We all want to be ready when fall arrives! Revive your Texas landscape from the summer season with a few simple steps because now is the ideal time to take action and prepare for a thriving fall garden.
Unsure of where to start? Check out these helpful plant care tips to try now and enhance the health and appearance of your lawn and garden for a beautiful fall.
1: Garden Clean Up
Before planning what to plant in the fall, it is important to tidy up your flowerbeds and clear out any fallen leaves or old plant matter. Debris can become an easy hiding spot for slugs, aphids, and beetles, and it’s a prime hot spot for insects to lay their eggs.
Eliminate weeds from your growing areas, as they can invite harmful pests and diseases to your flowerbeds. Weeds can quickly invade gardens, stealing space, moisture, and valuable nutrients from your plants.
Tackle tough weeds with the Truper Weeder. It has a sturdy hardwood handle and a V-shaped blade for quick and easy removal.
Remove sick or dying plants and dig up any spent annuals. Cleaning your flowerbeds now will improve the appearance of your Texas garden, prevent diseases and pests, and promote healthier soil conditions for a bountiful fall. This will set you up for success with your fall garden.
2: Improve Soil Quality
The summer sun and periods of drought can greatly impact the health and vitality of our native soils. It can deplete all necessary nutrients and lead to soil compaction in your flowerbeds. As Texans, we have various types of soils, from sandy soils to thick clay conditions. Proper soil drainage and structure is essential for your fall plants to flourish.
Discover exactly how to improve your soil with a My Soil® Test Kit. This easy-to-use kit provides organic soil testing and analysis to determine what nutrients are lacking, such as the pH and the level of nitrogen, phosphorus, iron, and more. They have successfully combined accurate soil testing technologies with a seamless customer experience. Simply, register your kit online, collect the soil sample, and mail it in. In 6-8 days, you will receive helpful recommendations for soil amendments, all tailored to your landscape.
Enhance your soil’s fertility and improve soil structure with organic matter. Compost for flowerbeds is an organic soil solution for clay and sandy soils. It loosens tight clay, helps sandy soils hold more water, provides nutrients, and makes soil easier to dig for your fall planting.
Use Calloway’s Organic Garden Compost to replenish and condition your soil naturally. The organic ingredients help promote aeration of the soil for rapid root growth and provide organic matter to enhance water and nutrient retention. Till about 3 inches of compost into your native soil to give your fall garden a healthy start!
Build healthy soil with organic practices and use of Back to Nature™ Composted Manure. Their 100% Composted Cattle and Chicken Manure contains no filler material. It is aerobically composted at temperatures of over 160 degrees for 4 months. Each variety is virtually odor-free, contains natural fertilizers, and is an important food source for beneficial organisms in your soil.
Another natural and organic soil solution for clay or sandy soils is to use soil amendments. Nature’s Creation® Expanded Shale is one of the best soil amendments for clay flowerbed soils. It will loosen compacted soils, improve aeration and drainage, and promote better moisture retention, resulting in healthier and more extensive root systems.
Nature’s Creation® Tejas GreenSand is naturally mined in Texas, from areas that were underwater millions of years ago. It is a sedimentary mineral that is very porous with excellent water-holding capabilities. It can reduce soil compaction in clay soils and promote moisture and nutrient retention in sandy soils.
For tough clay soils, try Nature’s Creation® Lava Sand. It is made from crushed volcanic lava. When added to clay soils, Lava Sand will modify the soil structure by separating and breaking up the heavy clay particles. It retains its sharp texture to help make the nutrients more readily available for your fall garden.
3: Pruning and Trimming
Promote healthy new fall growth with light pruning and trimming around your Texas landscape. Examine and locate any problem areas or plants impacted by our hot summer conditions. Remove any dead branches and encourage new growth by eliminating spent flowers. Be sure to follow the proper pruning techniques for your specific varieties, and avoid trimming any new buds or blooms.
Prune with ease and use Corona® ClassicCUT® Bypass Pruners. They are made with a fully heat-treated, forged steel blade, designed for a quick and clean cut. They are durable, dependable, and built to last.
4: Mulch for Gardening
Protect your flowerbeds with Mulch! Our fall weather can be unpredictable, from hot and dry to cool and rainy. Apply a layer of mulch to your prepped garden areas to help insulate the soil and protect it from our Texas sun. Mulch prevents weeds and helps retain moisture too.
Use Calloway’s Premium Organic Mulches for your fall garden preparation. They are made with 100% organic shredded Cedar, Pine Bark, or Hardwood and are ideal for maintaining a healthy garden environment. The shredded wood mats together to form a protective covering over your plant roots that won’t wash away. It helps regulate sub-surface temperatures, creating a moderated space for plant roots to thrive.
5: Grow a Green Lawn
Grow a barefoot soft lawn this fall! Post-summer lawns need to be replenished and revitalized. Feeding it now will help your lawn store up the beneficial nutrients for healthy, continued growth.
Feed your lawn and flowerbeds the natural way with Calloway’s Natural Lawn & Garden Food! The 10-3-1 formula contains nitrogen, phosphate, and soluble potash to help produce better results for your lawn. It also promotes organic chelation of iron which allows your lawn to absorb iron better giving it a deep, rich green color. Our Natural Lawn & Garden Food is also great to use in your flowerbeds because it increases soil organic matter and provides beneficial fungi and bacteria.
Need a quick green-up? Try Medina® Hasta Gro Lawn. The convenient, ready-to-spray formula is like getting a lawn care kit in a bottle! It is quick and effective, as the nutrients are absorbed by the leaves within minutes.
For more lawn care tips for fall, visit our blog here: Revitalize Your Texas Lawn for Fall: Expert Advice and Techniques
6: Refresh your Container Gardens
For instant color and beauty, refresh your container gardens with early fall blooms. Petunias and Dianthus will thrive in our Texas climate while providing your landscape with gorgeous seasonal color. Remove spent blooms and the old potting soil that is depleted of nutrients. Plant your new selections in Calloway’s Premium Potting Soil for your gardening success.
Get ahead of your fall edible gardening and start growing gorgeous herbs now! Use a lightweight planter from Bloem® for easy movement and flexibility and fill it with Calloway’s Organic Container Potting Soil.
Garden with Ease
At Calloway’s and Cornelius, we are here to help with all your gardening needs! Visit us today and explore our stunning collection of seasonal blooms, lush indoor plants, pest control solutions, stately trees and shrubs, stylish pottery, and so much more! Shop any of our 28 neighborhood stores, where we have served our loyal customers for over 35 years.
Have questions? No worries! Ask our Texas Certified Nursery Professionals; they are here to help!
