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3 Tips to Add Interest to Your Cold-Weather Landscape

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Winter hits homeThe colder weather of late fall and early winter strips away leaves and flowers from plants, leaving what look like “skeletons.” But with a little creativity, it’s still possible to bring an apparently dead landscape to life and create a genuinely enjoyable outdoor environment.

1.  Add focal points

These could include sculptures, arbors, ponds, boulders or even colorful containers. Features such as these become the center of attention and cause less pleasing ones (such as bare trees and shrubs) to fade into the background.

2.  Reimagine color and form

The one surefire way to perk up a cold-weather landscape is by adding a few sturdy evergreens. If you plant evergreens behind leafless deciduous trees and shrubs, their bold greenness can help bring out the sculpted beauty in the branches of “bare” plants.

3.  Consider the power of fragrance

Plants like witch hazel have a sweet fragrance no matter how cold the weather gets. Sweet box adds a pleasant vanilla scent into the air and also produces bright black berries that provide additional color.

The one major positive about a cold-weather landscape is that once leaves have fallen, you can see more clearly how you should prune your deciduous trees and bushes. A good rule of thumb to follow is to cut out branches that are crossing or rubbing against each other and to avoid cutting back new growth.

Late fall and winter can produce exciting new landscapes – if you know how to take advantage of what you have.

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Preparing Your Garden for Spring Flowers

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Preparing SoilSpring seems like a long way off.  But, and just like New Year 2014, it will be here before you know it.  Have you thought about what you’ll do to prepare your annual and perennial flowers for the new growing season?

To help make things easier for yourself when spring does arrive, you can start by regularly removing any debris that accumulates in and around flowerbed areas.  This includes branches that may have fallen during one of our recent storms or leaves you didn’t manage to clear out at the end of last fall.

Expect to kick your flower-planting project into higher gear around the beginning of March.  Following are some of the things you’ll need to do at that time to ensure the best outcome for your spring flowers.

De-mulch and weed

Remove and dispose of any winter mulch you have been using in perennial flowerbeds. Be careful not to disturb any flower shoots you see coming up.  Weed annual beds and throw away weeds that have seed heads.

Compost

Place a 2-3 inch layer of fresh compost on all flowerbeds.  Till the compost into the soil, taking care not to disturb the roots and bulbs of perennials. Work the soil to an 8-inch depth in annual beds and a 5-inch depth in perennial beds.

Fertilize

Fertilize all flowerbeds, making sure to use a balanced fertilizer on annual and most perennial beds.  Use specially formulated bulb fertilizer for bulb beds.

Re-mulch and transplant

Apply a fresh 2-3 inch layer of new mulch to flowerbeds once the soil begins to warm up in mid- to late spring.  Be sure to transplant annual flowers outside only after the danger of frost has passed.

Whether you’re a beginning or veteran gardener, South Austin Irrigation is here to help.  Our experts can also give you all the information and service you need to ensure your irrigation system is ready for the challenges of the new watering season.  Contact us today!

 

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4 Trees for a More Colorful Autumn

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Red autumn oak tree

One of the great pleasures of autumn is watching tree leaves turn different shades of yellow, orange and red. But here in Austin, the changes in color are less dramatic than they are in more northerly climates.

That doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy the best show of the season. Texas has several native trees that do color highly during this time of year. With a little planning, you can create a vivid autumn spectacle for your landscape.

1. Bigtooth Maple

This tree, which sometimes looks more like a shrub, matures at 15 feet or taller on good soils. During the fall, the leaves turn a beautiful bright red and gold.

2. Flowering Dogwood

Though most noted for the white flowers it produces in the spring, the leaves on this tree – which can grow as high as 40 feet and requires acidic soil – produces gorgeous scarlet red leaves in the fall.

3. Texas Red Oak

This species of oak grows up to 30 feet high and has foliage that turns a bright orange-red when the weather cools. It tolerates poor and rocky soils and is also resistant to Oak Wilt.

4. Eastern Black Cherry/Escarpment Black Cherry

These two trees are native to Texas Hill Country and can grow to 25 feet and sometimes taller. Both have pendulous branches and leaves that turn a lovely shade of yellow in the fall.

5. Carolina Buckthorn

The Carolina Buckthorn is a multi-stemmed understory tree growing 15-20 feet tall and wide. In autumn, its leaves turn yellow. Red berries provide additional interest and color.

 

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Nipping Early Spring Lawn Weeds in the Bud

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Spring doesn’t officially begin until March 20.  But now is the perfect time to start pre-weeding your lawn. Most summer annual weeds germinate in spring and before a lawn has completely recovered from winter dormancy. So killing them before they have a chance to get established will mean less maintenance work for you over the summer months.

STEP #1: Apply a pre-emergent herbicide

A pre-emergent herbicide kills weed seeds before they germinate. If you begin to use it when you see actual weed growth, you’ll be out of luck. These types of herbicides do not affect existing weeds.

STEP #2: Get ready to mow

Once the grass reaches 4 inches, you’ll need to mow it. Be sure to remove no more than one-third the height. Afterward, keep the lawn at between 2 ½ and 3 inches tall. This will ensure that individual blades will be long enough to block out sunlight and kill most weed plants.

STEP #3: Fertilize as needed

You can use a lawn fertilizer as the grass begins growing. Experts recommend that you try to choose a time in mid-late spring, right around Memorial Day. Follow product recommendation and resist the temptation to over-fertilize. This can lead to a nutrient build-up in the soil that will encourage the growth of more weeds.

STEP #4: Follow up with a post-emergent herbicide

Later in the spring, be sure to also treat your lawn with a post-emergent herbicide. Doing so will kill the weeds that have germinated and begun to grow.

Following these four easy steps will help ensure that your lawn will be as beautiful and easy-care as it is weed-free. And who doesn’t want extra time to enjoy all the pleasures of spring and summer in Austin?

For all your irrigation system repair needs, call South Austin Irrigation at (512) 534-7449.

 

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3 Types of Texas Tree Diseases

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Texas treeTrees always make a landscape look more beautiful. But, and just like their smaller plant cousins, you need to monitor them on regular basis for insects, stress and damage. All three of these things can weaken your trees and make them more vulnerable to three major Texas tree diseases.

Oak wilt

All oak species – and especially red oak – are susceptible to oak wilt, which clogs the tree’s vascular system, blocking the passage of water and nutrients. No cure exists for this disease, although a trained specialist can apply an expensive preventive treatment onto all wounds on an oak tree.

Hypoxylon canker

This fungal disease is most common in the eastern part of Texas and kills damaged or stressed oaks and other hardwood trees. Hypoxylon canker is most active during prolonged periods of drought like the one currently gripping the state. The fungus gains a foothold in trees where the moisture content is low. Symptoms include:

• dieback of canopy
• dark-colored spores wherever bark has peeled off
• bark falling off branches and trunk

No cure exists for hypoxylon canker. However, it can be prevented by giving the tree additional water during periods of drought and sealing all wounds immediately.

Phytophthora foot rot

Foot rot is fungal disease prevalent in Texas soil that tends to manifest most often on citrus trees planted too deeply in the ground. If you notice cracked bark, brick-red or brown bark at the soil line, discoloration on the lower part of the trunk or yellow foliage, chances are your tree has foot rot which can be treated with fungicides.

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Our sprinkler repair service areas include:

  • Austin, TX
  • Lakeway, TX
  • Spicewood, TX
  • Horseshoe Bay, TX
  • Dripping Springs, TX
  • Wimberly, TX

Give us a call for sprinkler repair and service in your area: (512) 534-7449

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