It’s That Time of Year

Hello Folks: No. winter is not over. For you gardeners, there are several things to be done now:

• Clean out beds, prune everything that needs pruning.
• If you fertilize, do it the last of this month on all shrubs, etc. Though a soil test is best, our soil needs nitrogen not anything else.
• Order and plant bare roots shrubs, trees etc. Gardeners plant berries, grapes, asparagus.

I am attaching a vegetable planting guide for Collin County for your reference. We planted our onions on Jan. 15th and will plant potatoes by Feb. 15th.  Note the cardinal rules for planting any plant are: Choose the right plant, in the right place, at the right time. Northerners who move here know that plants you grew there will not thrive here.  Our blackland soil is very productive but must be mixed with 3 inches of native compost ( not box store compost).  If you can afford it, mixing in a 2 in. layer of expanded shale helps. We have pruned all roses and perennials.  We live on 25 acres.  We have been cutting brush ( mainly “cedar” which is really Eastern Red Juniper ) and pruning. I am a Master Gardener and have additional certification for Vegetable Gardening from Texas A&M.  I was raised on a farm and have been doing vegetable gardening for over 50 years. If you have questions reply to this blog with them.  I will try to answer the best that I can.