You may have noticed a bump in the mosquito population lately. I can't imagine why...Oh yeah, we've had about a million inches of rain! The continual and heavy rainfall has created the perfect breeding ground for mosquitoes. They're emerging in droves in the DFW area. NOW is the time to take preventative action if you don't want the city spraying chemicals around your property.

All it takes is a few handfuls of a natural larvicide to successfully prevent mosquitoes.

Bt (Bacillius thuriengensis var. israelensis) also known as Thuricide (liquid form) or Mosquito Bits, is my not so secret weapon to having no mosquito problems in my yard. This naturally occurring bacteria is fatal only to larvae and caterpillars. The species included in this product is particularly effective against mosquito larvae (and fungus gnats). All you have to do is sprinkle a few handfuls of the bits under your foundation shrubs, any landscape beds with automated irrigation or that you water regularly, drain boxes, low spots in the yard and even gutters. Timing depends on the weather. If it's warm early, I'll put out my first application in April, if it's not then early May. Then again in June, July, August and September. If you have ponds, birdbaths or live on a creek, purchase the floating dunk form and just pitch one, or a piece of one in the standing water.

The Bt attacks the mosquito larvae and kills them before they even have a chance to hatch. This bacteria is safe for children, pets, birds and fish. It's the most non-toxic and most effective treatment for dealing with mosquitoes.

Hopefully, you haven't been contributing to the moisture problem by running your sprinkler systems. The rain we've been getting is more than any landscape could hope to absorb.

If neighbors, or neighborhoods, got together on prevention we could make a huge dent in the city's mosquito population. Make a deal with your neighbors...if you live on a creek, each one of you should get together and buy a 4 or 6 pack of the mosquito dunks. Once per month from April through September, simply pitch one out the back door into the creek. You'll be amazed by the results. Do you have a housebound or elderly neighbor? How about buying a pack for them and dropping it off, or better yet, apply the bits or dunks in their yard/creek for them.

Bt is inexpensive and easy to apply. If you haven't picked up your Mosquito Bits yet, don't delay.

Sometimes you get so busy doing what you're doing that you don't stop to thank the people who recognize your hard work...and say thank you back! I was honored to attend the recent 2015 TOCA, Turf and Ornamental Communicators Association, conference where I received five awards. FIVE! A big thank you to the folks at TOCA for such a warm welcome, a well-thought out annual meeting and of course the lovely awards. What a great group of people.

We're proud to represent our client Soils Alive with a First Place award for Writing! The award covered all their site content including their blog.

And our other client Preservation Tree Services with a First Place award for Advertising Design...

AND our other client Hydro Galaxy with a Merit Award for Writing on their blog...

I was also honored to take home a Merit Award for Writing for a feature article I contributed to Garden Center Magazine, GIE Media. You can read the ariticle here.

Pretty cool. Again, a big thank you to TOCA for the good times and recognition. It just makes me all warm and fuzzy on the inside.

The program will be a three-winter trial in partnership with the Perennial Plant Association.

Press Release | April 9, 2015

DOWNERS GROVE, Ill. – All-America Selections (AAS) has a long history of being the only independent North American trialing organization that trials new varieties then grants branded awards to the best performers. That 80-year history has proven to be a good model with trialing protocols that have been refined to withstand the test of time and basics that will work with perennial entries as well as annuals and edibles.

Perennial Plant Association (PPA) is a trade association composed of growers, retailers, educators, landscape designers and contractors that are professionally involved in the herbaceous perennial industry. Together, the two organizations have determined the details necessary to conduct a thorough and horticulturally sound perennial trial and PPA actively endorses this new AAS trial.

The perennial trial will follow many of the basics of the recently launched AAS Vegetative Ornamental trial. Entries accepted will be herbaceous perennials propagated from seed, cutting, tissue culture or bare root. A seed entry can be trialed against a vegetative or TC comparison and vice-versa. Entries will be trialed next to comparisons, in order to continue the AAS legacy.

The primary difference with the AAS Herbaceous Perennial trial is that it will be a three winter trial allowing the AAS judges to measure and record winter survivability and subsequent growing season performance. Other AAS trial entries will continue to be trialed over one growing season. Breeders who wish to have their herbaceous perennials tested for first-season performance can continue to use the one-season trial. All other herbaceous perennials would be placed in the three year perennial trial.

For the long-term, entries have to be new, never-before-sold, but, after submission to the AAS Herbaceous Perennial Trial, they may be introduced commercially. After the trial is completed, if the entry scores high enough to be become an AAS Winner, after criteria is met and the announcement is made by AAS, the breeder may then market that variety as an AAS Winner.

However, for the first entry year (entries submitted by July 1, 2015), AAS will accept entries that have been on the market for twelve months or less.

“I’m very happy to have helped All-America Selections get to this point of trialing perennials," said Dallas Arboretum Director of Horticulture and AAS Judge, Board of Director and Perennial Trial Task Force member Jenny Wegley. "Because of an 80+ year history in doing great plant trials, this is a natural step and a great service to the industry and to home gardeners. It will be very interesting to trial the perennial entries we receive then share the results.”

“National perennial trials are important for both the industry and the consumer," said PPA Southern Regional Director and Board of Directors Trials Chair, AAS Perennial Trial Task Force Member, Leslie F. Halleck. "As a previous trial program director and AAS Trials Judge, I know how important it is to have the program properly structured and managed nationally. Rather than have both organizations (PPA & AAS) develop competing perennial trail programs, it seemed the perfect solution was to instead team up and work together. We think this collaboration is the key to finally executing a highly organized, thorough and well-marketed perennial trial program that will benefit both PPA members and their customers.”

The pilot program of trialing perennials will begin immediately with entries due July 1, 2015. Those entries will be sent to approximately 24 trial sites beginning in early 2016. The first AAS Winners from the Perennial Trials will be announced in 2019.

Successful green industry businesses balance their experience and technical know-how with good communication skills and a commitment to consumer education. Relying solely on the company’s reputation and word-of-mouth referrals might still work for a very small segment of the industry; but for most companies a commitment to content, marketing and some form of advertising is no longer avoidable.

However, when cash flow is tight, the economy contracts, or a company is experiencing what feels like a painful growth spurt or transition, there are a few common knee-jerk responses that are often more hurtful than helpful.

The first is a rush to cut marketing and advertising from the operating budget. This is a big mistake. Why? Simple: When you’re out of sight you’re out of mind. Even if your aspirations for growth aren’t grand, most businesses need to replace some percentage of customers on a regular basis.

Awareness of the company brand and services is the number one driver of new and repeat customer sales. If you do have big growth goals then you’ll most likely fall short of them without a solid commitment to marketing. You might think your company offers the best thing since sliced bread; but rest assured the public will still forget about you if you don’t have a presence in their media consumption sphere. Cutting your marketing budget typically doesn't solve your cash flow problem; but it just might create a bigger one.

Another common response is the refusal to innovate through technology. The need to communicate digitally through contemporary websites and social media has yet to be fully embraced by the green industry. Many company owners simply don’t see the need to spend the time or money on a dynamic website, Twitter or Facebook account. Just because the company CEO doesn’t hang out in the digital world doesn’t mean your customers aren't there; they are. In fact, they practically live there!

Effective marketing entails reaching the customer where they are. Building an up-to-date website with useful content, plus a lively social media presence, are crucial parts of a successful marketing strategy. Ongoing website upgrades, digital content and social media maintenance need to be taken seriously and represented in your operating budget.

Say a company commits to all the above; think that gets them off the hook when it comes to networking? It doesn’t. To be truly successful and productive in this industry requires that companies build a network of trusted allies and mentors. Building a vibrant network demands that company members put themselves “out there” in a number of different ways; be it joining professional organizations, serving on organization boards or attending industry events. Resistance to networking actively on an ongoing basis typically results in lots of missed opportunities and brand awareness.

Finally, companies often refuse to admit it may be time to outsource some help for their marketing needs. It can sometimes be hard to admit that outside help is needed to achieve company growth goals. You’re the expert on your business, right? Of course you are; but that doesn’t necessarily mean you have a perspective that’s fresh enough to market it to new customers. You probably also don’t have the time to do it yourself. Many green industry companies can’t yet support a full-time, technically knowledgeable, marketing professional on staff. Outsourcing to a freelancer or agency can be a cost-effective solution that helps you actually get your marketing initiatives of the ground.

Embrace change. Then, know when to ask for help and don’t be afraid to ask for it.

In honor of their Save the Bees Indiegogo campaign, Crown Bees is letting me give away one of their very cool Complete Chalet Kit to raise your own Mason Bees!

Bees are responsible for 1 out of 3 bites of food. You can help secure our food supply by supporting our native bees. Native bees and honey bees pollinate more food when they work together. Raising solitary bees is an easy and rewarding way to support the native bee population. Become a #BeeBooster and be sure to support Crown Bee's fundraising campaign.

My contest runs today, Wednesday March 18th through Midnight Wednesday March 25th. I'll announce the winner on Thursday March 26th!

This stylish spring kit features your choice of our wood Chalet house. Includes reusable wood tray holes, spring bee accessories and mason bees. Designed for avid spring gardeners.

With a value of more than 100 bucks, it's awesome prize for gardeners and bee lovers. There are three ways for you to enter to win and also increase your odds of winning:

1. To enter post a comment on this blog post about why you love bees, what pollinator plants you have in your garden, or any other bee facts you know!

2. Then head over to my Facebook page and comment on or share the contest post pinned to the top of my page.

3. Tweet out this tweet: Raising solitary bees is easy and rewarding. Become a #BeeBooster @CrownBees @lesliehalleck (feel free to copy and past but be sure you include my @lesliehalleck handle so I can track your entries!)

For each comment, share or tweet you make, I'll count another entry for you. The more you do any of 1, 2 or 3, the more entries you'll get!

Enter as often as you'd like. It's all about spreading the word about bees. Seriousy, this is a really cool giveaway so enter away!

Remember, you have until Midnight, Wednesday March 25th to enter.

Ah, it's that time of year when gardening is in the air...the perfect time to reignite particular plant passions (ok obssessions). If you're a plant geek, you've probably circulated through a number of plant-obsession phases, be it orchids, succulents or bonsai. If you've been thinking about getting back into bonsai, or are a bonsai newb (and you live in Dallas), head on over to North Haven Gardens today to check out the last day of the annual Bonsai Society of Dallas exhibit. There are some serious beauties on display.

Like thi 600 year old western juniper...yowzah.

or this mind blowing cedar elm...

They also have some seriously cool handmade pottery that can be used for specialty bonsai...

And some nice little starter plants...

Maybe once I get the piles of plants still in pots sitting around my yard into the ground, I'll delve back into zen of bonsai.

It's gotten to be that time again when I need to replenish my backyard flock...so 15 new babies have arrived! Six or seven of them will stay with me, the rest will have another home after I've raised them up a bit and taught them some manners. Here are some portraits at 3 days old. As always, too cute.

The runt of the entire bunch, an almost pure white bantam Easter Egger hybrid. Adorbs.

These are just the sweetest of the bunch...beautiful Lavender Orpington. I mean, look at that smile?

Super excited about this new breed - Blue Favaucana. Hybrid of Faverolles and Ameraucanas, two of my favorite breed. Gorgeous!

This little toot right here was full of beans from the get go...super cute black white crested Polish.

AND last but not least, a big fat standard Easter Egger hybrid...biggest of the bunch, chillaxin'.

I've been on garden project hiatus for a good part of this year, due to work, travel and the knowledge that I was going to have to do something about my horribly dated irrigation system. I already have a lot of plantings in my yard and am building and expanding new beds. But, it's a lot of work to water everything by hand (not to mention inefficient) and my old irrigation system simply wastes too much water to use it regularly. I'd reached an impass where I really couldn't continue building and planting any more garden space until I dealt with this watering nightmare. I wanted to garden more, but that meant I needed to create a really efficient and waterwise watering system.

Old spray heads and broken pipes will be removed and replaced with bubblers and drip lines.

My irrigation system was probably installed soon after my house was built, back in 1963. Much of the original copper irrigation plumbing was still active when I bought the house. A a simple automatic controller had been installed and some heads updated when my house was flipped, but they wired in all of three zones for my entire property. That means lots of different plants, with totally different watering needs, were being watered the same. Not efficient. I have a huge amount of pressure on my system; normally a property my size would have 7-10 distinct zones. The massive pressure meant that enough water could reach the end of the lines in each of the three zones, even though they each had too many heads. But, that high pressure also meant about half of the water being put out was simply getting sprayed into the air, rather than being delivered to the root zones of my plantings.

"I want to use my system for convenience, and to keep my foundation watered, but I just can't waste water like this..." I finally said to myself.

First, we had to move existing valves and run new ones.

SO, I've taken the plunge and am completely renovating my entire irrigation system to a waterwise configuration. I hired Roundtree Landscaping to design and install my new system. They're digging and working as I type! Drip lines and bubblers will be run to all of my plantings, including my vegetable garden and fruit trees. My entire system will be run by a state of the art smart controller: The Weathermatic sl 1600 Smart Link. Yes, I'll even be able to monitor it from my computer or smart phone. Too cool.

Here is line that will connect to a new valve. As you can see, we trench around major tree roots NOT cut them!

You might notice that I have a lot of established shrubs and perennials already growing in my landscape. Not to mention, some existing hardscape and pathways. Does it freak me out to be doing so much digging around them? Well, a little, because they're my babies. But in reality, upgrading an existing system to bulbblers is less invasive than digging for traditional irrigation lines. Because we can run central lines and then run extended drip lines to the shrubs from those main lines, we don't have to do as much trenching. Most of the shrubs can survive a bit of root pruning and because it's winter, they're not growing as actively right now. So all in all, it should be pretty pain free for my existing plants (even if it looks kind of brutal). Now, I will have some reconstruction to do and new plantings after the system is up and running, but that's ok with me.

See those stones the new valve line is running under? That's actually one of my stone pathways. The crew will refill the bedding and replace the stones once they're done!

Il'l be posting more photos and blogs as the project progresses so that you can see more of what this kind of renovation looks like and check out the bubblers and smart controller. Using the smart controller with monitoring, I'll be able to see exactly how much water I'm delivering to each different part of my landscape and control the system remotely. Also, my drip system won't be subject to the current twice per week watering restrictions in place by the City of Dallas. Drip irrigation is so much more efficient and waterwise that I'll be able to run my system any day of the week. I'm really looking forward to finally getting to add more plants, garden more and use less water! It will be fun to compare water bills...

Oh, and in case anyone wonders, yes, I'm paying in full for all of this work and equipment. Folks seem to think that because I'm in the industry, that I get everything for free. No kickbacks here sista! I don't roll like that. Let's just say what my husband doesn't know about my gardening budget won't hurt him.