New year, new gardening habits: Make the most of 2020 with these ideas

This is our chance to take on some new gardening habits for the year and the decade ahead.

I think I have pathways to more success with fewer struggles, and I hope you’ll take a quick glance:

• Garden from a landscape plan. It doesn’t have to be formally drawn by a professional (although that’s always best), but that plan will be the road map or GPS app for your journey. Without it, you’re almost sure to go off course.
• Find out all that you can about each plant that you buy before you plunk down your money. How tall and wide will it grow? What kind of exposure does it like best (sun or shade)? How well will it survive our soils, our heat and our cold? Know before you grow.
• Prune with a purpose. If you’re standing there with shears and a saw in your hands and you can’t think of a good reason for the cuts you’re about to make, don’t make them. Shrubs don’t have to be square (or round) unless you have some kind of highly formal garden design. Crape myrtles don’t have to be topped – in fact, it’s the worst thing you can do to them. While you’re at it, be sure you’re pruning at the right season. More on that in later columns.
• Good soil preparation is a key to success. Organic matter improves any type of soil – sand or clay. Smaller plants such as flowers, vegetables, groundcovers and low-growing shrubs deserve the best bed preparation. Rototill to 12 inches. Add 2 inches of sphagnum peat moss and 1 inch each of finely ground pine bark mulch, well-rotted manure and fully decayed compost to a clay soil and till the ground again to the same 12 inches. If you’re amending a clay soil, also include 1 inch of expanded shale before you do the second rototilling.
• Plant in raised beds whenever possible. By elevating the planting beds you’ll ensure better drainage. Rainfall and runoff will drain away from your plants’ roots. You can always add water. It’s much more difficult to remove it.
• Water wisely. That begins with your learning how to “read” your plants. Some types wilt when they’re dry, but many others do not. Hollies, for example, lose their dark green sheen and begin to turn a pale olive drab. Soon thereafter they pass the “permanent wilting point” beyond which watering will not resurrect them. It’s critical that you watch your plants regularly (probably daily in summer) and water dry plants promptly.
• Water new plantings by hand. Don’t count on sprinkler irrigation to keep them alive for the first couple of years. Their roots will be, for the most part, in the original soil balls, and that soil mix was prepared to be very lightweight and porous. Use a water wand and water bubbler to soak them by hand every two or three days during the growing season.
• Invest in a “smart” controller if you have an automatic sprinkling system. Many cities now require them. Learn how to use it to maximum effect. They can cut your landscape’s water consumption dramatically, thereby paying for themselves within just a year or two.
• Texas plants are susceptible to a wide range of insect and disease problems. Our plants are put under stress, and that’s when the problems appear. Successful gardeners learn to identify problems early on, and they step to their plants’ rescue before those problems get out of hand. Critical to those diagnoses is knowing what plants you are growing. What attacks one species probably won’t bother another. Have a nursery professional help you identify all the types of plants that you’re growing and keep that list close at hand. Search the Internet using the plant name and keywords “entomology,” “pathology,” “horticulture” and “university.” That will get you into really good websites that will give you the most precise answers.
• Choose the most environmentally responsible pest control methods available. In most cases that will begin with the original choice of plant species. Choose types known to have very few problems. Choose healthy, vigorous specimens of those types. Plant them as soon as you get them home into well-prepared garden soil and care for them regularly. If a problem appears, use the appropriate mechanical or biological means to eliminate it. Failing at that, see if there is an effective organic remedy. Failing at that, find the least impactful inorganic control and apply it specifically to the particular problem, not as a general spray over the entire landscape and garden (in most cases).
• When it comes time to invest in gardening tools, buy for quality and longevity. Cheap tools don’t perform well, and you’ll probably have to buy new ones almost immediately. And the same goes for power equipment. Do your homework ahead of time.
• When you hire people to do work in your landscape, check their credentials. Ask for references and check them out. Look for professional certifications if they are offered in their particular fields. Check their ratings online and inquire with the BBB. You don’t want to learn of your mistakes when it’s too late to do something about them.

You can hear Neil Sperry on KLIF 570AM on Saturday afternoons 1-3 pm and on WBAP 820AM Sunday mornings 8-10 am. Join him at www.neilsperry.com and follow him on Facebook.