Fall and Winter Blog November 2022

Tim's Garden Center Notes November 2022

Tim Thompson - Your Hometown Garden Guy

As blisteringly hot as the recent summer was, our autumn has been surprisingly mild– even coolish! I am sure most of you will join me in casting your vote for a mild November with plentiful rain to fill our aquifers and soothe the land as well as the gardeners. Fall and Winter gardening is upon us! Speaking of temperature, our average date of the first freezing temperature is usually around November 20th, depending on your elevation, so you will want to be prepared for that soon. In my years of living here, the first frost occurred as early as October 28th, and as late as January.

Thank YOU For Being A King Feed Customer!

Thank you for your patronage this and every year. The season of thanks is upon us, and we’re filled with gratitude that you have welcomed us into your lives to help fill your needs for home and ranch goods, pet needs, and everything you need for a beautiful garden! We wish you Peace, Love, and Flowers to fill your every dream!

Fall and Winter Gardening

Accordingly, you’ll want freeze protection for the potted plants and tropicals that have spent the summer beautifying your decks, porches, and yards. For fall and winter gardening, you will want to plan ahead. Prune them lightly if needed, and if in the same soil for a year or more, they need fresh dirt and a little more root space. Using the next larger-sized pot, repot them with fresh quality potting mix. If any of them show signs of pest problems, then take care of those issues before bringing them inside your house. Find a nice cozy winter spot for them, preferably with a bit of daily sunshine. Most will be happy in your home for the winter but try to keep them out of the drying drafts that heat vents create. If you have indoor plants that you are trying to keep just above freezing, that can accomplished in a garage, utility room, or well house. Plant caddies with wheels will make the job much easier with your larger plants. Remember that some of your outside plants will need protection as well. Plants that are only marginally winter-hardy here will benefit from extra root insulation on the coldest nights. Six inches of mulch is one of the most effective solutions, but anti- transpirants like Cloud Cover® or frost protection fabric such as N-sulate® can help as well.

Fall and Winter Gardening Protection Products

Whenever truly wintry weather sets in and no one knows exactly when that will come- remember that well-hydrated perennials, shrubs, and trees will be much more able to withstand extreme temperatures. Try not to forget your outside plant friends even when
they are asleep for the winter. Water them if we go too long without rain and top their root zone with a few inches of mulch for extra protection from cold temperatures and from the drying winter air.

Fall Yard Tasks

Winter is the perfect time of year to get rid of any annoying poison ivy and poison oak on your property. Their leaves usually turn brighter to orange in the fall, making them easier to find and eliminate. Their leaves have three leaflets 2 to 4 inches long whose edges can be toothed, smooth, or lobed, and all three variations can occur on one plant. Save yourself time and trouble by using a product specifically made for them, not regular garden Roundup, which is not made for this purpose. The best products for this job contains Hi-Yield Triclopyr Ester.

Onion Plant Growing Tips

Onion plants will be available later this month, usually by Thanksgiving if the weather is good, and that begins the onion-planting season, which continues into February. You can begin to prepare a spot for them in your garden now by building a bed at least four inches above the grade of the surrounding soil. (Raised bed gardens are perfect!) They like loose or sandy, well-drained soil with plenty of organic matter. While they prefer soil with a slightly acidic pH, you can add organic material, such as peat moss, compost, or manure and use sulfur to help lower the high pH of our soil in Wimberley for a perfect onion bed.

Fall and Winter Flowers Bring Color To Yards and Houses

As the wintery weather wears on, our gardens will begin to take on seasonal colors like browns and grays. You’ll be especially glad you had the foresight to plant your flower beds full of beautiful cool weather bloomers like snapdragons, pansies, violas, and dianthus. Plant them with a few handfuls of blood meal and bone meal mixed into the soil for season-long color that will brighten up your garden plot’s winter blahs.

King Feed Fall and Winter Gardening Center Gifts and Decorations

We have lots of wonderful gift ideas in the Garden Center for you and your loved ones. From decorating items like garden benches and pottery to toys, clothing, shoes, boots, jackets, books, and garden whimsy of all kinds, don’t forget your hometown store, King Feed, when you shop for that someone special in your life. Commerce around the world may feature sales days advertised as seasonal specials, but King Feed brings you good old-fashioned value and fair prices all day, every day.