Latest / ATXGardens Podcast / What to Do in Your Central Texas Garden (Oct. 15–31): Last-Chance Fall Planting

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What to Do in Your Central Texas Garden (Oct. 15–31): Last-Chance Fall Planting · ATXGardens Podcast

• 0:08
  SPEAKER_00: Hi listeners, I'm Colleen Dieter, 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.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_00: Hey there, gardening friends.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_00: Today we're talking about the second half of October.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_00: And as always, this episode is sponsored by my gardening consulting business, atxgardens.com.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, let's jump in.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_00: So, in general, in our Central Texas Gardens, at the end of October, make sure if you haven't already that you test your irrigation system to make sure it's working correctly.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_00: And it's a good time for hiring irrigators as the weather cools off.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: They are less and less busy and easier to get a hold of.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_00: So if you need stuff repaired, fall and winter is a really good time for making irrigation system repairs.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_00: Test the chemistry of your well water about once every three years to make sure that it's not too salty or leaving too many uh minerals in the soil when you're watering.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_00: And make sure all your water softeners and filters are working correctly.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_00: So now, what about trees and shrubs, the woody plants and our woody vines?
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_00: It is planting season.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_00: So really planting a tree is one of the best things humans can do.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_00: And when you plant a tree, especially native fruit trees in the prunus genus, like escarpment black cherry, Mexican plum, and Chickasaw plum, and uh what's the other one?
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_00: Cherry laurels, your tree will support wildlife, especially birds who feed caterpillars to their babies, because there's a lot of butterflies and moths that lay their eggs on the prunus genus plants.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_00: And when those eggs hatch, the caterpillars come out and they start to eat that tree, and the birds can come and get some of those caterpillars and feed them to their babies.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_00: And baby birds really can only eat caterpillars.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_00: So those trees in the prunus genus are really important to our ecosystem here in central Texas.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_00: Those trees are also some of the first plants to bloom in the spring.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_00: So the um hungry bees and butterflies who have been sort of hibernating, it's not exactly hibernating, but they're coming out of a long winter sleep time or dormancy period.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_00: They come out and they're looking for something to eat, they're really hungry, and those trees will be blooming at that time.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_00: So they're really important.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_00: So check out a prunus genus if you're looking for something new to try in your yard.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_00: Um, it's also a really good time for transplanting woody plants.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_00: So if you have some shrubs that are maybe too close to a walkway, or maybe they're getting too big, growing up too high in front of your windows.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_00: Instead of trimming them over and over again, consider transplanting them and moving them to a space where they will have more room, and then you can replace them with smaller plants.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_00: Like I said in the last episode, do not prune any woody plants now.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_00: So any kind of trimming or pruning can stimulate trees and shrubs to grow new branches.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_00: And at this time of year, we want the trees and shrubs to stop growing, to get them to slow down so they can prepare for winter.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_00: So keep listening to future episodes of the ATX Gardens podcast to know when pruning time starts again.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_00: I will let you know.
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_00: Um, do not fertilize now either.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, no woody plants need to be fed in October.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_00: Now, leaves might be falling off of trees and shrubs a little early this year on your deciduous trees and shrubs because we've had so much heat and drought in September.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_00: So if your tree leaves fall on your lawn, you need to run them over with a lawn mower to chop them up into small pieces so they don't cover the grass and block the light to the grass.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes that mowing doesn't work depending on the type of tree leaves you have.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_00: And so you may need to just use a leaf rake to pick them up the old-fashioned way.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_00: But you want to just make sure that they don't cover the grass and lay on the grass and kill it.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_00: Unless you're trying to kill your grass, which I'm all for.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_00: Now, I had a listen or question about a notorious woody plant that I wanted to share with you.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_00: This is from Carrie on Instagram.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_00: Um, Carrie says, I inherited a trumpet vine.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_00: It is on a fence between my neighbor and me.
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_00: After 11 years of trying to tame it and encourage neighbors to remove the seed pods, I gave up and would like to eradicate it.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_00: I have Turks caps and two other native vines to feed the hummingbirds.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_00: My landscaping is 85% native plants and the rest are well adapted.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_00: I've never used herbicide or pesticide.
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_00: I only use organic fertilizers and make my own compost.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_00: Everything I read online says the only thing that will remove it is herbicides.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_00: In your expertise, how would you remove the vine?
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_00: It's ruining the fence, it's close to my neighbor's pool equipment.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_00: I heard about it going into pipes, it is too vigorous, etc.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_00: There's a long list of why I want to remove it, but would you use herbicide?
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_00: Do you think it's possible to just dig it up?
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_00: So, just to be clear for everyone, the plant that Carrie is asking about is trumpet vine.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_00: And there's a lot of plants called trumpet this, trumpet that.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_00: And there's a lot of plants with trumpet-shaped flowers.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_00: So I want to make sure we're all talking about the same plant.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_00: This is Campsis Radicans.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_00: That's the botanical name.
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_00: It's Campsis Radicans, and this is a plant that is native to Texas, it's native to most of North America, as far as I know.
• 7:40
  SPEAKER_00: And it's a big woody plant.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_00: It's a very aggressive grower.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_00: It as Carrie mentioned in their message, that it's really a great plant for butterflies and especially hummingbirds.
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_00: I saw, I was fortunate enough to see a wild campsys radicans growing over a big dead cedar tree out at Colorado Bend State Park years ago in full bloom, and it was so beautiful in that space.
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_00: However, it is not a good plant to have near your home.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_00: And uh, those of you who listened to my other podcast, the Horticulturati podcast, will know that my friend Leah, who co-hosted that podcast with me, had that vine grow into her bathtub through the drain.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_00: And that little stems and leaves were coming out of the drain in her bathtub.
• 8:48
  SPEAKER_00: So, yes, they get into pipes and stuff like that, and they're just incredibly aggressive.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_00: So they can, even though they're really good, valuable native plants, they can be a nuisance and they're way too big for most home gardens.
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_00: It's really only a good choice if you have like a giant pergola or arbor or like a huge structure for it to grow on, to grow over, like at a wedding venue or like a winery or something like that.
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_00: They can be really lovely in situations like that.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_00: But I do not recommend them for growing on your average backyard fence.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_00: So fall this time of year is a really good time for removing unwanted woody plants, including Campsys radicans, but other species too.
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_00: Any kind of woody plant that you are trying to get rid of, fall is a good time because they all go dormant in winter for the most part.
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_00: So if you cut them down now, they might grow back a little bit, and then that new growth will be killed by cold, which is a good thing in this situation.
• 10:07
  SPEAKER_00: Um, they almost they also might go into early dormancy and not grow back again until spring.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_00: So it feels a lot more satisfying to cut them down now because you have a whole winter without them then.
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_00: So that can really help.
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_00: I recommend if you can, I've had customers in this situation before with the trumpet vine growing on the fence that's coming over from the neighbor's side.
• 10:38
  SPEAKER_00: If you can mow that space once a month, if it's not in a planting bed area where you can just run that space over with the lawn mower over and over again to control the plant's growth.
• 10:55
  SPEAKER_00: Um, every time it starts to grow back, you're mowing it down again.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_00: That can be one way to eventually slow it down.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_00: You Carrie used the term eradication, and I don't think eradication is realistic with this plant because it can come up from seed.
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_00: There's gonna be seeds all over that yard that are gonna be viable for a really long time, and it can just keep coming back from a huge root system, even if you used herbicide, you'd have to use a lot of herbicide over and over again, usually, or cheat and use the herbicide not according to the safety label.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_00: And I I don't recommend that in this situation.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_00: So doing it in the fall is a good idea, and mowing next to it if you can really helps.
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_00: Mowing is a good, a really easy way to control invasive species.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_00: Um, like bamboo, too.
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_00: If you have like a line of bamboo up against a fence and you're trying to keep it from spreading into the yard, mowing it, it doesn't kill it, it just keeps it from taking over with the lawn mower.
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_00: So try that.
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_00: So if you're going back to Carrie's um Campsys Radicans, if you if it has one central trunk, which usually they don't, usually they have many, many trunks.
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_00: But if it happens to be a lucky situation where it has just like one or two big trunks, you can cut it all the way down and then cover it with an upside-down black bucket and leave the it has to be black so no light can get through, and leave it for at least one year and pick up the bucket about once a month and cut down anything that's trying to grow inside and just to block the light from getting to it.
• 13:01
  SPEAKER_00: I've done this before, it works pretty good.
• 13:05
  SPEAKER_00: Another option is to keep the trumpet vine, but cut it down all the way to the ground once every year in the winter or even early, you know, early winter or late fall.
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_00: Cut it all the way down to the ground.
• 13:25
  SPEAKER_00: You could even cut it down all the way twice a year, um, once in the winter and once in midsummer to control its size.
• 13:35
  SPEAKER_00: So that way it could be potentially trained as a regular kind of average size vine on the fence instead of a monster.
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_00: So if you cut it all the way down at least once a year or even twice a year, you could train it.
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_00: I recommend a reciprocating saw for that sort of cutting down.
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_00: And there's a link to reciprocating saw and the blades for the reciprocating saw in the show notes.
• 14:07
  SPEAKER_00: I have had success with aggressive and invasive species like this, with cutting them down and then building a fire on top of the stump, building a campfire on top of the stump, and then burning the stump.
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but it sounds like that might not be safe in Carrie's case with the pool equipment and the fence, depending on if it's a wood fence or a metal fence.
• 14:33
  SPEAKER_00: Definitely burning it with fire can burn with fire uh can solve that problem to you.
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_00: If you need more advice, Carrie, I can come over and look at your particular situation during a landscape consultation.
• 14:51
  SPEAKER_00: You can make an appointment at atxgardens.com.
• 14:55
  SPEAKER_00: So thank you so much, Carrie, for that question and good luck.
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_00: Now, moving on to fruit trees.
• 15:03
  SPEAKER_00: What's going on with our fruit trees in the late part of October?
• 15:08
  SPEAKER_00: It's really important to stop fertilizing citrus trees now in order to slow down their growth for the winter.
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_00: So we want them to start slowing down and not grow a whole lot.
• 15:25
  SPEAKER_00: So don't add any fertilizer now, and we won't fertilize again until early March.
• 15:32
  SPEAKER_00: So lay off the fertilizer at this time of year.
• 15:36
  SPEAKER_00: You might want to get some seaweed or super thrive, um, both of which I have links to in the show notes.
• 15:46
  SPEAKER_00: Make sure if you haven't yet, get your soil tested.
• 15:51
  SPEAKER_00: I recommend a soil test every three years, and October is a really good time to do a soil test.
• 15:59
  SPEAKER_00: If you haven't had one in three to five years, go ahead and get a soil test.
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_00: That's true for vegetable gardens too.
• 16:07
  SPEAKER_00: So if you have a veggie garden, go ahead and get your soil tested every three years to make sure you've got the nutrients that you need in there for the fruit trees and the vegetables that are high feeding, heavy feeders.
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_00: They need a lot of nutrients.
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_00: Make sure at this time of year, when the fruit trees start to lose their leaves, again, they might be losing their leaves early because of the drought and heat in September.
• 16:36
  SPEAKER_00: Start raking up and removing fruit tree leaves as they fall on the ground if possible.
• 16:45
  SPEAKER_00: I like to run mine over with the lawnmower with a bag on the lawnmower to collect them easily.
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_00: And then I put them in the green bin for city compost.
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_00: So with fruit tree leaves, it's best practice not to leave them on the ground because they can harbor bugs and diseases.
• 17:05
  SPEAKER_00: So you want to try to keep the area around your fruit trees free of fruit tree debris and do not put them in your home compost pile.
• 17:17
  SPEAKER_00: So make sure you're picking up those fruit tree leaves.
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_00: Now, with shade trees and small ornamental trees, it's totally fine to leave those leaves on the ground.
• 17:31
  SPEAKER_00: When they're not on top of your lawn and they're not on top of pavement or gravel, you can totally leave regular tree leaves on the ground for a mulch around your trees and in your flower beds.
• 17:47
  SPEAKER_00: But with fruit trees, it's really important to try to remove as many fruit tree leaves from the ground as you can.
• 17:55
  SPEAKER_00: Now, what about perennials and bulbs and ornamental grasses?
• 18:02
  SPEAKER_00: Continue planting perennials, succulents, bulbs, and grasses into the end of October.
• 18:11
  SPEAKER_00: It's getting to be kind of the end of season for planting those guys.
• 18:15
  SPEAKER_00: So try to get them in the ground now as soon as you can so they can try to get established before our first freeze.
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_00: Our first freeze around Austin is usually December 1st.
• 18:28
  SPEAKER_00: If you're outside of town, it's usually sooner.
• 18:32
  SPEAKER_00: So you want those plants to be in the ground for a couple of weeks at least before the first freeze hits to try to get them somewhat established.
• 18:42
  SPEAKER_00: If they're brand new planted and the weather freezes, it can kill them and they might not return in the spring.
• 18:50
  SPEAKER_00: If the weather cooperates and we got some rain in October, you should be enjoying blooms on all of the perennials and grasses now.
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_00: And you might notice the pink grasses blooming around town, and they are called gulf Muley or pink Muley.
• 19:09
  SPEAKER_00: And they're certainly a gardener favorite here in Austin.
• 19:13
  SPEAKER_00: Dividing and transplanting all those plants can happen now as well.
• 19:19
  SPEAKER_00: So that's for perennials, grasses, succulents, and bulbs.
• 19:24
  SPEAKER_00: You might want to research some bulbs that thrive in southern gardens and grab some of those to plant now.
• 19:31
  SPEAKER_00: October is a good time.
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_00: It's sort of the last chance for planting bulbs.
• 19:37
  SPEAKER_00: Schoolhouse lilies, native rain lilies, native Drummond Oxalis, Texas Ditch lilies, and Dutch irises are some of my favorites that I like growing here in Austin.
• 19:52
  SPEAKER_00: Now we're getting into the middle of the episode, and I want to share with you a message from my friends at the Pania Community Garden.
• 20:04
  SPEAKER_00: Do you want fresh, safe, and healthy food?
• 20:07
  SPEAKER_00: Come rent a plot with the Captain Pena Garden and you'll get just that.
• 20:13
  SPEAKER_00: Now's the time to start planting for an abundant fall and winter harvest.
• 20:19
  SPEAKER_00: New to gardening and not sure where to start?
• 20:22
  SPEAKER_00: Start here.
• 20:23
  SPEAKER_00: We have plenty of experienced gardeners to help you along, and we all love to chat.
• 20:28
  SPEAKER_00: We would love to have you as part of our community garden.
• 20:32
  SPEAKER_00: So there's some perks to gardening at the Captain Pena Community Garden.
• 20:38
  SPEAKER_00: There's a gorgeous pond.
• 20:40
  SPEAKER_00: There's native plant scalore, thanks to Central Texas plant rescuers.
• 20:46
  SPEAKER_00: They share tools and seeds over there at the Pena Community Garden.
• 20:52
  SPEAKER_00: You can learn and practice regenerative agriculture and terraforming with lovely people and incredible critters.
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_00: They're right off of Thomas Springs Road over in Oak Hill.
• 21:08
  SPEAKER_00: And they'll see you there soon.
• 21:09
  SPEAKER_00: You can go check it out.
• 21:12
  SPEAKER_00: And visit www.vfw4443.org slash community-garden.
• 21:24
  SPEAKER_00: And of course, there'll be a link in the show notes.
• 21:27
  SPEAKER_00: If you are looking for a place to garden, I really recommend heading over there to the Oak Hill VFW and becoming a part of the Captain Pena community garden.
• 21:41
  SPEAKER_00: They have open plots there, so go check it out.
• 21:44
  SPEAKER_00: Now a word from our sponsor.
• 21:47
  SPEAKER_00: Hey y'all, this is Colleen Dieter from atxgardens.com.
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_00: If you need personalized help with your landscape at home, book a consultation.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: And we'll walk through your yard together and answer all of your questions.
• 22:05
  SPEAKER_00: Together, we can create a strategy that feels doable.
• 22:10
  SPEAKER_00: I specialize in helping do-it-yourselfers by alleviating their anxieties about their yards.
• 22:18
  SPEAKER_00: This week, I helped Stacy in Far South Austin with questions about her yard, which is a blank slate except for one ornamental pear tree.
• 22:30
  SPEAKER_00: Stacy had tons of ideas and wasn't sure which ideas were good ones and which ones were not so realistic.
• 22:39
  SPEAKER_00: She needed privacy from the busy street, so we talked about which trees and shrubs she could plant in particular areas of the front yard to help block the view of the street.
• 22:50
  SPEAKER_00: So if you need some help reaching your landscape goals and figuring out what's realistic for you to do, make an appointment today at atxgardens.com.
• 23:02
  SPEAKER_00: Now let's get back to the episode.
• 23:05
  SPEAKER_00: On to vegetables and herbs.
• 23:08
  SPEAKER_00: October is officially cool season planting time in the vegetable garden.
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_00: So now you can plant all the plants that are going to grow all winter long.
• 23:19
  SPEAKER_00: So you can plant the following vegetables as small plants.
• 23:26
  SPEAKER_00: So you have to go get those little plants from the nursery or have grown them already indoors from the seed or get extra plants from your friends.
• 23:35
  SPEAKER_00: So that's artichokes, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, collards, and leeks.
• 23:46
  SPEAKER_00: October is garlic planting time.
• 23:50
  SPEAKER_00: It will grow all winter and spring.
• 23:54
  SPEAKER_00: And then in the late spring, when you remove the flower known as escape, the garlic will start making heads underground and you can harvest them in June.
• 24:07
  SPEAKER_00: They take a long time.
• 24:09
  SPEAKER_00: Garlic takes a long time, but you don't need a lot of space.
• 24:13
  SPEAKER_00: And you can kind of just plant them around the edges of your garden, but just taking a head of garlic, breaking it up into individual cloves, and planting those cloves pointy side up.
• 24:27
  SPEAKER_00: And if you even if you get garlic from the grocery store, that will usually grow.
• 24:34
  SPEAKER_00: You just want to make sure that it's been grown organically so it doesn't have an inhibitor, a growth inhibitor on it that would make it not sprout.
• 24:44
  SPEAKER_00: Now you can plant the following vegetables from seed sown directly into the garden.
• 24:51
  SPEAKER_00: So just putting seeds right in the ground.
• 24:54
  SPEAKER_00: Fava beans.
• 24:55
  SPEAKER_00: This is your last chance to plant fava beans.
• 24:58
  SPEAKER_00: Getting into November, it's going to be too late.
• 25:01
  SPEAKER_00: So if you're interested in growing favas, plant them now.
• 25:04
  SPEAKER_00: You can plant onions now from seed or from sets.
• 25:11
  SPEAKER_00: I personally prefer planting onions from seed at this time of year.
• 25:18
  SPEAKER_00: I don't like to plant sets until January.
• 25:22
  SPEAKER_00: I've had better luck with sets when the day light, the amount of daylight gets longer.
• 25:31
  SPEAKER_00: The sets don't do very well until after the winter solstice.
• 25:36
  SPEAKER_00: So, but the seeds have done well for me in the fall.
• 25:41
  SPEAKER_00: You can plant beets from seed, turnips, carrots, kale, kohlrabi, lettuce, mustard, swiss chard, arugula, lettuce, radishes.
• 25:59
  SPEAKER_00: All of those can be planted from seed now.
• 26:03
  SPEAKER_00: You could also try either from seed or small plants, dandelions, um, chicory, and ridigios, uh, also known as endive, or as Martha Stewart says, on dive.
• 26:20
  SPEAKER_00: You can also plant spinach now if the temperatures have cooled down.
• 26:25
  SPEAKER_00: Hot soil will not allow spinach to sprout.
• 26:28
  SPEAKER_00: So it has to be really nice and cool outside for a long period of time before spinach will grow.
• 26:34
  SPEAKER_00: In the herb garden, it's cool season planting time.
• 26:39
  SPEAKER_00: So you can plant cilantro, fever few, dill, parsley, calendulas, uh, chamomile, all from seed, or from small plants if you can find them.
• 26:55
  SPEAKER_00: But those are all good from seed.
• 26:58
  SPEAKER_00: And then perennial herbs like garlic chives, oregano, thyme, sage, mint, and lemon balm can all be planted as small plants from small plants now, or little cuttings or divisions from your friends' gardens, too.
• 27:17
  SPEAKER_00: It's a good time for dividing those and transplanting them and moving them around, all the perennial herbs.
• 27:23
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I don't like to talk about lawn care that much.
• 27:26
  SPEAKER_00: I think everyone should be killing their lawn.
• 27:29
  SPEAKER_00: But if you still have a lawn that you're caring for, at this time of year, uh it's a good time to top dress your grass with a quarter inch depth of compost.
• 27:42
  SPEAKER_00: And a quarter inch is very little, very light.
• 27:46
  SPEAKER_00: You can toss that compost out on the grass just like you're feeding chickens, like just tossing it out, making sure that it doesn't clump up on top of the grass at all.
• 27:56
  SPEAKER_00: Rake it if it gets clumpy, because that can block the sun to the grass and that can kill it.
• 28:04
  SPEAKER_00: So make sure you rake it out.
• 28:06
  SPEAKER_00: Any kind of compost works fine.
• 28:08
  SPEAKER_00: I like poultry compost myself because it's a little bit higher nitrogen generally, which is good for grass for plants that you're growing for leaves.
• 28:20
  SPEAKER_00: And higher nitrogen is better.
• 28:23
  SPEAKER_00: Top dressing the grass is even more important than fertilizing it because the compost adds beneficial microorganisms to the soil, and those friendly critters eat the grass clippings, leaves, and other debris in the soil, and they make it into food that your turf grass can use.
• 28:43
  SPEAKER_00: They also aerate the soil to make it fluffier, and that provides more moisture retention and air that's necessary for the roots to thrive.
• 28:53
  SPEAKER_00: Now, here's something really important about this time of year.
• 28:57
  SPEAKER_00: You're gonna do your last mowing around this time, going into late fall and early winter.
• 29:06
  SPEAKER_00: It's very important to leave the grass mowed high.
• 29:10
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, put your mower on in the highest setting to mow at this time of year.
• 29:16
  SPEAKER_00: Do not mow the grass low.
• 29:19
  SPEAKER_00: At this time of year, it's really bad for the grass.
• 29:23
  SPEAKER_00: And in the winter, only mow it if you need to grind up leaves or to cut down weeds that have gotten too tall.
• 29:34
  SPEAKER_00: When you mow the grass too low at this time of year, or in the winter, it exposes the sensitive parts of the grass to cold weather and that stresses the grass and can kill it.
• 29:48
  SPEAKER_00: And that also leaves open spaces for weeds to grow.
• 29:52
  SPEAKER_00: And the winter time is very weedy time for lawns in Central Texas.
• 29:58
  SPEAKER_00: So leave your grass as tall as you can stand it.
• 30:02
  SPEAKER_00: Put your mower on the highest setting to mow the grass very high and leave the grass real long all winter, and you'll have fewer weeds because there's just less physical space for the weeds to grow.
• 30:16
  SPEAKER_00: Moving on to wildflowers, late October is your last chance to plant blue bonnets and other spring blooming wildflowers from seed.
• 30:28
  SPEAKER_00: So if you got those blue bonnet seeds, your wildflower seeds, and you've just been sitting on them and you haven't gotten to plant them yet, you better get out there and do it because now's the time.
• 30:38
  SPEAKER_00: They need all winter long to grow.
• 30:41
  SPEAKER_00: All right, so get them planted now.
• 30:43
  SPEAKER_00: And a couple of episodes ago, I explained my tried and true blue bonnet planting method.
• 30:50
  SPEAKER_00: So go back and listen to that one if you missed it.
• 30:53
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, y'all.
• 30:54
  SPEAKER_00: Now for the activism portion of our podcast, please get out there and collect some tree seeds for the seed to tree partnership.
• 31:07
  SPEAKER_00: We need to plant millions of trees in Austin and neighboring areas to address climate change, mitigate flood risk, and reverse biodiversity loss due to urban expansion.
• 31:20
  SPEAKER_00: But where will we get the trees to do it?
• 31:24
  SPEAKER_00: The native tree species that are adapted to thrive in our soils and climate are rare in the nursery trade today.
• 31:32
  SPEAKER_00: So, Central Texas Seed Savers partnered with Tree Folks to address the gap in native tree availability in Central Texas.
• 31:42
  SPEAKER_00: Through the seed to tree partnership, volunteers, just like you and me, gather, clean, and prepare seeds from local tree populations.
• 31:54
  SPEAKER_00: Then Tree Folks grows those seeds in its new nursery and plants those trees in the Central Texas community.
• 32:03
  SPEAKER_00: Will you join us?
• 32:06
  SPEAKER_00: Head to CentexSeavers.org to learn how to save tree seeds and send them along to tree folks.
• 32:14
  SPEAKER_00: So some of my favorites to collect in the fall include walnuts.
• 32:20
  SPEAKER_00: If you know of a walnut tree in your area, either a little walnut or a black walnut or an Arizona walnut, we're looking for walnuts.
• 32:29
  SPEAKER_00: We're looking for a huge list of native species.
• 32:33
  SPEAKER_00: So take a look at that list.
• 32:36
  SPEAKER_00: Think about if you know you've got some of those trees on your property, or maybe you know of a tree like that in your neighborhood.
• 32:45
  SPEAKER_00: Check it out.
• 32:46
  SPEAKER_00: We're looking for all kinds of seeds.
• 32:49
  SPEAKER_00: All right, now in conclusion, that wraps up today's episode.
• 32:54
  SPEAKER_00: Check the show notes for links to everything I mentioned.
• 32:58
  SPEAKER_00: And if you enjoyed my podcast, please share it with a fellow Central Texas gardener so I can grow my show.
• 33:06
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Colleen with atxgardens.com.
• 33:10
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks so much for listening.
• 33:14
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks for listening to the ATX Gardens podcast.
• 33:18
  SPEAKER_00: For show notes, tools, and to book a consultation with me, visit atxgardens.com.
• 33:27
  SPEAKER_00: Happy gardening.
• 33:29
  SPEAKER_00: See you next time.