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What to Do in Your Central Texas Garden (Nov. 1–15): Final Fall Planting & Freeze Prep · 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: This is Colleen Dieter with the ATX Gardens podcast, and today I'll be sharing with you what to do in your garden in the first half of November.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_00: And as always, this episode is sponsored by ATXGardens.com.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_00: That's my landscape consulting business.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, so let's get going.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_00: In general, in the first half of November, it's the time of year when the deer start rubbing their antlers on small trees, anything with smooth bark, so that could be even mature fruit trees that still have smooth bark, crepe myrtles, palo verdes, and any new young trees.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_00: They also love agaves and spineless prickly pear cactus.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_00: So make sure that you're protecting those plants with trunk guards or small fences and repellent.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_00: And I have links in the show notes to tree trunk guards and also some animal repellent granules.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_00: And the animal repellent granules can also help with critters who might be digging up your new plants and uh anybody sniffing around who's interested in your in your garden and maybe causing some mischief.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_00: Also, in November now, it's time to start getting ready for cold weather in the garden, and you'll want to consider which plants in your yard might need to be covered when temperatures dip below 32 degrees.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_00: So keep in mind that our first average freeze in Austin is December 1st, and that's average.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_00: So that means it might get down to 32 degrees or lower around December 1st, sometimes earlier.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_00: And if your garden is located outside of central Austin, um, you might get a freeze even earlier than that, uh, more like November 15th.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_00: So make sure you get out your covers for your plants and make plans for protecting sensitive plants.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_00: That might be also like getting out a dolly or a hand truck or a wagon for plants that you need to bring indoors when temperatures get below 32 degrees.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_00: Um, that might mean preemptively moving, starting to move plants into your greenhouse if you're lucky enough to have a greenhouse.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_00: Get your pop-up greenhouse out if you have one of those, all that kind of stuff.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_00: Um, for trees and plants that can't be moved, uh, you can wrap them in incandescent holiday lights.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_00: Make sure they're the old-timey ones that actually get warm.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_00: LED lights do not get warm enough, but you can wrap like small trees in uh holiday lights that get give off some warmth to help prevent those trees from freezing.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_00: And remember that watering the plants is even more important than covering the plants, and making sure that the plants are well hydrated during a freeze event is crucial.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_00: Think really hard at this time of year about which plants are worth covering and which ones you might be okay with taking a risk on or allowing to die.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_00: It's totally okay to let some plants go in the winter.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_00: You have to really think about what it's worth to you to protect those plants from freezes.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_00: So, and I want to emphasize too that not all of your plants need to be covered.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, so plants that are native to Texas that are well established, that have been in the ground for at least a month, they're probably going to survive the winter.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_00: So you don't need to cover them.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_00: Sensitive plants that you do need to cover include any perennials that were planted in the last four weeks or so before the freeze.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_00: So, not the last four weeks before you're listening to this podcast, but the last four weeks before a freeze event, before the temperature gets below 32 degrees.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_00: You'll also want to think about covering or protecting plants that are not cold hardy in our area.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_00: So that includes citrus plants like lemons, oranges, any tropical plants that you might have outdoors right now, like sanseverias or lyre leaf figs, Mediterranean plants, some of them are sensitive to cold, so you really want to pay attention.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_00: And especially uh cacti and succulents that are not native to Texas.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_00: So if you have cacti and succulents that are from other deserts like Southern California, where it doesn't freeze very much, or South Africa or Australia, places that don't get as cold as Austin, those plants are vulnerable.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_00: So when in doubt, if you're not sure if you need to cover your plants or not, do a little research and find out what USDA cold hardiness zones your plants are hardy to.
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, in Austin, we are zone nine.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_00: Surrounding areas of Austin outside of town and low-lying valleys might still get as cold as zone eight.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_00: And in the next episode, I'm gonna explain more about what cold hardiness zones mean and how to interpret that information because a lot of people have been asking me about that lately, and it is very confusing, and there's a ton of misinformation and misinterpretation of what the USDA hardiness zones mean.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_00: So in the next episode, I'll go in depth on that.
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_00: Now, winter is on its way, believe it or not, and you're going to need to know how to care for the plants during winter, which involves a ton of pruning and cutting back.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_00: So check out my three-volume set of booklets called Let's Care for Texas Plants that is available digitally or on hard copy at atxgardens.com.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_00: And of course, there's a link to that in the show notes.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_00: So in Let's Care for Texas Plants, I describe how to prune and trim perennials, shrubs, and trees that thrive in central Texas.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_00: And I give little diagrams about how to do it and descriptions.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_00: And a lot of my listeners and customers have found that guide to be really helpful, valuable.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_00: Some people have said it's their favorite gardening book.
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_00: So check that out on atxgardens.com.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_00: Now, what's going on with our woody plants in our Central Texas landscapes these days?
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, so continue planting and transplanting trees, shrubs, and woody vines.
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_00: And woody vines include things like crossvine and Carolina gessamine.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_00: So the vast majority of woody plants like oaks, hollies, apples, and pears can all tolerate cold temperatures through the whole winter because they're not actively growing, they're dormant at that time, so it's still a really good time for planting most of the woody plants.
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_00: Even though there's cold weather coming, they're going to be totally fine.
• 10:07
  SPEAKER_00: Keep planting.
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_00: But there's a handful of woody plants that are not okay to plant now because they can't handle cold weather when they're newly planted and not established yet.
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_00: And so that includes some trees and shrubs that are not native to central Texas that you know are native to places that don't get as cold as Austin.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_00: So that includes figs, loquats, pomegranates, bay laurels, and Greek myrtles, just to name a few.
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_00: It's a very small group of Mediterranean and tropical uh trees that normally will grow through the winter here and be totally fine.
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_00: They will survive the winter once they're established.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_00: But it's a little bit dodgy to plant them at this time of year because if they're brand new in their new home and they're not able to drink water fast enough, they're gonna be a little bit desiccated and they won't be able to survive cold weather, if freezing weather specifically when it gets 32 degrees or below.
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_00: Now you could plant them and try protecting them, covering them.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_00: If you already have them and you really want to put them in the ground, that's up to you.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_00: There's no guarantee that covering them would help.
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, it usually helps, but if it gets really, really cold, the covers only buy you so many degrees.
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, if it gets really cold, like down to 20, and you have covers and that give you, you know, 10 degrees warmer underneath the covers, then you know you're still below freezing, right?
• 12:17
  SPEAKER_00: And the tree can still get damaged.
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_00: So just keep that in mind.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_00: If you have any of those sensitive woody plants in pots right now, you might just want to keep them in the pots and bring them indoors when there's gonna be a freeze to protect them and then plant them in March instead.
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_00: Totally up to you whether you want to try to keep it in a pot all winter and protect it in the pot, or if you'd rather just get them in the ground now and protect them.
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_00: But it's only the Mediterranean plants or tropical plants that you really have to worry about.
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_00: So now, other things going on with woody plants right now.
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_00: Like I mentioned in the last episode, do not prune your woody plants now.
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_00: Pruning can stimulate trees and shrubs and woody vines to grow new branches.
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_00: And we want the trees and shrubs to stop growing.
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_00: We want them to slow down and be prepared for winter.
• 13:24
  SPEAKER_00: So keep listening to future episodes to know when pruning time starts again.
• 13:29
  SPEAKER_00: Do not fertilize your woody plants now either.
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_00: It's not a good time for fertilizing.
• 13:35
  SPEAKER_00: They all need to stop growing to be ready for winter.
• 13:40
  SPEAKER_00: Now, your tree leaves may be falling.
• 13:44
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, your oak leaves, certainly the pecans are falling by now.
• 13:49
  SPEAKER_00: It's a great time to leave those leaves in your flower beds.
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_00: The leaves, tree leaves make a great mulch for all of your plants, and they're very important habitat for beneficial insects like fireflies.
• 14:07
  SPEAKER_00: A layer of tree leaves about three inches deep is great.
• 14:13
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, if the tree leaves get much deeper than three inches, you can sometimes get problems with uh roaches living in the leaves.
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_00: So if you have a layer that's too thick, go ahead and put some of those leaves in your compost or use them as mulch in the vegetable garden instead.
• 14:38
  SPEAKER_00: And then make sure that you rake, sweep, vacuum, mow, or blow all of those leaves off of your lawn.
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_00: If you still have a turfgrass lawn, get them off of small plants in the shady part of the yard.
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_00: So things like sedges, lyre leaf sage, um, some of the smaller shade-loving plants can get smothered by too many leaves, too.
• 15:08
  SPEAKER_00: So keep that in mind.
• 15:10
  SPEAKER_00: Get them off of your gravel areas and pavement.
• 15:14
  SPEAKER_00: I really like an adjustable rake for that job, especially if I'm raking around sedges and trying to uncover small plants that might get covered up by bigger tree leaves that can block the light to them.
• 15:32
  SPEAKER_00: The adjustable rake is really good for that.
• 15:34
  SPEAKER_00: So there's a link to the adjustable rake in the show notes.
• 15:39
  SPEAKER_00: All of these links go to Amazon, and I am an Amazon affiliate, so I get commissions if you click on those links and uh purchase something.
• 15:51
  SPEAKER_00: So now November is the best time of year for cutting down and removing unwanted woody plants because all the woody plants are going dormant now, and if you try removing them at this time of year, you'll get a few months of enjoyment before they try to grow back in the spring.
• 16:14
  SPEAKER_00: So if you've got a really hard-to-kill woody plant that you're trying to remove from your property, like uh chinaberry or nandinas, now's a really good time to tackle that.
• 16:29
  SPEAKER_00: Get out there, start cutting them down, start trying to pull those out because it'll be a lot more satisfying because it'll be a few months before they try to grow back.
• 16:40
  SPEAKER_00: What's happening with our fruit trees in Central Texas in the first half of November?
• 16:48
  SPEAKER_00: Stop fertilizing everybody.
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_00: Don't fertilize anyone right now, especially citrus trees.
• 16:55
  SPEAKER_00: We really need to slow down their growth for winter time.
• 17:00
  SPEAKER_00: You don't want to stimulate new growth that might get damaged in cold weather.
• 17:06
  SPEAKER_00: Or if you're like me and you keep your citrus trees in pots so that you can bring them indoors when there's a freeze, that new tender growth can get damaged even when you're just moving the plant around.
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_00: So it's just better for the plant to try to slow them down and not fertilize so they're not actively growing.
• 17:31
  SPEAKER_00: So for your palm fruits like apples and pears, and your stone fruits like nectarines, peaches, and plums, this is the time of year to spray with a copper fungicide or lime sulfur or Bordeaux mix to prevent fungal diseases.
• 18:04
  SPEAKER_00: So we usually do that when the trees have dropped most of their leaves.
• 18:10
  SPEAKER_00: So that usually happens around this time of year, but it's very weather dependent.
• 18:16
  SPEAKER_00: With the drought and heat that we had earlier in the fall, they may have dropped earlier for you this year.
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_00: Mine are still hanging on to their leaves, but usually around November, it's the time when the trees start to drop their leaves.
• 18:35
  SPEAKER_00: Once they've dropped most of their leaves, it's time to spray them to help control fungal diseases.
• 18:44
  SPEAKER_00: Now, I like to spray with copper because copper can also control bacterial diseases like fire blight, and it can also add a little bit of copper to the soil when it drips off of the trees.
• 19:04
  SPEAKER_00: If you need copper in your soil per your soil test results.
• 19:10
  SPEAKER_00: At my house, I do need some copper in the soil.
• 19:13
  SPEAKER_00: So for me, it makes sense to spray with copper.
• 19:17
  SPEAKER_00: If you do a soil test and you need some sulfur in your soil, lime sulfur might be a better choice for you to spray.
• 19:28
  SPEAKER_00: So it just depends on your particular situation.
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_00: There's a link in the show notes to a copper fungicide that I like and also a little handheld sprayer that I really like to use.
• 19:44
  SPEAKER_00: I like this small handheld sprayer because you can get up really close to the tree with it and not get a lot of overspray into the environment because copper can be toxic for, well, because copper is toxic for fish and amphibians and small reptiles.
• 20:05
  SPEAKER_00: So I try not to get it sprayed all over my whole yard.
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_00: I try to just concentrate it around the fruit tree area and the fruit trees themselves.
• 20:21
  SPEAKER_00: Try to learn a little bit more about it.
• 20:23
  SPEAKER_00: So I talked a little bit earlier about leaf management from your shade trees.
• 20:32
  SPEAKER_00: And it's a great idea at this time of year to gather up shade tree leaves from your landscape, even from your neighbor's yard.
• 20:44
  SPEAKER_00: Spread those shade trees out in the orchard and mow over them to add organic matter to the soil.
• 20:53
  SPEAKER_00: Make sure that your fruit trees are mulched, that they have a mulch circle around them to protect them from mowing equipment.
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_00: It's a good time for that sort of care for the fruit trees.
• 21:07
  SPEAKER_00: I haven't done this at my house, but I think I'm going to.
• 21:11
  SPEAKER_00: A lot of fruit tree experts recommend painting the trunks of your peaches, pears, nectarines, apples, and plums, but painting the trunks white because the white paint protects the bark from splitting during freezing weather.
• 21:33
  SPEAKER_00: And it also can protect the bark from sun scald in the summer.
• 21:39
  SPEAKER_00: So all of the palm fruits and stone fruits have like really thin bark, smooth bark, and that it can be that bark is sensitive to extreme weather and freezing and thawing.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: Cycles and sunburn.
• 22:03
  SPEAKER_00: So painting those trunks is sort of like a sunblock for the tree to help reflect some of the sun's light and heat and prevent damage to the tree trunk.
• 22:18
  SPEAKER_00: And I have seen peach trees in particular get sun scald or cold damage.
• 22:25
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that painting those trunks probably would have helped them.
• 22:30
  SPEAKER_00: So what I understand is you're supposed to use like white latex paint diluted 50% with water so it's not too thick on the tree.
• 22:43
  SPEAKER_00: If it's too thick, that can inhibit the tree's ability to breathe through its bark.
• 22:49
  SPEAKER_00: So dilute that latex paint, white paint 50% with water.
• 22:57
  SPEAKER_00: And that paint can also help deter insect and animal damage, and it can make it easier to see insect problems on the trunk, too.
• 23:09
  SPEAKER_00: You'll be able to see the insects walking on the trunk and uh see if there's a problem.
• 23:17
  SPEAKER_00: Now moving on to the perennial garden.
• 23:22
  SPEAKER_00: So I want to reiterate for our new listeners: perennials are the plants that grow up from the ground in the spring.
• 23:35
  SPEAKER_00: They bloom in summer and fall, and then their tops die when we get below 32 degrees in the winter, and then they grow back again in the spring.
• 23:50
  SPEAKER_00: That's the textbook definition of a perennial plant, really.
• 23:55
  SPEAKER_00: Or what I should say is when you go to the nursery and you go to the perennial section, most of the plants that they're going to sell in that section have that life cycle.
• 24:09
  SPEAKER_00: Or if you order from a nursery online, they're going to use the term perennial for a plant that goes through that life cycle typically.
• 24:20
  SPEAKER_00: But there are other plants that are sold as perennials that maybe stay green year-round or have an opposite life cycle where they grow actively during the winter, bloom in the spring, and then go dormant in the summer, where the tops of the plants die in the summer and then they grow back again in the fall.
• 24:46
  SPEAKER_00: So it's a little bit confusing, but basically any small plant that's not really woody that blooms a lot and lives for more than one year is considered to be a perennial.
• 25:00
  SPEAKER_00: So I just wanted to explain that to everybody when I'm talking about this section of the podcast.
• 25:06
  SPEAKER_00: I wanted to explain what a perennial is.
• 25:09
  SPEAKER_00: So it includes all of the little plants that bloom a lot and live for more than one year.
• 25:18
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, so in the first half of November, we want to finish planting all of your perennials, finish planting your succulents and bulbs and ornamental grasses.
• 25:34
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, this is your last chance to get everybody planted before the threat of freezing weather sets in.
• 25:44
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, so newly planted perennials, succulents, bulbs, and grasses are vulnerable to freezing weather, where the freezing weather will kill the top of the plant, but that plant may not be well established enough.
• 26:01
  SPEAKER_00: It may not have enough energy stored in its roots in order to grow back in the spring.
• 26:09
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, so you take a chance when you start planting perennials, succulents, bulbs, and grasses in the winter.
• 26:18
  SPEAKER_00: And we're getting into winter time now.
• 26:21
  SPEAKER_00: So if you have perennials, succulents, bulbs, or ornamental grasses in pots right now, get them in the ground.
• 26:31
  SPEAKER_00: ASAP.
• 26:33
  SPEAKER_00: Do not acquire any more if you can avoid it.
• 26:39
  SPEAKER_00: But try to get everybody planted right now.
• 26:42
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, it's your last chance.
• 26:45
  SPEAKER_00: Now I have some really exciting news.
• 26:48
  SPEAKER_00: I have a sponsor other than atxgardens.com, our first real sponsor.
• 26:54
  SPEAKER_00: I'm very excited.
• 26:57
  SPEAKER_00: And in order to incentivize you to listen to the entire sponsor break, I am announcing some of my upcoming classes and events at the end of the sponsor break.
• 27:12
  SPEAKER_00: So make sure you listen so you will get the details about some classes and events coming up.
• 27:19
  SPEAKER_00: Do you feel inspired by the ATX Gardens podcast, but you don't have the time or the back strength to do all that gardening?
• 27:29
  SPEAKER_00: Hire Garden Bug.
• 27:32
  SPEAKER_00: We do the jobs that you don't want to: weeding, mulching, planting, pruning, small installations, and more.
• 27:43
  SPEAKER_00: So whether you need recurring upkeep, a one-off project, or a full-on garden reset, this bug does it all at garden-bug.com.
• 27:57
  SPEAKER_00: Mention the ATX Gardens Podcast and get a free quote.
• 28:02
  SPEAKER_00: That's garden-bug.com.
• 28:06
  SPEAKER_00: We'll get dirty so you don't have to.
• 28:10
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm so pleased that's my friend Cass who is starting her gardening business.
• 28:16
  SPEAKER_00: And y'all, if you need gardening help, she is awesome.
• 28:21
  SPEAKER_00: She's very reliable.
• 28:23
  SPEAKER_00: Go ahead and check her out at garden-bug.com.
• 28:28
  SPEAKER_00: Hey y'all, this is Colleen Dieter from atxgardens.com.
• 28:34
  SPEAKER_00: If you need personalized help with your landscape, book a consultation with me and we'll walk through your yard together, answer all of your questions, and create a strategy that feels doable just for you.
• 28:48
  SPEAKER_00: I specialize in helping do-it-yourselfers by alleviating their anxieties about their yards.
• 28:55
  SPEAKER_00: This week I helped Amanda in Northwest Hills, who just purchased her first home.
• 29:02
  SPEAKER_00: Amanda has a big yard with a very large septic field, and she wanted to know what plants she could and couldn't plant on top of the septic.
• 29:11
  SPEAKER_00: She also wanted to know about the plants that she inherited from the former homeowners and whether to keep them or to remove them.
• 29:21
  SPEAKER_00: When I left, Amanda was very excited to get started gardening with her new yard, and I felt so happy that I could help her out figuring out what steps to take.
• 29:34
  SPEAKER_00: Those are the kinds of questions I can answer during a consultation.
• 29:38
  SPEAKER_00: So if you need some help reaching your landscape goals, make an appointment today at atxgardens.com.
• 29:47
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, now coming up on November 21st, I am leading a tree identification walk from 10 a.m.
• 30:01
  SPEAKER_00: to noon at Circle Acres in Southeast Austin.
• 30:07
  SPEAKER_00: You can go to atxgardens.com slash events to follow the link to register for that.
• 30:16
  SPEAKER_00: It's free and open to all, but we do appreciate if you register first.
• 30:22
  SPEAKER_00: So we'll know you're coming.
• 30:24
  SPEAKER_00: Circle Acres is a really cool location.
• 30:26
  SPEAKER_00: If you've never been there, it's a very special nature preserve that used to be uh a landfill that's been remediated and now is a haven for lots of interesting native trees and plenty of wildlife.
• 30:44
  SPEAKER_00: So it is a really cool place.
• 30:46
  SPEAKER_00: I really encourage you to join me if you want to learn more about trees.
• 30:52
  SPEAKER_00: And then mark your calendar, save the date for the last Saturday in January, which is National Seed Swap Day.
• 31:05
  SPEAKER_00: That's January 30th.
• 31:07
  SPEAKER_00: We're going to have our big Central Texas Seed Savers Seed Swap event, which is always at the Central Library in downtown Austin.
• 31:21
  SPEAKER_00: This is our first time doing it on National Seed Swap Day in January.
• 31:27
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm very excited about that and would love to celebrate with y'all.
• 31:32
  SPEAKER_00: And you it's free and open to all, and you don't have to bring seeds to participate.
• 31:38
  SPEAKER_00: We always have plenty of seeds to share with everyone.
• 31:42
  SPEAKER_00: But if you have seeds, please bring them.
• 31:48
  SPEAKER_00: More details to come in future episodes.
• 31:53
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, now it's time to talk about vegetables and herbs.
• 31:59
  SPEAKER_00: What's happening in the vegetable garden and the herb garden?
• 32:05
  SPEAKER_00: So in November, if you're growing vegetables, you'll want to get ready to cover your vegetable and herb garden during freezing weather.
• 32:17
  SPEAKER_00: Keep in mind, like I said earlier, watering is even more important than covering.
• 32:25
  SPEAKER_00: So make sure those plants are really well hydrated so that way they're more likely to survive freezing weather and not get cold damaged.
• 32:36
  SPEAKER_00: Now, this is really your last chance to plant winter vegetables to get a really good result because now there's going to be more frequent freezes throughout the winter typically.
• 32:59
  SPEAKER_00: I'm going to discuss that more in depth in the next episode.
• 33:03
  SPEAKER_00: But really, this is your last chance to get planting with minimal risk for cold damage.
• 33:13
  SPEAKER_00: And like I said, in the next episode, I'll go more in depth about that.
• 33:18
  SPEAKER_00: So right now you can still plant the following vegetables as small plants from transplants.
• 33:27
  SPEAKER_00: So that includes broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, collards, and leeks.
• 33:41
  SPEAKER_00: Also kale, kolrabi, and lettuce.
• 33:46
  SPEAKER_00: And then you can also still do garlic.
• 33:50
  SPEAKER_00: Garlic will grow all winter and spring.
• 33:54
  SPEAKER_00: And then you can harvest them in June.
• 33:58
  SPEAKER_00: So they have a very long season, but they don't take up very much space.
• 34:03
  SPEAKER_00: So you can always cram some garlic into the corners of the garden.
• 34:09
  SPEAKER_00: Now you can plant the following vegetables from seeds sown directly into the garden.
• 34:16
  SPEAKER_00: So that's fava beans, beets, turnips, carrots, kale, kalrabi, lettuce, all of your cool season greens.
• 34:30
  SPEAKER_00: So that's like mustard, Swiss chard, arugula, dandelions, chicory, redicchio, some of the fun Asian greens like bok choy, Mizuna mustards, all that good stuff, radishes.
• 34:51
  SPEAKER_00: It's a really good time for planting radishes and spinach.
• 34:56
  SPEAKER_00: So go ahead and get those seeds going.
• 34:59
  SPEAKER_00: It's a good time for it, and it's really your last chance.
• 35:03
  SPEAKER_00: And um, speaking of last chances, too, it's also kind of getting to be the last chance for planting any cool season herbs that you're interested in.
• 35:14
  SPEAKER_00: So that's cilantro, fever few, dill, parsley, calundulas, and chamomile.
• 35:23
  SPEAKER_00: All of those can be planted now from seed.
• 35:27
  SPEAKER_00: So you can direct sow seed right into the garden if you haven't already get to it.
• 35:34
  SPEAKER_00: It's getting to be your last chance here.
• 35:37
  SPEAKER_00: It's really the last chance.
• 35:39
  SPEAKER_00: Now it's also definitely the last chance to plant perennial herbs like garlic chives, oregano, thyme, sage, mint, lemon balm, all of those guys, you can plant them from transplants, from little plants right now, but avoid acquiring any new ones, okay, because it's really getting late for planting those.
• 36:07
  SPEAKER_00: They could be damaged by the cold if they're planted too late.
• 36:12
  SPEAKER_00: So it's your last chance to get those guys in the ground.
• 36:15
  SPEAKER_00: Now I'm gonna talk a little bit again this episode about lawn care.
• 36:21
  SPEAKER_00: Again, I'm going to encourage you if you have a lawn still, make sure that you know why you have a lawn.
• 36:30
  SPEAKER_00: If you have kids, you need a place to kick a ball, you have a dog, needs a place to run around, you know, make sure that your grass is serving a purpose for you because grass is hard to maintain and requires a lot of inputs.
• 36:45
  SPEAKER_00: If you're caring for a real lawn, if you're like most people in Austin and you're just mowing whatever grows there, that's fine.
• 36:55
  SPEAKER_00: You know, get yourself an electric mower at least, but most people are doing that.
• 36:59
  SPEAKER_00: But if you're really trying to grow nice grass, I would ask you to make sure that you're, I am asking you to make sure that you know why you're doing it.
• 37:09
  SPEAKER_00: But I'm gonna give some lawn care tips for those of you who still have grass.
• 37:14
  SPEAKER_00: Anytime between October and March is a good time to top dress your turf grass with a quarter inch of compost.
• 37:23
  SPEAKER_00: Top dressing the grass is even more important than fertilizing it because the compost adds beneficial microorganisms to the soil.
• 37:33
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so all those little friendly critters who live in the soil eat the grass clippings and chopped up tree leaves and everything organic in the soil, and they make it into food that the grass can use.
• 37:51
  SPEAKER_00: Those little critters that live in the soil, they also aerate the soil to make it fluffier.
• 37:58
  SPEAKER_00: And when the soil is fluffier, then the roots of the grass can get more water, nutrients, and air, and they really need air for their roots to thrive.
• 38:14
  SPEAKER_00: Make sure in the winter that you leave the grass tall.
• 38:19
  SPEAKER_00: Do not mow the grass in winter except to grind up leaves and to cut down weeds.
• 38:28
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 38:29
  SPEAKER_00: Do not mow the grass low in the wintertime.
• 38:33
  SPEAKER_00: It's really bad for the grass.
• 38:36
  SPEAKER_00: Put your mower deck on the highest setting, okay?
• 38:41
  SPEAKER_00: If you're gonna mow in the winter because you're trying to grind up leaves and cut down weeds, mow on the highest setting.
• 38:50
  SPEAKER_00: If you mow the grass too short in the wintertime, it will expose sensitive parts of the grass to cold weather, and that really stresses the grass.
• 39:02
  SPEAKER_00: And removing the grass blades in the winter just leaves more open space for weeds to sprout.
• 39:11
  SPEAKER_00: And the lawn always gets very weedy in the winter in Austin.
• 39:16
  SPEAKER_00: It's just really normal because we have cool season weeds that grow when the grass is dormant.
• 39:23
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, during the winter, get your lawn mower serviced.
• 39:27
  SPEAKER_00: Make sure the gas is drained out of it if you still have a gas-powered mower.
• 39:32
  SPEAKER_00: Don't let the gas sit in it over the winter.
• 39:35
  SPEAKER_00: Run all the gas out of it because if you let the gas sit in the engine during the winter time, it will turn into gel and it ruins the engine.
• 39:46
  SPEAKER_00: So make sure you run all the gas out of it.
• 39:48
  SPEAKER_00: If you're going to store it for the winter, put it away empty.
• 39:52
  SPEAKER_00: Remember also, winter is a good time to get a new mower blade if you need it.
• 40:00
  SPEAKER_00: Make sure the mower blade is sharpened.
• 40:04
  SPEAKER_00: Sharpening the blade is really important, or getting a new blade is really important because the sharp blade cuts through the grass, making a nice clean cut instead of creating a jagged wound on the grass leaves that won't heal well and can allow for pathogens to get in, and you're more likely to get grass diseases that way.
• 40:33
  SPEAKER_00: And it kind of looks ugly.
• 40:35
  SPEAKER_00: It leaves like a jagged wound and it leaves like a little brown sort of cast to the whole lawn.
• 40:45
  SPEAKER_00: So that's really important.
• 40:47
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, enough of that.
• 40:50
  SPEAKER_00: At this time of year, if you planted wildflowers in the fall or you let your wildflowers from last year go to seed, they should be sprouting now.
• 41:06
  SPEAKER_00: So start looking in your wildflower areas for little baby seedlings of your wildflowers.
• 41:15
  SPEAKER_00: They should be sprouting.
• 41:18
  SPEAKER_00: And be aware of what they look like when they're coming up so that you know you're looking at wildflower seedlings and you don't mistake them for weeds.
• 41:32
  SPEAKER_00: So you should expect to see little wildflowers coming up at this time of year if you planted seeds or you let your wildflowers go to seed from last year, you'll start seeing those seedlings coming up.
• 41:46
  SPEAKER_00: So really be observant and look really closely.
• 41:50
  SPEAKER_00: Take pictures and see if you can identify your wildflower seedlings coming up.
• 41:57
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, and make sure that they're not weeds.
• 42:00
  SPEAKER_00: Native American Seed, their website, which is seedsource.com, they have pictures of the seedlings, so you'll know what to look for.
• 42:12
  SPEAKER_00: And now for the last part of the podcast is the activism portion.
• 42:20
  SPEAKER_00: And I want to talk to you about the Big Bend region of Texas and the threat to that area by customs and border control with their recent actions uh making moves to build a wall in that region and both a physical wall, new patrol roads, and quote unquote smart wall technology.
• 42:55
  SPEAKER_00: And if you've never been to the Big Bend, it's hard to understand what's so special about it.
• 43:02
  SPEAKER_00: It holds a very special place in my heart, particularly Big Bend National Park.
• 43:08
  SPEAKER_00: To me, that region really encapsulates the spirit of Texas.
• 43:15
  SPEAKER_00: It's still very wild.
• 43:18
  SPEAKER_00: It feels very untouched.
• 43:21
  SPEAKER_00: It feels unspoiled.
• 43:25
  SPEAKER_00: And I feel honored that I'm able to visit that area at all.
• 43:34
  SPEAKER_00: I feel very privileged that you know I have a vehicle that can take me out there, that I'm able-bodied enough to get out there and enjoy that place.
• 43:47
  SPEAKER_00: And I remember the feeling that I get when I've driven from Austin out to Big Bend National Park, driving through the beautiful hill country.
• 44:01
  SPEAKER_00: Up into the Edwards Plateau, where the land flattens out, and the sky gets bigger, and the ecosystem starts to change, the plants start to get shorter and shorter, the trees get shorter and shorter, and you start to see more and more cacti and yuccas and sotals, and it's transformative.
• 44:26
  SPEAKER_00: In just a few hours' drive, you're in a completely different world.
• 44:31
  SPEAKER_00: And start driving through the desert, and then you get closer and closer and closer to the national park, and there's the Chisos Mountains rising up in the distance, and they're so huge and dramatic and majestic.
• 44:50
  SPEAKER_00: And get into the park, and you can drive around and take a look and go down to the Rio Grande River and think about the history of the place and what the river has meant to everyone who's visited that region.
• 45:06
  SPEAKER_00: All the humans who've passed through that area have depended on the Rio Grande for water, for sustenance.
• 45:15
  SPEAKER_00: So for me, it's just a really special and sacred place.
• 45:21
  SPEAKER_00: And the thought of it getting bulldozed, it's already been bulldozed to create new roads without the proper protocols.
• 45:31
  SPEAKER_00: It's just heartbreaking.
• 45:34
  SPEAKER_00: And just last year, some botanists found a new species of plant that's undiscovered prior.
• 45:44
  SPEAKER_00: It's still so wild and unexplored.
• 45:48
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, it's hard to believe that you could still find new life out there.
• 45:54
  SPEAKER_00: It's extremely biodiverse, even though it's the desert, it's wall-to-wall plants.
• 46:00
  SPEAKER_00: So I wanted to just let everybody know that this is going on.
• 46:04
  SPEAKER_00: If you haven't heard about the border wall activities in the area, I wanted to make sure that my listeners knew about it.
• 46:13
  SPEAKER_00: I have a link in the show notes to sign a petition against the border wall development in the Big Bend region.
• 46:22
  SPEAKER_00: You can also participate in the Big Bend Borderlands Bio Blitz on iNaturalist.
• 46:31
  SPEAKER_00: So if you're on iNaturalist and you love bio blitzes as much as I do, um, you can still participate in that until December 31st.
• 46:40
  SPEAKER_00: If you're out in that region, you can document any life form that you find out there near the border.
• 46:47
  SPEAKER_00: And if you're not going out that way, if you're not traveling that way, then you can still participate in identifying, you know, from your couch on iNaturalist, you can still go and help confirm identifications of critters and plants.
• 47:07
  SPEAKER_00: I know a lot of folks go out there for Thanksgiving, so that's why I wanted to talk about it because it's time when a lot of folks head out that way for Thanksgiving vacation.
• 47:18
  SPEAKER_00: So I hope you'll help out, sign that petition, get involved, learn more about what's going on out there.
• 47:25
  SPEAKER_00: That's it for today's episode.
• 47:28
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you all so much for listening.
• 47:30
  SPEAKER_00: I really appreciate you following me and listening.
• 47:35
  SPEAKER_00: Please share this podcast with your gardening friends and your neighbors.
• 47:41
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe you're in a garden club or a neighborhood group.
• 47:45
  SPEAKER_00: Just let people know about it.
• 47:47
  SPEAKER_00: It really helps me to grow my show.
• 47:50
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm Colleen with atxgardens.com and I'll see you next time.
• 47:57
  SPEAKER_00: Bye.
• 48:00
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks for listening to the ATX Gardens podcast.
• 48:04
  SPEAKER_00: For show notes, tools, and to book a consultation with me, visit atxgardens.com.
• 48:13
  SPEAKER_00: Happy gardening.
• 48:15
  SPEAKER_00: See you next time.