GARDEN CHECKLIST FOR TEXAS
By William C. Welch

Garden Checklist (for all Southern states except Florida and Texas)
Florida Garden Checklist

Tropical Vines
Train them onto trellises, walls, fences, or topiary stands to add vertical interest and color to your garden. As soon as danger of frost has passed, plant allamandas, passion vines, mandevillas, and bougainvilleas. All of these bloom best in containers and thrive in summer heat. Select a pot 18 inches or more in diameter, and fill it with potting soil. Apply water-soluble fertilizer every few weeks, and provide a sunny location for maximum flowering.

Entire State

• Grass--Alleviate compaction by aerating your lawn. Aeration, or coring, is done with equipment that can be rented affordably at home-and-garden centers. The resulting small holes in the ground let water and fertilizer penetrate the soil more easily while bringing in additional oxygen. The small soil cores on the lawn surface can be pulverized with a mower or allowed to dissolve naturally, providing nutrients and microorganisms.

Panhandle

• Trees--Good choices include Chinese pistache, bur oak, Chinese elm (Ulmus parvifolia), Arizona cypress, Eastern red cedar, and bald cypress. Container-grown trees are easiest to transplant. Set trees at the same depth that they were growing in their containers. To prevent frost injury, wrap trunks with tree paper, available in rolls at nurseries.

Central, East, and South

• Vegetables--Plant sweet corn, green beans, onions, lettuce, collards, mustard, potatoes, and cabbage. As the potatoes emerge, cover their bases with soil to make them more productive. Set out early tomatoes if you can protect them from frost; plant the main crop when the soil warms.

Central, West, and South

• Perennial salvias--For color from spring till frost, set out perennial salvias now. Taller kinds for the back of a border include 'Indigo Spires,' Mexican bush sage (Salvia leucantha), and anise-scented sage (S. guaranitica). Compact types include autumn sage (S. greggii) and mealycup sage (S. farinacea).

South

• Flowers--Plant zinnias, globe amaranths, marigolds, cleomes, and celosias now for summer color. Set out seeds in well-prepared soil, and thin young plants so they will have enough room to develop properly.

North and East

• Top-dressing lawns--Fine-tune the grading of your lawn by applying a thin layer of sand, compost, peat, or a mix of these products. Use 1 to 2 cubic yards of the material for each 1,000 square feet of turf. Rake evenly so the material will make good contact with the soil.