful garden with a budget you can afford.

Mid June Garden Update

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A newly hatched Praying MantisThe summer sun has the soil warmed up nicely for all of our heat loving plants. Peppers, eggplants, cucumbers, squash, and beans should all be in the ground now. Tomatoes are likely big enough at this point that they, and other tall plants, would benefit from a cage or stake to support them. Don’t forget to prune suckers from tomato plants, and keep an eye out for hornworms that can destroy your crop.

Speaking of hornworms, it’s time to keep an eye out for other pests, and the beneficial insects that eat them. Our praying mantises have hatched, and the ladybugs are out in force patrolling for aphids. Spiders, wasps, small snakes and toads all contribute their share to pest control in your garden. While many people dislike these creepy crawlies, they are a necessary part of a healthy ecosystem in your garden. If you do find pests, you can mix a small amount of dishwashing liquid and spray them down. Diatomaceous earth powder works too, but it does not discriminate and will harm the beneficial insects as much as the pests. For snails and slugs traps work very well, and you can make your own by setting out a shallow dish or jar top filled with cheap beer.

There are also some pests where you’ll have to make a judgement call: Swallowtail caterpillars absolutely love dill and fennel, and can denude a plant in just a few days, but if you kill the caterpillars you won’t have the beautiful butterflies they turn into. Gulf Frilly caterpillars love Passion Flower vines and their voracious appetites can reduce the number of amazing blooms you get, but again: No caterpillars, no butterflies. In our experience, simply having healthy plants is usually enough that the caterpillars can get their fill and the plant can survive just fine.

The weather lately here in North Texas has brought us an abundance of rain, but anyone who has lived in Texas very long knows that this rarely lasts. As the rains taper off and the heat continues, it will be more and more important to water appropriately. Deep soaking watering is vastly preferable to more frequent shallow watering as it will encourage the growth of strong deep roots. If you are hand watering or using a sprinkler you should water very early morning to minimize evaporation. In the same manner, drip irrigation is even better as it applies water to the soil directly where it is needed. You can cover your drip lines with mulch to further eliminate evaporation of the water.

Speaking of mulch, you can’t really go wrong applying another layer of mulch around your plants. Not only does this help to conserve soil moisture as alluded to above, but it will also suppress weed growth and help stabilize soil temperature. We use organic materials like straw, wood chips, and even shredded leaves as mulch, and place it over a layer of cardboard or newspaper (junk mail works too, just not the glossy stuff.) If you get mulch from a garden center or nursery, you should avoid dyed mulch. Red and black dyed mulch is the most common, but the chemicals in the dyes can have negative effects on your plants. A good 100% hardwood or cypress mulch is what we recommend, and it looks just as good as a fancy dyed mulch.

It’s also time to start harvesting some of your plants! Blackberries, plums, green onions, and asparagus are already starting to ripen. If you grow asparagus, this should be your last harvest of the year and the plant should be allowed to rejuvenate as an ornamental until the next harvest.

June is also the time to plant annual flowers that thrive in the warm weather. Consider colorful options such as cocks comb, marigolds, zinnias, cosmos, petunias, and sunflowers. Most of these plants appreciate full sun. Prepare your annual beds with a good mix of compost, landscapers mix, and top off with mulch.

Remember, specific gardening tasks can vary depending on the microclimate and individual garden conditions within North Texas, and readers to the north or south of Zone 8 will have slightly different timing.

Give us a call at 877-558-1496, or drop us a line and contact us here, to find out how Desiree can help you create a wonderful garden with a budget you can afford.

Early June Plantings and Irrigation

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The summer heat is definitely here, and adequate watering is more important than ever! If you haven’t already, it’s definitely time to adjust the watering schedule on your irrigation system.

Modern rotator spray heads are great at saving water.Deep waterings are one of the best ways to keep your plants happy, but if you have a clay soil you can’t just dump all that water all at once as the soil won’t absorb it. Instead you’ll have excessive runoff onto your driveway, sidewalks, and the street. All that wasted water! Instead, set up each zone to water in multiple short intervals. Instead of one long 30-minute watering session, set up your clay soil zones to do three 10-minute waterings separated by 10-minute “rest” sessions to give the soil time to absorb the water.

On the other hand, if you have sandy soil, or a sandy loam (more common on the far western side of the DFW metroples in areas like Weatherford, Springtown, Azle, etc.) your soil will readily absorb as much as a half-inch of precipitation from your irrigation system at a time. Don’t hesitate to water deeply and run your system for 30-minutes or longer, depending on your plants’ requirements. You don’t need to do this every day. Deep watering even once or twice a week is more than adequate, especially if you have more native plants or drought tolerant varieties. Deep watering like this also makes it easier to comply with any water use restrictions imposed by periods of drought and the accompanying water supply shortages.

Lantanas being pollinated. Now is also the time to start planting all of the heat loving plants in your garden. Crape Myrtles, Salvias, Lantanas, Texas Star Hibiscus, Verbena, Turk’s Cap, Phlox, Purple Fountain Grass, Purslane, and Yuccas are just some examples of these. Reseeding annuals such as Zinnias, Marigolds, and 4 O’clocks also thrive in the blistering summer heat. Other annuals such as Coleus, Pentas, and Caladiums should also be planted now.

It should be noted that this year has been a bad one for Caladium nurseries which have been hit hard and are not able to meet the normal demand for this plant. If you can find a Caladium plant, get it when and where you can.

If potted tropical plants are your thing, Bouganvillas, Tropical Hibiscus, Sago Palms, Agaves, succulents, and other cold sensitive potted plants will do well if planted now. Just remember that container gardens have very different watering requirements than in-ground gardens, but you can still have your containers hooked up to an irrigation system as long as they are on a separate zone.

Give us a call at 877-558-1496, or drop us a line and contact us here, to find out how Desiree can help you create a wonderful garden with a budget you can afford.

Memorial Day Garden Chores

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The growing season is running full steam ahead here at Desiree Gardens! That means there is a LOT going on right now.

Thin your stone-fruit in May to encourage larger and more high quality fruits of what remains.If you haven’t started already, now is the time to prune your wisteria and other spring blooming vines or shrubs. Do not wait until late summer or fall! The buds for next spring’s blooms will set through out the late summer and fall, and if you wait to prune you won’t have any flowers come next spring. It’s also time to prune any shade trees you have, except for oaks. For other species, any low hanging branches should be cut back now and it is a fine time to prune sucker growth on the interior of the canopy.

Proper pruning promotes strong growth.If you have oaks that need trimming, just be patient. Mid to late summer is the best time to prune your oak trees to in order to minimize the chances of spreading oak wilt. When you do prune your oaks, all cuts should be covered with a tree wound paint, or a regular latex paint (color doesn’t matter!) you can find at your local paint or hardware store.

If you have blackberries or other fruit bearing canes, it is time to tip-prune new canes in order to keep the plant compact, as well as to encourage branching. Stone fruit trees like plums and peaches should have the fruit thinned now in order to encourage larger higher quality fruit that remains.

Give us a call at 877-558-1496, or drop us a line and contact us here, to find out how Desiree can help you create a wonderful garden with a budget you can afford.

Zone 7 & 8 May Plants

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The summer heat is here, and the weather man is forecasting nothing but highs in the 90s and 100s for weeks to come. Things start to seriously heat up in May, but it’s still the perfect time to plant certain crops. There are a variety of vegetables that need warm soil and grow very quickly that are perfect to plant in warmer weather.

Beans, cucumbers, sweet potatoes, and tomatoes all grow very quickly and prefer warm weather. This is the perfect time to set up a trellis in your raised beds and start your seedlings. All of these prefer well drained soil and regular watering, so if you don’t get frequent summer showers you’ll need to water your crops early in the morning. Tomatoes might tend to go dormant in the searing heat of late July and August, but you can look forward to another crop as the temperatures cool into September and October.

Corn, melons, and squash can be grown in fresh tilled fertile ground and will thrive in the coming summer heat. Don’t feel that you’re planting too late into the growing season. The first frost for zones 7 and 8 doesn’t usually come until mid to late November at the earliest, giving you plenty of time to allow these crops to reach maturity.

Pepper bushes seem to capture the scorching heat of the sun and concentrate it into their tiny red and orange fruits. These bushes can be ornamental, along with sweet potatoes, and provide interest and color to a front yard bed. Sweet potatoes in particular make a fantastic ground cover.

If you’re planning on some fall and winter crops, now is also the time to start planning your seedling grow beds for kale, spinach, and lettuce. Don’t start these seedlings just yet, but go ahead and start organizing grow beds and be ready to start your fall seedlings indoors under the grow light or by a south facing window here in a few weeks.

There’s never a dull moment and there’s always something to do in an active year-round garden.

Garden Insects

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One of the more frustrating things for any gardener is when they venture outside to the garden only to find voracious insects devouring the product of their hard work! What can you do about these tiny critters without resorting to poisons or insecticides and other harmful chemicals?

First, identify whether the insects are truly harmful or not. Some caterpillars for example will strip a fennel or passion vine bare within just a few days. Most of these caterpillars have very specific tastes however and will soon transform into beautiful butterflies. Pollinators like butterflies are critical to the success of any garden. Sometimes it’s better to take a little hit and have fennel, or passion vine that looks denuded for a bit just to gain the benefits that these beautiful winged creatures provide. Another alternative is to plant, or allow to grow, other plants like milkweed. In a natural meadow-like lawn, “weeds” like milkweed provide a tastier source of nutrition to many caterpillars.

This Asian Beetle is NOT a Lady Bug
This Asian Lady Beetle (Harmonia axyridis) is NOT a Lady Bug! They look alike, and both are effecient predators of aphids, but the Asian Beetle is an invasive species with a mostly white head and more spots, while the Lady Bug has a mostly black head and fewer spots.
If you’re inspecting your plants and find ladybugs, or their immature larva which appear like tiny black and orange alligators, stop! Those are the good guys, but their presence often indicates the presence of aphids. Aphids are the main source of prey of the ladybug. If you find aphids sucking down your plants, and you don’t see ladybugs, you can often purchase some at your local plant nursery.

The praying mantis is another beneficial insect, which preys upon many common pests. Finding one is a boon! If your garden seems overrun with harmful insects, you can purchase more praying mantis from your local plant nursery. These insects, along with other beneficial critters like spiders, tarantulas, and tiny garden snakes, all help wage war on your behalf against the tiny pests that might otherwise plague your garden.

Some pests like hornworms, which love tomatoes, are more difficult to remove. These you might need to pluck off one by one. An alternative is a dilute solution of gentle dish soap and water sprayed onto the plant, including the underside of the leaves.

If you have fowl such as chickens or ducks, allow them to roam the garden from time to time. Both chickens and ducks have quite the appetite and love dining on all manner of pests, including slugs and snails. Of course, slug and snail traps such as a saucer full of beer also work well for these molluscs.

Whatever plagues your garden, always search for the natural solution before resorting to pesticides. Many of these chemicals and compounds are indiscriminate and will harm beneficial insects along with the pests. What’s more, they can cause irreparable harm to pollinators such as bees and butterflies.

Ditching Lawns for Lush, Diverse Gardens.

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From the AP: America’s love affair with the lawn is getting messy

More and more people are getting away from plain, boring lawns, and moving to diverse gardens that provide abundant color, texture, and foliage, while at the same time providing ample resources for pollinators such as bees and butterflies.

From the article: Monrovia, a major grower of plants for nurseries and other outlets, has seen lots of interest in a “Garden of Abundance” trend -– a more “alive-looking” yard with a variety of plants, says company trend watcher Katie Tamony. She says it’s a way of thinking about your yard “as not just being yours, but part of a more beautiful, larger world that we’re trying to create.”

Plants that attract pollinators were the category most sought-after in a survey of Monrovia’s customers, she said.

Many counties and municipalities have jumped on board as well, and are encouraging residents who transform their yards into diverse gardens by handing out placards and yard signs. Native plants, as opposed to monoculture lawns, are an environmental boon not just to pollinators, but they also consume much less water than a traditional lawn. Even those who continue to maintain their lawns are moving to native grasses that can better tolerate droughts and require very little additional watering.

Throughout the pandemic, and even with it drawing to a close, more and more people are seeking to create their own little safe havens where they live. With the huge increase of people working from home, it’s become paramount to have more natural beauty and lush green landscapes and gardens are one way people seek that out.

Whether it’s a small balcony garden of potted plants, a collection of indoor tropicals and succulents, or a large outdoor garden with hardscapes and water features, Desiree Gardens can help you create the garden space of your dreams.

Contact us today for a free one hour consultation to see how we can help you achieve your dreams.