Getting Your Yard Ready

Now is the time to start getting your yard back in shape. Spring is on the horizon! It is also a great way to showcase the front of your house if you are considering selling.  It is the first and last thing that buyers see when visiting your house, so it is just as important to have the outside dressed up as it is the inside.  

If you haven’t yet, it’s time to start mowing. Spread Weed & Feed and get it watered in. I use Scott’s Bonus S Southern Weed and Feed. You can find it at most of the local home improvement stores and in gardening sections.

Roses:

February 14 is prime time to trim back your roses. Keep in mind, most rose bushes will triple in size this year, so cut it back to a third of where you want it to end up. If you haven’t cut back your roses yet, it’s not too late, just keep the new growth you want. Cut just above a new bud and at an angle. You will start seeing lots of healthy growth very quickly. If your roses look sick or have black spot, get Neem Oil for them. You will spray it on. If you don’t have any roses yet, now is the time to plant them.

Mulch:

Spread a fresh layer of mulch in your flower beds, gardens, and around trees and shrubs. Most of the mulch from last year will have disappeared or faded. This will help retain moisture, protect the roots of the plants, and help discourage weeds.

Time to Plant!

Start looking for spring and summer plants. We should have had our last freeze so the time to start is now. I like to make sure I have a mix of spring and summer plants. That way, as it heats up, the spring flowers start looking wilted and dying off, but you already have summer plants starting to take over. Then there is no lag time. Some of my favorite flowering plants are zinnias, bachelor buttons, impatiens, and marigolds. There are lots to choose from though! Zinnias and bachelor buttons are very prolific flowers and will produce lots of bright colors. The more you cut back zinnias, the better they grow – that means lots of bouquets to bring in the house all throughout summer!

Gardening

Consider a vegetable garden. If you don’t have a lot of space, look into square foot gardening. If you are planting from seeds, you can either sow them directly into the ground or start them in the house. I prefer to start them in the house and the transfer them to the ground once they start looking healthy and strong. Now is the time to plant tomatoes, cucumbers, green beans, peppers, okra, eggplant, lettuces and much more. In 2010, the Houston Chronicle had a great article on what to plant for our area. https://www.chron.com/life/gardening/article/Houston-spring-vegetable-guide-1712193.php

If you are starting a garden or bed for the first time and starting from scratch. Make sure you mix in a good amount of compost to give the plants a healthy place to live. Our soil is filled with a lot of clay and not always a good environment for plants.

Mix in herbs with your vegetables and with your flower beds. Many herbs can be pretty greens mixed in between spots of color. Some of my favorite spring herbs are basil, oregano, dill, parsley, fennel, and mint. I cook with most of these (never found a recipe except for a mojito for mint) and it’s nice to be able to run out into the yard and pick some fresh. Keep in mind, basil will grow tall and crazy and go to seed if you do not keep it trimmed back. If you have grown more herbs than you can use in a season, don’t fret. Chop them and freeze them in ice cube trays with a little bit of EVOO or butter to use with cooking later in the year. Then you can just pull out a cube or two and throw it into your pan! You can also dehydrate or dry them and use them for months.

If you’re just starting out, I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised how easy it is with just a little maintenance. Within a few weeks, you will see a huge transformation as the weather starts getting warmer and sunnier!