Author Archive for Wells Brothers
October Garden Tips
Usher in the autumn season with creative displays for indoors and out! Transformation quickly occurs with pots of mums, pansies, cabbages and ornamental peppers when combined with pumpkins, gourds and bales of hay.
Create a spectacular vignette in your landscape with bales of hay, a scarecrow or two, multiple sizes of pumpkins and gourds, pots of garden mums, corn stalks and for more texture consider adding old tools, a set of antlers or birdhouses. The autumn color palette offers a myriad of wonderful colors from which to choose; purples, rusts, gold’s, yellows, oranges, deep greens and browns can be used. Whether you are mixing colors or working with only one, use color abundantly to create massive appeal. Create a pyramid of pumpkins and gourds by selecting different colors and stacking them one on top of the other. Simply displaying a “pile” of pumpkins in the same color palette and different sizes will draw ones eye and interest to an area of your landscape.
Color Creations filled with blooming or colorful foliage plants can be used on patios and porches. Freshen up existing containers by nestling an interesting pumpkin or gourd in amongst the plants. Fill a favorite basket or pot with a mixture of produce for a simple, impressive look. Add a bit of nature into your containers with branches, corn husks, berries and other materials to enhance the overall look.
If you did not apply a pre-emergent herbicide to your lawn in September; apply it by the first two weeks of October. You should also fertilize your St. Augustine or Bermuda lawns no later than the first week of October.
October is bulb buying month. They are in fresh supply and will provide welcome late winter and early spring color for the landscape. Refrigerate Tulips and Hyacinth bulb for at least 45 to 60 days to provide enough chilling to bloom properly. Plant them in late November or early December.
In this area of North Texas, it’s important to know when to plant fall gardens. Even though the thermometer still says summer, it’s time to get your fall garden started. Onions and garlic should be here around mid-September. Their arrival will be posted on Facebook. A lot of our customers ask me when to plant specific crops. Onions and garlic can be planted as soon as they are available. It can be a little risky but you can plant tomatoes and peppers in September. Choose tomato varieties with less than 65 days to maturity labels and keep a good eye on the weather.
For planting fall/winter crops I tend to be on the late side of the planting guides. I have found it easier to protect plants from the cold than the hot and dry. Towards the end of September, I plant lettuce, spinach, radish, beets, mustard and turnips, kale, chard, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kohlrabi, and Brussel sprouts. Actually, I never plant Brussel sprouts. I hope you get the idea if I forgot to mention a specific favorite vegetable.
If it is still hot when you are planting these cool-season seeds, here are a couple of tricks. Furrow (trench) the row and soak the inside of the furrow with water. Sow the seeds and cover with dry dirt, to the correct depth, as you normally would. You can also cover the rows with water-soaked burlap bags. The burlap bag works very well but you need to check the row daily. Once a seed breaks the top of the row remove the burlap.
Cover crop planting time has arrived. There are multitudes of reasons to plant a cover crop. They range from wanting to add green manure (nitrogen) to the soil to resting the gardener. Planting crops that have a nitrogen-fixing ability (legumes) will yield green manure in the spring. Some of the most common legumes are peas, beans, clovers, and vetches. To get the most from these crops you must inoculate the seeds prior to planting. Some inoculants are specific to the type of seed, so make sure you get the correct one. Any excess inoculant you have should be added to the garden soil.
Cereal grains such as wheat, oats, rye and cereal type rye are cover crops that do not require inoculants. Cereal type rye will also trap root nematodes. They have no nitrogen-fixing ability but will help with soil compaction, weed suppression and add a tremendous amount of organic material back into the garden in the spring. All cover crops should be buried when planted.
When spring comes there are three ways to handle the cover crop. One method is to cut back the cover crop and then plant the veggies. The second method is to kill the cover crop with an appropriate herbicide at the recommended rate about a month before you plant your garden. The third is to turn (or till) the entire cover crop into the soil about two weeks before you plant. If you planted a grass type crop, make sure you add nitrogen or molasses.
Wells Brothers Pet, Lawn, and Garden Center has Elbon rye (cereal rye), wheat, oats, Crimson Clover (over and over), Hairy Vetch and Austrian Winter Peas as well as annual ryegrass. We also have the appropriate inoculants for these crops. Give us a try if this is an overseeding year.
The Pumpkin Porch (it’s really inside) is coming soon! Keep an eye on our Facebook page and we’ll let you know when it’s OPEN! Then, stop by and pick out your pumpkins at Wells Brothers.
The Pumpkin Porch will have (of course) pumpkins, decorative squash, gourds, corn stalks, and straw bales. Pick out your pumpkins and we’ll load them in your car. How’s that for service!
Did you know that we rent straw bales? Straw sells for $9.75 a bale and if you bring it back in sellable condition we refund you $4.00. For a bale to be in sellable condition it must be dry (damp is not dry) with no stains and both tie wires intact with the original receipt. Give us a call at 972-424-8516 to find out more about our straw rental program.
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