How San Antonio gardeners can help conserve water and build community
Gardeners have knowledge of both environmental and social topics and can play an important role in shaping their communities. Here are a few ways to put that knowledge to work.
Cacti and agave plants decorate a gravel bed at a home in Canyon Lake. The home was built to be a water-saving and is landscaped completely with hardscape - all stones in different colors and sizes, no turf at all. (San Antonio Express-News file photo)
It is important to comply with water-use rules in your community. The overall compliance will improve if knowledgeable gardeners participate in the establishment of the rules to ensure they are environmentally and scientifically sound, and fair to all parts of the community.
Convert part of your lawn to a low-water-use landscape. Consider hardscape, groundcovers, perennials, mulch and other low-water-use plants. Select plants so you have 12 months of color. For ideas and perhaps even some financial help, visit the San Antonio Water System website at GardenStyleSA.com.
Convert part of your sprinkler system to drip irrigation. Drip irrigation is believed to be especially well suited for vegetables, flowers, shrubs and containers. It will save you money and result in better plants, but its water conservation value is also being challenged by some technicians, so it is a worthy topic to explore and add your input.
Things to do this week in the garden
- The temperatures are running cold enough that cold sensitive plants such as tropical hibiscus, bougainvillea, mandevilia and porter weed should be moved to sheltered locations with access to light and heat.
- Make your water sources even more effective in attracting birds by including one or more shallow bird baths and mechanisms for recirculating the water. Electrical and solar mechanisms are available at prices under $50 on the internet or at local retailers.
- There is still time to obtain and spread wildflower seeds. Mixes and single species packets are available at your favorite nursery or online suppliers such as Douglas King Seed Co. (San Antonio), Wildseed Farms (Fredericksburg) or Native American Seed Co. ( Junction). My favorite mixes are Texas/Oklahoma, Shade and Pollinator.
- Your large broccoli head should be ready to harvest now. Harvest it so that the plant will proceed to produce its crop of small heads. Cabbage, kale, chard, mustard, collards and cauliflower should also be ready to harvest.
Gardening, composting
Reorganize your vegetable gardening to better meet your family's needs for a healthy diet and perhaps produce extra vegetables that you can donate to the Food Bank or another worthy cause. Cabbage, broccoli, onions, beets, beans, carrots and spinach are easy to grow. At one time, vegetable gardening counted as a water conservation activity. Should that status be restored?
Children who are introduced and participate in gardening do better in school and are more content with their lives, according to research, some of which was conducted in San Antonio. Consider volunteering at your neighborhood school or helping your grandchildren, children or neighborhood children set up their own gardens.
If you don't have a compost pile, start one. It is a great way to use leaves, pulled weeds, lawn clippings and even kitchen scraps. To have the ingredients breakdown to compost fast, have about 60% green material and 40% brown, such as dry leaves or straw. If you don't have enough green material, add several cups of high nitrogen lawn fertilizer to provide the extra nitrogen.
Go through the chemicals in your garden shed. Identify any materials that have been unused for more than six months and box them up for the next pesticide disposal day. Also, discard unlabeled or solidified material. In San Antonio, call 311 to find out where and when you can discard the materials. Other cities in the area also have information numbers.
A killdeer stands near their eggs on the gravely ground at Skyfarm on the rooftop of POST Houston on May 2. Killdeer create a scrape, usually on gravely or barren ground, and line it with pebbles and debris to make it resemble the surrounding terrain. (Sharon Steinmann/Houston Chronicle file photo)
Get involved in the effort to restore the monarch butterfly population. There are lots of avenues for action, but it could be as simple as planting milkweed in your landscape. Check monarch research results and discussions online or review my articles on the topic for more information.
Provide water for birds and other wildlife in your landscape. The response will be amazing, especially if the drought conditions continue. Expect many species to take advantage of the water source.
Plant a wildlife thicket somewhere in your yard to provide feeding and nesting sites for the many species of birds we have in South Texas. Make the thicket at least 10 feet by 10 feet and have a good plant mix. For food and cover, consider standard yaupon, anaqua, Texas persimmon, Mexican plum, agarita and even mutabilis roses.
Pets are an essential part of most of our lives. It is important that we appreciate behavior that limits the negative impact that our pets have on our neighbors and wildlife including violent attacks, excessive noise and polluting excrement. Review your pet's behavior with the goal to assess and, if necessary, improve its impact on other people, pets and wildlife.
IDEA Monterrey Park students check out plants in their garden after they are rewarded in a graduation ceremony for completing a course from the Texas A&M Agrilife Extension program. Call the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service office in your county to find out about training and volunteering opportunities, and consider helping your own children or grandchildren set up their own gardens. (San Antonio Express-News file photo)
Consider joining the Master Gardeners or Gardening Volunteers of South Texas. They both offer training and volunteer opportunities. Master Gardener chapters exist in Bexar, Travis, Wilson, Guadalupe, Gonzales and Comal counties. Call the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service office in your county. Projects range from plantings where you can dig in the dirt to those where you teach your neighbors about water conservation. For the Master Gardeners in Bexar County, call 210-631-0400,. The Gardening Volunteer website is gardeningvolunteers.org.
Another way to use your gardening knowledge is to volunteer to be on your neighborhood, church or school landscape committee. Be an advocate for reasonable water use and environmentally appropriate landscaping but also consider supporting imaginative efforts.
Happy New Year and good gardening!
