How to water, especially when its hot

1. What time of day is best to water? As a general rule, how often and how deep should I water?

Early morning is the best time to water if you can. Watering during the evening or at night encourages fungal diseases on your turf and ornamentals. Watering during the middle of the day or afternoon can cause scorching. High soil temperatures also make it difficult for plants to take up water efficiently. When it comes to turf, the less often you water the better. Setting your sprinkler system for only 10 or 15minutes a day will do more harm than good. Shallow watering causes a shallow root system that is susceptible to disease and damage due to heat and cold. Water your turf about once a week for an hour early in the morning. In the heat of the summer you may need to increase to twice a week, but only if your grass is wilting (the blades will curl and it may have a bluish tint). Herbaceous ornamentals, such as your summer annuals, may need more frequent watering as summer progresses. Their root systems usually reach about 6to 12 inches deep, so check the surrounding soil every couple of days. Established trees and large shrubs only need supplemental watering during periods of drought, but newly planted trees should be watered frequently and deeply until they reach 2 to 3 years of age. Soaker or drip hoses are best used to keep your woody plants watered properly. Your goal is to deliver 1" of water per week to established plants. You can audit your irrigation system by using several small tuna cans. Place them in different irrigation zones and let them run till the cans are filled with 1" of water. Then you'll know how long to run each zone to deliver the right amount of water.

2. Sprinkler systems are expensive. Is it really worth the investment?

There are several reasons why a sprinklersystem may or may not be right for you. If your landscape contains mostly woody plants and herbaceousornamentals with little turf, you may want to stick with soaker-hoses/dripirrigation and hand watering. However, if you have an expansive lawn or youjust don’t have the time to water, a sprinkler system may be the way togo. Turf requires deep watering inorder to encourage a healthy root system. Hand watering or watering withmini-sprinklers usually doesn’t do the trick. A sprinkler system allows for proper and consistent watering with littleeffort. Because sprinkler systems arecontrolled automatically with timers, you can ensure your landscape won’t lievictim to drought while you’re on vacation in August! If you aren’t ready foran expensive underground sprinkler system, you may want to consider using anabove ground stand-alone pulsating sprinkler, such as a Rain Tower. Stand-alonesprinklers are several feet tall and connect to standard garden hoses. In the long run, a good sprinkler system canincrease the value of your home, which may make the investment a worthy one. Personally, I don't use an in-ground sprinkler system, but then perfect turf grass is not at the top of my garden priority list.

3. What kind ofmulch is superior for moisture retention?

Mostgardeners use organic mulches, which are derived from plant material, toconserve moisture in their landscape. Inorganic mulches include lava rocks, pebbles, plastic, or landscapefibers. Inorganic mulches can conservemoisture, but they do not break down to improve soil structure nor do they addnutrients. An important value of organic mulches is that they continuously addorganic matter to the soil surface in addition to conserving moisture. Homemade organic mulches can be produced byrecycling yard waste such as chopped or shredded leaves, wood chips, and drygrass clippings, or you can purchase mulches from your local gardencenter. Shredded hardwood or cedar mulch is anexcellent choice if you are going to purchase mulch. Mulch should be applied as a 2-5 inch layer on top of yourexisting soil. Over-mulching will limitair and water movement to the soil and cause disease, so make sure not to overdo it!

4. What is the trick to using soaker hoses?

Drip,trickle, or soaker hoses are ideal for use on woody plants, herbaceousornamentals, and vegetable gardens. Soaker hoses use less water thanconventional systems, such as the handy garden hose, operate at lower pressuresthan sprinkler systems, and save water by preventing run-off. Soaker hoses actually “sweat” water asopposed to spraying it into the air. The key to using soaker hoses is to bury them underneath your mulch.This not only holds the hoses in place, but also ensures that the moisturereaches the soil instead of getting trapped in the mulch. Soaker hoses are alsovery useful for keeping your foundation watered, which is crucial during ourhot dry summers. Place the soaker hosesalong the drip line of your home, or about 18 to 24” away from the foundation. You'll also need to run your soaker hoses much longer than you think, which may be several hours. Check the soil with your fingers to see how far the moisture has saturated within a given period of time.

5. Observe your local watering restrictions. In Dallas, restrictions run from March 1st through October 31st with no watering by automated systems between 10am-6pm every day. You may hand water with a hose or watering can during this time, but you cannot leave automated systems or above ground sprinklers running.

Not sure why I don't have more clematis planted in my garden...I think I just don't have many perfect spots for them, which they do sort of need..the "perfect' spot that is. When I do plant them, I usually try to combine them with another shrubby or vining plant to shade their root systems. This Clematis, 'Ramona' (planted for my little doggy Ramona), is planted with my Rose 'Abraham Darby'. It's winds itself up along the rose plant for support. So lovely.

Favorite Roses in Full Bloom

Well, the very cold winter we had did provide some benefits. The strawberries are going to provide a bumper crop, as well as the peaches, and the roses got the full chilling hours they needed to look fabulous this year. The cold weather killed off many of the fungal spores as well so even the finicky English hybrids have gone blackspot free this spring!

Texas is not always kind to many of these roses, particularly English hybrids, but I'm a stubborn horticulturist who wants what she wants! So I put a fair amount of extra TLC into bringing out the beauty in these roses that typically prefer a cooler climate.

Rose 'Pegasus'
PC: Leslie F. Halleck

'Pegasus' in the forefront, 'Abraham Darby' and 'Fransika Krueger' in the right background, 'Perle d' Or' in the left background. A 'Pat Austin' and 'Tamora' are just out of view. I have an fabulous 'Ebb Tide' hidden in the back that is just luscious.

Rose 'Abraham Darby'
PC: Leslie F. Halleck

Wow...I love blue in the garden. My blue spiderwort (Tradescantia) has started blooming in the shade garden. Aren't these flowers, and their reproductive parts AMAZING?

I tell you what, Ajuga (Bugleweed) has come a loong way baby! Some of the new varieties are less like a standard groundcover and more like a featured blooming perennial! This variety, called 'Catlin's Giant', is really stunning come April. The huge blue bloom spikes reach almost a foot in height. Really stunning combined with a 'Bloodgood' Japanese maple, Hellebore 'Silver Lace' and a newly planted Hydrangea 'Lemon Daddy'. Great foliage color and contrast with the blue Ajuga flowers!

Oh, and little Beezus likes them too!

(UPDATE: This photo was from 2010...Sadly our precious Beezus JUST passed away a few weeks ago, August 2024. She was THE best girl.)

How to Pinch Favas for Better Production

I've gotten a few questions on pruning fava beans lately. I usually do tip-pinch my fava beans. Sometimes, your fava beans will flower and flower away, but you won't see fruit. Often, if you'll tip-pinch the stems, it relieves what is called "apical dominance" and triggers the plant to go ahead and set fruit. There are special cells in the tips of growing stems of plants. Once you remove them, they are triggered to develop different structures, such as lateral shoots, fruits, etc. You don't need to pinch off much, just that very first internodes worth of growth right at the top of the stem. Make sense?

You can harvest the bean pots when they are only 2-3 inches long if you'd like to cook the whole pod as you would a green bean. Or, wait until pods are about 6-8 inches long to harvest the seeds (shell the bean). Go Here for more info on fava beans.

By the way, fava beans are beautiful plants. The leaves are edible in salads and the flowers are lovely and fragrant.

Alessandra told me I was slacking...so I figured I'd better get some photos up here! Oh the Irises sure are pretty right now! One of my absolute favorite just opened it's first flower. 'Orange Glaze'...I think the name says it all!

And a few other beauties...my mystery beige Iris...this Iris is super fragrant, with the scent of honeysuckle. It's fantastic. With the most striking purple stamen. Tons of blooms. I only wish I knew which variety it was! I originally purchased 'Superstition' rhizomes (a "black" flowered variety) and this is what came up! I've just got to do some digging around in some Iris registries to see if I can figure it out. Anyone?

What Works in Cooler Climates Doesn't Always Work in Texas!

Well, some parts of it...

I get a ton of questions about SFG (Square Foot Gardening) so I thought I'd go ahead and address it here. My opinion is No, you don't have to follow the principles to the letter to get the results you need, especially in our climate. Not to say that there aren't those who've have had success with the plan here.

I think that there are some good principles in the book that have obviously worked for the author in his particular experience. Specifically in learning how to rotate crops, spacing, etc., especially for beginner vegetable gardener.

However, In climates like those here in Texas, I do believe, from extensive experience, that you'll need to make some adjustments to the soil mix and the depth of the beds for best results. I just don't think the author has to garden in 107F degree heat!

Firstly, 6-inch deep beds are too shallow for my taste. Trying to keep your raised bed soil adequately watered is tough in the summer with that little soil volume. Especially considering that the organic matter is going to break down, leaving you with less than 6-inches worth of soil. Larger root systems, such as those of tomatoes, are going to need more soil volume. I build my beds to 12" tall.

I don't recommend tilling up the soil underneath your raised beds here, as you'll end up with lots of extra weed seed germination, Bermuda grass and nut sedge. So using newspaper and weed block fabric on top of the existing soil, without tilling it, is usually the easiest way to go. Watered cardboard works well too. But that means you're going to need a good 8"-10" of soil to best accommodate your plants.

More important is the soil mix. The SFG mix calls for a good amount of peat moss and vermiculite (The recipe is 1/3 blended compost, 1/3 peat moss, and 1/3 coarse vermiculite.) This can turn into a watering nightmare for you in the summer. Once peat dries it can be very difficult to rehydrate and you end up with a brick. You're much better off upping the levels of organic compost, humus, some high quality topsoil and expanded shale instead of the vermiculite. Throw in some greensand to help you retain moisture and provide micronutrients and some composted manure for a Nitrogen charge. If you want to use something with a peat moss-like texture, but without the hydration problems, go with COIR. A superior product in my experience (made from coconut husks).

Another thing...there is the impression in SFG that because you use compost in your beds that you don't have to use any fertilizer. Realize that compost is an organic amendment, which will eventually begin releasing nutrients slowly as it is decomposed by microbes (which will take a while to get going). Organic matter also breaks down faster in higher temps, so you'll have to replenish more quickly in hot climates. Also realize that what it will offer is mostly Nitrogen. It's not a complete "fertilizer" per say. You're still going to need to provide a good organic food to your plants, especially when first planted. Continual applications of compost will feed your plants as it breaks down, but don't expect a quick green up from it, and don't expect it to feed your plants enough if you don't have good microbial activity in the soil.

ADDENDUM: I realize there are folks on the SFG board who will tell you that you can't garden in the summer in Texas and that it's not our season, but they are wrong. They don't understand our climate and growing season, which is incredibly different even from areas just a couple of hours North of us. They also don't understand our soils. Please take my advice as a professional horticulturist on this one. We have a 12-month gardening season here and you can grow year-round, NOT just September-May. But they are correct on one point, you can't garden in the official SFG soil here in July, because it turns to rock and you can never keep it hydrated because of it's composition and shallow depth. For example, you have to plant your fall tomatoes here in July. Period. if you don't you will not have a fall tomato harvest. Also, you're not wasting growing soil by going to 10-12" here - it's necessary. Sure, you can grow winter crops, such as lettuce, broccoli, etc, here in more shallow containers, but not larger warm season crops. Once you get some experience under your belt, you'll see the difference. You can't successfully harvest year-round here in 6" of soil, not to mention 6" of soil that is heavy on peat moss.

Here is one of my discussions on good soil mixes for your Texas raised beds.