Though northern gardeners are starting to clean up their landscape beds and prepare for next year, the weather in Texas is still warm enough for gardening. The approach of cooler weather is particularly suited to gardening tasks such as planting bulbs and starting cool-season vegetables. The weather might not have cooled off yet, but October is the best time to start buying and planting spring-flowering bulbs. Gardeners can also start vegetable gardens to harvest during the late fall and winter. Over the next couple months in the yard, the lawn will need mowed less frequently and established trees can be pruned once they’ve gone dormant.
Planting Bulbs and Flowers
Spring-flowering bulbs are readily available for purchase in October. Some bulbs can be planted immediately, such as daffodils, grape hyacinths, and certain tulips. Others, including tulip hybrids and most hyacinths, should be refrigerated until late November or early December. This will ensure they received enough of a chill to produce flowers next spring. When refrigerating flower bulbs, it is important to keep them away from fruits and vegetables, which emit an ethylene gas that can cause bulbs to decay.
For added color, cool-weather annuals like pansy and snapdragons can be planted in garden beds as late as mid November. Dianthus, flowering cabbages, and wildflowers can be planted in early October, or later if the weather stays warm. If the garden needs treated with weed killers, pesticides, or fertilize, then sprayers and spreaders can be useful equipment.
Vegetable Gardening
The late fall and winter months provide a chance to grow cool-season vegetables that would not have survived the warm spring and summer weather. Though the weather might not feel cool yet, these vegetables can be planted now for harvesting in the cooler months of the year. Vegetables particularly suited to this include kale, lettuce, spinach, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, carrots, snow peas, beets, and turnips.
It is a good idea to mulch the garden bed to retain moisture, keep weeds away, and insulate plant roots in case of a cold snap. There are fewer garden pests to watch out for in cool-season gardens, but cabbage worms and slugs can still be an issue.
Lawn and Garden Care
In the lawn, warm-season grasses should not be fertilized after the first week in October. The rate of growth is likely to slow down over the next couple months as the grass goes dormant, which means the lawn will need mowed less frequently to keep it about 2 inches tall.
As the weather cools heading into November and December, trees and shrubs can be planted during their dormant phases, and established trees can be pruned using tools like Corona clippers. The exception is spring-flowering trees, which are best pruned after flowering.
With the arrival of fall, there are several gardening tasks you can do to prepare for cooler weather and next spring. Planting daffodils and other bulbs in October, or refrigerating them for 45-60 days ensures an abundant display of flowers in the spring. For cool-weather color, flowering plants such as pansy and snapdragons can be planted now. This is also a good time to start planting cool-season vegetables for harvest through the winter, and getting ready for slowed lawn growth and tree pruning as the weather starts to cool.
