Timi DeBusk
Master Gardener, Master Naturalist
September 2008
The rains of August have greened up everything, especially the lawns. I love to mow and have missed it this summer with the excessive heat. As I mentioned last month, when you have as much lawn area as we have, I just will not water the grass week after week or month after month, as would have been the case this summer. Water is too precious a resource, even when you pump water from the lake.
All of this brings me to a conversation I had with a friend who wanted to know what to do about her St. Augustine. The hot, dry conditions really take their toll on St. Augustine grass. My Bermuda grass can look pitiful in the hot, dry conditions but does not die. It only took a couple of showers of rain and it was as green as if it had never dried out and I have been waiting for a little dry spell so that I could mow because it shot up nearly overnight.
St. Augustine requires lots of consistent watering and prefers a nice shady area. When you think about our conditions in this area, cool, moist, well shaded does not describe the Texas Hill Country very well. I have heard Wade Hibler say many times the best thing to put on St. Augustine is Roundup. He and I feel the same about thick, lush, green, green lawns. They are beautiful but come at too high a price environmentally.
If you are putting in new lawn or trying to reestablish an existing lawn, please consider the advantages of Bermuda over St. Augustine.
While we are talking of lawns, now is a good time to begin thinking of the things you can do to maximize the lawns that you have, whether they are Bermuda or whatever. All grasses that I know of respond great to dillo. My best results have come when I spread about 1 to 2 inch layer over my entire lawn area in the fall and come spring we will see the healthiest, happiest grass. If hauling and spreading a lot of dillo is more than you can deal with, then of course, don’t despair, in the very early spring you can use Miloganite and get similar results.
Even the most avid gardeners that I know all say that they have done nearly zero gardening since early June. I had been thinking that it was just me and that I had run out of steam or old age was taking it’s toll or the ‘lazy me’ had taken over. It has been somehow satisfying to me to know that those gardeners that I respect so much have also been laying low during this unseasonable summer.
It is not too early to plan for spring bulbs. Bulbs need at least 6 weeks of refrigeration before planting. They can stay in the crisper drawer of your fridge for even longer. So if you see a good buy on bulbs or shop through bulb catalogs, now is the time to buy. We won’t plant until later in the fall, but you can’t wait until then because they need this time for the refrigeration. Daffodils, tulips, hyacinths, paper whites are my favorites and in this area we have to replant nearly every year if we want these early spring sensations. Planting in clumps give the best show. One here and one there seems meager when they start blooming.
Every spring people see my pansies or Johnny jump-ups and want to plant them. Fall is the season for planting them. Snap dragons and mums and asters along with the pansies, ornamental cabbage, are the fall stars of the garden. These will also provide great show in the spring. The cold temperatures of winter don’t bother these wonderful, colorful additions to your beds and containers. I have seen pansies blooming with snow on the ground and they do great in our growing conditions.
Right now is the ideal time to revitalize your herb garden. Summer is hard on herbs but fall is perfect time to enjoy the beauty and tastes and smells of herbs. If I had to choose between flowers and herbs in my garden, I think I would have to choose herbs because they are so easy to grow and you can enjoy their beauty and aromas and enhance your cooking.
Happy gardening - Timi
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