Peaches are ripening on the trees in Parker County and filling baskets down at the farmer?s market. What would summer be without them? They are a staple in my kitchen where preserves, peach cobbler, and peach ice cream are favored treats. Their fragrant sweetness brings back memories of days gone by.
As a gardener, my greatest satisfaction is relaxing among the blooms in my garden. But my joy is in sharing those blooms with others. Many garden plants are perfectly designed to reproduce themselves by seed or by cutting, and I often take advantage of this characteristic to pass along my favorites to friends and family. In fact, this is the way that most of our heritage plants arrived in Texas, as a cutting or a sprout from the parent plant in another state.
Are the words: drought, and water restrictions hampering your success in the garden? Are you waiting for summer with a mixture of anticipation and dread? There are several actions we can take to help reduce the impact of our dwindling supply of water, and the Master Gardeners of Parker County have spent a considerable amount of time researching and learning about them. Rainwater harvesting is just one of those alternatives which will be discussed here.
Well, we survived another Texas summer. This one was not as bad as the past few years, and it is great to be able to get back outside in cooler temperatures to enjoy working in the garden.Fall is actually the best time to work in your garden to revive your existing landscape, as well as to think about new plants for the coming year. In this article, I will give you some tips on what to do in this perfect time of the year and suggest some plants for spectacular fall color.
Rosemary There are many reasons why a gardener finds pleasure in a healthy and beautiful plant. It may be a delight to the eyes, a wonderful fragrance to be enjoyed, a fresh flavor to be savored, a tranquil sound as the breeze passes by, or an interesting texture that intrigues the fingertips. While many types of gardens may delight a few of the senses, only the herb garden can appeal to them all.
If you have gardened in Parker County for more than…oh…about 10 minutes, then you have encountered our diverse and often frustrating soil conditions. Even on the smallest properties, it is not uncommon to find clay snuggled up to a patch of pure sand; or a thin layer of soil sprinkled over several feet of rock; or a nice deposit of caliche (which is sedimentary rock composed of calcium carbonate). We have one of those, a patch of caliche that is, in the bar ditch that borders our property. It’s on the west side, so it gets several hours of scorching afternoon sun throughout the summer. As a result, nothing but the most tenacious weeds will grow there.
Turf Management Tips by the Month provides a summary of the recommended tasks for lawn management by calendar month, including mowing, irrigation, fertilization, weed control and equipment maintenance for Bermuda, St. Augustine and Zoysia grass lawns in north-central Texas.
