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TOP JOBS

Summer is fast approaching and if you have decided to grow a garden, there are a few things to consider before getting started. Vegetables need at least six hours of direct sunlight daily. Are trees or buildings shading the garden area? If you are a first timer, a small area that can be enlarged later might be good. Don't plant vegetables you don't like. Take a soil sample. It will cost a few dollars but it will save in the future. You'll find out exactly what your soil needs before planting. Till or dig into the soil the amendments recommended from the soil test, as well as lots of compost. Read the labels on the vegetable plants or seeds to find out when to plant. Make sure the soil is already moist. If not, water a day or two before you plant seeds. Is there a water source nearby? Drip irrigation is becoming a very popular, economic and labor saving method. Inexpensive timers can be purchased that will give you carefree watering. Mulching is a great way to reduce watering, eliminate diseases and weeds. All these tidbits will, hopefully, get you off to a great start with your new hobby. Enjoy!

Donna Cole
Smith County
Master Gardener
Texas AgriLife Extension Service

When my wife and I moved to Hideaway Lake, one of the first sights that caught my eye were the beautiful dogwood trees that are native to this area. The beautiful white blooms stand out so well underneath the green canopy of oaks and pines. Reading information from various sources (Texas Parks and Wildlife, Southern Living), and visiting with some of the Master Gardeners who live at Hideaway, here are some tips:

Resist transplanting native dogwoods from the wild. Borers are common in wild, flowering dogwoods. Check with your nursery for certified disease and insect-free stock.

Dogwoods do best in moist, shady areas with good well-drained soil. Get a soil test. Do not plant dogwoods too close to heat reflective walls or structures.

You only need to fertilize a dogwood once or twice a year. Dogwoods are sensitive to excess fertilizer, so only very small amounts are needed in spring.

Mulch in a wide circle around the tree, keeping the mulch off of the trunk.

You often hear people say that dogwoods will not thrive except under larger shade trees. There are numerous healthy dogwoods around Hideaway that are out in the full sun. It appears that they are shaded from the hot summer sun by larger trees on the western exposure.

Jerry D. Mullins
Smith County
Master Gardener
Texas AgriLife Extension Service

A gardening "fad" that can be detrimental to longevity of plantings is soil or mulch "cones" around trees. Recently a caller to the Master Gardener help desk explained that a landscaper had created raised beds, resembling volcanoes, extending two or more feet up tree trunks. The landscaper assured her that lightweight potting soil would not damage trees.

Although striking, a deep mass of either soil or mulch in contact with a tree trunk creates a damp environment promoting rot and inviting wood boring beetles.

Elevating soil levels more than one or 2 inches per year under most tree species also seriously affects aeration of roots.

Mulch around trees is recommended for at least the first 3-4 years, but the maximum recommended in contact with the trunk is two inches.

Deeper mulch may be applied if a funnel-shaped "crater" is created to keep mulch and soil from touching the trunk. Landowners must use common sense in landscaping. By the time a tree is in obvious distress, it may be too late, and a mature tree is expensive to replace.

Joan Driver
Smith County
Master Gardener
Texas AgriLife Extension Service

How many times have you started to your garden and realized you didn't remember where you had left your garden tools and gloves? I'll bet you I have done that many times until I decided to install a neat storage spot for my tools.

I took a mail box and mounted it on a 4x4 post in my garden. Now when I finish working, I put my gloves and tools in my "mail box" for safe keeping until my next work session.

Another gardener got one of these artisans who build birdhouses to build a birdhouse without the holes and hinge the front panel as a door. It can be mounted on a tree or on a pole. It is decorative as well as functional.

Give it a try. You will save yourself time and effort when you are in the garden.

Hugh Autrey
Smith County
Master Gardener
Texas AgriLife Extension Service