Latest / ATXGardens Podcast / What to Do in Your Central Texas Garden (Oct. 1–15): Cool-Season Planting Begins

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What to Do in Your Central Texas Garden (Oct. 1–15): Cool-Season Planting Begins · 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: Okay, gardening friends.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to early October, my favorite time in Austin, our very underrated autumn.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_00: As always, this episode is sponsored by my landscape consulting business, atxgardens.com.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, let's jump in.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_00: So, in general, October is a really good time to test your irrigation system to make sure it's working correctly.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_00: That's because the irrigators are starting to go into their slow season.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_00: And you can really tell if you need help, it's easier to get a hold of someone to make repairs in the fall and winter than it is in the spring and summer.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_00: And if we have a dry spell at this time of year and you see some wilty plants, it's more unusual for them to wilt at this time of year.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_00: It's easier to tell if things are really dry than at other times of the year.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_00: So take a look at your irrigation system, make sure they're working correctly, make sure your sprinklers are working.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_00: If you have a well, it's a good idea to test the chemistry of your well water every three years and make sure any filters or softeners, water softeners you have are working correctly at this time of year.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_00: There are some salty wells around Central Texas, and it's really important for you to understand how much salt is in your water and all the minerals and everything like that going on if you have well water.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, so do that every few years, and fall is a good time for that.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_00: All right, now what about trees and shrubs in October?
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_00: Keep planting.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_00: You know, planting a tree is one of the best things you can do as a human.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_00: But when you plant a tree, especially oak trees and native fruit trees, like Mexican plums and uh creek plums and uh cherry laurels and escarpment black cherries.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_00: All of those trees support uh myriad wildlife.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_00: They sequester carbon and reverse climate change.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_00: Those trees shade our neighborhoods to moderate temperatures.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_00: Not to mention, trees manufacture oxygen that we need to breathe.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_00: So get to it, start planting some trees.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_00: It solves a lot of problems simultaneously.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_00: Also, it's really good exercise.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_00: And if you get friends to do it, it will build community and prevent you from being lonesome.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, this time of year is also a good time for transplanting woody plants.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_00: So if you have any little sapling trees or shrubs coming up from seed on their own, now is a good time to dig them up and move them, or you can dig them up and share them with friends.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_00: You can do that now.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_00: And I recommend the root slayer shovel for that, the root slayer tool available through the show notes via an Amazon affiliate link.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_00: And I am an Amazon affiliate, and I get commissions if you click and purchase things through my links.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_00: And like I said in the last episode, do not prune any of your woody plants now.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_00: Pruning will stimulate a tree or shrub to grow new branches, and we want all of the trees and shrubs to stop growing right now.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_00: We want them to slow down and prepare for winter.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_00: That includes roses.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_00: So it's important to stop deadheading your roses at this time of year.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_00: Let them go dormant.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_00: Keep listening to future episodes so that you'll know when pruning time starts again.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_00: Now, a little note about fruit trees.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_00: There's not a whole lot to do with your fruit trees in October.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_00: We're letting them go into dormancy.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_00: You'll want to harvest the last of the fruit.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_00: Make sure you're cleaning up any fallen fruit if the animals haven't done that for you already.
• 5:29
  SPEAKER_00: And rake up and remove any fruit tree leaves as they start falling on the ground and fall.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_00: So they probably won't really start dropping until November, but depending on the weather, sometimes they can start dropping a little early.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_00: So if you've got fruit tree leaves falling on the ground, try to pick those up and remove them.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_00: That's the best practice with fruit trees.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_00: Try to keep the area clean around them.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_00: Now, what about perennials and all the good little long-lived garden plants like bulbs and grasses?
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_00: Continue planting perennials, succulents, bulbs, and grasses.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_00: October is an awesome time you can plant everything.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_00: Dividing and transplanting of all of those grasses, perennials, succulents, and bulbs can happen now too.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe you've noticed that some of the perennials and grasses are growing into walkways or they're starting to flop over and grow on top of their neighboring plants.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_00: That means it might be time to transplant or divide those plants instead of trimming them over and over again.
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_00: For moving and dividing perennials and the smaller plants like that, I like to use a border spade.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_00: And there is a link to the border spade in our show notes.
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_00: So get out there and do some gardening, get planting, start transplanting stuff, divide some perennials and bulbs, and share them with your friends.
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_00: And now it's time for our mid-episode sponsor break.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_00: Well, hi y'all, it's Colleen Dieter here from ATXGardens.com.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_00: If you want 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 for you.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_00: I specialize in helping do-it-yourselfers by alleviating their anxieties about their yards.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_00: This week I helped Graham over in Bee Cave and he had questions about his property.
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_00: Graham is a longtime avid gardener and he attends many classes and gardening events.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_00: But he still felt like there were problems with his property that he couldn't solve, and he had questions that he really couldn't get clear answers for.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_00: So I helped Graham by pointing out the excellent collection of plants he already had, many of which were wild, hard-to-find natives that he wasn't able to identify.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_00: I explained the easiest ways for Graham to reach his goals of having a place for vegetables to grow.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_00: And he wanted a landscape that felt a little bit more organized.
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_00: So I gave him some pro tips on how to get that done and just eliminated a bunch of the confusion that he had about moving forward with his projects.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_00: So if you need some guidance like Graham did in order to reach your landscaping goals, make an appointment with me today at atxgardens.com.
• 8:57
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, now let's get back to the episode.
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_00: October is vegetable and herb harvesting time.
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_00: So get out there and enjoy what all of your hard work has produced.
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_00: Take a little time and celebrate your partners, the plants.
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_00: Tell the plants thank you very much for everything that they've done for you.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_00: And uh take a little time to just appreciate the air and the soil and the water and everything that's that it takes to grow food.
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_00: My friend Cass asked me to cover some of the different techniques for building new vegetable gardens, and this will be my last installment.
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_00: So if you missed the past episodes, go back a few episodes and you can learn about different methods for growing vegetables.
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_00: Last time I covered keyhole gardens and Hugo culture.
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_00: This time I'm talking about growing vegetables in pots and containers.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_00: So you really can't beat the convenience of having crops growing right on your patio or balcony.
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_00: A few vegetables in containers and pots can be way less work and far less intimidating than digging a new in-ground bed or constructing a raised bed.
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_00: But there's some really important tips and tricks for growing vegetables in pots.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_00: It's really crucial to understand.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_00: Um, it's really easy to mess it up.
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_00: So here's your pro tips: it's important to find the right containers.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_00: So bigger is better for vegetables.
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_00: Most vegetables need about a five-gallon container, so a five-gallon bucket or larger to really thrive.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_00: Smaller containers can dry out really fast, and most vegetables need steady moisture.
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_00: So if you have a smaller container that's drying out all the time, it can be really hard for the plants to thrive under those conditions.
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_00: So make sure you get bigger containers, at least five gallons or larger.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_00: So that's usually a five-gallon container is usually like between 12 and 18 inches tall and about 12 inches in diameter.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_00: It's really, really important for containers to have holes in them so they can drain.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_00: If water isn't able to drain out of the pot and there's standing water in the pot, around the roots, in the soil, and that's really bad for the plants.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_00: The plants need air in order to thrive.
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_00: Their roots need air.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_00: They have to have access to air in order to grow.
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_00: So it's really important that water be able to drain out of the pots.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_00: It's best if your pots have morning sun and afternoon shade.
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_00: But in the fall, winter, and early spring, all day sun is okay or western sun is okay too.
• 12:15
  SPEAKER_00: You just can't grow when it's really, really hot outside with full blast western sun in the afternoon.
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_00: Most of the year in Austin, it's okay to garden in pots that have all day sun or a little western sun, but not in the summer.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_00: Now, this is really important, and this is what Cass asked me about specifically, which is it's really important to fill your pots and containers with potting soil only.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_00: And this is so important because moisture comes and goes from pots and containers very quickly compared to bigger raised beds or in-ground beds.
• 13:01
  SPEAKER_00: Because the pots are exposed on all sides and sunlight can hit the side of the pot, the water evaporates out of the pots really fast compared to other types of gardens.
• 13:15
  SPEAKER_00: So when that water leaves the soil, the soil contracts.
• 13:21
  SPEAKER_00: And then when you water the plant and the water comes back into the soil, the soil should expand just like a sponge.
• 13:31
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_00: Potting soil is specially formulated to not expand and contract so much.
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_00: It's more stable.
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_00: Umils, especially clay soil, like the soil that we have in the ground around parts of Central Texas, clay it will contract so much in containers that it will become rock hard.
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_00: And it will not accept water and air again after it dries out.
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_00: So you can't get water and air back into the soil once it contracts.
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_00: So you can't just go and dig up soil from your yard and then put that in a pot because it's going to contract too much when it dries out.
• 14:21
  SPEAKER_00: So a really good potting mix is definitely worth the money.
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_00: So look for potting mixes that do not have peat moss.
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_00: Most of them have peat moss, but I prefer potting mixes that do not have peat moss.
• 14:38
  SPEAKER_00: They're more sustainably produced.
• 14:45
  SPEAKER_00: And the mining of peat moss releases a lot of carbon into the atmosphere, and it's really bad for climate change.
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_00: So try to avoid potting mixes that have peat moss.
• 14:59
  SPEAKER_00: I also don't like the way peat moss dries out.
• 15:03
  SPEAKER_00: When it dries, it can be very hard to re-wet to get it wet again.
• 15:09
  SPEAKER_00: So I prefer coconut fiber, something that's cocoa based, also known as core or core, C-O-I-R, coconut husk-based.
• 15:22
  SPEAKER_00: And also try to choose a potting soil that's organic, that doesn't have a fertilizer built into it already, and that'll put you on a better path for more success.
• 15:37
  SPEAKER_00: It's easier to deal with the organic potting soils.
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_00: You can even make your own potting soil if you have a lot of large pots, and it's less expensive to do it that way because potting soil can be very expensive.
• 15:54
  SPEAKER_00: I have a recipe on my website for the potting soil and links to some of the ingredients for the potting soil, but some of the ingredients are heavy and less expensive to buy at your local nursery.
• 16:13
  SPEAKER_00: So see if you can grab those ingredients at the local nurseries.
• 16:53
  SPEAKER_00: So now it's time to turn our attention and our focus to the cool season crops.
• 17:00
  SPEAKER_00: So those are the plants that will grow through the whole winter and keep producing food through the whole winter with just a little bit of freeze protection.
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_00: The warm season crops are ones that will not survive if there's freezing weather, even if you cover them.
• 17:18
  SPEAKER_00: So now planting time, it's time for anything that you plant should be cool season crops that can survive the freezes.
• 17:28
  SPEAKER_00: Because our first freeze is on the way around mid-November or early December.
• 17:37
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, so right now you can plant the following vegetables as small plants.
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, artichokes, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, collards, and leeks.
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_00: You can also plant collards from seed now, too.
• 18:03
  SPEAKER_00: Now October is the kickoff of garlic planting season, and all you have to do is plant an individual garlic clove pointy side up.
• 18:17
  SPEAKER_00: Make sure it's organic.
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_00: Or you can order some heirloom garlic to plant.
• 18:29
  SPEAKER_00: Um, it's pretty easy.
• 18:31
  SPEAKER_00: It's a very long season, so it doesn't get harvested until like May or June.
• 18:37
  SPEAKER_00: So just be aware if you plant garlic, it takes a long time before you harvest it.
• 18:44
  SPEAKER_00: But it's fun to grow and easy to grow and doesn't take up much space.
• 18:50
  SPEAKER_00: Onions can be planted either from seed now or from sets.
• 18:57
  SPEAKER_00: And the sets are sort of little, they're little green onions that are sold by the bunch, like usually just a big bundle wrapped up with a big rubber band.
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_00: And each set is a little green onion that's about the size of a pencil.
• 19:14
  SPEAKER_00: So you can plant those sets, they'll get going, they'll start growing, and then you can harvest them all winter at different sizes.
• 19:24
  SPEAKER_00: And then if you leave them in long enough in through the spring, then they'll start producing bulbs and more like the bulbing onions that you think of when you buy an onion at the store.
• 19:40
  SPEAKER_00: When you plant them from sets, they'll just go through their whole cycle of getting bigger and bigger.
• 19:45
  SPEAKER_00: So you can eat them as scallions, you can pick them earlier in the winter and eat them as scallions, or in the spring, they start to make little bulbs, and those are called spring onions.
• 19:57
  SPEAKER_00: So onions in October you can plant either from seed or from sets.
• 20:03
  SPEAKER_00: I've had better luck planting onion seeds in October and waiting to plant sets in January when the days start getting shorter or the days start getting longer.
• 20:19
  SPEAKER_00: I found the onions do better from sets at that time of year, but that's just my personal experience.
• 20:27
  SPEAKER_00: And the experts and the calendars, the vegetable gardening calendar, say that you can plant sets or seeds in the fall.
• 20:37
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 20:39
  SPEAKER_00: Now you can plant the following vegetable crops from seed sown directly into the garden: fava beans, beets, turnips, carrots, kale, kolrabi, lettuce, and cool season greens like mustard, Swiss chard, and arugula, and more peas.
• 21:08
  SPEAKER_00: I talked about that in the last episode.
• 21:10
  SPEAKER_00: It's time to plant peas like sugar peas, snow peas, and snap peas.
• 21:16
  SPEAKER_00: And then radishes.
• 21:18
  SPEAKER_00: It's a great time for planting radishes.
• 21:21
  SPEAKER_00: Um, my favorite kind is called French breakfast.
• 21:26
  SPEAKER_00: They're really good, sliced uh thin on with bread and butter.
• 21:32
  SPEAKER_00: Just get a good piece of bread, put some butter on there, slice up those radishes, a little bit of salt.
• 21:39
  SPEAKER_00: It's wonderful.
• 21:41
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 21:42
  SPEAKER_00: Now you can plant spinach from seed now, if the temperatures outside are cool enough.
• 21:53
  SPEAKER_00: If the soil is still warm, spinach will not sprout.
• 21:58
  SPEAKER_00: The soil has to be cool.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: In order for spinach to sprout.
• 22:02
  SPEAKER_00: So you can plant spinach almost all winter long.
• 22:07
  SPEAKER_00: So don't rush into it if it's still hot outside at the beginning of October and the soil is still warm because the seeds won't sprout.
• 22:17
  SPEAKER_00: Now in the herb garden, we're also transitioning entirely to cool season herbs.
• 22:23
  SPEAKER_00: So go ahead and plant cilantro, dill, parsley, calendulas, fever few, and chamomile, all from seed.
• 22:33
  SPEAKER_00: And you can still continue planting all of the perennial herbs like garlic, chives, oregano, sage, mint, lemon balm, thyme, all of those guys can be planted as small plants now.
• 22:51
  SPEAKER_00: I want to say a little bit about rosemary.
• 22:55
  SPEAKER_00: You could plant rosemary in the fall.
• 22:58
  SPEAKER_00: The thing is, our winters have been so cold for the last few years.
• 23:04
  SPEAKER_00: It's been a little hard for rosemary to survive.
• 23:08
  SPEAKER_00: Last winter was okay, and a lot of people's rosemary made it through, but there's still a few nights that got down into the teens.
• 23:19
  SPEAKER_00: And if it gets much below 20 uh, 25 or 20 degrees, that can kill rosemary.
• 23:29
  SPEAKER_00: So I've been either planting rosemary in the herb garden in the spring and then harvesting it before the first freeze, harvesting the entire plant before the first freeze and just hanging it up to dry and growing it more as an annual instead of a perennial because I get so disappointed if they die in the cold.
• 23:56
  SPEAKER_00: Or you can grow one in a pot and bring it indoors, but it's kind of it can be hard to grow rosemary in pots sometimes.
• 24:06
  SPEAKER_00: It's kind of hard to get the moisture right.
• 24:08
  SPEAKER_00: They're a really good companion plant for citrus.
• 24:11
  SPEAKER_00: If you have a citrus tree in a pot, usually rosemary likes to be with the citrus, and then you can bring them, bring them indoors during freezing weather together.
• 24:22
  SPEAKER_00: So just wanted to give you some tips about rosemary.
• 24:26
  SPEAKER_00: And I say the same thing about lavender too.
• 24:29
  SPEAKER_00: I feel like the lavender can be sensitive to the winters here, depending on the variety.
• 24:34
  SPEAKER_00: And I've started growing them as annuals instead of perennials.
• 24:41
  SPEAKER_00: Now, wildflowers.
• 24:43
  SPEAKER_00: There's still time to plant blue bonnets and other spring blooming wildflowers, like pink evening primrose, your um, what do we got?
• 24:54
  SPEAKER_00: Cone flowers, the other types of primroses, the yellow ones, Blyatris, you know, all these great wildflowers that we get to enjoy in Central Texas.
• 25:05
  SPEAKER_00: And in the last episode, I explained my tried and true blue bonnet planting method.
• 25:13
  SPEAKER_00: So go back and listen to that one if you missed it.
• 25:16
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, and now the activism portion of the program.
• 25:23
  SPEAKER_00: So in October, I'm gonna ask you to explore the idea of rest and pleasure as resistance against systemic injustices.
• 25:38
  SPEAKER_00: October is such a wonderful time in Austin.
• 25:41
  SPEAKER_00: There's so much fun stuff going on.
• 25:44
  SPEAKER_00: There's so much to do in the garden, there's so much that you can harvest from the garden.
• 25:50
  SPEAKER_00: There's a lot blooming.
• 25:53
  SPEAKER_00: Butterflies start migrating through.
• 25:57
  SPEAKER_00: It's just a really delightful, delightful time.
• 26:01
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm I'm still exploring in my life how rest and pleasure feeds me, and how rest and pleasure prevents me from getting burned out on my work with ATX Gardens and my work with Central Texas seed savers.
• 26:21
  SPEAKER_00: October can be very busy for gardening organizations and anyone in the eco movement.
• 26:30
  SPEAKER_00: And I know that I need rest and fun to continue my work at a sustainable rate over the long term.
• 26:39
  SPEAKER_00: Think about systemic injustices and how they depend on us being too burned out or too busy to pay attention, to fight, to vote, and to make change.
• 27:01
  SPEAKER_00: Try to remember that doom scrolling and outrage addiction makes folks feel powerless and hopeless.
• 27:10
  SPEAKER_00: What can you do instead?
• 27:13
  SPEAKER_00: What can you do instead of being addicted to outrage?
• 27:18
  SPEAKER_00: What can you do instead of doom scrolling?
• 27:22
  SPEAKER_00: With the height of fall upon us in Austin, maybe it's time to make some changes in your schedule to allow for more relaxation and fun activities that feed you and that make you feel ready to get back to work.
• 27:37
  SPEAKER_00: I know I'm trying to be mindful of that this fall, and I hope that you will be too.
• 27:44
  SPEAKER_00: Now, in conclusion, that wraps up today's episode.
• 27:49
  SPEAKER_00: Check the show notes for links to everything I mentioned.
• 27:53
  SPEAKER_00: And if you enjoyed my podcast, please share it with a fellow Central Texas gardener.
• 27:59
  SPEAKER_00: It really helps me to grow the show.
• 28:03
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Colleen with atxgardens.com, and I'll see you next time.
• 28:09
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks for listening to the ATX Gardens podcast.
• 28:14
  SPEAKER_00: For show notes, tools, and to book a consultation with me, visit atxgardens.com.
• 28:23
  SPEAKER_00: Happy gardening.
• 28:24
  SPEAKER_00: See you next time.