Blustery February in North Texas 2010

Late winter, mid February has been cold and snowy. Remember the native pine planted at Christmas time, it survived the heavy snow cap. Where is that hint of spring in the air? On top of cold and snow it has been dark and gray. The weather patterns have been very untypical for North Texas February weather. Record snow falls and low temperatures plague the wanna be gardener in me, eager to start.


Even the seedlings are struggling, so I have put them under artificial light. Maybe that will inspire the tiny sprouts to strengthen up. I am a novice gardener, so if all my sprouts wilt and die I won’t be too disheartened but while there is a hint of life, I’ll continue to nurture the seedlings along.



While awaiting decent out door weather, David and I built two bed frames. I’ll move them out doors and I have the row cover fabric to anchor with rocks or stakes to begin to set out the seedlings in a semi protected area so that they can harden. Sort of looks like a covered wagon frame. Don't you think? My son, Kevin used the term harden last year and it was the first time I think I’ve ever heard it. But the tiny baby sprouts started in doors handle the transition from being coddled in the nest to being kicked out to rigors of the yard if it is a slow transition or hardening. Makes sense! I don’t have time to coddle the plants along so will try the protected method. We’ll see how it goes. Regardless the frames won’t go to waste as I plan to use them to stake up tomatoes in one and beans in the other and to use them for cold beds with the covers for winter lettuce.
Next two projects will be 1)set the frames in place and fill them with a good garden mix of soil and 2) to get some drip irrigation system installed. If the weather would cooperate and give us a dry sunny weekend.

The rest of the plans for spring will be to lay a flagstone walk, finish grading and hopefully seed some lawn in addition to establishing three flowering plant beds and more. Always more as it is a work in progress that will span many years.

Journal 2

This post will bring you up to date with what is done so we can move on to what is being done and what needs to be done.
It is so hard to express in words all that we have done and even harder to express the vision of what we want in the yard and garden.
Soooo with that said I'll attempt to express all the wonders we've enjoyed and explored in this past winter in our yard.
The rye grass seed sprouted, what a wonder. After our labors to grade we did a broadcast seeding of rye in an attempt to keep erosion at bay. Success for the most part as the tender sprouts took hold and held the dirt in place.
The winter has been exceptionally cold and rainy by North Texas standards, a plus for some and a minus for others. For gardeners in the area it is a plus. The heavy rains drench the soils and soak in and prevent severe damage from the hard freezes that have followed.
My biggest garden failure of the season was leaving my son's mature San Pedro cactus on the front porch of my suburban home. The cactus is cold hardy -even in a pot- to 25 degrees but four straight days of teen temperatures turned the structure to mush and the towering cactus collapsed. I am attempting to propagate a few cactii starters.

Now to the successes and progress.

Christmas brings pine trees. Why cut a live tree? Why have an artificial tree? Why not plant a tree? We planted a "Fat Albert" blue spruce that will require water in the hottest of the hot months because our son asked for a spruce tree. We shall see how it survives. Before it was planted the cute little sapling sported a string of lights indoors and a single straw angel as the official tree of the holiday season. If our cute lil spruce does not survive it will be well remembered. The sensible gardeners that we are we also planted a native Loblolly Pine. It stands erect with long needles towering almost 10 feet now. We expect it to grow rapidly to a mature height of 60' and it is drought tolerant.

The dead of winter is the time to plant. Who would have thunk? Yes, in this area it is best to plant trees and bare root plants in the winter so the roots can get established before the hot dry heat of the summer sets in. So with meager funds to draw upon this winter we splurged in January on some Crape Myrtles. The showy colors of the stalwart crapes in the dog day heat during July and August in Texas has always been my favorite. We planted matching pairs of Rocket Red and Natchez White. What a show we will have in years to come for 4th of July with our showy blooms.
Mid February brings the daring shoots of daffodils and narcissus bulbs pushing out of the soil and seedling sprouts started in doors. The average last freeze is March 15 so preparations are in full swing to beat the last frost and have a few sprouts in the ground.
More on that next post....

Journal 1

A garden journal is a must for a successful wanna be gardener. Tch tch if you repeat your worst mistakes. It is only fair to those who have labored so hard thus far to bring you up to date with all the work that has been done, so here is a brief synopsis.

The barren wasteland of a yard is a work in progress and will be for many years. What a challenge, what fun and what a dream. A few highlights from the past 9 months.

We planted a peach tree. Our first planting in June 2009. A gift from Patricia, Rick and Jackson.
During the summer months, we picked up trash, raked dirt and graded the slopes and waited for the heat of the Texas sun to abate before we dove into the really hard work. Left over limestone blocks were laid to edge the driveway and future sidewalk and planting beds. After giving up on stone and rock erosion deterrents, downspout hose drains were installed to stop the water cutting a deep trench at each corner of the house.

Grading, grading and more grading. Pushing and shoving, bucket loads of dirt we didn't break any backs but we did break three rakes before buying an extra heavy duty dirt rake. We built a low retaining wall on the north side around the mechanical equipment and planted winter rye grass in an attempt to hold what little top soil we had in place during the winter rains.

Tommy told us he was going to quit coming to spend the night. The lake house was closer to his hunting lease so he was in the habit of hunting early in the morning and then coming to the lake. He was teasing more than grumbling. Work work work during the cool fall before the winter rains and cold set in. I actually planted a few bulbs in the island bed at the driveway.

These few words seem so scant compared to the hours we've spent over our labor. Is it a labor of love? Who knows. We'll let you know how we feel in a few years.

Journal 1 brings us up to December. Next post will finish out the what has been done.

Then onto what is being done and what we want to do.