BV/S neighbor and Travis County Master Gardener Reeve Hobbie is glad to be able to offer pertinent gardening subjects in articles throughout the year. His past month-to-month gardening tips may be found in the “Around the Yard” archives.
The Ps of Trees
by Reeve Hobbie
The last article I posted to our homeowners’ association online newsletter (which can be found below) was about landscaping. Trees are a very big part of any landscape. They are the anchor of all your plantings and need to be considered up front in your plans.
Despite the fact that there are literally tons of books about trees available to you, I’m going to offer my thoughts on the subject that are particularly applicable to Central Texas. Continue reading to learn about plant Preferences, proper Planting, preferred planting Periods and Pruning. (Can’t think of any other pertinent Ps for trees.)
Plant Preferences
There are so many choices of trees that will grow well in our rocky, alkaline and cloddy, clay soil. Sometimes I think it’s outright amazing that they succeed. But there are also trees that don’t fare so well. I once asked Skip Richter, former director of AgriLife Extension Service for Travis County, what to do with my two very tall anemic-looking sweetgum trees. He advised that I dig them up and plant them 100 miles east of here. I eventually lost both tree to chlorosis. There was nothing that could be done for them.
So what are you looking for in a tree or trees for your yard? Pretty foliage, spring blooms, shade, size, fall color, fruit, nuts, evergreen? Determine that and you can move forward. I think the best list of trees suitable for growing in our area may be found at http://treefolks.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Tree-Growing-Guide-for-Central-Texas.pdf. Also, most local nurseries carry the free Native and Adapted Landscape Plants guide, another great resource to have for trees and all your other gardening needs. With either or both guides in hand, you will have all the information you need – things like, how fast your selection will grow, how wide and tall it will get, and whether it will drop its leaves. But I have to add that both resources list certain oaks that are susceptible to oak wilt, Texas red and live oaks, so I would advise against planting either of them. Personally I would stay away from planting any oaks. There are so many other families of trees from which to make your selection.
Proper Planting
The Tree Growing Guide, referenced above, provides a 10-step planting plan. I can simplify that by stating that the hole you dig for each tree should NOT be any deeper than the soil depth of the tree you have purchased. It’s the width of the hole that’s critical. Dig the hole at least two to three times wider than the ball of the tree. Roots grow horizontally and need loosened soil, not necessarily amended soil, in order to grow. Before removing the tree from the pot or burlap ball, try out the tree in the hole. The soil line in the container must be at grade level or above, but definitely not lower. Now remove the container or burlap and untangle the roots. Fan them out especially if they have been wrapping themselves round and round in the container. This is real important. Stretch out the roots. Hold the tree straight and backfill with soil. Create a saucer around your hole and thoroughly water in. Cover with mulch, but neither dirt nor mulch should touch the new tree’s bark. Not now. Not ever.
Preferred Planting Periods
So when may all this happen? Tree planting in Central Texas should take place in our cooler months. Best times are fall and again in February and March before it warms up. Any later than March and you will lose the benefits of a cool and wet springtime start. So consider your needs now and purchase your tree or trees soon.
Pruning
The best time to prune trees, if it’s even necessary, is wintertime. Reasons for proceeding might be to remove specific branches to benefit the whole tree, to remove dead, damaged and diseased branches to help prevent insects and decay, or to simply thin a dense canopy on a tree to increase air and sunlight.
For major work, please hire a certified arborist who will know how to prune properly. Some unaccredited outfits tend to “lollipop” or “lion tail” one’s trees. That’s not good pruning. Sure, it lets more light in, but it’s not the best way to treat your trees.
Lastly, DO NOT PRUNE ANY OAKS BETWEEN FEBRUARY 1 and JUNE 30! If you don’t understand the dangers of how oak wilt spreads during this five month “no cut” period, please read up on it (article below) or visit the Anderson Mill area where there are several infestations killing their oaks.
These are the Ps of trees that I have to offer. It goes without saying that trees are so very important to us, our property’s curb appeal and market value. Please be good stewards and manage them well.
____________________________________________________________
If you have questions about your yard or garden, such as needing the name of a certified arborist, please call Travis County Master Gardeners at 512-854-9600. The person at the other end of the line may not have an immediate answer, but they’ll research it for you and will get back with you.
Around the Yard with Reeve Hobbie - Oak Wilt
My first new article is on oak wilt, a subject every one of us needs to have a basic understand of so as to not endanger our precious trees or those of our neighbors.
OAK WILT – a REAL threat to our neighborhood!
Oak wilt is a vascular fungal disease affecting most oak trees caused by the fungus Ceratocystis fagacearum. Symptoms vary by oak tree species, but generally consist of leaf discoloration, wilt, defoliation, and death. In fact, most infected trees die within a year. Fungicides have been found which can suppress the disease, but to date there is no real cure for the problem.
Leaves of dying live oak trees often develop chlorotic (yellow) veins that eventually turn brown. Red oaks, on the other hand, may have leaves that turn pale green, brown or simply wilt. I’m not going to offer any more descriptions of the symptoms as I’m not an authority on diagnosing the disease. The symptoms vary. If you believe you have oak wilt or some other tree malady, I suggest you ask a certified arborist to come check out your situation.
I can share with you that the main period of infection of oaks is in the spring when sap begins to flow and new wood is being formed. Oak wilt can be spread through the air by insects, through the ground by roots, and also by humans with the movement of infected oak wood from one location to another.
Spread by Beetles
Here’s what can happen. Fungal mats can form beneath the bark of an oak in the spring. These mats produce spores. The fruity odor of these fungal mats attracts many kinds of insects, the most prevalent being the sap-feeding nitidulid beetle. The fungus can be transported by these tiny beetles (smaller than ladybugs) as they emerge from mats and visit fresh wounds or cuts on healthy oaks.
Within 10 minutes of a cut being made on an oak, an infected beetle could be drawn to the scent of that wound. That’s why it is so important to NOT PRUNE your oak trees for the five-month period from February 1 through June 30. Yes, springtime is when we get out into our yards and want to do things. Please do anything other than prune your oaks. And don’t let any commercial tree service/arborist try to convince you otherwise. Now, if you absolutely have to prune an oak because it’s rubbing on your roof or has been snapped off by a tall vehicle such as a garbage collection truck, make a clean cut and spray or paint that cut IMMEDIATELY with tree paint or other latex paint.
Spread through Roots
Oaks tend to grow in clumps with interconnecting roots. The fungus may be transmitted from one tree to another through these root connections. A close example may be seen on Millwright Parkway at Timbercrest. Although transmission of the disease is relatively slow through roots, nevertheless it will continue to spread year after year at an average rate of 75 feet per year. There are several expensive ways of trying to stop it, deep trenching for example, but let’s hope we don’t have to deal with that.
Spread by Humans
Unseasoned firewood (dried for less than one year) from oak wilt infected trees should not be brought onto your property and stored. If you don’t know the source of the wood, don’t even consider bringing it near your home. Your healthy trees don’t need to be exposed to possible contamination.
Learn More
I’ve only just scratched the surface of this nation-wide oak wilt threat. Austin has already lost more than 10,000 oaks to the deadly, infectious disease. What would your yard look like without any oaks?
To discover more about identifying and managing oak wilt, please check out these Texas websites:
texasforestservice.tamu.edu/OakWiltFAQS/
agrilifeextension.tamu.edu/blog/2016/07/07/oak-wilt-tree-diseases/
texasoakwilt.org/
arborilogical.com
PLEASE NO OAK PRUNING FEBRUARY 1 THROUGH JUNE 30!
If you have questions about your yard or garden, please call Travis County Master Gardeners at 512-854-9600. The person at the other end of the line may not have an immediate answer, but they’ll research it for you and will get back with you.
OAK WILT – a REAL threat to our neighborhood!
Oak wilt is a vascular fungal disease affecting most oak trees caused by the fungus Ceratocystis fagacearum. Symptoms vary by oak tree species, but generally consist of leaf discoloration, wilt, defoliation, and death. In fact, most infected trees die within a year. Fungicides have been found which can suppress the disease, but to date there is no real cure for the problem.
Leaves of dying live oak trees often develop chlorotic (yellow) veins that eventually turn brown. Red oaks, on the other hand, may have leaves that turn pale green, brown or simply wilt. I’m not going to offer any more descriptions of the symptoms as I’m not an authority on diagnosing the disease. The symptoms vary. If you believe you have oak wilt or some other tree malady, I suggest you ask a certified arborist to come check out your situation.
I can share with you that the main period of infection of oaks is in the spring when sap begins to flow and new wood is being formed. Oak wilt can be spread through the air by insects, through the ground by roots, and also by humans with the movement of infected oak wood from one location to another.
Spread by Beetles
Here’s what can happen. Fungal mats can form beneath the bark of an oak in the spring. These mats produce spores. The fruity odor of these fungal mats attracts many kinds of insects, the most prevalent being the sap-feeding nitidulid beetle. The fungus can be transported by these tiny beetles (smaller than ladybugs) as they emerge from mats and visit fresh wounds or cuts on healthy oaks.
Within 10 minutes of a cut being made on an oak, an infected beetle could be drawn to the scent of that wound. That’s why it is so important to NOT PRUNE your oak trees for the five-month period from February 1 through June 30. Yes, springtime is when we get out into our yards and want to do things. Please do anything other than prune your oaks. And don’t let any commercial tree service/arborist try to convince you otherwise. Now, if you absolutely have to prune an oak because it’s rubbing on your roof or has been snapped off by a tall vehicle such as a garbage collection truck, make a clean cut and spray or paint that cut IMMEDIATELY with tree paint or other latex paint.
Spread through Roots
Oaks tend to grow in clumps with interconnecting roots. The fungus may be transmitted from one tree to another through these root connections. A close example may be seen on Millwright Parkway at Timbercrest. Although transmission of the disease is relatively slow through roots, nevertheless it will continue to spread year after year at an average rate of 75 feet per year. There are several expensive ways of trying to stop it, deep trenching for example, but let’s hope we don’t have to deal with that.
Spread by Humans
Unseasoned firewood (dried for less than one year) from oak wilt infected trees should not be brought onto your property and stored. If you don’t know the source of the wood, don’t even consider bringing it near your home. Your healthy trees don’t need to be exposed to possible contamination.
Learn More
I’ve only just scratched the surface of this nation-wide oak wilt threat. Austin has already lost more than 10,000 oaks to the deadly, infectious disease. What would your yard look like without any oaks?
To discover more about identifying and managing oak wilt, please check out these Texas websites:
texasforestservice.tamu.edu/OakWiltFAQS/
agrilifeextension.tamu.edu/blog/2016/07/07/oak-wilt-tree-diseases/
texasoakwilt.org/
arborilogical.com
PLEASE NO OAK PRUNING FEBRUARY 1 THROUGH JUNE 30!
If you have questions about your yard or garden, please call Travis County Master Gardeners at 512-854-9600. The person at the other end of the line may not have an immediate answer, but they’ll research it for you and will get back with you.
Time to Consider Relandscaping?
by Reeve Hobbie
Hopefully when you read the word “relandscape” you don’t shy away from it. I’m going to provide you with some tips on this subject that may make the idea of relandscaping a whole lot easier. My hope is that I can at least get you thinking about whether you need to relandscape your home or not.
In the next few paragraphs I will cover the what, when, why and how of relandscaping. If you wish to tackle it, I’ll treat the project as if you will be doing it yourself or directing others to do it for you.
Evaluation
Let me start with this simple suggestion. In the cool of the day, step across the street and look at the front of your home as if you were a potential home buyer. Does your front yard landscape, as it appears at this moment, enhance the beauty of your home or does it detract from it? Is there a visual invitation to make you want to walk up to your front door? Can you see your front windows? Or are plants overgrown, deep in shade, spindly or even dead? What would it take to create great curb appeal for your home?
Considerations
If you agree that you need to do something, where do you begin? Start by determining if any plants may be retained if properly trimmed back and reshaped. Rejuvenation or renewal pruning, two different trimming techniques you can read about online, works well on some shrubs, but not all. For each shrub and tree you wish to keep, you’ll need to know whether pruning will be successful and the best time to do it. Definitely no summer pruning of shrubs. That’s usually a late winter project.
Planning
Do you want to maintain the same footprint for your front garden beds? If not, it would be best to either contact a professional landscape designer or develop a new plan yourself. There are plenty of landscape design guides and “how to” books out there to consult. Do realize that if you plan to make major changes to your landscape, i.e., changing to xeriscape, modifying garden beds, adding a hardscape structure (deck, gazebo, playscape, retaining walls) or other feature, you will need to submit your proposed plans to BVSHOA’s architectural control committee chair Jacque Forrest acc.bvshoa@gmail.com for that committee’s review and approval.
So work up a plan – what needs to be pruned, what needs to be removed, what kinds of trees and plants would make suitable replacements. Consider the amount of sun and shade you receive, water needs, deer visitations, evergreen and/or deciduous plants, and the potential size, shape, color and texture of plants. (A very good resource, free at most local nurseries, is a guide entitled Native & Adapted Landscape Plants for Central Texas.)
Execution
Fall is the best time of the year to remove old plantings and prepare soil and beds for the new installations. Specifically add soil amendments like rich compost or manure and peat moss. Work all new materials into your existing soil and let it rest. If you wish to avoid a lot of future weeding in your rejuvenated beds, put down a quality landscape cloth and anchor it well.
Then during the three cool months of November, December and January will be the right time to plant new shrubs and trees. First, position your new plants on top of your bed where you intend to install them. Allow enough room for them to grow and be sure they are not too close to your house foundation. Step back and take a look. If it looks right, cut “Xs” in your landscape cloth beneath the potted plants and then dig holes for each at least twice as wide as the pot, but no deeper than the pot. Plant the plants.
Water everything in really well and cover soil or landscape cloth with 3 to 4 inches of your choice of mulch. Continue to water new plantings frequently, but especially before a potential freeze. Monitor them carefully into spring and summer. The first year will be the toughest on the new landscape.
Perhaps I have over simplified front yard relandscaping, but I wanted to make you aware of how you can improve the value of your home and the neighborhood. I also want you to realize that springtime is too late to start. Fall and winter are the right times to carry out landscaping projects in Austin.
If you have questions about your yard or garden, please call Travis County Master Gardeners at 512-854-9600. The person at the other end of the line may not have an immediate answer, but they’ll research it for you and will g
Hopefully when you read the word “relandscape” you don’t shy away from it. I’m going to provide you with some tips on this subject that may make the idea of relandscaping a whole lot easier. My hope is that I can at least get you thinking about whether you need to relandscape your home or not.
In the next few paragraphs I will cover the what, when, why and how of relandscaping. If you wish to tackle it, I’ll treat the project as if you will be doing it yourself or directing others to do it for you.
Evaluation
Let me start with this simple suggestion. In the cool of the day, step across the street and look at the front of your home as if you were a potential home buyer. Does your front yard landscape, as it appears at this moment, enhance the beauty of your home or does it detract from it? Is there a visual invitation to make you want to walk up to your front door? Can you see your front windows? Or are plants overgrown, deep in shade, spindly or even dead? What would it take to create great curb appeal for your home?
Considerations
If you agree that you need to do something, where do you begin? Start by determining if any plants may be retained if properly trimmed back and reshaped. Rejuvenation or renewal pruning, two different trimming techniques you can read about online, works well on some shrubs, but not all. For each shrub and tree you wish to keep, you’ll need to know whether pruning will be successful and the best time to do it. Definitely no summer pruning of shrubs. That’s usually a late winter project.
Planning
Do you want to maintain the same footprint for your front garden beds? If not, it would be best to either contact a professional landscape designer or develop a new plan yourself. There are plenty of landscape design guides and “how to” books out there to consult. Do realize that if you plan to make major changes to your landscape, i.e., changing to xeriscape, modifying garden beds, adding a hardscape structure (deck, gazebo, playscape, retaining walls) or other feature, you will need to submit your proposed plans to BVSHOA’s architectural control committee chair Jacque Forrest acc.bvshoa@gmail.com for that committee’s review and approval.
So work up a plan – what needs to be pruned, what needs to be removed, what kinds of trees and plants would make suitable replacements. Consider the amount of sun and shade you receive, water needs, deer visitations, evergreen and/or deciduous plants, and the potential size, shape, color and texture of plants. (A very good resource, free at most local nurseries, is a guide entitled Native & Adapted Landscape Plants for Central Texas.)
Execution
Fall is the best time of the year to remove old plantings and prepare soil and beds for the new installations. Specifically add soil amendments like rich compost or manure and peat moss. Work all new materials into your existing soil and let it rest. If you wish to avoid a lot of future weeding in your rejuvenated beds, put down a quality landscape cloth and anchor it well.
Then during the three cool months of November, December and January will be the right time to plant new shrubs and trees. First, position your new plants on top of your bed where you intend to install them. Allow enough room for them to grow and be sure they are not too close to your house foundation. Step back and take a look. If it looks right, cut “Xs” in your landscape cloth beneath the potted plants and then dig holes for each at least twice as wide as the pot, but no deeper than the pot. Plant the plants.
Water everything in really well and cover soil or landscape cloth with 3 to 4 inches of your choice of mulch. Continue to water new plantings frequently, but especially before a potential freeze. Monitor them carefully into spring and summer. The first year will be the toughest on the new landscape.
Perhaps I have over simplified front yard relandscaping, but I wanted to make you aware of how you can improve the value of your home and the neighborhood. I also want you to realize that springtime is too late to start. Fall and winter are the right times to carry out landscaping projects in Austin.
If you have questions about your yard or garden, please call Travis County Master Gardeners at 512-854-9600. The person at the other end of the line may not have an immediate answer, but they’ll research it for you and will g
Not Too Late To Talk About
Lawn Care
by Reeve Hobbie
Spring has come quickly this year and most every growing thing is ahead of schedule, but I’m behind, at least in writing and posting of this article about our lawns.
However, since lawn care should be an ongoing concern, I’m going to talk about it in the next eight or so paragraphs. Hundreds of homes in our Balcones Village/Spicewood Homeowners Association area have carpet grass known as St. Augustine. It’s wide bladed, tolerates heat and shade, but demands more water than most other grass choices.
Can you say that your St. Augustine grass is looking as healthy as it once looked?
Most of you reading this article are probably saying “No.” There may be any number of reasons why. Let me walk you through likely issues.
First, you probably have denser shade over your lawn today than you used to have. Let’s face it, each year our trees get bigger than they have ever been before and thus are producing more shade. Shade is the enemy of all grass varieties, even shade-tolerant St. Augustine. Tree branches could be thinned out and raised up to allow more light in. A certified arborist could help you here. However, now through the end of June is not the right time to prune trees (see previous article), so hold off until July.
Second, have your aeriated your lawn recently? What little soil we have, readily compacts. Loosening it will allow the grass rhizomes (below ground) and stolons (above ground) to spread with greater ease. Top dressing with a light soil or compost is another approach provided it is applied very thin (about a half an inch) over existing growing grass. It’s best to top dress in late winter or early spring.
Third, are you applying the right fertilizer for your lawn’s needs? Only a soil test can tell you what your grass really needs. A general lawn fertilizer has a 3-1-2 ratio of nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium that is typically good for a new lawn. Most of our lawns have been around a while and may have an excess of some of those nutrients. My own recent soil test showed I had a surplus of phosphorous and potassium. Other folks have surprising results too. I am now applying nitrogen only because that’s all my grass needs. The right fertilizer should be applied in April and perhaps again in September or October, but never with a weed killer in it. That has to be a separate procedure.
Fourth, might your lawn have a disease or other problem? St. Augustine grass is susceptible to many ailments and often, once weakened, is prone to several at the same time. Here’s a partial list of the plagues: white grub worms, chinch bugs, St. Augustine decline, Take-all Patch, Brown Patch, Nitrogen deficiency. The list goes on. Diagnosing your lawns problem won’t be easy. My suggestion is that you turn to the internet and view pictures and read descriptions that seem most like yours. Sometimes there are natural treatments and almost always chemical treatments available for each.
So what can I do about my St. Augustine lawn this late in spring?
First and foremost, mow your lawn weekly, more frequently if you like, but at least once every seven days. Mow with a high blade setting. There will be more water retention and less thatch if left high. Frequent mowing deters weeds and your St. Augustine grass should eventually prevail.
Water your lawn on a weekly basis unless nature provides us with an inch or more of rain. Only a rain gauge can tell you how much your lawn receives. When you do water, irrigate deeply so that your grass roots want to grow deeper. Perhaps set your sprinkler system to water each lawn zone twice on your designated day.
Fertilize your lawn with the right formulation. Don’t guess. If you have a lawn ailment, get it diagnosed and then try to remove the problem. If you have totally bald spots, lay new sod once you know why the former grass died. Was it too much shade, the wrong fertilizer, a heavily trafficked area, Brown Patch, soil compaction, water deficiency, something else?
We tend to take the trees and shrubbery around our home for granted, but we can’t do that with our lawns. They require our weekly attention in order to stay lush, green and healthy.
____________________________________________________________
If you have questions about your yard or garden, please call Travis County Master Gardeners at 512-854-9600. The person at the other end of the line may not have an immediate answer, but they’ll research it for you and will get back with you.
Spring has come quickly this year and most every growing thing is ahead of schedule, but I’m behind, at least in writing and posting of this article about our lawns.
However, since lawn care should be an ongoing concern, I’m going to talk about it in the next eight or so paragraphs. Hundreds of homes in our Balcones Village/Spicewood Homeowners Association area have carpet grass known as St. Augustine. It’s wide bladed, tolerates heat and shade, but demands more water than most other grass choices.
Can you say that your St. Augustine grass is looking as healthy as it once looked?
Most of you reading this article are probably saying “No.” There may be any number of reasons why. Let me walk you through likely issues.
First, you probably have denser shade over your lawn today than you used to have. Let’s face it, each year our trees get bigger than they have ever been before and thus are producing more shade. Shade is the enemy of all grass varieties, even shade-tolerant St. Augustine. Tree branches could be thinned out and raised up to allow more light in. A certified arborist could help you here. However, now through the end of June is not the right time to prune trees (see previous article), so hold off until July.
Second, have your aeriated your lawn recently? What little soil we have, readily compacts. Loosening it will allow the grass rhizomes (below ground) and stolons (above ground) to spread with greater ease. Top dressing with a light soil or compost is another approach provided it is applied very thin (about a half an inch) over existing growing grass. It’s best to top dress in late winter or early spring.
Third, are you applying the right fertilizer for your lawn’s needs? Only a soil test can tell you what your grass really needs. A general lawn fertilizer has a 3-1-2 ratio of nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium that is typically good for a new lawn. Most of our lawns have been around a while and may have an excess of some of those nutrients. My own recent soil test showed I had a surplus of phosphorous and potassium. Other folks have surprising results too. I am now applying nitrogen only because that’s all my grass needs. The right fertilizer should be applied in April and perhaps again in September or October, but never with a weed killer in it. That has to be a separate procedure.
Fourth, might your lawn have a disease or other problem? St. Augustine grass is susceptible to many ailments and often, once weakened, is prone to several at the same time. Here’s a partial list of the plagues: white grub worms, chinch bugs, St. Augustine decline, Take-all Patch, Brown Patch, Nitrogen deficiency. The list goes on. Diagnosing your lawns problem won’t be easy. My suggestion is that you turn to the internet and view pictures and read descriptions that seem most like yours. Sometimes there are natural treatments and almost always chemical treatments available for each.
So what can I do about my St. Augustine lawn this late in spring?
First and foremost, mow your lawn weekly, more frequently if you like, but at least once every seven days. Mow with a high blade setting. There will be more water retention and less thatch if left high. Frequent mowing deters weeds and your St. Augustine grass should eventually prevail.
Water your lawn on a weekly basis unless nature provides us with an inch or more of rain. Only a rain gauge can tell you how much your lawn receives. When you do water, irrigate deeply so that your grass roots want to grow deeper. Perhaps set your sprinkler system to water each lawn zone twice on your designated day.
Fertilize your lawn with the right formulation. Don’t guess. If you have a lawn ailment, get it diagnosed and then try to remove the problem. If you have totally bald spots, lay new sod once you know why the former grass died. Was it too much shade, the wrong fertilizer, a heavily trafficked area, Brown Patch, soil compaction, water deficiency, something else?
We tend to take the trees and shrubbery around our home for granted, but we can’t do that with our lawns. They require our weekly attention in order to stay lush, green and healthy.
____________________________________________________________
If you have questions about your yard or garden, please call Travis County Master Gardeners at 512-854-9600. The person at the other end of the line may not have an immediate answer, but they’ll research it for you and will get back with you.