GARDENING CALENDAR

TEXAS AGRILIFE EXTENSION SERVICE

BEXAR COUNTY BY DAVID RODRIGUEZ

May 2, 2009

Place several tuna or cat food cans around the lawn and measure how long it takes the sprinkler to measure one inch in the cans. That’s how long you set the timer on the sprinkler system once a week on your allocated day of lawn watering.

A properly maintained lawn irrigation system will usually put out an inch of water in 5-6 minutes. Running your irrigation system for this period of time is all that is necessary to maintain a nice, green lawn.

Help your lawn to be more drought resistant, by only watering when the grass needs it and then water deeply. The equivalent of one inch of rain per week is all that is necessary to keep most turfgrass’ healthy.

Keep tomato plants mulched with a two inch layer of finely shredded organic cedar mulch and properly watered to avoid blossom- end rot. Avoid watering the leaves to minimize diseases like early blight on the foliage.

For instant color, purchase started annual plants. Select short, compact plants. Any faded flowers or flower buds should be pinched, to give plants an opportunity to become established. ‘Super Elfin’ Impatiens is a great shade choice and dark leaf ‘Vodka’ begonias as well as ‘Cora’ Vinca prefer the sun.

David Rodriguez is the County Extension Agent-Horticulture with the Texas AgriLife Extension Service in Bexar County. For more information, call the Master Gardener “Hotline” (210) 467-6575 or visit our County Extension website at http://bexar-tx.tamu.edu.