What is a Texas Certified Nursery Professional and why should I care? Although you don’t need to lose sleep worrying over this question, it is a good thing to know, especially at this time of year.
A Texas Certified Nursery Professional is someone who has passed a comprehensive test administered by the Texas Nursery and Landscape Association. The test covers plant identification, pests, plant nutrition, basic landscape design and the proper use of chemicals.
It’s not an easy test – the testing lasts for hours and only 30% of those who take the test pass it on the first try. That’s why we’re particularly proud that seven folks on the staff at Smith’s passed the test the first time around. That means we know our stuff!
This is the time of year when you’ll start to see problems with your turf, your trees, your shrubs and flowers. Sometimes it’s an insect; sometimes it’s a disease; often it’s improper watering.
It’s important to identify the problem correctly. Spraying a lot of insecticide on a plant that has been improperly watered won’t help – it could hurt and it is expensive.
When you have trouble, bring a sample of the affected plant (seal it inside a zip-lock bag, in case it is something contagious) and bring it in to Smith’s. Photos can also be very helpful.
Let one of our TCNP’s help you diagnose and care for your problem plants. We’re more qualified that that guy down the street (no offense, neighbor), or the gardening expert online who may live in Massachusetts (no offense, Mass.).
Hard to believe it’s already time for the Arts Alive! Home and Garden Festival. As always, Smith’s will have a huge presence for this much-anticipated show. (more…)
A FREE Seminar on the basics of caring for your yard and garden.
- Basic Lawn Care
- Soil Preparation
- How and When to Water
- Choosing and Planting Trees and Shrubs
- Recommended Annuals and Perennials for Texoma (more…)
Folks are starting to call us asking if it’s time to prune back their crape myrtles. The answer now and at any time of the year is, “NO!”
There is not a correct time or reason to prune back crape myrtles. You’ll still see some out-of-touch gardeners who whack the tops off their crape myrtles during the winter. This is a terrible practice, now condemned by all the gardening experts.
Topping the plants will weaken them and make them have fewer blooms that won’t come till much later in the season.
If you have a crape myrtle that is too tall for its place in your landscape, the best practice is to remove it and plant one of the dwarf varieties. You can find many crape myrtles that will not grow so tall, thus avoiding the temptation to whack them off.
So find some other gardening chores to do this winter — better yet, feed the birds!
We’re expecting the first real blast of winter weather this week, which should really get everyone in the mood for the holidays! At Smith’s, we’ve been ready for a while now. Our poinsettia crop is the best we’ve had in several years, thanks to sunny fall weather. Poinsettias make such nice gifts (more…)
Last month I talked about being busy getting ready to be busy.
Well, now it’s officially busy. Business always picks up when the weather cools off, and we’re happily selling mums, pumpkins, shrubs, trees and pansies.
(more…)
Seems like the weather is never too predictable in North Texas, but who could have predicted that we’d reach the middle of July without ever reaching 100 degrees — and that our lakes would be full!
The abnormally high rainfall this summer is good news in some respects — but bad news because it has brought a bumper crop of insects and diseases to our area. (Remember to bring us a sample of any plant you’re having problems with, and we’ll diagnose it for you.)
Even with all the rains and saturated soil, I still see homes and businesses that apparently have the automatic sprinkler systems set to run, rain or shine. Folks, this not only wastes money and water, it contributes to the fungus problems in your yard.
Unless you’re going to be out of town for a couple of weeks TURN THAT SPRINKLER SYSTEM OFF and run it manually when the yard is dry! The sprinkler clock does not know if your lawn and shrubs need water (unless it’s way more sophisticated than most). But you can tell by walking across the lawn and checking the soil in the flower beds whether it’s time to run the sprinklers.
Don’t get me wrong — we are certain to have hot, dry weather again, probably very soon. Don’t think that the heavy rains we received in June and July will last till September if the weather reverts to “normal” summertime temperatures. Plants that have put on lush foliage growth early this season will require plenty of water through the hot weather to maintain that foliage.
But you need to monitor the soil and weather conditions and water accordingly. Don’t look at the calendar, look at the soil!
Seems like the weather is never too predictable in North Texas, but who could have predicted that we’d reach the middle of July without ever reaching 100 degrees — and that our lakes would be full!
(more…)
If you’re reading this blog, you’re probably younger than I am, and you probably use the internet for information about products and services, maybe even a good bit of shopping.
We’ve been talking about you — the younger, computer generation. Many of you have new homes, but very little knowledge about how to plant and maintain your landscape.
(more…)
It’s a shame that climate change/global warming has become a political issue. All the arguing about whether climate change is man-made takes attention away from things that we all should be doing to keep our own neighborhoods clean and save precious resources.
(more…)
