Sugarland..new home..new to gardening

16 years ago

We just bought a new home in Sugarland. We have a lot of energy for making a beautiful front yard with colorful flowers and a backyard with fruit trees and vegetables. However, we are beginners and want to meet people who can teach us. Are there people here who live in Sugarland that we can meet or can come by our house and give us a plan and tips? We planted a peach tree but it's not doing so good.

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pjtexgirl
16 years ago
Welcome! I'm in the suburbs of F Worth. People's soil can vary a lot even in the same area. Sometimes even in the same yard! I have patches of sandy soil in my caliche. Amending and how many trees,walls,how you are facing the sun(microclimates) can make a huge difference in plantings. I copied this from another GW forum. Hope it's helpful!PJ

Start with a good soil test for basic nutrient load and soil pH levels. Contact your local office of the Texas A & M USDA Cooperative Extension Service about this and then dig in with these simple soil tests;
1) Structure. From that soil sample put enough of the rest to make a 4 inch level in a clear 1 quart jar, with a tight fitting lid. Fill that jar with water and replace the lid, tightly. Shake the jar vigorously and then let it stand for 24 hours. Your soil will settle out according to soil particle size and weight. A good loam will have about 1-3/4 inch (about 45%) of sand on the bottom. about 1 inch (about 25%) of silt next, about 1 inch (25%) of clay above that, and about 1/4 inch (about 5%) of organic matter on the top.
2) Drainage. Dig a hole 1 foot square and 1 foot deep and fill that with water. After that water drains away refill the hole with more water and time how long it takes that to drain away. Anything less than 2 hours and your soil drains too quickly and needs more organic matter to slow that drainage down. Anything over 6 hours and the soil drains too slowly and needs lots of organic matter to speed it up.

3) Tilth. Take a handful of your slightly damp soil and squeeze it tightly. When the pressure is released the soil should hold together in that clump, but when poked with a finger that clump should fall apart.

4) Smell. What does your soil smell like? A pleasant, rich earthy odor? Putrid, offensive, repugnant odor? The more organic matter in your soil the more active the soil bacteria will be and the nicer you soil will smell.

5) Life. How many earthworms per shovel full were there? 5 or more indicates a pretty healthy soil. Fewer than 5, according to the Natural Resources Conservation Service, indicates a soil that is not healthy.
cllueless
16 years ago
Call The Fort Bend County Master Gardeners. They are a group sponseres by Texas A and M. They are a volunteer organization that teaches gardening classes. Also, visit The Enchanted Forestin Richmond. They have many beautiful display gardens and lots of very knowledgeable people who would be able to help you.The Fort Bend Master Gardeners have a good web site. Do a google search for it. Happy gardening.
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Everything before 'cover with plastic and leave until next summer' would be unnecessary except to reduce the bulk by mowing or weed-wacking, so the plastic lays flat. Cardboard also works and does not need to be removed later, a plan I prefer since you never know what seeds are going to sprout after you remove a smother barrier. This also allows the weed material to decompose and help improve the soil with very little effort on your part. You can cover the cardboard with mulch so it's not ugly and stays in place. When you get a gardening urge next year, install some plants. Shrubs are the easiest to deal with when one doesn't have much time to spend. As long as they're not eventually too big for the spot, most can be a "plant it and forget it" plant that only needs occasional trimming for structure and dead twigs or branches. They will shade the ground around them so weeds are less likely to sprout, and it's easy to add new mulch around them as the old become thin enough to allow weeds to grow, and/or to add a new smother layer if something does creep into the area. Low maintenance and rock garden are not necessarily married. Do you mean a rock mulch? Whatever seeds find their way to that are just as likely to sprout, but harder to pull out, especially tree sprouts. Whatever you don't like, you're right to say it should go. You don't have to know what you want to eventually do to get started wiping the slate clean.
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Haley: I'm in year 2 of a similar gardening project and the most important thing I've learned is: Do the Bones First. ie., if you want to put in a path, do that year 1. If you want to replace the fence (something white with some curve would stand out against the angles of the house and be in period) do it year 1. In a sense you're lucky that the sprinkler system will easily cover your yard without having to plan any planting beds, first. Do that year 1. Also year 1, start a nursery bed. Rather than buying 16" shrubs and paying through the ear, get smaller specimans of shrubs and perennials and grow them on this year with the plan to place them Year 2 or 3. This will save you a LOT of digging and moving. You are in the fortuate position to be able to use almost any palette, but I'd stay away from multicolor given the proximity of the house to the corner. "Too much" color variety will look confusing because the eye won't be able to see any one thing. Pick a base color and accent from there. A neat trick is to use complimentary plant forms on adjacent walls to give it continuity, but use different colors of the same plant. The eye won't split it because of the form, but you'll get some "base" variety in coloration. When I saw the South side of the house my thought immediately went to a good, hardy climbing rose. At our house climbing roses are considered "Bones" and therefore can be planted Year 1. :-) Good luck and keep us updated! Martie
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messymarsy
16 years ago
the Sugar Land garden club meets the third Tuesday of the month. Also three great garden centers in the area will give great advice The two Enchanted ones and Caldwells. Is this a real new home or just new to you? If it is a new home you will need to work on the soil before you start planting unless you like dead brown plants. the soil in the western part of Sugar Land where most of the building is is very alkaline, and the only sucess I really have had is if I build raised beds. So before you choose plants you may want to put the money into these. Good luck.

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Sugarland..new home..new to gardening

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pjtexgirl

cllueless

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messymarsy

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