March Landscapes – Brace Yourselves for the Live Oak Molt

[Sirhornsalot]

A Month of a Mess!

Live Oaks will shed every leaf they have in the next three weeks! Keep up with the onslaught!

March is here and we’re on the brink of Spring! There are a number of things we need to discuss about March, so let’s get right to it!

One of the most significant things to happen this month will be the Live Oaks’ annual molt. This is a 3-4 week span where Live Oaks everywhere will shed every single leaf they have while simultaneously growing new leaves. Live Oaks grow to be large trees so the number of leaves they will dispose will be overwhelming, so it is important to keep up with it as the weeks go by.

What to do – you do not want the leaves to just sit on your turf. This will slow down your turf’s emergence from dormancy and it some cases, kill the grass before it gets going.

Leaves also find their way into the beds and even concrete spaces of your property. They pose a danger to wood, concrete and mortar (continued and ongoing exposure to moisture) and can also be a fire hazard.

 

Live Oaks (like above) can get quite large and have millions of leaves.

You have a couple of good options on how to deal with the onslaught.

1. Gather the leaves into the center of the lawn and mow over the pile repeatedly until the material is in tiny pieces. Then rake the materials into the turf so that nutrients in the leaves can be recycled back into your soil.

2. Gather the leaves into the center of the lawn and bag them. You can choose to begin a composting set up of your own or donate your material to someone in the neighborhood who does practice composting.

Any of those options would be preferable to sending them to the landfill.

While we’re discussing Live Oaks, I will mention that many of the region’s Live Oak population experienced some damage from the Winter Storm of 2021. The primary effect was sheets of bark that become increasingly separated from the tree’s trunk. It is important that you do NOT remove the bark and instead, allow the bark to fall off the tree naturally. Do not use pruning seal as this will only interfere with the tree’s ability to regrow its bark.

However, during this time when the bark is either separating from the tree or already off the tree, it would be wise to treat the trunk with Bifenythrin on at least a monthly basis. Having exposure with no bark makes them vulnerable to predator insects.

 

Above, a Texas Redbud tree, one of my favorites.

The First Sign of Spring is Here!

Those small trees you’re starting to see around neighborhoods all over Texas that have the beautiful purple blooms lining the limbs – those are Redbuds. And for three weeks in March, the Redbuds will put on their show. And it is quite a show!

\They are often the first thing in the landscape to bloom each spring. Here in the DFW Metroplex, the Redbuds began blooming in the last two days.

Oddly enough, there are several species of trees which are putting on leaves early this year. This week I saw a Japanese Maple totally leafed-out. Strange, so early.

 

Planting Spring Flowers

The month of March can be quite cruel. We can be sailing along through the first half of the month with very warm temperatures and spring-like weather. Many of us get the hankering to go outside and get a head start on the spring annual flowers. That gets done and days later we get a late March freeze. The flower investment is gone, killed by the freeze.

It’s best to be patient and wait until April 1 or after. April 1 is regarded as our “safe date” for planting annual flowers.

 

Lawn Care Begins!

In the first week or so of March, you will want to mow your lawn for the first time of the season. You may look at your lawn and think “it’s still dormant!” And you’re right. But to help bring the turf out of dormancy faster, we mow the turf a little shorter than normal. In doing so, sunlight is allowed to reach the soil level, heating up the soil which activates the roots of the turf grass. This results in a faster, earlier green up of the lawn.

Once you’ve done this, you can wait a few weeks before you mow again. By beginning of April, you’ll be mowing weekly again.

Mowing in March is also done to stop weeds from spreading. March is when we normally see weeds invade weak turf areas, especially in Bermuda lawns. A weed only needs 1.5 weeks to produce a seed. So mowing before that can happen helps keep your lawn cleaner.

Before you start, make sure you perform the necessary annual maintenance on your lawn equipment. This means replacing spark plugs, filters, oil changes. Sharpening the blade is crucial to do before the season starts.

If you don’t know how to sharpen your blade, you can remove the blade from the mower and take the blade to a local lawnmower shop. They will usually charge $20-$25 to sharpen your blade.

This is critical because you don’t want your mower to tear the grass, which is what happens when the blade is dull. You want the blade to cut the grass, creating a clean cut. A clean, sharp cut allows your grass to recover faster as each time you cut a blade, it is a wound. A sharp blade will enable faster recovery and growth while eliminating stress.

 

Sprinkler System Inspection

Last summer was a long and hot one. Most of us really taxed our sprinkler systems to help the landscape beat the heat. With that kind of pressure, we often see some things in the system go wrong, such as broken heads, nozzles, incorrect coverage, etc. So it would be very wise to have your landscaper conduct a sprinkler inspection. This would entail going zone by zone, looking at the performance of each head and looking for proper pressure and coverage. Don’t wait until plants start dying or grass goes thin before you act.

 

Words of Wisdom Regarding Fertilizer

There is no such thing as “getting a jump” on your fertilizer. At no point in March should you apply fertilizer to your lawn. We still get freezing temperatures and occasional winter precipitation in March. Applying it during this month will be a total waste for you.

Your turf grass has not emerged from dormancy yet. It will go through that process this month and your turf may even appear green at some point. But it’s not growing.

There are two things you want from Fertilizer:

1. Green up. You want the lawn to get really green and pretty.

2. Growth. Fertilizer causes grass to grow and spread. But if the weather is cool, your turf simply won’t grow, even if you did apply fertilizer.

In April your turf grass will begin to grow and you should even have four mows (once a week) that month. The month of April is when you should apply your first fertilization to the lawn. You will get the green up and also the boost in growth and coverage. And we’ll talk more in depth about fertilizer in next month’s column.

[Baron]

Ha ha, I won't have to deal with a bunch of leaves. I have lost 3/4 of my liveoaks on my ranch. Between oak wilt, snovid and this years ice event most of them are toast. Anyone want some firewood? It's free if you cut it yourself. lol

The redbuds started blooming last week down here and my cottonwoods have tassels 4-6" long.

[tinman]

[Eastexhorn]

A tip on the blade sharping. Buy a extra set of blades, as you take one off replace then. Saves time and you can sharpen with no rush.

[Sirhornsalot]

35 minutes ago, Eastexhorn said:

A tip on the blade sharping. Buy a extra set of blades, as you take one off replace then. Saves time and you can sharpen with no rush.

Good point. Your blades will last longer, too

[Sirhornsalot]

Hey @Eastexhorn I normally wait until April 1 but went ahead and planted 'maters yesterday.

I will plant more but started with a few Brandywine (heirloom tomato) and Superfantistics (hybrid). This is my first stab with heirlooms. You got any advice?

[Eastexhorn]

Well they are alreadyplanted so to late for this.I usualy put around a gallon of animnal manure under each tomato. If chicken manure about apint.

Gallon milk jugsmake a good cover on frosty nites. I normaly plant this type plants after good friday. Have the flats of plants on a cartout on warm days and in at night,

Superfantistics have done good for me in the past. BetterBoys are my main crop, with a few Romas. Also a few yellow pears small tomato

Due to a very wet spring a lot of garden will be late. Spargel or asparagus is doing ok for me for two weeks.Onions growing extra well so far.

Better Boy holds record of almost 350 lbs. offruit from a single plant.

You proably know both types of tomatos you planted are indeterminate type prune the suckers and might needto snip off ends of branches if they growtbig.Helps produce more fruit.

 

[Sirhornsalot]

3 hours ago, Eastexhorn said:

Well they are alreadyplanted so to late for this.I usualy put around a gallon of animnal manure under each tomato. If chicken manure about apint.

Gallon milk jugsmake a good cover on frosty nites. I normaly plant this type plants after good friday. Have the flats of plants on a cartout on warm days and in at night,

Superfantistics have done good for me in the past. BetterBoys are my main crop, with a few Romas. Also a few yellow pears small tomato

Due to a very wet spring a lot of garden will be late. Spargel or asparagus is doing ok for me for two weeks.Onions growing extra well so far.

Better Boy holds record of almost 350 lbs. offruit from a single plant.

You proably know both types of tomatos you planted are indeterminate type prune the suckers and might needto snip off ends of branches if they growtbig.Helps produce more fruit.

 

Yeah, BetterBoys are great producers. I also like the BigBoys though the fruit isn't as tasty. The Romas are great, so easy to grow.

Interesting tip about the manure. I still have a few more maters to plant so I will employ your tip. I can get plenty of horse or cow manure.

My Dad was always torn about pruning the suckers. He said on one hand you save the wasted growth/nutrients by trimming them off, but on the other hand having them helps provide more shade to the inside of the plant where the fruit are. I generally keep them trimmed off and will use some of them to start my Fall tomatoes in July.

 

[Eastexhorn]

Prune or not to prune that is the question. Too much and you get sun burn, too little and fruit does not get enough sun.

A german lady I knew took the foot high tomato plants I gave her and pruned all the branches and leafs off. Except 4 or 5 leafs at the top. I moved before I saw the results.

My grand mother saved egg shells and buried four around each tomato plant. Easier fom to buy calicum. Then I dont live over five miles from town down a partiallygraveled road. Plus little moneyand no car. Mid thirties were hard times.

[Sirhornsalot]

1 hour ago, Eastexhorn said:

Prune or not to prune that is the question. Too much and you get sun burn, too little and fruit does not get enough sun.

A german lady I knew took the foot high tomato plants I gave her and pruned all the branches and leafs off. Except 4 or 5 leafs at the top. I moved before I saw the results.

My grand mother saved egg shells and buried four around each tomato plant. Easier fom to buy calicum. Then I dont live over five miles from town down a partiallygraveled road. Plus little moneyand no car. Mid thirties were hard times.

That German lady was preparing to plant the tomato plant, burying 80% of the plant under soil in order to have a stronger root system. I do this myself.

Today my son-in-law brought me an "Arkansas Traveler." a "Cherokee Purple" and a "Yellow Pear" tomato. Should be a colorful garden this year. lol

The egg shells work, though they break down slowly. But great for soils which are deficient in calcium.