Texas AgriLife’s Community Horticultural Outreach · Texas AgriLife’s Community Horticultural...

Where’s The Rain?

ECHOTexas AgriLife’s Community Horticultural Outreach

In this issue:

Dr. Greg……………...………...…...1Book Review…………………..….2, 3Bulbs for North TX Landscapes…..4Mainely Weeds…………………...5, 6Congrats or Challenge……………..7List of MG’s Contributions…….…..8Mystery in the Potting Shed..9, 10, 11Save the Date…………………….….12Irrigation Checkup……………..13, 14Outdoor Water Efficiency………....15Water Efficient Landscape………..16Preparing for Drought…………….17Protecting Foundations…………..18Landscape Water Conservation….19Gardener’s Checklist………..…..20, 21Contributors………….…...……... 22

September/October 2011

Educational programs of Texas AgriLife Extension serve people of all ages regardless of socioeconomic level, race, color, sex, religion, disability, or national origin. The Texas A&M University System, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the County Commissioners Courts

This weather is

discouraging for now

but fall will find its

way to us and we will

all complain about the

frost and how it

zapped our beloved

basils.

-Mary Nell Jackson

Drought seems to be all an avid gardener can think of at this time. No one can predict when it will rain next, but it will eventually rain again. Let us hope it will be sooner than later, for our garden’s sake. If drought caught you by surprise and plants have been lost, all you can do now is try to save what’s left. The time to ready our landscapes for drought is behind us, but there are things we can do with our garden in the future to prepare for drought. Adopting the principles and practices of Earth-Kind is an effective strategy for preventing the effects of drought while conserving precious resources.

AgriLife Extension provides you and the public with knowledge and skills about drought prepa-ration and more. Through edu-cation programs and demon-stration projects we can learn more efficient ways to manage our resources. As Master Gar-deners you have been asked to share the knowledge learned through training and continuing education. Being a Master Gar-dener is a selfless act that de-serves great appreciation from

the public and the Extension Service. Your public service helps others to garden more effectively with less impact on the environment, it encourages our youth to learn about the world around them through hands-on education, and it aids to improve the quality of life in our county. Please continue your service to our county citizens and make a difference. In the coming month, there will be opportunities to learn through workshops, symposiums, seminars, specialist train-ings, and Myers Park work days. Please attend several of these upcoming programs to maintain and improve your knowledge and skills in horticulture. Share these opportuni-ties with your friends and neighbors so we can promote posi-tive changes in our environment.

Dr. Greg Church, County Extension Agent for Horticulture

As Master Gardeners you have been asked to share the knowledge learned through training and con-tinuing education. Being a Master Gardener is a self-less act that deserves a great appreciation from the public and the Extension Service.

- Dr. Greg Church

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ECHO Newsletter September/October 2011

Book Review By Mary Means

(Continued on next page)

The passion Chris Wiesinger exhibits for heirloom bulbs is only matched by his abili-ties as a storyteller. He believes that every bulb has a story. And whether the tale’s spin is about being caught in freezing rain after a hard day of digging, or finding a bulb sud-denly blooming out of season after the death of a loved one, the best word to de-scribe this book is en-

grossing. What happens to him next? It is the kind of book that you can’t put down once you start reading it. Heirloom Bulbs is divided into chapters according to the ease of growing the bulbs. The first chapter is “Great Bulbs for Almost All Areas” followed by “Great Bulbs for Many Areas”. The chapter after that is “Great Bulbs for Limited Areas”. Every bulb has a story to Wiesinger. One anecdote re-counts digging and digging for hours to retrieve a Crinumfrom a ditch (after receiving the proper permission), only to give up upon realizing that most of the bulb was still buried. Another account relates to being served a cake decorated with daffodils and wondering if the baker knew the bulbs were poisonous.

Heirloom Bulbs for Todayby Chris Wiesinger and Cherie Foster Colburn

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Following the narrative, there is a page that describes each bulb. When does it bloom? How big is the bloom? What does the bulb look like? What soil does it need? Does it need full sun or shade? Each section includes about half dozen photographs and drawings of the bulb. There are draw-ings of the bulb in bloom, photographs of the blooms, and drawings or photographs of a cross-section of the bulb with its bloom. Art for the book is by Loela Barry and Johan Kritzinger. An entire section in the back of the book lists other photographic and art credits. Interspersed throughout the book are sections about public gardens where a particular bulb can be found. Among these are Bayou Bend and

St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Houston, and locally, the DeGolyer House and Gardens in Dallas. Other gardens are in Virginia, Geor-gia, Pennsyl-vania, and other states. Finishing this book leaves the reader want-ing more:

more stories and more information on obtaining the bulbs. There is a sec-tion in the back of the book on online sources for the bulbs, but actual availability of a bulb from one of the sources is still questionable. Heirloom Bulbs is a wonderful book that any bulb enthusiast should read. The copyright date is 2010, and it is published by Bright Sky Press in Houston. This book should be close at hand whenever someone is prepar-ing a list of bulbs for purchase and planting. Look for an autographed copy in the Extension Office library soon.

About the author: Mary Means, class of 2002, con-tributes the book review and is a delegate to state meet-ings.

(Continued from last page)Book Review

The DeGolyer House and Gardens, Dallas.

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CCMGA 8th Annual Fall Fundraiser: Bulbs for North Texas LandscapesBy: Dawn Oldfield

The glorious displays from bulb flowers visitors enjoy at the Dallas Arboretum can easily be replicated in your home garden. Plant bulbs in large masses or drifts now and you will enjoy bursts of color for many springs to come. CCMGA is prepar-ing for our 8th Annual Fall Fundraiser: Bulbs for North Texas Landscapes. This fall we will be selling a mixture of spring blooming bulbs, including lovely species tulips, narcissi, Blue Magic Iris, fragrant Asiatic Hybrid Lily Algarve, and more. These tried and true heritage bulbs are those which will reward gar-deners with beautiful displays that will thrive – and sometimes multiply- in our difficult soils and climate extremes. Many of these bulbs are not available in local nurseries. The color palette is a varied one, fea-turing flowers in cheery shades of yel-low, blue, pink, and bi-color. Most of our selections will display their beauty be-tween the months of February through May. These bulbous beauties are a wel-come surprise in the early garden. Choose one or select a few, but you’ll be tempted to plant all these splendid bulbs! Look on our website, ccmgatx.org. to view the splendid bloomers for sale dur-ing this year’s Bulbs for North Texas Landscapes fundraiser. It is best to plant spring bulbs after the soil cools. Store them in a cool, dry, ventilated place until planting time. This is usually between October-December in North Texas. Planting instructions will accompany each order.

Hyacinthoides Hispanica Excelsior

Jonquilla Narcissi Quail

Dutch Iris Blue Magic

Double Narcissi Tahiti

Muscari Armenia-cum

Tazetta Narcissi Cragford

Longiflorum-Asiatic Hybrid Lily Al-garve

Large Cup Nar-cissi Fortune

Ipheion uniflo-rum Rolf Fiedler

Tulipa clusiana Lady Jane

“A host of golden daffodils, besides the lake, beneath the trees,fluttering and dancing in the breeze.”

-William Wordsworth

About the Author: Dawn Oldfield, class of 2004, is our group’s public relations coordi-nator, and is passionate about roses, water conservation, and trav-eling the gardens of the world.

(Shown on website)

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Escaping the heat was a big draw to fly to Boston, drive through a slice of New Hampshire (“Life Free or Die”!) to flee to southern Maine for the 4th of July. Daytime highs were predicted to be lower than overnight temperatures in Plano and rain wasn’t just a dream, but actually in the

forecast. Lighthouses and loons and lobsters loomed. We went in search of a cool escape, and met new friends while discovering my husband’s addiction to speed on a souped-up jet ski. He’s a madman on the water! The calls of a loon the very first fog-bound morn-ing made my day before a sin-gle cup of coffee was downed. Running the roads near Arrowhead Lake made for per-

fect plant hunting. Cinnamon ferns (they do exist outside of glossy publi-cations!) and yarrow abloom in the roadside; ditches were mixed with white pine, oaks, maples, and hemlock. Daisies and daylilies were ubiquitous gar-den escapes. Rock walls sur-rounded small family cemeteries dotting the Wa-terboro area. On the coast near Portland and Cape Elizabeth, pocket gardens looked like Martha Stew-art had just stopped by and plunked down her best perennials. Foghorns and buoys welcomed

Mainely Weeds By Candace Fountoulakis


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sunburned Texans to summer along the Atlantic. I indulged a childhood sweet tooth with rolls of Neccos wafers and iconic tee shirts. When passing the candy factory on the way out of Boston, I discovered the name was an acronym for New England Confectionary Company. Sweet! Wild turkeys, common eiders, and eastern phoebes were just some of the regional birds sighted during the four day visit to this southernmost county in Maine. Parish Cemetery in the small town of Alfred was shaded by ancient native maples and soft-needled hemlocks. The variety of ferns that grow wild have such evocative names – cinnamon, hay scented, beech, lady, ostrich, royal. A garden of just ferns would be a foliage frenzy. It was almost too much for a plant collector’s brain to absorb. Back to the roadside discoveries. On a morning run, I passed one plant which caught my eye enough that I walked back later with my camera to photograph it. I did not recognize it but it resembled both a milkweed and the rangy “pokeweed” (a.k.a. poke sallet, phytolacca americana). The thick

-stemmed plant was about 2-1/2 feet in height and sported corymbs of droopy shell-shaped white flowers. It took some lengthy research to finally iden-tify it but my initial impressions helped steer me. The plant turned out to be poke milkweed, asclepias exaltata. A weed in name only, this is a great new plant to identify as it hosts the monarch butterfly. I am hoping we get invited back to York County so I can con-tinue my journeys along the roads of southern Maine and its rocky coastline. There are a plethora of habitats in this lightly-populated state including bogs, montane barrens, estuaries and the dense woodlands which I have yet to explore. Besides, I have never seen an Atlantic puf-fin and I’d like to check that one off my list!

Mainely Weeds (Continued from last page)

About the Author: Specializing in learning about native trees of North Texas, Candace (class of 2002) loves plants, birds, photography, and talking about it all. If you ask her a question, be prepared for a 10-minute answer.

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Today as we enter the fall of the year, I was looking through the totals of volun-teer time for everyone in the CCMGA for 2011. In my role as First VP, I don’t con-sider it spying, although I feel I have caught some members in embarrassing positions. Many of our members have not volunteered enough hours to re-certify. Soon Halloween and Thanksgiving will be upon us, and those members who have not volunteered with the CCMGA will find few op-portunities. Losing your status as a Collin County Master Gardener should be alarming! Let’s give a big cheer for the 58 members who have volunteered over 50 hours with half of those over 100 hours for the year! Then there are the members who have just managed to vol-unteer the minimum 20 hours. With all of the projects we are working on as a group, there are a variety of opportunities where more help is needed. Members should evaluate their personal goals as master gardeners.Some of the common goals are:

· to volunteer to gain horticulture knowledge.

· to volunteer as a service to Collin County’s citizens.

· to volunteer for the camaraderie with other gardeners.

· to volunteer to be recognized as achieving your goals.

As master gardeners, we are passion-ate about horticulture and wish to share that fervor with the people who live in our county. Many of our members are moti-vated to make a contribution to society and a difference in our community. Others

love the social aspects of our organiza-tion. Some are master gardeners to pur-sue a lifelong interest in gardening.Each person must find their own reason for volunteering. A long, long time ago, when I was in my early forties, I was treated for cancer. Illness leads to an ap-praisal of one’s life and questioning the “meaning of life.” So my main motivation as a master gardener is to have my ac-

tions make some difference that I have lived at all. My secondary motivation is quite selfish, a love of learning. Acquiring new infor-mation is my definition of fun. Having fun and making a differ-ence, it’s easy to be enthusiastic! Congratulations to the master gardeners who have reached 50 hours and 100 hours of volunteer-ing so far this year! Your contribu-tion and participation have made

a positive impact on our community. The gold star pin is the recognition for over 50 volunteer hours this year. The 100 hour pins will be presented at our banquet on December 1st. Wear them proudly as you have earned the bragging rights. To those who do the minimum volun-teering, the challenge is made to partici-pate in a variety of projects. Take time, effort, skill, knowledge and courage to contribute to our organization. Consider your personal motivators-both altruistic and selfish are valid incentives for partici-pation. Losing a member will have a dire impact on our organization! Contact: [email protected](Kathleen Brooks) or March Davenport, [email protected] for help with reach-ing your goals as a Collin County Master Gardener.

Time for a Hearty Congratulations or a Hardy Challenge?-Kathleen Rose Brooks

About the Author: Kathleen Brooks, Class of 2005, lives to read, research and learn.

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Master Gardener Volunteer Hours As of July 31

Applegate ChrissyBest Eva NellBrown CarolCannon BasaCavendar BeckyClifton KayDennis TonyDiGioia BethDonaldson YvonneDrommer KathleenEpps MaycelFoong JaniceFountoulakis CandaceHicken Mary AnnHoffer ErinJackson Mary NellJones SherrianJoslin NancyLacy KatyMerritt TheresaNelson SheilaO'Halloran CharlieSchrock HeatherShook MichelleTrudeau CharlesTschetter DebbieWilliams DoloresWisdorf SandraWooton Carol

Aerdts Judy StalcupBassett JeanBradford JoyceBrookshire GigiBrookshire KathleenBryan MargeCarrington LindaCleary JoyceCompton PauletteCrawford MarileeDavenport MarchEwoldsen JimEwoldsen Judy Ferguson ReneeHuber LeeKirklen JanetLankford RobinLeblanc PennyMieritz GlennOldfield DawnPospisil JoannePurcell PatsySharp DianeSmith Howard SethSpadoni DavidTwiggs SheriWard KathyWebb MarjorieWhite SueWorley JohnYork Marcie

-Glenn Mieritz

50 to 100 Hours 100 Hours Plus

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By Mary Nell Jackson

I had a recent visitor in my garden. She arrived quite unexpectedly in my potting shed without even the courtesy of a knock on my front door. A quick glance told me she was a widow! In the past I had seen others like

her wearing the same attire, an all-over black number, universally recognized as the dress of one in mourning. Almost immediately I discovered she was in a delicate state, she was preparing to have a baby or babies. She was ardent about retreating into the darkness of the shed, what odd behavior for a house guest! To my shock, I heard through the grape vine that she had just committed a murder. The location of the body had yet to be discovered, but rumors swirled that

the victim had been her husband, and that she was the master mind behind the hei-nous act which ended their short-lived marriage. I could see right away she was a coy one. I have no idea where the perpetrator was from, but I felt she had deliberately chosen to visit me and selected the dark potting room to be her hide out and a good location for her new babies’ home. With the knowledge of her criminal act, I began to feel anxiety for my own secu-rity. After all, she was a unremorseful murderess. My concerns were serious and the questions were many: why was she hiding from me? Was she dangerous to me since I already knew she had killed her own husband? Was that knowledge alone a danger to my safety? If she were found on my premises, might the authorities name me as an accomplice to her crime? But then I rationalized that there was no body of evidence to connect me to the offense. Vacillating again, if this cold blooded killer lives in my garden, how can I ever convince anyone of my innocence?! In the next few days, her behavior became routine. She kept a low profile dur-ing the day, so it was difficult to come upon her. At first, my search was unabated. I discovered that night was her time to appear. What turmoil her arrival caused. I began to live in fear of our coming face to face, but had made the decision that if I happened upon her I would have no choice but to do away with her. This thought haunted me because I am a peace loving gar-dener; I harm nothing in nature and her arrival had turned my world upside down.

The Mystery in the Potting ShedBy Mary Nell Jackson

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One night I awoke from a fitful sleep in which I had been dreaming I was spraying her with the only weapon in the shed: bug spray and an organic one at that! It was a total nightmare! More time passed and I continued to search for her husband’s body, but by now I realized she was very sneaky and probably did away with him before she came to call. I also sensed there was no love lost, but those poor new babies; fatherless!

By now I noted that I was avoiding going into the potting shed...oh, the very thought of seeing her! Garden essentials that needed to be put away in the shed were left near it, I just couldn’t enter it without considering my own personal safety. I thought of the drama going on behind those doors...those poor new babies-to-be, born to a Mother of

crime! Days passed and we continued to live par-allel, she came out at night and I in bright daylight. Don’t think I didn’t think of making a midnight visit but rethought the idea based on my philosophy of self preservation. Yes, I considered setting up a camera to try to capture her nocturnal appearances, but didn’t want her to catch me setting it up. Even though this suspicious uninvited intruder traumatized me, I knew that I had to face the fear to overcome it. For one thing, I reminded myself (from my first few glances of her) that she was much smaller than I had built her up to be. Smaller, but so confident: she had long graceful legs and sported the bold black outfit with a single red accessory. Oh, she moved as if she thought herself beautiful; a graceful meandering with al-

ways the predictable rapid getaway. I determined to search for her instead of trying to avoid her. But try as I might, my sightings were only glimpses. One early morn in my search for more sightings of my elusive guest I found she had left her babies in a bun-ting, of sorts. At first it was confusing, was it a bun-ting wrap? NO, it wasn’t...it was NOTHING like a bunting wrap!!! It looked as if she had woven her offspring into a tight ball of material and LEFT!

The Mystery in the Potting Shed (Continued from last page)

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About the Author: Mary Nell Jackson, class of 1997, is a herb lover and discovered her love for writing about the garden a few years ago when she penned an article about gardening in her p.j.’s.

Now I ask you, what Mother would abandon babies? Apparently, I was dealing with a true irresponsible one that would first murder their Father, then bundle little ones up to fend for themselves. What was I to do? My head throbbed with new questions...was she once again on the lam? Did she know the police were closing in? Worst of all, I wondered if this was simply her way of life? I would have never known she had come by had I not gone to the shed after dark to store away those tools and surprised her. It was obvious that she didn’t want me to know she had come for a visit. She quickly hid when I turned on the light! Armed with a trusty flashlight and new found courage, I plotted

a second nighttime visit. I crept as if I were the one that had committed the crime of murder, I thought about her poor husband as I made my way to the shed door. I wished for better light, but the moon had hidden itself behind the clouds, and I jumped with even the slightest breeze. A spider’s web had appeared since I last walked the path and even brushing against it raised the hairs on my neck. Slowly, I opened the door and slipped inside trying to fight fear of clos-

ing the door or leaving it ajar. Ajar it was; for a quick get away! I shined the light all about and scanned the cluttered potting shelves. I spent several minutes peering into the thin light….nothing! All I could see were the usual items in the shed and made a mental note: I must remember to tidy up when this crime is solved. Just as I turned to go, feeling defeat, my eye caught one of her long

legs flirting behind the glass jar that housed my plant tags. It was clear to me what I had to do! My visitor was truly a widow, a black one, and her babies were produced after she mated with their unsuspecting father whom she had killed im-mediately.

When morning arrived I called the only person who would be able to force her eviction or else. I was delighted to see my organic ex-terminator’s truck arrive. He assured me when he left that she and her babies would be out by nightfall. Just in case I bought sticky papers to place in strategic places where I had seen her dart about. I slept soundly that night, but will continue to be on the look out for uninvited guests, espe-cially ones dressed in black and red!

The Mystery in the Potting Shed (Continued from last page)

Here is

what I

saw!

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The Coppell Community Gar-den is pleased to invite you to hear Felder Rushing speak.

Nicknamed “The Lazy Gardener”, Felder Rushing’s “Slow Gardening” is a lively presentation on how to have fun es-tablishing a pretty and productive garden with as little effort. He will share his se-crets on creating garden spaces in unex-pected places, including the back of a truck! “Slow Gardening” will be on Satur-day, October 8th from 2:00 to 4:00 pm at the Coppell Senior and Community Cen-ter, located at 345 W. Bethel Road, Cop-pell, Texas. Tickets for this presentation will be $10.00 (plus tax and processing fee) and are available for purchase: http://felderrushing.eventbrite.com/

Space is limited so buy your tickets early! Mr. Rushing travels all over the world shar-ing his offbeat approach to gardening, us-ing humorous anecdotes, zany observa-tions, garden-irreverent metaphors and stunning photos – all while trying to help gardeners get past the “rules” of horticul-ture. He is a published author, writing gar-dening books and penning thousands of columns and articles for syndicated news-papers and national publications, such as National Geographic, Organic Gardening and Better Homes and Gardens. Learn more about Felder Rushing and his unique approach at his website, FelderRush-ing.net. To learn more about this and other CCG educational opportunities, please visit CoppellCommunityGarden.org.

Save the Date, October 8th

October gave a party;The leaves by hundreds came—

The Chestnuts, Oaks, and Maples,

And leaves of every name.The Sunshine spread a carpet,

And everything was grand,Miss Weather led the dancing,

Professor Wind the band.

The Chestnuts came in yellow,The Oaks in crimson dressed;

The lovely Misses MapleIn scarlet looked their best;

All balanced to their partners,And gaily fluttered by;

The sight was like a rainbowNew fallen from the sky.

Then, in the rustic hollow,At hide-and-seek they played,The party closed at sundown,

And everybody stayed.Professor Wind played louder;They flew along the ground;And then the party endedIn jolly "hands around."

October’s Party

-George Cooper

-Provided by Paulette Compton

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Irrigation Check-Up


14


Irrigation Check-Up

(Continued from last page)

15


Outdoor Water Efficiency

16


Water Efficient Landscaping

17


Ninety-one percent of Texas is in ex-treme or exceptional drought. Check the drought monitoring map which is updated every Thursday at http://www.drought.unl.edu/dm/DM_state.htm?TX,S. The Fort Worth/Dallas area is not af-fected but the surrounding counties are la-beled abnormally dry, moderate or serve. The unaffected area around Fort Worth is growing smaller every time I check the map. Meteorologists predict the drought will continue for many months. What can you do to prepare for drought? Visit your city’s web site to see their drought plan and prepare to comply with these rules. Each city has different triggers to start drought plans which may include outdoor water restrictions. The Fort Worth Water Department drought plans are on the web at Save Fort Worth Water. Most of the requirements of Stage 1 drought plan are landscape water conservation practices easy to implement and follow and keep landscapes looking green. Lake levels down 75% is the trigger for stage 1.Here are a few things to do now to prepare for drought: Mulch all planted areas. Mulch is like

icing on a cake. Mulch keeps the soil moist like icing keeps a cake moist. Mulch allows water to infiltrate the soil efficiently, moderates the soil tempera-ture and breaks down into nutrients for the plants. Maintain a 2 to 4 inch mulch layer.

Make sure your irrigation system is working properly. Check for pipe and valve leaks or breaks, clogged heads, heads not working, misaligned heads, mist-ing versus spraying due to too much pres-sure, water spraying onto hard surfaces and runoff into the street. Fort Worth Water Department actually has an irrigation professional who will

Judge water needs in the morn-ing. The high temperature makes all landscapes look like water is required because the plants try to stop the loss of water from the leaves. Grass will close hard surfaces and runoff into the street. Fort Worth Water Deptment ac-tuall has an irrigation professional who will check your system and make rec-ommendations along the center vein and flag. Herbaceous plants will wilt. But as soon as the sun goes down the grass blades will open and stand straight and herbaceous plant will perk up.

If irrigation water runs off before enough water is applied, use the soak and cycle method to irrigate. Runoff usually occurs in lawn areas. Water these areas in 2 or more short cycles instead of one cycle. Most irriga-tion controller can be set for soak and cycle with different start times just for the lawn zones. Or set the lawn area to run a short time, wait 20 to 30 minutes and water a second or even a third time if the lawn is on a slope

Drip irrigation is 90% efficient com-pared to spray irrigation which is about 65% efficient if designed, in-stalled and maintained properly. Most existing irrigation systems can be converted to drip irrigation. There is now sub-surface drip tubing available for lawn areas. Drip irrigation tubing can be installed yourself or hire a licensed irrigator. In some cases drip irrigation is exempt from drought restrictions.

Preparing for Drought By Dotty Woodson

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While the drought conditions that plague Texas have taken a toll on crops, cattle and land-scapes, extended dry periods may also cause shifting or crack-ing in the foundation of your home. When clay soil becomes extremely dry, the soil contracts and the foundation sinks. Unfortunately, when the foundation sinks, it sometimes sinks in different directions causing cracks. When soil is extremely wet, it expands and lifts the foundation sometimes closing the crack. Many notice this shifting when doors are difficult to open and close or when you see cracks in walls particularly the corners. More survive damage occurs when foundation cracks cause pipes to break, chim-neys to shift and brick veneer to crack or separate. Try to protect your foundation be-fore this happens by watering your founda-tion.

Since dry soil shrinks away from founda-tions, walk around your house and look where the soil is against the foundation. You may have to pull back plants or even mulch to make this observation. If you do not see a gap between the soil and foundation, your soil moisture is good. If you see a gap between the foundation and the soil, you need to water your foundation.

Use a soaker hose to water the foundation if necessary. Place the soaker hose around the perimeter of the house 8 to 18 inches away from the founda-tion. Before attaching the soaker hose to the faucet, make sure you have a backflow preventer on the faucet. Most new homes have backflow preventers on all outdoor faucets. A backflow pre-venter prevents water from backing into the house pipes if there is a huge pressure draw in the house while the soaker hose

is running. Attach a faucet splitter on the faucet so the faucet is not tired up just for the soaker hose. Add a faucet timer to make timing and shutoff easy. A faucet timer only turns the water off. You have to turn the water on and set the timer. So if you want to run the soaker hose at night, you do not have to worry about turning off the faucet until morning because the timer will turn off the water. The first time you run the soaker hose, take off the end cap and run water through the hose to clean out any debris. Soaker hose run best with low pres-sure. You do not need to turn the faucet on full blast. Most soaker hoses will have a pressure restrictor (looks like a plastic disc) at the faucet end to prevent high pressure blowing geysers in the hose. If there is no restrictor, turn on the faucet so water slowly comes out of the soaker hose. Run the soaker hose for several hours.

If you find cracks in the foundation, fill with foundation waterproofing, which is available in most hardware stores. Cracks also may appear in the concrete of a drive-way, carport or garage. If there are cracks in the garage, you can usually assume that the cracks do not end there, but extend through the house. Call a foundation spe-cialists for any large problems.

Protecting Foundations By Dotty Woodson

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The heat, lack of rain, predictions this this weather pattern will continue and record uses of water have many cities talking about outdoor water re-strictions. The trigger to start outdoor water restrictions is when water demand reaches or exceeds 90% of reliable delivery capacity for three consecutive days, lake levels drop below 75% of conservation level and infrastructure or contamination problems. The Fort Worth Wa-ter Department’s web site has graphic to show the cumulative lake level and place any prob-lems occurring like major water main break across the top of the web site. Go to Save Fort Worth Water to learn more. The outdoor water restrictions are on the web site under drought management plans. I have read the stage 1 wa-ter restriction requirements and do not find it very restrictive. To me, it is common sense (repair water leaks) and easy to adapt (irrigate landscape twice a week). I irrigate only once a week but I have planted water efficient plants. Most landscape should be able to stay green with twice a week watering schedule. If you are watering more often than twice a week, you may want to start acclimating the land-scape to a twice a week schedule. The goal of stage 1 is to reduce water use by 5% or more. Stage 1 is mandatory. I hope you will read the Stage 1 requirements and agree with me. We can do this. Since water use increases anywhere from 30 to 60% during the summer there may be many things we all can do to conserve water. Now is a good time to look at the drought plan and make immediate and long range plans to conserve outdoor water. Many landscape water conservation practices once in place will save water for many years.

Immediate actions could include: Fixing all water leaks indoors and outdoors

Make sure your irrigation system works properly (the City of Fort Worth offers free irrigation checkups. Call 817-392-8740 to schedule an irrigation checkup)

Set the controller to water the lawn areas for 2 or more short periods instead of one long period

Change spray head nozzles to water con-serving multi-stream nozzles

Install drip irrigation (many irrigation sys-tems can be converted to drip)

Mulch all planted areas with 2 to 4 inches of mulch

Aerate the lawn area Add about ½ inch of compost to lawn areas

to increase water absorbing rate Replace older irrigation controller with

new models with water conserving settings or with a smart controller

Install a rain and freeze sensor

Long Term plans could include: New landscape design using water con-

serving landscape plants (so to www.txsmartscape.com for design and plant selection ideas )

Plant trees so the west side of the home is shaded (this will also save electricity)

All future landscape must conserve water to make our water resources sustainable. The value of a landscape is about 15% of a home’s value. But there are many more benefits than financial. Research shows a well designed and maintained landscape increases quality of life, encourages outdoor activities, mediates both the outdoor and indoor environment, filters storm water, reduces air pollution, produces oxygen, reduces heat inland effect, reduces crime and increases home value. Look at these drought plans as an opportunity to save water, improve your environment and save money.

By Dotty WoodsonLandscape Water Conservation

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Garden Checklist for September/OctoberBy Dr. William C. Welch, Professor & Landscape Horticulturist, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX. by Dr. William C. Welch, Professor & Landscape Horticulturist, Texas AgriLife Extension Service, Col-lege Station, TX http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/newsletters/hortupdate/

Now is the time to fertilize

clumps of established warm-weather, small-flowered narcissus such as 'Grand Primo' or 'Earlicheer'. They will send out fresh roots first, then the foliage will ap-pear.

Rejuvenate heat-stressed geraniums and begonias for the fall season by lightly pruning, fertilizing, and watering.

Break off healthy shoots of such annuals as coleus, ornamental chartreuse or maroon sweet potatoes or geraniums (pelargoniums) and pot them to provide new plants to carry through the winter in the greenhouse or enclosed porch area.

Don't allow plants with green fruit or berries to suffer from lack of moisture. Hollies will frequently drop their fruit under drought conditions.

Prune out dead or diseased wood from trees and shrubs. Hold off on major pruning until midwinter. Pruning now may stimulate tender growth prior to frost.

Divide spring-flowering perennials such as irises, Shasta daisies, gaillardias, cannas, day lilies, vio-lets, liriope, and ajuga. Reset divisions into well prepared soil with generous amounts of organic material worked into the top 8 to 10 inches.

Prepare the beds for spring-flowering bulbs as soon as possible. It is important to cultivate the soil and add generous amounts of organic matter to improve the water drainage. Bulbs will rot without proper drainage.

Plantings at this time can provide landscape color for three seasons in central, east, and south Texas. Annuals set out early enough will bloom as soon as Thanksgiving, and frequently last until Memo-rial Day. Annuals that should soon be available in nurseries and garden shops include petunias, ca-lendulas, pansies, snapdragons, stock, sweet peas, and violas (from seed).

Continue a disease-spray schedule on roses, as blackspot and mildew can be extremely damaging in September and October. Funginex, used every 7 to 14 days, will usually give excellent control.

Christmas cactus can be made to flower by supplying 12 hours of uninterrupted darkness and cool nights (55 degrees F.) for a month, starting in mid-October. Keep plants on the dry side for a month prior to treatment.

Replenish mulches around trees and shrubs, and water every 3 to 5 days. Start cool-season vegetables, such as mustard, lettuce, arugula, broccoli, carrots, and turnips, from

seed in well prepared beds. Harvest okra, peppers, squash, and other vegetables often to encourage production.


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October

Carefully harvest material for dried ar-rangements at this time. Choose cockscomb, flowering artemisia, already mature okra pods, flowering oregano stalks, and others to enhance fall and winter bouquets. October through November is an excellent time

to purchase bulbs while you still have a good selection in the garden center. They may be planted at any time with the exception of tulips and hyacinths.

Chill tulip and hyacinth bulbs in the refrigera-tor until mid or late December before planting. The lower part of the refrigerator is best. Do not leave bulbs in airtight plastic bags during refrigerated storage.

Plant bulbs in well prepared beds so the base of the bulb is at a depth that is three times the di-ameter of the bulb. In sandy soil, set slightly deeper and in clay soils less deeply.

Start collecting leaves for the compost pile. Be sure to have extra soil available so that each 6 inch layer of leaves may be covered with sev-eral inches of soil. Always wet the layer of leaves thoroughly before adding the soil. Add about one pound of a complete lawn or garden fertilizer to each layer of leaves to provide the necessary nitrogen for decomposition.

In addition to bulbs, check your nursery or gar-den center for started plants of snapdragons, pinks, sweet williams, poppies, and calendulas. Planted now in south and east Texas, they will usually provide a riot of spring color; wait until late winter or early spring to plant in north Texas.

Keep Christmas cactus in a sunny spot where night temperatures can be kept below 65 de-grees F. Buds will drop if you allow night tem-peratures to go above 70 degrees F. or if you allow the plant to become excessively dry. They should also be kept in total darkness from 5:00 pm until 8:00 am for about 30 days in Oc-tober to initiate flower buds.

If you have saved seeds of your favorite plants, allow them to become air dry, then place them in an airtight container and store in the refrigerator. Be sure to label each packet carefully.

They need a well-drained soil and expo-sure to at least a half-day of sun. It is best to use started plants, as seeds are difficult to handle.

Remember, seed from hybrid plants seldom resembles the parent plant.

Prepare beds for planting pansies when they become available at the garden centers. They

If you are planning to save caladium tubers for another year, dig them in late October, and al-low to dry in a well ventilated but shady area. After 7 to 10 days, remove leaves an dirt, then pack in dry peat moss, vermiculite, or similar material for storage. Pack tubers so they do not touch each other. Dust with all-purpose fungi-cide as you pack. Place container in an area where temperature won't drop below 50 de-grees F.

If twig girdlers have worked over your trees so that many twigs and branches are dropping, make sure these are collected and destroyed, as the eggs deposited in that portion of the branch that drops to the ground.

There is still time to divide and reset such per-ennials as phlox, violets, hollyhocks, irises, day lilies, and shasta daisies.

October is a good time to reduce the insect and disease potential in next year's garden. Clean up the garden, removing all annuals that have completed their life cycle. Remove the tops of all herbaceous perennials that have finished flowering or as soon as frost has killed the leaves.

Holly plants with a heavy set of fruit often suf-fer a fertilizer deficiency. An application of complete fertilizer late this month can be help-ful and provide a head start next spring.

Plant seeds of sweet peas in south and east Texas during October/November. Select a site where there is at least a half-day of sun and protection from north winds.

Garden Checklist for September and October (Continued from last page)

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CCMGATexas AgriLIFE Extension825 N. MacDonald StreetSuite 150McKinney, TX 75069

Thanks to ECHO Newsletter contributors:Kathleen BrooksGreg ChurchPaulette ComptonCandace FountoulakisMary Ann HickenMary Nell JacksonJanet KirklenMary MeansGlenn MieritzDawn OldfieldKatherine PonderDr. William C. WelchDr. Dotty Woodson

The submission deadline for the No-vember/December issue of the ECHONewsletter is October 10, 2011. Sendsubmissions, comments, and sugges-tions to:

Editor, Mary Ann Hicken at: [email protected]://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:DallasArboretum-DeGolyerHouse-6595.jpg#filehistory

CCMGA Officers for 2011

Renee Ferguson………....PresidentKathleen Brooks………...1st VP (Programs)Glenn Mieritz..………..….2nd VP (Records)Diane Sharp…..……….....SecretaryPaulette Compton…….…TreasurerMarch Davenport………...Volunteer CoordinatorKathy Bosworth…………..Volunteer Coordinator

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