November Landscapes – "Hard Winter" ahead?

[Sirhornsalot]

a week out from December and my peach tree leaves are finally turning yellow - amazing - pecan and oaks still green

Do boring insects leave eggs in limbs and higher trunk?  If so, would splitting the logs expose them to air and cold, thus killing them?  I hate to prematurely burn wood that I can use later

They don't lay them in a particular place. Close to wherever they spend their time. They don't travel much, just a few feet in any direction.

 

[Sirhornsalot]

If you have bird houses, now is a good time to take them down and spare them the winter weather. Make sure to get them back out around the first of February.



Once you get them down, take time to clean them out and make any necessary repairs. THEN put them away. But don't forget they're there!



Also . . .



Remove your Hummingbird feeders. Bring them in and again, clean them before putting them up. Taking them down removes any incentive for them to stay around longer than they should. They must migrate to avoid freezing temperatures, which kill them.



Bird baths . .



You will want to take your bird bath bowls (removable ones) and flip them upside down or bring them indoors. You don't want them to have water in them when temperatures fall below freezing. That can cause cracks and leaks.

 

[Baron]

If you have bird houses, now is a good time to take them down and spare them the winter weather. Make sure to get them back out around the first of February.



Once you get them down, take time to clean them out and make any necessary repairs. THEN put them away. But don't forget they're there!



Also . . .



Remove your Hummingbird feeders. Bring them in and again, clean them before putting them up. Taking them down removes any incentive for them to stay around longer than they should. They must migrate to avoid freezing temperatures, which kill them.



Bird baths . .



You will want to take your bird bath bowls (removable ones) and flip them upside down or bring them indoors. You don't want them to have water in them when temperatures fall below freezing. That can cause cracks and leaks.

Speaking of bird houses, how do you keep sparrows out of a Martin house. Is it height or some other arcane measure?

 

[Sirhornsalot]

Speaking of bird houses, how do you keep sparrows out of a Martin house. Is it height or some other arcane measure?

No, nothing like that. Sparrows are very aggressive toward Martins. If you have a nest of Sparrows on your property, Martins simply won't come to your property.

Inspect your house(s), removing any Sparrow nests you find. Sparrows make their nests out of straw/grass with a hole in the center. Martin nests are made of leaves and mud and are flat.

Sparrows are in introduced species and are problematic towards the Martins. Males are very territorial and will invade Martin nests and kill the young or eat the eggs. One naturalists group literally calls Sparrows a "pest species."

If you have Sparrows set up shop in your birdhouse, take the house down or board it up until they leave. The problem is, Sparrows are more likely to show up first after Winter. Shut it down when/if you see them at your place.

One other species, the Bluebird, will nest in a Martin house. They are a protected species so don't harm them.

 

[Soldierhorn]

I aggressively cut back my dwarf yaupon hollys. they stay green year round but arent pushing new limbs right now so I thought it was safe. I had to cut it back several inches on one side and almost bare of leaves now. they are a VERY hearty plants and normally it wouldnt bother me. But, the bare side is on the north side and doesnt get the sun that it use to. I'm concerned that the bushes might not grow back as they have in the past. A very healthy burr oak now casts a lot more shade and the bushes only get a couple of hours of direct sun in the morning and a couple more in the evening. 

what do you think?

 

[Sirhornsalot]

I aggressively cut back my dwarf yaupon hollys. they stay green year round but arent pushing new limbs right now so I thought it was safe. I had to cut it back several inches on one side and almost bare of leaves now. they are a VERY hearty plants and normally it wouldnt bother me. But, the bare side is on the north side and doesnt get the sun that it use to. I'm concerned that the bushes might not grow back as they have in the past. A very healthy burr oak now casts a lot more shade and the bushes only get a couple of hours of direct sun in the morning and a couple more in the evening. 

what do you think?

Agree that you will see reduced volume of leaves, particularly on that north side. But a few hours in the morning and evening will keep most of it with leaves.

How many of them do you have?

 

[Soldierhorn]

Agree that you will see reduced volume of leaves, particularly on that north side. But a few hours in the morning and evening will keep most of it with leaves.

How many of them do you have?

I planted three 1' high bushes in a row (south to north) abt 15-20 yrs ago to form a rectangle 6' long x 4' wide x 3' high. Each trunk is about 5" dia at the base.  It looks like one bush and used to partially block the view of the porch from the street; boxes put on the porch are blocked from view.  It's a very, VERY low maintenance bush; just needs a trimming once a year or so. I dont water it directly but indirectly as a result of watering the burr oak at the canopy edge 

 

[Sirhornsalot]

I planted three 1' high bushes in a row (south to north) abt 15-20 yrs ago to form a rectangle 6' long x 4' wide x 3' high. Each trunk is about 5" dia at the base.  It looks like one bush and used to partially block the view of the porch from the street; boxes put on the porch are blocked from view.  It's a very, VERY low maintenance bush; just needs a trimming once a year or so. I dont water it directly but indirectly as a result of watering the burr oak at the canopy edge 

Yeah, if you planted 15-20 years ago then you're into the dwarf yaupon's twilight years. 25 years is usually it for them. 5" caliper on a dwarf yaupon is pretty large.

 

[gmcc]

Been meaning to askbut kept forgeting. How did your Dixie Belles do?

Mine did exceptionaly good. Best crop ever of that variety. Biggest single andmore big onions. Will proably last rest of year, and wife uses a lot of onions cooking.

Where do you buy your Dixie Belles?  Do they come as small onions or seed?

 

[Soldierhorn]

Yeah, if you planted 15-20 years ago then you're into the dwarf yaupon's twilight years. 25 years is usually it for them. 5" caliper on a dwarf tampon is pretty large.

yeah, they look healthy enough to last at least a few years and long enough for me to move out to the hill country. If I stayed here and they start declining, I would likely pull them out and replant dwarf yaupons again.  they served their function perfectly with virtually no maintenance. All the 20 yr old boxwood bushes in my different neighbor's yards look shabby and different sizes (some still look small, others too large for the space, and some died off leaving gaps in the layout) 

 

[Soldierhorn]

well, almost December and today I have the starting of fallen leaves. Leaves turned yellow and lot of acorns fell this week. Oddly, a lantana bush is still trying to bud flowers; I have never had lantana buds in December so I'm going to watch this closely.  My buffalo grass has turned mostly brown but the bermuda is still mostly green. strange year

Time to take out the digital camera and take some date/time stamped photos for this late fall season. It looks like this weekend I'll be bagging up leaves, acorns, and pecans.  

 

[gmcc]

Mark,  I meant my question about the Dixie Belle onions to you.  I was not paying attention when I copied Eastexhorn.  I did not have much luck with my garden last year and hoped to plant my onions early this year.

thanks in advance

 

[Baron]

well, almost December and today I have the starting of fallen leaves. Leaves turned yellow and lot of acorns fell this week. Oddly, a lantana bush is still trying to bud flowers; I have never had lantana buds in December so I'm going to watch this closely.  My buffalo grass has turned mostly brown but the bermuda is still mostly green. strange year

Time to take out the digital camera and take some date/time stamped photos for this late fall season. It looks like this weekend I'll be bagging up leaves, acorns, and pecans.  

Things have changed rapidly here in the hill country. Lots of color now.

 

[Sirhornsalot]

Mark,  I meant my question about the Dixie Belle onions to you.  I was not paying attention when I copied Eastexhorn.  I did not have much luck with my garden last year and hoped to plant my onions early this year.

thanks in advance

I get mine from my local feed store, Johnson Feed here in Lewisville. They are small onions, a batch of 50 usually, when I buy them.

Plant your onions on Jan. 15th. Make sure you water them a few times those first few days unless you're getting rain. After about 3 weeks, apply some Soda Nitrate (granular) around your onions and water them immediately. The granules will dissolve quickly but don't stop watering until they dissolve completely. 

You will want to repeat this every 1.5 weeks until temperatures start getting in the 85-90 range regularly. You will notice a drastic difference each time you apply.

I buy my soda nitrate from Johnson Feed Mill, but have found it on amazon in the past, too. You can go to fertilome.com and enter your zip code in the top right corner – they will show you businesses near you that carry their products.

 

[Sirhornsalot]

Things have changed rapidly here in the hill country. Lots of color now.

We're having a lot of wind here north of DFW airport this evening. A lot of our color is blowing off the trees right now.

 

[Eastexhorn]

Where do you buy your Dixie Belles?  Do they come as small onions or seed?

Mark has given a better answer than I ca. Buy mine at local feed and seed store. Check your local feed stores. 

Dixie Belles are grown by Dixon Dale farms Carrizo Springs Texas PO Box129 zip 78834 tele # 830-876-2430 www.dixondalefarms.com

Worlds largest onion growers They have a free catalog or shop on line.I think

My suggestion is plant several varities to see what does the best

 1015 whites and dixie belles red do best for me. Also follow their advice on planting and growing onions. This helped my growing bigger and better onions.

Hope this helps.

 

[Sirhornsalot]

My suggestion is plant several varities to see what does the best

Thats really a great idea.

I usually plant equal amounts of red and whites. Never fails, the whites way outperform the reds. Like twice the size of the reds. But I keep trying, trying different things.

My dad was a master at gardening. His white onions grown on our place there outside of Daingerfield – some of them were as big as my head. Just huge. I can only think it's the soil there in East Texas that onions like so much. Soft sandy loam is what my dad had.

Here in DFW, our black clay is great for growing cotton, but little else. So I have to create my soil using composts, landscape mix, and a section of my garden has some of that sandy loam that I once brought back from ET.

 

[Eastexhorn]

Bigest I ever grew was slightly over 5 pounds

Alisa Craig varity comes from a island off English coast. Hold record at 18 pounds

Does not keep well however. Which is important to me and wife. As stated in above post Dixon Dale catalog has a lot of infro. on types and how to grow. Also varities by different zones.

 

[Sirhornsalot]

Bigest I ever grew was slightly over 5 pounds

Alisa Craig varity comes from a island off English coast. Hold record at 18 pounds

Does not keep well however. Which is important to me and wife. As stated in above post Dixon Dale catalog has a lot of infro. on types and how to grow. Also varites by different zones.

Thanks for sharing that. I'm going to give it a look and see what I can absorb.

18 lbs, sheesh