Guide
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Grow Green with Free Garden Educational Resources
Looking to create a beautiful yard that’s easy on your wallet and kind to the environment? Look no further than the Grow Green program in Travis County! This fantastic initiative by the Austin Watershed Protection Department and Texas A&M AgriLife Extension offers a wealth of resources to help you achieve a sustainable landscape. What is Grow Green? Grow Green is your one-stop shop for transforming your yard into a central Texas oasis. They promote practices that benefit both your garden and the environment, including: Water Conservation: Learn how to use water wisely with rainwater harvesting techniques and efficient irrigation methods. Smart Plant Choices: Discover the “right plant, right place” philosophy…
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Grow Big in a Small Space: The Magic of Square Foot Gardening
Dreaming of a bountiful harvest but limited on space? Look no further than square foot gardening (SFG)! This revolutionary method, developed by Mel Bartholomew, allows you to maximize your yield in even the tiniest of balconies or patios. What is Square Foot Gardening? Imagine your garden bed divided into a grid of 1-foot by 1-foot squares. Each square becomes its own mini-ecosystem, planted with specific vegetables, herbs, or flowers according to their spacing needs. This eliminates wasted space and allows for intensive planting. Benefits of Square Foot Gardening: High Yields: SFG utilizes a special, lightweight soil mix that promotes healthy growth, leading to impressive harvests from a compact area. Low…
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2023 Gift Guide for Central Texas Gardeners
Lakeway and Central Texas gardeners are a special breed. They are passionate about their plants and they love to spend time outdoors. But finding the perfect gift for a Lakeway gardener can be tough. That’s why we’ve put together this list of gift ideas that are sure to please even the most discerning green thumb. Smart Garden Tech Toys Central Texas gardeners are always looking for ways to improve their gardens. That’s why smart garden gifts are always a popular choice. Here are a few ideas: Lettuce Grow Farmstand: The Farmstand Nook from Lettuce Grow is a self-fertilizing, LED-lit, hydroponic system allows you to grow fresh herbs, vegetables and flowers…
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Saving your Vegetable Seeds for Next Year
Many of the vegetables we grow in our gardens produce seeds, which, if harvested and stored correctly, have the potential to grace us with free plants. And late summer is the perfect time to start collecting them. Heirlooms versus Hybrids Make sure the plants from which you’re collecting seeds are heirloom, or open-pollinated, varieties. These are plants in their original forms whose seeds will produce plants with the same qualities as their parent. Hybrid varieties, on the other hand, are created by breeding two or more different types to capture the best qualities of each. Attempting to grow seeds collected from hybrids will yield a harvest of disappointment, as the…
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Know the 6 D’s of container gardening
To be successful at container gardening requires more than just a pot and a plant. The “6 D’s of Container Gardening Success,” as presented by Texas Master Gardener Kirk Walden, highlights how to have better plant-growing results, with the information given in manageable — and memorable D-letter — chunks. The six D’s are: Design Dirt Diameter Depth Drainage Daylight Of course, each topic has subsets of information. Design Gardeners need to keep in mind how much space is needed. Also, they should bear in mind the purpose of the garden, such as whether it is ornamental or intended to grow fruits or vegetables. There are numerous styles of gardens ranging…
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How to Outsmart your Weeds Naturally with Corn Gluten
Corn gluten is a natural pre-emergent herbicide to help control annual lawn and garden weeds. Corn gluten prevents a majority of annual weed seeds from sprouting. The dry corn gluten is also a fertilizer containing 9% nitrogen. The liquid form is very convenient, employing a hose end attachment on the bottle for easy application, but does not provide the fertilizing component. Timing is the most important factor in the effectiveness of corn gluten. Corn gluten must be present on the soil before weed seeds sprout (germinate) in order to be effective. Apply corn gluten in late winter and late summer/early fall: Mid-January – This application of corn gluten helps control spring and summer weeds, such…
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Saving Seeds for Next Year’s Flower Garden
Just like vegetable seeds, you can save flower seeds from your garden this year to plant the following. Here are some tips for saving your flower seeds for next year. Hybrid vs Heirloom If you want the same kind of flower or plant for next year’s garden, collect only the seeds from plants labeled as “heirloom” or “heritage.” These kinds of plants will grow just like their parent plant. Hybrid seeds with a mixture of two different parents will produce new plants, but they will only look like one of the parents. Therefore, you are taking a risk with planting hybrid seeds. Even if you expect plants to be the…
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How to Grow Garlic
It was surprising to learn recently that, according to Google Trends data gathered by AllAboutGardening.com, the most popular fall-planted crop in the United States is…. garlic. A good guess would have been kale. Possibly beets. Maybe Brussels sprouts. But garlic? Another deep dive into Google’s search trends, comparing Americans’ interest in growing garlic with interest in growing other fall-planted bulbs, like tulips, daffodils, hyacinths and crocus resulted in yet another surprise. Surely, colorful blooms would trump the spicy, pungent vegetable. No. When people used the search term “how to grow…,” garlic was again the frontrunner when compared with those spring bulb plants. Could it be that Americans have a previously undisclosed obsession with garlic?…
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All About Mint
Most mints prefer full sun to part shade (especially afternoon shade) and moist soil without having their feet wet. Too much water or overhead watering can promote diseases and pests. Keep it deadheaded to encourage tender leaves and stems with the best oil quality. If the intent is to dry leaves, then allow the flower stem to form, but not bloom, at harvest. To prevent problems of aggressiveness, plant in a pot or sunken container to limit runner and root growth that can get out of control. Remember to experiment with different ways to use it. More ideas for Growing and Using Mint: Mint in the Garden Mint Tea Mint…
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Newest 2022 Additions to the Texas Superstar Program
The Texas Superstar program began as a regional program in the early 1980s and became a statewide effort in 1989. The name Texas Superstar was coined in 1997. To be designated a “Texas Superstar”, a plant must be beautiful and perform well for consumers and growers throughout the state. Superstars must be easy to propagate, which ensures the plants are not only widely available throughout Texas but also reasonably priced. To find out more, you can download and read the latest Texas Superstar guide in PDF format. Here are 3 newest introductions for 2022. Red Yucca (Hesperaloe parviflora): Red Yucca is a herbaceous shrubby perennial with evergreen foliage and a…
