Author Archives: kate.hajda
Take Advantage of Rain to Save Water
The recent rains have been a blessing in Central Texas, and I love seeing so much abundant green growth. When I watched the weather this morning, the meteorologist showed some great drought monitor maps to show how we are slowly catching up to our average rainfall amounts for this time of year. Even with the rainfall, water conservation is on my mind because our water sources are still low. As of May 24, 2023, Lake Georgetown is at 66% capacity and Lake Travis is at 45% capacity. Much… Read More →
Squash Vine Borer
May is the fun gardening month when vegetable gardens seem to grow overnight! Just this week we have enjoyed fresh lettuce and spinach salads, the last of the Texas Superstar Green Magic broccoli, and a homegrown blackberry cobbler from the garden. The onions are getting close to harvest, and I cannot wait to try out the purple potatoes that I planted this year. Unfortunately, a few garden pests have also started enjoying the daily buffet found in our garden spot. Warm weather brings out the garden pests, including… Read More →
Take All Root Rot
Springtime weather brings beautiful wildflowers, lovely weather for picnics, and lots of fungus among us. I wish I was talking about tasty mushrooms that we can sauté with a good steak, but the fungus that is popping up in many lawns this spring is Take All Root Rot. Take All Root Rot, gaeumannomyces graminis var. garminis, is a fungual disease that causes weak, dead patches in turfgrass. St. Augustine grass is most affected by take-all root rot, but it can also affect bermudagrass and Zoysia grass. The symptoms… Read More →
Spring Pruning
One of the first signs that I look for to know that spring has finally arrived are blooming shrubs like bridal wreath spirea, forsythia, and quince. The red flowers on quince seem to pop out just when I am starting to think that winter will never end, and my bridal wreath spirea gets the season going with showy white flowers. These early spring blooming shrubs are great to have in the landscape to add color to your landscape earlier in the year. If you have spring-blooming shrubs, one… Read More →
