Monthly Lawn & Garden Tips

• Prune azaleas, if required. Fertilize with Nitro-Phos Azalea, Camellia Food or MicroLife Organic Azalea Food. Feed every 3-4 weeks through September.
• Spray camellias for tea scale with NEEM if temperatures are below 90° F. If temperatures are above 90° F. spray late evening.
• Feed hibiscus every three or four weeks with Nitro-Phos or Nutri Star Hibiscus Food. This plant food can be used on gerbera daisies, bougainvillea, mandevilla and other tropical shrubs and vines. (more…)

• Feed azaleas, camellias, gardenias and magnolias.
• Prune azaleas, and camellias, after blooming is completed, to maintain the size and shape you desire.
• Plant drought tolerant summer annuals such as begonias, coleus, dusty miller, torenia, marigold, salvia, zinnia, vinca, scaeuola, pentas, angelona’s blue daze, impatiens and more.
• Replace lost shrubs with drought plants such as lantana, salvia, Texas sage, red sedum, daylilies, and more!

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• Give your lawn its first fertilization of the year. Most lawns haven’t been fed for months so we recommend a quick release fertilizer like NitroHos Imperial or MicroLife Hybrid.
• Spray camellias with All Seasons Spray Oil to combat tea scale. Oil spray can be used on any of your plants to kill over-wintering insect eggs. Do not use if temperatures are over 90º F.
• Fertilize currently non-blooming trees and shrubs with Tree and Shrub fertilizer or Jobes Tree and Shrub Spikes.
• Feed established roses with ferti-lome Rose Food with systemic insecticide.. Do not feed newly planted roses until after the first blooms.
• Prune and trim azaleas after flowering and fertilize with MicroLife or Nitro-Phos Azalea Food.
• Divide perennials and daylilies.
• Feed crape myrtles with ferti-lome Rose Food with systemic insecticide. A monthly feeding will keep off the insects, which in turn will prevent black sooty mold on the leaves.
• Plant vegetable starter plants, tomatoes, peppers, squash, egg plant, and cucumbers. Use Espoma Garden-Tone  for bigger abundant harvests.
• Finish any rose or dormant plant pruning. Remove any freeze damage.
• When transplanting or planting a new tree or shrub, use a  Root Stimulator to get the plant off to a fast start.
• Late March, apply a lawn fungicide such as fertilome F Stop to prevent brown patch or take-all patch. Lawn fungi flare up when the nights are cool and the days are warm.
• Prune hibiscus and feed with Color Star Hibiscus Food to encourage new growth and blooms.. Hibiscus do not like a fertilizer with a high middle number. Rather they like a fertilizer with lots of potassium, the last number.
• Plant perennials such as lantana, verbena, gerbera daisy, phlox, plumbago, lobelia, columbine, coreopsis, bush daisy, foxglove, lamb’s ear, liatris, lythrum, pentas, sedum, shrimp plant, wedelia, and yarrow

• Plant tomato plants in 6” pots beginning February 1 for later transplanting into the ground after all danger of frost has passed.
• Spray trees and shrubs with  Seasons Spray Oil to kill over-wintering insects.
• Prune roses on Valentines Day (or there about).
• Add lime to hydrangeas for pink blooms and aluminum sulfate for blue blooms.
• Transplant woody shrubs while plants are dormant.
• Give ground covers a hair cut to encourage spreading.
• Divide daylilies, daisies and other perennials.
• Prepare Spring gardens by adding compost, soils, manures,  and fertilizer.
• Time to plant transplants: onions, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, lettuce
• Seed starting time
• Feed and water the birds.
• Find a gift for your Valentine at Kingwood Garden Center

• Start tomatoes and peppers from seed.  Go to the “seedy” section of the Garden Center to make your selection.
• Fertilize established trees and shrubs.
• Do not fertilize azaleas until after they bloom in the spring. Use “Green Sand” to supplement nutrients and green plants.
• Have your soil tested.
• Transplant and move trees and shrubs. This is the best time to move azaleas and camellias.
• Prune and groom fruit trees and crape myrtles, but don’t prune spring bloomers such as azaleas.
• Prepare new beds now for roses and vegetables. See our large inventory of soil ammendments.
• Apply pre-emergent to lawns and ornamental beds to control annual weeds. We recommend Dimension or Barricade or corn gluten.
• Plant new trees and shrubs.
• Plant onion sets: 1015Y, Red Belle, Yellow Granex arriving soon.
• Spray trees and shrubs with All Seasons Spray Oil to control overwintering insects.

Check out the Jiffy display for all your seed starter needs.

• Fertilize pansies and other winter flowering plants every three to four weeks.
• Pick pansy blooms to encourage additional blooms.
• Clean up beds and mulch. Mulch rose bushes to help protect their roots from cold damage.
• Prepare new beds for spring planting by adding compost and any nutrients they may need before you begin planting in the spring.
• Prune evergreens such as junipers, hollies, and yews

• Refrigerate tulip and hyacinth bulbs for six to eight weeks. Plant hyacinths around Thanksgiving and tulips from New Years through the middle of February.
• Plant wild flower seeds for spring show.
• Feed roses lightly and continue spray program to prevent black spot and to kill any insects.
• Prune fruit trees. Remove dead and crowded limbs. Prune tips of main branches to maintain size and shape.
• Mulch for winter. A thick layer of mulch will protect roots from freezing and drying out.
• Plant trees, flowering and all other types of shrubs and fruit trees.
• Be prepared for early freezes. Tender plants can be protected by covering with old sheets or a special fabric call “N-sulate” which will give 4 to 5 degrees of protection. For even more protection, use more layers of “N-sulate” or plastic sheeting that can be placed on top of the fabric. Do not let plastic sheeting touch the foliage as it will burn the plant.For even more protection, an electric light or Christmas lights can be placed under the sheeting.
• Pinch off tops of snapdragons, stock and calendulas to promote bushy growth.
• Plant daffodils.
• When mums have finished blooming, cut flower stalks to near the ground leaving a few leaves to encourage root growth.
• Plant in November and December: alyssum, bluebonnet, calendula, pansy, petunia, snapdragons, stock, and viola.

Check out the Kingwood Garden Center lawn club for savings on lawn care products.

• Watch for brown patch in your lawn. Brown patch is characterized by circular brown areas. This fungus is triggered by cool nights and warm days. To cure, treat with Ferti-lome F-Stop or cornmeal with molasses for an organic solution to lawn fungus problems.
• Now is the time to “winterize” the lawn for fall.  October is a great month to fertilize with  NitroPhos Fall Special fertilizer. It builds strong roots making the lawn much stronger. The organic solution would be to apply San Jacinto Environmental Fall Gro.
• Check the undersides of Camellias for tea scale and spray with All Seasons Oil if required.
• Check soil pH of azaleas. If the pH is above 5.5 or the leaves are yellowing or showing signs of chlorosis, side dress with greensand or spray foliage with Fertilome Liquid Iron.
• Plant spring naturalizing bulbs.
• Most houseplants which have been enjoying the out of doors should be brought inside because frost/freezes could hit by the end of the month.
• Plant trees and shrubs now and in November. These plants are sensitive to water requirements.  Consider using a soaker hose or ooze tube to sustain water needs on only newly planted trees and shrubs.Trees and shrubs will have winter to establish their roots and be ready to take off in the spring. Treat the roots with Carl Pool Root Activator for best results.
• This is a great time (especially with the drought) for mulching all plants, shrubs and trees. Plants which are mulched 3 to 4 inches deep have less weed problems and do not need watering as often. Plus mulching helps to moderate extreme temperatures in the plant’s root zone. Be careful not to place mulch too close to the  base of trees and shrubs.
• Divide and replant herbs such as garlic, multiplying onions and chives.
• Also, divide, replant, or plant spring/summer blooming perennials to give them time to establish themselves for spring or summer bloom.
• Plant bluebonnets and wild flower seed now for spring flowers.

• Divide and plant spring and summer blooming perennials such as daylilies, irises, phlox and Shasta daises.
• Sow seed for sweet peas, snapdragons, alyssum, stock and calendulas.
• Continue to make sure that your azaleas do not dry out. They are setting buds for next spring’s bloom. If the plants are yellowing and showing signs of chlorosis, treat with Greensand.
• Plant vegetable seed and starter plants according to planting schedule available in the store. Plant herbs such as chives, oregano, sweet marjoram, cilantro, flat and curly parsley, thyme, basil (good until frost) and mints.
• Continue to provide quality care for your roses because October is a fantastic month for rose blooms.
• Water helpers for trees and shrubs.  Soaker hoses, deep root irrigators, aerators, augers, and water-in for compacted soils.
• Watering is the single most important things you can do for your trees during a drought.  Water mature trees every two weeks and young newly planted trees three times a week.
• When you water do so deeply, six to eight  inches in soil.  Avoid shallow frequent watering.
• Organic treatments for fall lawn care.

• Water azaleas regularly and well. Buds are now setting for next years bloom.
• Sow flower seeds such as calendula, four-o’clock, blue bonnets, hollyhock, French marigold, and snap dragon for fall or early spring blooms.
• Plant fall vegetable seed and starter plants according to the guide you can pick up at KWGC.
• During hot, humid weather roses are likely to be infested with spider mites, black spot or powdery mildew. One or two treatments with Bonide Systemic Insect Spray will take care of the spider mite problems. For black spot or powdery mildew use Liquid Systemic Fungicide