May

These suggestions for your garden are intended for central Texas.  However, if you are not in central Texas these suggestions may still be helpful but may need to be done earlier or later in the season depending on your location.

 

We are now getting to the time of the year when our soil temperatures are warm enough to plant bermuda seed and some seasonal color that does better in the warmer temperatures. If you have an area where you would like to establish a Bermuda lawn from seed this is the time to get started. Bermuda requires warm night time temperature, 60-65 degrees, to germinate. First thing to do is to kill and then remove any annual or perennial weed. Spraying the area with Round-up or Finale to kill the weeds first, will save you a lot of work later. It will take a week or two for the weeds to die. Next, you would want to do any leveling, grading, or filling necessary to make sure the area is smooth and drains well. There should be at least 1" of loose soil on the surface. Apply a mild fertilizer such as Milorganite or Ferti-lome New Lawn Starter. Now apply your seed with a broad cast spreader. This is a good method to go by if you are laying Bermuda or St. Augustine sod also. Water enough to keep the ground visibly moist for 2-3 weeks (to get the seed up) and then start cutting back on the water a little at a time until you are watering twice a week. This first year will require more watering to get the yard established than in future years.

 

To have color in the summer heat plant zinnias, periwinkles, cosmos, purslane, and moss rose. These plants do not do well if planted too early. Some of these tend to have fungus and rotting problems in the spring before temperatures become warm enough. In more shaded areas caladiums, impatiens, and begonias are good for color. If you need shade, May is about as late as you can plant trees before the heat sets in. Trees planted now will need the same amount of water as trees planted 2 months ago. Place trees so that their shadows will fall on windows and patios where you would like some relief from the heat this summer.

 

Mark S. Ney   

Certified Texas Nursery Professional #4749