It looks like Spring is arriving early this year, the seeds in my greenhouse are sprouting. Orchids and adeniums are in bud and bloom. Just looking around town you see ornamental pear trees blooming and shade trees leafing out. With all this warm weather the weeds are going crazy. There is still time to apply pre-emergence to help stop those weeds that have not yet sprouted. Organic corn gluten meal or any chemical pre-emergence will help if applied now. For those broadleaf weeds up now use a 2-4-D broadleaf weed killer to kill weeds like henbit, dandelion and clover.
Apply on a warm sunny day, this will help the weed killer work much faster. If you want to use organic weed killer try 20% vinegar and apply only to the weeds you are targeting. Vinegar is a non-selective weed killer. It will kill or damage any plants it is applied on.
Tomato plants are in the stores now and ready for the gardens. A question was asked about determinate or indeterminate tomatoes. Determinate tomatoes or bush type bear one large crop a season. Indeterminate tomatoes are vine type that keep bearing all season long. And now you know! Great question, keep them coming!
Remember the average last freeze date is March 13th. All warm season vegetables like beans, corn, squash and more can be planted after the last freeze. There is still time to plant cool weather veggies such as broccoli, cabbage, lettuce and more. All stores carry a full line of garden fertilizers, compost and bug killers to use this garden season.
With the fruit and pecan trees coming out of winter dormancy it is time to think about spraying. Check out last month’s newsletter for a link for a spray guide from Texas Cooperative Extension Service website.
There are some great learning opportunities coming up in March and April! Here is a short list:
- Benbrook Library Organic Gardening & Plant Meeting, March 15, 2012 at 7:00 pm
- Ft. Worth Cactus and Succulent Society Meeting, March 20, 7:00 pm at the Forth Worth Botanical Gardens
- 2012 Class List Tarrant County Master Gardener Association
Great news! Russell Feed and Supply in now a member of Texas Nursery & Landscape Association (TNLA)!
Happy Gardening
Mike