Latest / ATXGardens Podcast / What to Do in Your Central Texas Garden (Aug 1–15): Stop Planting & Plan for Fall

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What to Do in Your Central Texas Garden (Aug 1–15): Stop Planting & Plan for Fall · ATXGardens Podcast

• 0:08
  SPEAKER_00: Hi listeners, I'm Colleen Dieker, landscape consultant and certified arborist at ATXGardens.com.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the ATX Gardens Podcast, where every other week I share simple, timely tips for what to do in your Central Texas garden right now.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_00: If you're watching on YouTube, tap like and subscribe for more gardening help.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_00: Hey there, gardening friends.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_00: Today we're talking about what to do in the first half of August in your garden in Central Texas.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_00: As always, this episode of the ATX Gardens podcast is sponsored by my garden consulting business, atxgardens.com.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_00: So let's jump into the episode.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_00: All right, in general, in August in Austin, it's like a second winter for most plants.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: So you can think about this season the same way that we think about winter in our gardens.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_00: Usually the plants are not actively growing.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_00: Most of the plants aren't actively growing.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_00: They're all experiencing some type of dormancy because it's so hot and usually it's very dry in the first half of August.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_00: We don't typically get any rain at that time of year.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes we do, but it's pretty rare.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_00: And when I think of gardening in August and Austin, I think a lot about weeding, mulching, and watering, just making sure that the ground around the plants is not bare.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_00: You want to make sure that soil is covered with some mulch to help keep the soil cool and hold moisture in the soil.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_00: But August is also a really good time for building walkways, for sheet mulching to build new planting areas.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_00: And August is a really good time for removing invasive species.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_00: So it's a great time for removing plants that aren't thriving as well.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_00: And it's also a really good time to start planning what you're going to plant in September when planting season starts again.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_00: And of course, I will be giving you updates about when planting season starts again in future episodes.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_00: So make sure you subscribe and like this podcast so that you don't miss any updates about planting season kickoff.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_00: And of course, August is a really good time to hire me for a consultation for your yard, if you're making plans for the fall garden, for tree planting, anything you might be thinking about doing this fall.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_00: Schedule now because we get pretty booked up in the fall, and you may be disappointed if you go to make an appointment in September, and we're booked out for three weeks already.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_00: So make those appointments now.
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_00: ATXgardens.com.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_00: So Cass, who's a friend of mine and an avid listener of this podcast, asked me back in June how to deal with soil erosion problems in her yard.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_00: And in the last episode, I talked about French drains and why I hate them.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_00: And in this episode, I'm going to talk about Earthworks as an alternative to French drains.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_00: This is going to be my final installment of erosion prevention tips in the podcast.
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_00: And make sure if you haven't yet listened to the last three or four episodes to hear more erosion control tips in case you missed them.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_00: So what are earthworks?
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_00: Basically, earthworks is the idea of shaping the soil to manage water.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_00: Rain gardens, which I talked about a couple of episodes ago, are a type of earthwork.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_00: Examples of other earthworks include berms, also known as mounds.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_00: The partner earthwork to berms are swales, which are the inversions of mounds.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_00: Or you can imagine a swale to be sort of a wide, shallow trench.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_00: Imagine water flowing downhill during a storm.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_00: Then after the storm, imagine digging a wide, shallow trench perpendicular to the flow of the water.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_00: When you're digging a trench, you pile the soil up on the downhill side of the trench parallel to the trench that you're digging.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_00: The trench is called a swale, and the pile of soil is called a berm.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_00: When another storm arrives and rain flows downhill, it will get caught in the swale and it will be held there so it can soak in.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_00: You can plant on top of the berm, uh, and then the plants in the berm can use the rainwater that's stored in the bottom of the berm.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_00: You can also use rocks, logs, or branches to build berms.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_00: It doesn't necessarily have to be soil or earth.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_00: You can use other materials to slow down the flow of water and try to hold it in place.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_00: The swale can be lined with river rock for decorative purposes, or it can also be planted with plants that can deal with an inundation of water and then occasionally drying out completely, just like a rain garden.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_00: Very wide shallow swales and low berms can even be planted with grass or wildflowers and then mowed.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_00: Earthworks also includes a related concept that I refer to as a dry creek bed, where a wide, shallow trench is dug to root water through a landscape, and it's lined with decorative river rocks.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_00: The soil on the bottom of the dry creek bed can be dug irregularly to slow water down and let it sink in.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_00: The dry creek bed bottom doesn't have to be perfectly sloped like a pipe.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_00: It's okay for it to be sort of bumpy to allow the water to slow down and sink in.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_00: It's important when you're creating these systems to think about the water as a resource, as something that you want to hold on the property, to hold in the soil for your plants to use rather than something that needs to be jettisoned off of the land.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_00: So we've been so trained in our culture to think about water as a nuisance in our land.
• 8:19
  SPEAKER_00: And we're always thinking about water flowing through pipes.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_00: And instead, this is a little bit contrary to that, where we're trying to slow the water down and keep it in place.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_00: So sometimes when my customers go to dig berms and swales or dry creek beds, they start to get a little bit confused and worried.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_00: And so you just have to keep in mind when you're creating these earthworks that the water always flows downhill.
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_00: And the idea here is to slow the water down to allow it to soak in.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_00: So check out berms and swales, rain gardens, and dry creek beds, do some research and see what you discover about them and see if there's a way you can implement them in your yard.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_00: And if you feel confused or if you have more questions and need help, as always, you can visit atxgardens.com and schedule a consultation with us.
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_00: What's going on in the yard right now with all of our woody plants, like the trees and shrubs?
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_00: Listen, do not plant any woody plants now.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_00: Really, don't plant anything right now.
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm going to repeat this throughout this episode.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_00: It's so hot in August.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_00: It's so hard on the plants.
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_00: It doesn't matter how much water you give them.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, it does.
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_00: But if you plant something new, it's inevitable, no matter what, you are going to injure the roots of that plant when you plant it.
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, that's what's important.
• 10:07
  SPEAKER_00: There's no way to avoid injuring the roots of a plant at planting time.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_00: It doesn't matter how careful you are or anything like that.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_00: Plus, you're moving a plant from one situation to another in different conditions.
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_00: And plants were never meant to be moved.
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_00: And they don't like it.
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_00: So they're going through a traumatic time for them, something that's really hard on them.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_00: And when their roots are injured, they cannot drink water fast enough, right?
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_00: To keep up with the amount of water that they're losing in the heat.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_00: So it's just the same as if I went outside in the heat, but my jaw was wired shut and I had no way of drinking water.
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_00: That's why we shouldn't plant anything right now, especially woody plants, trees and shrubs, woody vines, because they, in particular, it takes them a really long time to get established in their new homes compared to the other plants.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_00: So this is really important.
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_00: I've had to explain this to some very impatient customers recently.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_00: And that's the only way to explain it is to say, like, you know, people will say, well, I want to plant something now, and I promise I'll water it every day.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_00: It doesn't matter if you water it every day.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_00: The plant cannot drink the water fast enough for how hot it is outside.
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_00: That's all I can say about it.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_00: So if you can just wait until September, then you'll be okay.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_00: It's not that long from now.
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_00: But like I said in the last episode, it's still a very good time for tree pruning.
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_00: Just make sure that when you go out to prune a tree, that you have a clear objective in mind and you know why you're trimming that tree.
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_00: And use that objective to guide your cuts.
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_00: So you could maybe you need to clear your roof line if there's a tree rubbing on the roof.
• 12:25
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe there's trees growing into the street and they're getting hit by the UPS truck over and over again.
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe you need to clear walkways and driveways.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_00: It's a real good time right now.
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_00: It's also a great time for trimming trees to lift their branches up if they are lying on surrounding plants or touching each other.
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_00: It's always a good idea to avoid having tree branches that are scraping on each other.
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_00: If they're rubbing when the wind blows, that can create opened wounds that can't seal.
• 13:03
  SPEAKER_00: So that's a good reason to prune a tree so that you can make a clean wound on it that will be able to seal over.
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_00: Early August is a very good time to prune most shrubs, just like I said in the last episode in July.
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_00: This is a great time of year to look at certain shrubs and small trees and determine if they're starting to decline.
• 13:31
  SPEAKER_00: So some shrubs and small small tree species, they don't live as long as we often think trees ought to live.
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_00: They're not like oak trees or pecan trees or other big shade trees that can live for a hundred years or more.
• 13:51
  SPEAKER_00: And for example, uh red bud trees only live maybe 10, 15 years, sometimes a little longer.
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_00: And what happens with those trees like red buds, they tend to be multi-trunked, not always, but a lot of times they have multiple trunks.
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_00: And the larger, fatter trunks, the trunks that are very wide in diameter, they start to decline as the tree ages.
• 14:25
  SPEAKER_00: And August is a really good time to remove the largest trunks that are the biggest around in diameter to motivate that tree or shrub to grow new trunks from the ground.
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_00: So you can leave the smaller shoots that are already coming up from the ground and remove the biggest, fattest one that might be starting to decline.
• 14:51
  SPEAKER_00: You might see more insect damage on it.
• 14:55
  SPEAKER_00: You might see more browning of the leaves at this time of year compared to the newer, younger shoots that are coming up from the ground.
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_00: When conditions are really harsh in August, you'll be able to tell which trees and shrubs might need this kind of renovation.
• 15:14
  SPEAKER_00: This is a common condition on roses, especially the really large varieties of roses like mutabolus, knockouts, and lady banks.
• 15:27
  SPEAKER_00: This is also really common with altheas, also known as hibiscus or rose of Sharon.
• 15:33
  SPEAKER_00: It's also a common condition for winter honeysuckles, multi-trunked small trees like Mexican plums, vitax, and all kinds of multi-trunked, fast growing, blooming trees and shrubs.
• 15:52
  SPEAKER_00: You'll just start to see that the oldest, biggest, fattest trunks, all the leaves in the top of the top of those branches on that trunk start to decline, and you can remove that trunk.
• 16:08
  SPEAKER_00: Remember to try to not remove more than 30% of the leaves from a tree in one year.
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 16:17
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes cutting off just one big trunk from a multi-trunk tree can solve all kinds of problems.
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_00: It can reduce the tree's size if it's getting too big and starting to grow into other trees.
• 16:30
  SPEAKER_00: It can improve the appearance of the tree, and it can also extend its life by forcing it to grow back with bushier, more vigorous growth coming up from the base of the plant.
• 16:45
  SPEAKER_00: I know that this is really scary, and a lot of gardeners have a really hard time with this concept.
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_00: But I've had very good results, and August is a good time to do it.
• 16:57
  SPEAKER_00: When in doubt, you can always hire me for a consult, and I can come out and do it with you.
• 17:04
  SPEAKER_00: Just if you hire me for a consult, just make a little note when you make the appointment that that's the kind of pruning that you want to do.
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_00: Now, what about our fruit trees?
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_00: How are they doing at this time of year?
• 17:19
  SPEAKER_00: Well, it's still really too hot to plant.
• 17:22
  SPEAKER_00: Do not plant fruit trees right now.
• 17:25
  SPEAKER_00: Certain types of pears may start ripening at this time.
• 17:31
  SPEAKER_00: So, warren, for example, is one variety that ripens very early.
• 17:38
  SPEAKER_00: So it they may be getting ready now.
• 17:41
  SPEAKER_00: So check your pears and see if they might be ripe.
• 17:45
  SPEAKER_00: But most of the pears ripen a little bit later.
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_00: Like I said in the last episode, the first half of August is still a good time for pruning fruit trees.
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_00: And especially fruit trees that have been in their current spot for three years or more.
• 18:06
  SPEAKER_00: So that's when the trees are starting to reach maturity and when they start producing fruit.
• 18:11
  SPEAKER_00: So for those middle-aged and older fruit trees, it can be really beneficial to prune them in the summer rather than the winter because the summer pruning helps slow down their growth and helps control their size.
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_00: So that way they don't get so tall and you don't need a ladder to harvest from them.
• 18:32
  SPEAKER_00: If you have established fruit trees with a lot of vigorous growth and they're not making a lot of fruit, summer pruning can really make a difference compared to winter pruning.
• 18:43
  SPEAKER_00: So listen to the last episode for a little bit more in-depth how-to and about why that's true.
• 18:51
  SPEAKER_00: As always, I'm going to have links in the show notes to the Corona Orchard Loppers that you can get on Amazon.
• 18:58
  SPEAKER_00: I am an Amazon affiliate, so I get commissions from any of your purchases that you make on Amazon through my website at atxgardens.com or through the show notes.
• 19:12
  SPEAKER_00: I'm also going to include a link to a pruning saw that I really like that you can use for fruit trees or you can use for your other trees to remove those uh big fat trunks that I talked about earlier.
• 19:28
  SPEAKER_00: Be sure when you're pruning fruit trees and roses to clean the blades of your tools between plants.
• 19:39
  SPEAKER_00: In the last episode, I specifically said to use alcohol or lysol to clean the blades of the tools between plants, but you can also use diluted bleach or peroxide.
• 19:53
  SPEAKER_00: Let me just repeat that for clarity.
• 19:56
  SPEAKER_00: So you can use alcohol, lisol, diluted bleach or hydrogen peroxide to clean your blades on your tools between plants.
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_00: If you're doing pruning on roses or fruit trees, I also recommend doing it for oak trees too.
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_00: And that's because those particular plants tend to have certain diseases that are spread by tools.
• 20:31
  SPEAKER_00: August is a really good time to make plans for your orchard's future.
• 20:38
  SPEAKER_00: Um, make some notes about which trees did really well this year, which ones didn't make fruit, and which ones are ailing.
• 20:47
  SPEAKER_00: Consider if you have room to add more trees and start researching varieties.
• 20:53
  SPEAKER_00: That way you'll be able to order them online as bare root fruit trees this fall.
• 21:01
  SPEAKER_00: Then the trees will be shipped to you in the winter for planting when they're dormant and it's the best time for planting fruit trees.
• 21:10
  SPEAKER_00: So there'll be more information about that in future episodes.
• 21:15
  SPEAKER_00: But right now you want to start making plans for what fruit trees you might want to plant and start shopping for them online, and the online nurseries will start taking orders in the fall.
• 21:32
  SPEAKER_00: Now it's time to talk about perennials and bulbs and our ornamental grasses and everybody else out there in the landscape.
• 21:41
  SPEAKER_00: No planting.
• 21:42
  SPEAKER_00: It is too hot.
• 21:43
  SPEAKER_00: It's too hot for everyone.
• 21:46
  SPEAKER_00: If you really, really want to plant, it'd be okay to do some yuccas or cactus, stuff like that.
• 21:53
  SPEAKER_00: But even they can get sunburned at this time of year if they're moved from a shady condition.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: At the nursery into a really full hot sun condition.
• 22:06
  SPEAKER_00: So just keep that in mind.
• 22:08
  SPEAKER_00: Avoid planting at this time of year if possible.
• 22:13
  SPEAKER_00: But early August is still a good time for trimming perennials.
• 22:20
  SPEAKER_00: Like the trees and shrubs right now, all the perennials are starting to reach their maximum size.
• 22:27
  SPEAKER_00: And this is your last chance to cut down any warm season perennials that are done blooming for the spring.
• 22:36
  SPEAKER_00: Cut them down by half.
• 22:38
  SPEAKER_00: Cut the top half off of the plant to promote bushier growth and more flowers in the fall.
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, if these plants aren't trimmed by August 15th, they can flop open in the fall unless you have a support system for them, like cages or stakes.
• 22:59
  SPEAKER_00: So just go ahead and remove the top half of the plant now.
• 23:03
  SPEAKER_00: It's important not to wait too long to do this because after August 15th, they may not have enough time to grow back and bloom again before the first freeze arrives around November 15th if you're outside of town or around December 1st if you live in Austin.
• 23:24
  SPEAKER_00: So if there are any perennials in your garden that need trimming right now, um get to it right away.
• 23:33
  SPEAKER_00: Some examples include the uh Mealy Blue Sage, Henry Dolberg Sage, Mexican bush sage, fall asters, golden rod, maximilian sunflowers.
• 23:50
  SPEAKER_00: Some perennials are still blooming now, and deadheading them to remove dead flowers is a good way to get more blooms from them.
• 24:00
  SPEAKER_00: So things like yellow bells, plumbagos, pryobarbados, and hibiscus.
• 24:06
  SPEAKER_00: You can just cut off those dead flowers and they'll keep producing more flowers.
• 24:12
  SPEAKER_00: If you feel unsure about how to do this type of midsummer pruning, I have a guide available on my website called Let's Care for Texas Plants.
• 24:25
  SPEAKER_00: And it's available for purchase for$20 as a digital download, or you can get a hard copy sent to you too.
• 24:33
  SPEAKER_00: And that's at atxgardens.com.
• 24:37
  SPEAKER_00: Click on store.
• 24:40
  SPEAKER_00: And now it's time for our mid-episode sponsor break.
• 24:46
  SPEAKER_00: Hey y'all, this is Colleen Dieter from ATXGardens.com.
• 24:52
  SPEAKER_00: If you need personalized help with your landscape, book a consultation and we'll walk your yard together, answer all of your questions, and create a strategy that feels doable.
• 25:05
  SPEAKER_00: I specialize in helping do-it-yourselfers by alleviating their anxieties about their yards.
• 25:13
  SPEAKER_00: This week I helped Jessica in the Highland Hills neighborhood.
• 25:18
  SPEAKER_00: She and her neighbors took out an old chain link fence and replaced it with a privacy fence.
• 25:23
  SPEAKER_00: And in the process, a bunch of trees and shrubs were removed to make room for the new fence.
• 25:30
  SPEAKER_00: Jessica wants to plant more trees to replace the ones she lost.
• 25:35
  SPEAKER_00: Summer is a really great time for planning a project like that because the soil and the space need to be prepared before planting in the fall.
• 25:49
  SPEAKER_00: Jessica and I discussed positioning the plants and which species would work.
• 25:55
  SPEAKER_00: And we also talked about the pros and cons of buying large trees that need to be planted by a tree planting service versus trees that come in smaller pots that Jessica could plant herself.
• 26:08
  SPEAKER_00: At the end of the consultation, Jessica was empowered with the information she needed to make wise decisions about her privacy hedge project.
• 26:17
  SPEAKER_00: Make an appointment today at atxgardens.com.
• 26:23
  SPEAKER_00: Now let's get back to the episode.
• 26:26
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, what's happening in the vegetable garden right now in the summer?
• 26:31
  SPEAKER_00: So in the first half of August, you know, summer is winding down in the vegetable garden, and it's time to begin the transition from the summer garden to the fall garden.
• 26:44
  SPEAKER_00: Peppers and eggplants may still be going strong in your garden, as well as okra, southern peas, and warm season greens.
• 26:53
  SPEAKER_00: Just keep harvesting them.
• 26:55
  SPEAKER_00: If you're getting tired of eating any of them, that's okay.
• 27:00
  SPEAKER_00: Or if they've started slowing down and they're not producing as much or they have disease or insect problems, just go ahead and remove them now.
• 27:10
  SPEAKER_00: It's okay.
• 27:12
  SPEAKER_00: Then add some compost on top of the soil and then top that soil with some mulch.
• 27:18
  SPEAKER_00: And then just let the garden rest for a little while and start making plans about what you'll plant in that spot in September.
• 27:27
  SPEAKER_00: So this time of year in the vegetable garden, it's mostly either too early or too late to plant most crops.
• 27:38
  SPEAKER_00: But some gardeners enjoy the challenge of pushing the seasons, trying to extend the seasons to get a longer harvest period.
• 27:50
  SPEAKER_00: I am not one of those gardeners.
• 27:53
  SPEAKER_00: Or maybe you need to plan your plantings around travel plans, like going on vacation, or maybe there's back-to-school schedules that you have to contend with.
• 28:06
  SPEAKER_00: And so you may feel like you want to start planting your fall garden now.
• 28:11
  SPEAKER_00: If you see some rain in the forecast, which would be very unusual for the first half of August, you could go ahead and plant, or if you have some kind of scheduling issue, you could go ahead and plant.
• 28:25
  SPEAKER_00: But I would avoid it if possible.
• 28:29
  SPEAKER_00: Here's a list of vegetables that you could plant now for an early fall crop if you can't possibly wait a few more weeks.
• 28:38
  SPEAKER_00: Beans, cucumbers, summer squash can all be sown directly from seed into the ground.
• 28:48
  SPEAKER_00: You can also plant potatoes directly into the ground from seed potatoes.
• 28:55
  SPEAKER_00: And you could also plant tomatoes from transplants at this time of year.
• 29:01
  SPEAKER_00: But I would wait until later in August or September for the best results.
• 29:06
  SPEAKER_00: And I'll, of course, talk about that in future episodes.
• 29:11
  SPEAKER_00: It's definitely too late now to plant winter squash or melons.
• 29:17
  SPEAKER_00: They will not mature in time to give you a good harvest before our first freezes arrive.
• 29:24
  SPEAKER_00: This is your last chance to plant the following summer crops.
• 29:29
  SPEAKER_00: Try to get varieties that mature in less than 80 days.
• 29:35
  SPEAKER_00: You can plant corn directly into the ground from seed, peppers from small plants as transplants, eggplants also from small plants as transplants, all the warm season greens like malabar spinach, New Zealand spinach, and Malochia.
• 29:55
  SPEAKER_00: You can plant okra from seed, and you can also plant southern peas.
• 30:01
  SPEAKER_00: It's still too early for cool season greens like spinach, kale, collards, and lettuce.
• 30:09
  SPEAKER_00: So don't plant those yet.
• 30:10
  SPEAKER_00: It's too early.
• 30:12
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, now over in the herb garden, there's not much to do in August except weeding, mulching, and watering.
• 30:20
  SPEAKER_00: Add a little compost or gentle dry granular fertilizer, purry or soil test results.
• 30:28
  SPEAKER_00: You could start seeds from cool season herbs indoors now to transplant into the garden in October, like cilantro, dill, fennel, chamomile, calendula, borage, and parsley.
• 30:44
  SPEAKER_00: So those cool season herbs, you can start planting those indoors under your grow lights to get those going in time for fall planting.
• 30:55
  SPEAKER_00: It's so exciting.
• 30:57
  SPEAKER_00: And your wildflowers are out there with their seed heads on them.
• 31:03
  SPEAKER_00: Go ahead and keep collecting those seeds to share with your friends or to plant in other parts of your property.
• 31:11
  SPEAKER_00: Make plans and start purchasing wildflower seeds to plant in September because September is wildflower planting season.
• 31:21
  SPEAKER_00: Now for the activism portion of the podcast, I got a great email from my friend Mandy, who listens to the podcast.
• 31:33
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm going to read part of the email here to you.
• 31:36
  SPEAKER_00: She said, I have a suggestion for a future newsletter or podcast in the section where you mention advocacy for the planet.
• 31:45
  SPEAKER_00: Right now, Google forces AI on every single web search you do.
• 31:52
  SPEAKER_00: Even if you're just looking for how late a store is open or the ingredients in a recipe, it wastes so much water and energy when AI is included in every search.
• 32:04
  SPEAKER_00: I learned that you can add minus AI to your search with no space between the minus sign and AI, and it will bypass AI and only show web results.
• 32:22
  SPEAKER_00: So I thought that was a great tip.
• 32:24
  SPEAKER_00: And I often use other web browsers aside from Google, and the same thing is true.
• 32:34
  SPEAKER_00: They include AI in every search.
• 32:37
  SPEAKER_00: So just add that minus AI with no space between the minus sign and AI to your search for things where you don't want the AI to uh be included in the results, and you can save a lot of water and energy.
• 32:55
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you, Mandy, for that suggestion.
• 32:58
  SPEAKER_00: And I wish that those search engines would not include AI as the default.
• 33:06
  SPEAKER_00: I wish that we would have to opt into AI rather than opt out of it.
• 33:12
  SPEAKER_00: And I hope that those companies will be held accountable for that and something to think about and consider.
• 33:19
  SPEAKER_00: I think AI can be a very powerful tool for a lot of people, including small business owners like myself, but I don't need it in every aspect of my life at all times.
• 33:32
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm doing my best to wade through it.
• 33:35
  SPEAKER_00: So, Mandy, thank you so much for that really helpful tip for my listeners.
• 33:40
  SPEAKER_00: And um, for those of you who don't know, AI uh uses a tremendous amount of energy and water.
• 33:47
  SPEAKER_00: And um, if we can cut down on unnecessary use of AI, it will help everyone.
• 33:54
  SPEAKER_00: So, in conclusion, thanks so much for listening today.
• 34:00
  SPEAKER_00: I really appreciate you.
• 34:02
  SPEAKER_00: Please like and subscribe uh to this podcast on whatever podcast platform you're listening.
• 34:11
  SPEAKER_00: Check out the show notes for links to everything I've mentioned in the show.
• 34:15
  SPEAKER_00: And if you enjoyed my podcast, please share it with a fellow Central Texas gardener because it really helps the show grow.
• 34:24
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Colleen with atxgardens.com and I'll see you next time.
• 34:30
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks for listening to the ATX Gardens podcast.
• 34:34
  SPEAKER_00: For show notes, tools, and to book a consultation with me, visit atxgardens.com.
• 34:43
  SPEAKER_00: Happy gardening.
• 34:45
  SPEAKER_00: See you next time.