GARDENING CALENDAR

TEXAS AGRILIFE EXTENSION SERVICE

BEXAR COUNTY BY DAVID RODRIGUEZ

May 23, 2009

Plant sweet potato slips into large containers which drain well or in deep raised beds. Enjoy harvesting the root like tubers this fall for fries and pies,

Apply iron supplements such as a Texas Greensand containing 17% glauconite or Iron-plus to lawns and other acid-loving type plants to minimize drought induced iron chlorosis problems.

Control Leaf Roller Caterpillars on Cannas with a dust containing “Bt” (Bacillus thuringiensis).

Eradicate grass with a glyphosate product and maintain a six-foot circle of 2- to 4-inch-deep shredded native hardwood mulch around young trees. Competing grass will slow a trees development.

Harvest Onions when their tops fall over. ‘Texas Super Sweet’ onions cannot be stored for long.

Having problems with birds, squirrels or other animals in your fruit or vegetable gardens? A combination of traps, repellants and deterrents such as bird netting, plastic owls or snakes may be the answer to minimize a complete loss of productivity.

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.