With the new year here, it’s time to start thinking about your yard. Should you add some new plants to the back? Or redesign a section? Or get a whole yard makeover? No project is too big or too small, so let us help you with your new year plans and goals for your yard.
If you’re thinking that you want to be outside more and try new things with your yard, you have come to the right place. We love hearing about new projects, seeing finished yard installations, and helping create designs for our customers that last them a lifetime.
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.
The soil in our region is also perfect for new trees and plants to establish a strong and stable root system. Healthy, established root systems will create a boom of green spring growth in just a few short months.
With the low temperatures this time of year, it is important for homeowners to be diligent about how much water plants are receiving and how often. During the colder months, it’s best to water in the late morning. A later morning watering schedule will give your landscape time to absorb all the water throughout the day.
You will still want to water your plants the same amount of water for each watering session. You just don’t need to water as often! Pay attention to your plants for signs of under and overwatering to change up your watering routine.
Using the proper fertilizer during this crucial time ensures that your landscape is recovering all the needed nutrients. Your landscape has been getting a nice break from the heat, but it needs a bit of extra attention during the cold weather too. Take note of your plants, trees, and lawn to determine if they need light fertilizing to get them through the winter. The better care they receive now, the quicker they will bounce back when spring is here again.
Our nursery experts recommend using Super Charged Moon Juice during the cold weather. Moon Juice helps accelerate moisture intake, along with providing vital nutrients that plants might be losing because of the winter weather. This will help protect your trees and plants from the freezing temperatures and still stay healthy into spring.
For more information on our Super Charged Moon Juice and other fertilizer products, click here.
This is an excellent time to control young and tender weeds in your yard. Remove the weeds before they seed, and you can avoid having them in your landscape. If they start to grow too fast, pre-emergent herbicide sprays can help control the problem. You can find these sprays at any nursery location.
Fruitless Olive trees can produce plenty of shade to any area of your yard. Their structural shape will add a dramatic and artistic look to your landscape. Use them as a focal point and highlight your trees with nighttime landscape lighting. Fruitless Olive trees keep their leaves all year, which makes them great for creating privacy or blocking unwanted views. Fruitless Olives are also very durable to cold, heat, and require minimal water once established.
Japanese Privets are excellent shrubs for winter planting. They are fast-growing evergreens that grow deep green foliage. In spring, they bloom petite, 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. We like to use them as a privacy hedge, tall screen, or windbreak.
Growing apple trees(pictured) in your yard can provide beautiful color in the spring and can help shade your yard during the bright and hot summer days we get in Texas. Apple trees do best in a spot with full sun. If you have limited space, the Beverly Hills variety is an ultra-dwarf tree ideal for smaller yards. The Fuji apple is one of the sweetest varieties that are perfect for a snack option.
Peach trees are a popular choice for amateur fruit growers because they are so easy to grow, and they are a small tree with a wide-spreading canopy. This make them an excellent choice as a landscape tree as well for how much shade it can give you most of the year. It also blooms showy white/cream flowers. Peach trees like full sun and will produce a large amount of fruit with a regular fertilizing schedule. Some of our favorites are the May Pride and Florida Prince variety for their amazing taste!
On top of bearing incredibly flavorsome fruit, Plum trees are an attractive landscape tree with impressive white flowers that bloom in spring. We like to also use them as a border tree or as an accent in the garden. They need full sun but have low to moderate watering needs, once established. Plums are an excellent source of Iron and Potassium. Once they are harvested, you can even dry them out and make your own prunes, which come with their own amazing health benefits!