Rohde’s December Organic Gardening Calendar

We are in USDA Cold Hardiness Zone 8a with an annual minimum temperature of 15 to 10 degrees Fahrenheit and in Texas AgriLife Extension District 4 (East Region) - North (Dallas).

First Day of Winter (Winter Solstice): December 21, 2010 at 5:38 pm (evening) CST (Central Standard Time)

Winter is coming!, but it’s still an excellent time to plant. SO KEEP PLANTING STUFF!

Be sure you have your design made up though. If you need help, our designer Sally can help you. She can help make your landscape the envy of the neighborhood, and now’s the time to prepare the beds and plant your perennials. Our landscaping crews can prepare the beds, and do the heavy planting if you don’t want to do it yourself. In fact our landscaping crews can help you with almost anything you want in your landscape, except irrigation. Walkways, patios, fences, retaining walls, water features, beds, etc. If your St Augustine lawn was destroyed by last winter’s weather, and last summer’s diseases, consider having us re-sod your lawn. See the “Lawn & Turf” section for more info.

December is also the time to wear yourself out shopping the malls for the Holidays. A hint I find useful, since I’m cheap, is that an unique gift can sometimes make up for an expensive gift. Rohde’s has an large selection of very unique gift items acquired though much time and effort. Our buyer’s motivation is to find items you don’t see most other places. Our prices are also very reasonable. Come see for yourself while the selection is good! Besides the giftware, think of plants for gifts. A container garden of fall flowers or cool season herbs would be a wonderful gift. Think about sending a gift of a Rohde’s landscape plan for that someone special, or even someone not so special! It won’t bother us. We can do preliminary plans now and finalize them after you give the gift. You can include a bush or tree also, and, again, you can arrange for Rohde’s to do the work of planting and bed prep.

A well planned landscape is something you can enjoy now, but it also adds to the value of the property. It’s been said that an increase of five to fifteen percent of the value of your home can be expected.

Holidays and Observances

December 2 to December 9: Chanukah, (also known as Hanukkah)

Jewish communities in the United States celebrate the first day of Chanukah on the 25th day of the month of Kislev in the Jewish calendar. The Chanukah period lasts for eight days till the second day of the month of Tevet. The Chanukah commemorates the Jewish people’s successful rebellion against the Syrians in the Maccabean War in 162 BCE. A ritual cleansing and re-dedication of the Temple in Jerusalem on the Temple Mount occurred after the Jewish people’s victory. It is believed that there was only enough consecrated oil to keep the lamp burning for one day but the small bottle of oil miraculously lasted for eight days. Chanukah is referred as the Feast of Lights or Festival of Lights for this reason. Moreover, the survival of Judaism over the many years is also celebrated during this period.

The dreidel is a toy that is popular during the Chanukah celebrations. It is a spinning top with a different Hebrew letter inscribed in each of its four sides – the four letters form an acronym meaning “a great miracle happened here”. The hanukiah (or chanukkiyah) is a type of candelabrum that holds eight candles to commemorate the eight days that the oil burned and a ninth candle that sits apart, known as the shamash, or servant candle that lights the others. One candle is lit on the first night, another on the second, and so forth until all candles are lit on the last night.

December 7: Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day

The flag should be flown at half-mast to honor those who died in the attack on Pearl Harbor.

On Sunday morning, December 7, 1941, the American Army and Navy base in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii was attacked by surprise, by the Imperial Japanese Navy. More than 2000 American citizens were killed and more than 1000 were injured. The Americans also lost a large proportion of their battle ships and nearly 200 aircraft that were stationed in the Pacific region. More than 60 Japanese servicemen were killed, injured or captured. The Japanese Navy also lost five midget submarines and 29 aircraft.

December 8: Feast of the Immaculate Conception

Many churches, especially the Catholic Church, in the United States hold special services (or masses) on or close to December 8. The feast focuses on the concept that the Virgin Mary was conceived without sin.

December 17: Wright Brothers Day

Orville and his brother Wilbur are given credit for building the world's first successful airplane with aircraft controls that enabled them to steer the plane. The brothers' first aircraft, named Flyer, made its maiden flight for 12 seconds and 120 feet (about 36-37 meters) around the site of Wright Brothers National Memorial in North Carolina on December 17, 1903. This day is observed nationally since 1963 to honor Wilbur and Orville Wright.

The Wright brothers were not the first to build and fly experimental aircraft but they are the first to invent aircraft controls that made fixed wing flight possible. In the years that followed, aviation advancements were made. The Wright brothers' efforts paved the way for modern day aeronautics. The brothers' status as inventors of the airplane has been an issue of debate, particularly as there were competing claims regarding other early aviators.

December 21: First Day of Winter (Winter Solstice): December 21, 2010 at 5:38 pm (evening) CST (Central Standard Time)

This is the official, astronomical start of winter in the Northern Hemisphere. It’s summer, or the summer solstice, in the Southern Hemisphere of course.

What does Solstice mean? The word comes from Latin, s_l = “sun” + stitium = “a stoppage”, to Old French and Middle English, s_l = “sun” + sistere = “to stand still”. Literally it means the apparent standing still of the sun. On the summer solstice, around June 20 or 21, the sun has climbed as high in the southern sky as it is going to get. It appears to stop rising and stands still. The sun is not directly overhead around here, but it is at the “Tropic of Cancer” (23°27 north latitude or north of the equator). From that point on it starts to drop lower in the southern sky, until the Winter Solstice on December 21or 22, when it stops dropping and stands still again. The sun is directly overhead at the “Tropic of Capricorn” (23°27 south latitude or south of the equator) for the southern hemisphere’s summer.

The axis of rotation for the Earth is tilted at an angle of 23.4° from straight up and down from the orbital plane. The direction the axis points to is an almost fixed point in space, even as the Earth revolves around the Sun. So the tilt of Earth’s axis of rotation, points toward or away from the sun, as the Earth orbits each year, and this causes the “rising” and “falling” of the sun as the year progresses. On the Winter Solstice in the Northern Hemisphere, the northern end of the axis of rotation, or the North Pole, is pointing farthest away from the Sun. So there is less sunlight shinning on the Northern Hemisphere, and the fewest hours of daylight or “shortest day”. The opposite occurs in the Southern Hemisphere, where the South Pole is pointed more toward the sun for their summer and daylight is the longest.

Mind you, the day of the Winter Solstice is not the coldest day of winter even though the geometry of the Earth to the Sun would indicate such. This is because it takes time to cool down the whole atmosphere in the Northern Hemisphere. On a smaller scale, it is the same reason it is not coldest at midnight, but right before sunrise, or warmest at noon when the sun is highest, but later in the afternoon.

December 25: Christmas Day

Many traditions that are around today have their roots in pre-Christian winter festivals. These include the importance of candles and decorations made from evergreen bushes and tree, symbolizing everlasting light and life.

In Roman times, a mid-winter festival was held. This was a relaxing time with a lot of parties and merry making. It was also common to give other people small gifts, such as dolls for children and candles for adults. This festival culminated with the celebration of the winter solstice, which fell on December 25 in the Roman calendar. In Scandinavia, a festival called Yule and lasting up to twelve days was held in late December and early January. In this time people burnt logs and held parties.

The Bible does not give a precise date for the birth of Jesus. It is also unclear when December 25 became associated with the birth of Jesus, although it may have been around two hundred years after his birth. In the early centuries of Christianity, the anniversary of the birth of Jesus was not a cause for celebrations. The idea of turning this day into a celebration started in the early Middle Ages in Europe.

During Reformation and up until the middle of the 1800s, Christmas was often not celebrated because partying and merry making was seen as unchristian. From about 1840, celebrating Christmas became more widespread. December 25 was declared a federal holiday in the United States in 1870. Since then Christmas Day has become a steadily more important holiday.

Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ, who Christians believe is the son of God. His birth date is unknown because there is little public information about his early life. There is disagreement among scholars on when Jesus was actually born. Many Christians celebrate Jesus’ birthday on December 25. Many Orthodox Christians celebrate Christmas Day on or near January 7.

The word “Christmas” comes from the old English “Cristes maesse”, or the mass of Christ.

December 26: Kwanzaa (until Jan 1)

Kwanzaa is a holiday honoring the culture and traditions of people of African origin. Kwanzaa consists of a week of celebrations, which ends with a feast and the exchange of gifts.

A Kwanzaa ceremony often also includes performance of music and drumming, a reflection on the Pan-African colors of red, green and black and a discussion of some aspect of African history. Women often wear brightly colored traditional clothing. Items used are a mat, on which to put the things needed for the celebration, a wooden unity cup used to pour ritual drinks, a wooden candle holder shaped inspired by the Ashanti royal throne, seven candles representing the seven principles of Kwanzaa (unity; self-determination; collective work and responsibility; co-operative economics; purpose; creativity; and earth), ears of corn, the Kwanzaa flag and a poster depicting the seven principles of Kwanzaa.

Kwanzaa was first celebrated in December 1966 and January 1967. The holiday was proposed by Maulana Karenga to give those of African descent a holiday to celebrate their own cultural heritage and the key values of family and community.

December 31: New Year's Eve

In both the Gregorian calendar, currently used in the United States, and the Julian calendar used until 1752 in the British colonies, used the last day of the year as December 31. In pre-Christian Europe, the Winter Solstice and mid-winter period was traditionally associated with feasting and parties. In the early years of the American colonies and within the United States, this type of celebration was often frowned upon, particularly by religious communities. Around the start of the 1900s, New Year's Eve celebrations in America started to appear though. The first Ball drop in Times Square was held in 1907. Around the same time, special events to welcome the New Year started to be organized on January 1. New Year’s Eve is now, one of the largest global celebrations.

Weather Forecast

The latest (4 November 2010) NOAA ENSO (El Niño Southern Oscillation) Diagnostic Discussion issued by the Climate Prediction Center (CPS) / NCEP (National Centers for Environmental Prediction)

La Niña is expected to last at least into the Northern Hemisphere spring 2011. A large majority of models also predict La Niña to become a strong episode by the November-January season before gradually weakening.

Likely La Niña impacts during November 2010-January 2011:include an enhanced chance of above-average precipitation in the Pacific Northwest, Northern Rockies (along with a concomitant increase in snowfall), and Ohio Valley, while below-average precipitation is most likely across the south-central and southeastern states. An increased chance of below-average temperatures is predicted for coastal and near-coastal regions of the northern West Coast, and a higher possibility of above-average temperatures is expected for much of the southern and central U.S.

The National Weather Service’s Climate Prediction Center at Camp Springs Md., in their “Summary of the (Seasonal Climate) Outlook for Non-Technical Users” for November 18, 2010 says in summation that:

Temperature

The December, January, February 3-month temperature outlook reflects typical winter La Niña conditions and calls for below average temperatures over central and southern Alaska, along the northern tier from Washington to Minnesota and along the southern California coast.

Above average temperatures are called for from Texas and the Southwest across the southern and central Rockies, the central and southern Great Plains, and the lower and middle Mississippi valley.

Precipitation

The December, January, February 3-month precipitation outlook calls for above-median precipitation for the northwest, sections of extreme northern California, sections of the northern Rocky Mountains, and for the southern Great Lakes, Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky.

Below-median precipitation is likely from southern California, through the Southwest, Texas, Oklahoma, the Gulf Coast states, and the middle Atlantic coast states as far north as Delaware.

To Sum up: About the same as last month. Warmer and dryer Winter for us.

Vegetables

The planting charts say it’s too late to plant vegetables, but if you can protect your transplants from the periodic freezes, you can probably still plant cool weather greens like Arugula, cabbage, chard, kale, lettuce, turnips, and spinach. You might also try planting transplants of English peas too if you haven’t done so already, and can find them.

Some planting calendars suggest you can still get away with planting seeds for carrots, mustard, radish and turnips. I’m going to try spinach seeds also.

With La Niña giving us a warmer winter and spring, you should have better luck growing vegetables through the winter, and starting the spring crops earlier too. Just watch for freezes and protect young plants.

If you’re growing asparagus, after the first hard freeze, cut the tops to the ground and mulch with compost or manure. If you’re not growing asparagus, you can plant root stock now.

Cold Weather Covers

If you have tender plants in your garden and would like to extend their lives, cover them with purchased crop covers, or use old sheets, blankets, tarps, or buy or make cold frames or “hoop” houses. With floating row covers (floating means just laying on the plants) you are looking for something that breathes if you have to use it for more than a night or so. This generally means no plastics. Plastics can be used on cold frames and hoop houses though, if it doesn’t touch the plants. A sealed clear plastic cover, while letting sunlight in during the day, can make the inside colder than the night air. On clear, cloudless nights, radiant heat can be sucked into space from under the plastic and bring the temperature down to freezing even if the ambient air is above freezing. So let the plants breath. We do carry the breathable bed covers.

Watering

Don’t forget to water if it doesn’t rain. It can be easy to over water now, since your landscape doesn’t dry out as fast, but it does dry out. Many plants go dormant when it drops below freezing, but if the ground is not frozen, a lot of plant roots still grow. Hydrated plants survive freezing weather much easier than dry plants, so check the ground moisture before freezes. You may notice that mother nature usually has rain leading the cold fronts that bring freezing temperatures.

If your plants do turn to toast from the freezes, be sure to remove the dead plants (and weeds too) for composting. Pest and Disease can over-winter in the dead material. This is also the reason to replace and compost your old mulch at the end of the growing season.

Pests

You can still get the similar looking little green inchworms, cabbage loopers and cabbage worms on your cabbage, collards and broccoli. They can also eat on most of the rest of your fall crops. They leave many little ragged holes on the foliage along with little worm droppings. The holes can look like the leaves have been blasted with a shotgun. Use Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) for these caterpillars.

Fertilizing

Keep your cool season plants well fertilized. Fertilize every 3-4 weeks on established vegetables. Apply water-soluble fertilizer to get new plants off to a fast start. Strong plants can deal with freezing weather better. Also try using Green Sense Kelp Extract liquid fertilizer. Kelp contains many micronutrients that can help plants make it through the winter in their best shape.

Mulching

Add cedar, hardwood, or pine straw mulch to bedding areas & bare soil before freezes. Mulching doesn’t really keep the ground warmer over long periods, but helps insulate, slowing down temperature swings and letting the plants adjust easier.

Planting

Plant green manure, cover crops in empty, fallow flower and veggie beds and gardens. We carry Crimson Clover, “Hairy” Vetch, and “Elbon” Cereal Rye. Cover crops are used to protect the soil and microbes and “lockup” the nutrients to keep them from leaching away. Elbon (cereal) rye is a cover crop that can assist in controlling the root-knot nematode in the soil if it’s a problem. Legumes like clover and hairy vetch, also can supply nitrogen to the soil if there is a lack of it. Non-legume cover crops like cereal ryes, use an extensive root system to help break up the soil, leaving behind paths for air and water to get into the ground. A long tradition in organic gardening is to plant Hairy Vetch and Elbon Rye together in tomato gardens. Hairy Vetch is a climbing legume and uses the Elbon Rye to climb up on. This creates a denser stand of both crops. Before they go to seed in the spring, cut them down with hedge clippers or a weed eater to prevent spreading from re-seeding, and use them for mulch to plant your tomatoes in.

Herbs

You can still plant all perennial and cool season herb plants. Come see what we have in stock.

You can plant herbs in your annual beds to give you evergreen color and blooms through the winter along with fresh ingredients for cooking. Some can be used as landscaping plants such as rosemary, thyme and lavender for low hedges.

Flowers

Annual Flowers

You can still plant cold hardy annuals, such as Ornamental Kale , Flowering Cabbage, Pansies, Snapdragons, Dianthus, Iceland poppies, Ornamental Swiss Chard.

Perennial Flowers

Now is the best time to plant all the perennials, so they are well established by spring.

If your fall blooming perennials like lantana or salvias have finally frozen back, you can cut them down to the ground and plant other winter annual flowers or vegetables in with them for winter color. Or you can do nothing. The dead tops may provide protection to the underground parts of the plants. Also, pruning the plant could stimulate tender new growth if the plant hasn’t gone dormant yet. You can prune the dead parts in late winter or early spring before or when new growth normally appears.

If you are in sandy acid soils of East Texas or the Post Oak Woods of Denton County, you can plant Camellias now. If you live in black Clay soils you can plant them in pots. We carry a couple of beautiful varieties also.

Fertilizing

Apply water-soluble fertilizer to get newly planted annuals off to a faster start. Green Sense Kelp Extract used with soil watering is an excellent root stimulator, and Green Sense Foliar Juice is perfect for spraying on the foliage.

Fertilize houseplants and greenhouse plants once during the winter with Rohde’s Green Sense Earthworm Castings. It doesn’t stink.

Other Jobs

Be ready to covered newly planted flowers when it freezes until their roots can get established deeper in the soil

As with the vegetable garden, clean up weeds, dead plants, old mulch, and compost them to control over-wintering pest and disease. Fertilize, water, mulch, and cover any tender perennials that may be damaged by freeze.

Create new planting areas for spring planting.

Again, don’t over water, but don’t forget to water. Stick your finger in the soil to be sure your plants need watering.

Ornamental Grasses

You can still plant Ornamental Grasses. Rohde’s carries a large selection of varieties that do well here. Ornamental grasses can work great with your fall-flowering perennials in your landscape, giving nice contrast with interesting seed heads and fall colors. During the winter, while the rest of your garden is dormant, ornamental grasses add color, texture, and movement.

As an alternative to planting different kinds of grasses for variety in the garden, do a wall of one kind as a backdrop for other plants, ornaments, or landscape features. They can also screen unsightly views of neighbors, sheds, fences or section of your property.

Grasses are susceptible to crown rot, especially in winter. The majority prefers well drained soils in sunny location. Cut back grasses to short clumps in early spring. You can divide clumps every three years or so as some will do better, as the centers die while the grass grows outward.

Trees, Shrubs and Vines

Planting

This is still one of the best times to plant new trees, shrubs, and vines. Plants endure less drought and heat stress, and their roots have months to grow and become established before spring growth begins.

Come to Rohde’s if you're planning on buying trees and shrubs. Ask about our delivery, planting, and warranties. Don’t forget the soil amendments; Green Sense Kelp Extracts for root stimulation, Green Sense Mycor granules to inoculate the plant with mycorrhizae fungi, compost, and a variety of mulches.

Consider some rarely used trees this fall. Larger trees to consider; Montezuma Cypress, Cedar Elm, Lacey Oak, Chinkapin Oak, Texas Ash, or Bur Oak. Some smaller trees to look at; Texas Mountain-Laurel, Rusty Blackhaw Viburnum, Desert-Willow, Eve's Necklace, Goldenball Leadtree, or American Smoketree.

Hollies and nandinas are good for foundation plantings. They come in manageable heights and have a variety of different leaf shapes, colors, berries, and styles.

Pick some shrubs and trees that develop fruits or berries for the birds:

• American Beautyberry (Callicarpa americana) French mulberry. Deciduous. Clustered purple berries.
• Cherry laurel (Prunus caroliniana) Favorite among birds. 15-20 feet tall. Fast-growing, glossy evergreen. Loamy, well-draining soil. Drought-tolerant in these conditions. White blooms in spring, black fruit in fall. Compact hybrids are available.
• Holly (Ilex cornuta, 'Nellie R. Stevens,' or Burford) Reb Berries.
• Juniper (Juniperus virginiana) Juniperus of the family Cupressaceae. Birds eat the blue berries.
• Mexican plum tree (Prunus mexicana) 15- to 35-foot-tall native Bees and butterflies love the flowers. Small purple plums Sun to dappled shade in a well-draining soil.
• Pyracantha (Pyracantha coccinea) Fall red berries. Fermented berries can intoxicate birds. Thorny so good for nesting.
• Southern Magnolia. (Magnolia grandiflora) Large, cone like fruits that follow the blooms open to reveal several dozen bright red seeds which are eaten by squirrels and a number of bird species. Smaller hybrids such as "Little Gem” are available.
• Viburnum (Viburnum odoratissimum) Sweet Viburnum. Berries turn from red to black. Best in partial shade.
• Yaupon Holly. (Ilex vomitoria) drought-resistant evergreen native. Small red berries on female plant. Takes sun to shade, poor drainage and varying soils.

Plant evergreens as an interest for deciduous plants or use as background or as a divider for your landscape.

Choose and prepare areas for planting fruit trees in January. Many fruit trees, berries, and grapes become available in bare root form in January. Common fruit trees are not native to black clay soils, so they need special treatment They have specific pruning requirements and pest controls for best growth and productivity. This should be planned for before planting using a planting and pruning guide for your trees. Rohde’s has books on growing fruit trees that will help you pick out and maintain your trees properly.

Pruning

Wait to do heavy pruning on trees and shrubs until the end of this month, on through February, when the plants are dormant. This is most important for Oaks trees that are susceptible to Oak Decline disease. This disease is carried by Sap Beetles that will come to the sap oozing out of the saw wounds. It is very important to apply Rohde’s Green Sense Tree Goop to the wounds immediately and to insure it stays on for 2 days till the wound’s sap hardens. Green Sense Tree Goop is a powder you mix with water to a paste. It contains rock phosphate and dairy manure for nutrients to help the wound heal quicker, and Diatomaceous Earth to help keep insects away from the wound.

When pruning, remove dead, damaged, troublesome, or diseased branches. You also can prune to shape trees and shrubs with light pruning as needed, but do not prune spring-flowering shrubs or vines until after they bloom. For now, it’s still ok to reshape summer flowering shrubs and vines though. Prune evergreen shrubs limb-by-limb to retain natural form instead of shearing to a ball or box shape.

Most source say there is no need to pruning crape myrtles to remove the seed heads. There is most definitely no need to “top” the trees, where all of the branches are severely cut back. Outside of dead branches or “in-the-way” branches, try not to prune anything any larger than pencil size. Wait till end of December through to February to prune larger limbs. Early winter pruning can stimulate new growth that would be susceptible to freeze damage.

If your Wisteria doesn’t bloom, root prune it by sticking a shovel in the ground several feet away from the plant to cut some of the roots. This need not be all the way around the plant either. This may stress the plant enough to prompt it to flower in an attempt to save the specie by propagating. Don’t over do it. You do not want to really kill it, just to scare it. Otherwise, plants in good growing conditions may just try to get as big as they can before reproducing.

Do not prune the root knees around bald cypress trees. If they are in the way of mowing, plant ground cover or mulch the area.

Roses

Now is the time to start planting bare-root rosebushes. Most mail order places will wait till about December to send them out in our Zone 8. You can also plant potted rose bushes, now or anytime. Rohde’s still has a good selection of antique and Earthkind roses. Raised beds will give better drainage in heavy clay soils. Don’t crowd bushes together as fungal diseases like the moist conditions contributed by decrease air circulation.

Other Jobs

Transplant established landscape plants (trees, shrubs, etc) now that they are in their winter dormancy. Read November’s Calendar comments before attempting though.

Clean up fallen leaves, fruit, and nuts, old mulch, and other yard material, particularly around roses, and fruit and nut trees, that may harbor wintering pests and disease. Compost the yard litter well to destroy any pathogens. May need to shred the litter and subject it to solarization prior to composting. Solarization is commonly used to control weeds and pests in the soil prior to planting. Expose the well-moistened crop or yard residues, layered and sealed between two sheets of clear plastic, to several days of sunshine to kill pests and disease organisms.

Pick up pecans as they fall to the ground-as their quality declines quickly. They will get moldy.

Reapply any mulch taken up and add to old mulch to bring to a three inch layer. Keep the mulch from contacting the trunks or stems of the plants to prevent rot.

Do not throw any fallen leaves or grass clipping away. Either compost them or shred them with the lawn mower and use as mulch.

Remove mistletoe from tree limbs, while it is still young (less than one year old), even if it means removing the entire branch. There is no other control.

Lawn, Turf Grasses and Ground Covers

Planting

Re-Sod your Lawn: Sod can be planted anytime the ground isn’t frozen. It’s like a perennial plant. While late spring may be the best time to plant sod, now is a good time also. The grass blades may go dormant during the winter, and it may look like it’s not doing anything, but the roots will continue to grow. The grass will be established when it warms up in the spring, and will be able to better compete with the weeds. Be sure to wet the soil of the sod and ground before planting. Apply a thin layer of compost to the surface after planting.

We have been under an El Niño weather pattern since spring of 2009 to the spring of 2010, which brought heavier rains and a much cooler winter with the resulting ice and snow. St Augustine grass is a warmer weather grass. Dallas is at its northern limit in winter hardiness. It can’t take the cold well and this last winter killed off much of it. What was left was hit hard by Brown Patch and Take-All Patch fungus disease brought on by the heavy rains and cool spring. As summer came, we flipped directly to a La Niña weather pattern that is destined to last through next spring with warmer and drier weather. Chinch bugs like warm and dry, and may have finished off your yard by this fall. So the dead parts of your lawn will probably not be coming back. Re-sodding will be necessary. Call us if you need to re-sod. We can treat the ground for fungal disease before sodding, incorporate compost to the soil (best time to do so), aerate if you wish, and re-sod with newer varieties of St. Augustine that can be more disease and cold resistant. Consider Zoysia grass for replacement. It’s slower spreading, not quite as shade tolerant, but more resistant to fungal disease and the cold. Mixing grasses is ok too.

It's too late to plant Bermuda seed.

You can still plant cool-season grasses such as rye and fescue now. They can competing with your warm season lawns in the late spring and early summer though. The warm season grass will take longer to establish and may be less healthy or more disease and pest prone in the early summer. Perennial rye or Fescue grass can be useful in quickly covering bare soils to protect from erosion.

Plant perennial rye instead of annual rye. Annual rye grows faster so needs more mowing, watering and fertilizing, plus it’s more disease prone. Overseed with perennial rye grass at the rate of six pounds per 1000 square feet. A thick winter grass may cut down on spring weeds being able to germinate, and your warm season grasses from re-establishing. Winter grass doesn’t die off fast enough as it warms either, possibly causing fungal problems in your warm season grasses . We carry Fescue seeds, but don’t carry Rye grass seeds. (Don’t confuse Grass Rye with Cereal Rye, which we carry.)

Rohde’s also have green manure cover crops to plant in your fallow gardens this winter. We carry Crimson Clover, Hairy Vetch, and “Elbon” Cereal Rye.

You can still plant groundcovers and borders. Frog fruit and horseherb are two native groundcovers that are good for the shade. Try oregano for a border in full sun. Other common shady ground covers include Asian jasmine, English ivy, Persian ivy, purple wintercreeper, liriope and ophiopogan.

Fertilizing

If you didn't get your lawn fertilized in November, do it now. The Fall Fertilizing is the most important lawn fertilization of the year. It will promote root growth through the winter and help the grass survive some watering neglect. The nutrients will be stored to give the grass a quicker start in the spring and help it compete with weeds. Use Green Sense Lawn & Garden fertilizer of course.

Spray your lawn and landscape with Green Sense Kelp Extract. The Kelp’s large number of micro-nutrients, and three growth hormones help harden your plants for winter. For the same reason Kelp Extract is used as a root stimulant, it can help promote root growth during the winter for better spring performance.

Now is an excellent time to apply rock powders like greensand, sul-po-mag, or soft rock phosphate. These are very slow release fertilizers that need microbial activity to convert the minerals to usable forms for the plants to use. This can be started during the fall and warmer periods in the winter to have the process producing results for plant growth in the spring. It is highly recommended that you perform a soil test to ensure your soil needs these minerals. Too much of anything is harmful. Too much phosphate can lock up the iron and manganese in the soil and cause chlorosis, or yellowing of your plant’s leaves, for instance.

Apply Greensand at 20 to 40 pounds per 1000 square foot now if not done in the spring. Can do this once a year, but as with all fertilizers, you can put too much down. A soil test is highly recommended. Greensand is ancient seabed sediment with deposits of dark greenish grains of glauconite (an iron potassium silicate), usually mixed with clay or sand. It loosens clay soils and increases the water holding capability of the sand and clay. It’s a good source of iron (about 19-20% in iron oxide or rust form), a large amount of potassium (about 5-7% K/potash), and other trace minerals (as many as thirty), including about 2% magnesium, and 2% phosphorous (P) in Texas Greensand. These nutrients are in a very slow release form, though.

Spread a half inch layer of compost to bare or poorly growing parts of the lawn.

Watering and Mowing

Don’t stop watering, but cut back to an inch every 2 weeks or even every month, if it doesn’t rain. Check the soil first to see if it needs watering. Better to water in the morning. Letting the grass go a little dry is better. Make sure plants and turf have been watered before freezes. Hydrated plants are hardier, especially evergreen plants. Moist soil also holds more of the daytime warmth.

Pests, Disease and Weeds

For fallen leaves, mow, rake, shred, compost, and use to mulch beds. A few dry leaves blowing around your yard is no problem, but If you get a heavy fall of leaves on your yard, they can pack down when wet, cutting off air and holding moisture on your grass. In the wet, cool seasons, this is a perfect place for fungus to grow. It can take hold and take out your grass underneath very quickly.

General Pests and Diseases

To reduce feeding and breeding sites of pests such as crickets, cockroaches, spiders, rats, snakes, ants, etc., remove any dense vegetation that is right next to the house foundation and clean up piles of bricks, stones, wood or other debris. If you store firewood outdoors, get it up off the ground to help keep bugs out. If possible, stack it with the bark side up or cover the wood to repel rain.

Rohde’s carriers the full complement of organic pest and disease controls, for both inside and out. Stop by and see.

For slugs, use ‘Sluggo” bait. We also have copper tape for raised beds and special plants. Also use traps as no one treatment works as well as several different kinds. Plastic cups sunk in the ground and _ filled with beer attract and drown slugs and snails.

For other foliage fungal problems like black spot and powdery mildew, we have plant oils, potassium bicarbonate, Serenade, copper sprays, dusting sulfur, Plant Wash, and Garlic Concentrate.

Rohde’s carries D.E. or diatomaceous earth in one, five, ten or fifty pound bags. Use it to control insects in dry environments. It does not hurt earthworms in the soil. Useful for treating cracks, wall crevices, wall voids, and attics to repel insects and deny harborage in these areas. It’s effective against pests that live in close association with humans such as cockroaches, silverfish, mites, ants, houseflies, spiders, bedbugs, fleas and crickets. It’s also effective outside in controlling aphids, caterpillars, codling moth, flies, fleas, chinch bugs, and ants. Apply a band treatment of DE around outside of house, also along baseboards, to kill household pests before they come in for winter. In the garden, apply at night or in the late evening to minimize effects on beneficial insects.

Watch for pill bugs (sow bugs, rollie-pollies) eating seedlings and young transplants of winter and spring flowering annuals. Use diatomaceous earth, hot pepper and beneficial nematodes. Also dusting cayenne pepper powder can repeal them. A citrus oil spray can be used if there are a lot of them.

Scale, mealy bugs and other bugs can over winter on your trees or shrubs. Pecan and fruit trees, euonymus, camellias and holly are favorite hosts. Spray with a dormant vegetable based oil. Following product label directions to avoid harming your plants.

Watch for spider mites, mealy bugs, scale and other insects on your house plants. Rohde’s has plant oil based sprays for tender houseplants.

Rohde’s carries “Precor”, an insect growth regulator, for treating your house for fleas. One ounce bottle will treat 1500 sq ft. We also carry “food grade” diatomaceous earth for ticks, fleas, bed bugs, cockroaches, and many other indoor insects.

If you are spraying anything, protect yourself with goggles and at least a NIOSH N95 approved Respirator Dust Mask. This stuff may be organic but it could be hazardous to inhale or sprayed in your eyes. Don’t take the chance.

Other Things to Do This Month

Now is also a good time to test your soil. Rohde’s recommends “Texas Plant & Soil Lab” at 5115 West Monte Cristo Road, Edinburg, Texas 78541-8852, 956-383-0739. They can give you organic recommendations. Having your soil tested now, will let you know what to apply to your lawn and gardens. Organic amendments are usually slow release, so applying now will let it break down to be available in the spring. We have a limited number of test kits that would normally be sent to you for returning soil samples if you are seriously interested in testing your soil. We offer these for a couple of dollars for a donation to a dog rescue society.

MULCH MULCH MULCH: Mulch all bare soil with shredded tree trimmings. Shredded material from your own property is best. If it is partially composted or mixed with compost, it is better. Synthetic, treated, or colored products, or pine bark should be avoided. We normally carry hardwood mulch, cedar mulch, pine needle bails, and pecan shell mulch.

Pine needles are falling. Junipers and Arborvitae also begin shedding needles at this time of year. If you have access, scarf them up for excellent mulch. It’s long lasting, mildly acidic, and repels slugs and snails from your plants.

Don’t forget the wildlife. Rohde’s has a very good selection of bird feeders, bird houses, and bird baths. You can put out different feeders for different seeds, and suet, for particular birds, so the different species don’t have to compete with each other. You will get to watch the birds fly between the feeders checking out their choices. Try squirrel feeders. It will keep them out of the bird feeders somewhat, and they can be very entertaining themselves. Bird bathes can be heated to keep them from freezing up, and they supply water for animals other than birds. Cats, squirrels, opossums, raccoons, insects will all use them. Keep them clean. Consider a second bird bath to fill with play sand for birds to “dust” in. This is as popular an activity as bathing is to birds.

With most lawn and gardening chores at a minimum, now’s a good time to plan for next year:

• Send off for seed catalogs and place orders now for best selections and so you will have them for spring.
• Prepare old planting areas or create new planting areas for spring. Rohde’s has designers to help with your planning and crews to help with your preparations.
• Design and build a compost bin.
• Design, install or repair irrigation &/or drip systems while everything is dead.
• If you want to stay inside during the cold, read some books. Rohde’s has a great selection of books on plants, the organic methods, pest and diseases, and insects that apply to our area.
• And there are years and years of these past newletters to read too.

Most of this calendar is designed for Dallas, Tx in USDA Hardiness Zone 8a, with a predominant soil type of blackland prairie clay.