JANUARY LANDSCAPE AND GARDEN TIPS 2018

Start 2018 off right by taking better care of your landscape! Taking better care of your landscape yields immediate results for a beautiful yard that you will love. The month of January is a great time to prepare your yard for the spring season. We asked our nursery pros and here are some tips and tasks for taking care of your landscape this month.

• Plant right now! The weather is perfect for planting trees, shrubs, and other plants right now. Planting trees and plants now will give them the time to establish before the temperature really starts to heat up. Giving trees and plants time to develop is beneficial because they can focus on root development.
• This is also a good time to keep on the winter watering schedule. With cooler temperatures and less sunlight, the soil stays moist for a more extended period so that you can cut down on the amount and frequency of water usage.
• We have had a mild winter. However, changes to our weather are frequent so if you hear about a report for any days of frost, cover plants and trees that are susceptible. DO NOT USE PLASTIC.
• Because root growth is the primary focus of trees and plants during colder months, it is essential to start fertilizing now so that it can allow the plants to soak up the nutrients and store them for spring growth. Utilize the specialized blends of fertilizers available at Moon Valley Nurseries such as Super Charged Moon Juice and Super Palm Juice. Both fertilizers are designed to trigger growth responses and supplement the essential micro, and macro-nutrients plants need to thrive. Doing this can give plants a healthy start!
• This is a good time to control young and tender weeds in your garden. Remove the weeds before they seed, and you can avoid having them in your landscape.
• Get your vegetable garden going and plant broccoli, buttercrunch lettuce, snow peas, onions, potatoes, spinach, carrots, and artichokes. Yum!

TIPU TREE (TIPUANA TIPU):

You’re going to want a beautiful shade tree in your yard, especially in the dog days of summer, and the Tipu tree is the perfect massive shade providing tree. It can produce golden blooms in late spring into early summer creating a beautiful contrast with its delicate-looking bright bluish-gray foliage. These are tough trees that can thrive in intense desert heat and cold so that they are ideal for growing in the Southwest! 

LIVE OAK (QUERCUS VIRGINIANA):

This is the “Mighty Oak tree of the South,” and this extremely hardy tree keeps its deep gray/green leaves all year long so that it can provide an ideal shady spot once the heat turns up. These trees adapt well to clay-type soils so that they can grow well throughout Houston. Plant them in rows to create an attractive privacy screen and mature specimens are sure to be a family favorite. Shade, privacy, beauty – you get all this and more with a Live Oak tree in your landscape.

SAGO (CYCAS REVOLUTA) :

These “living fossils” can be utilized in any landscape style and they are also a low maintenance plant that can tolerate neglect, so just let them grow and enjoy the sight of these primitive living seed plants. We like to plant them in groupings and using staggered heights where they can be used as an effective barrier or as a stunning tropical hedge. These cold and heat hardy plants can be grown indoors or out!

JAPANESE PRIVET (LIGUSTRUM JAPONICA):

These fast-growing evergreens have deep green foliage and in spring bloom showy white/cream/gray flowers followed by attractive blue/black/purple-colored fruit that contrasts beautifully with the foliage. We can plant these shrubs from the coast to the desert, and these are excellent plants to grow in the winter. We like to use them as a privacy hedge, tall screen, or windbreak. 

INDIAN HAWTHORN (RHAPHIOLEPIS INDICA):

These evergreens are very cold hardy, and we like to use these shrubs in beds and borders, and they are often used as a hedge. In the spring, they can produce a colorful show with a vibrant display of large clusters of pink flowers. They tend to grow very well in the shade, and we also like to use them as a stylish way to block unwanted views.