Krippco Landscape and Irrigation Inc.
Phone: (830) 606-8686
Fax: (830) 624-7440

Don't Worry About Every Bug!!

Most of the insects in your garden are beneficial (such as spiders and ladybugs).  When you apply insecticides to kill fairly harmless insects like aphids, you disturb all of the beneficial ones. You can leave them alone in a wildscape!  You well-adapted plants can survive periodic nibbling by a few insects.  The predators will naturally balance things out for you.  The insects in your garden are also important sources of protein for songbirds and anoles.

PERENNIAL SPRING CLEAN UP

• Remove frost-damaged stems.
• Plant new, well-adapted perennials,
• Check the depth of mulch in planted areas. Renew as needed to depth of 2" to 3".
• Optional fertilizer: Apply a light sprinkling of fertilizer (19-5-9) when the soil warms and you plants are in active growth. (Some of the leftover lawn fertilzer will work well.):D

Weed Control Tips

Winter Weeds: If you have winter weeds still hanging on, they will decline as the weather gets hot.  Keep cutting often so they won't produce seeds.

Yank Young Weeds:  Pull out young weeds as they spring up.  They are much easier to eliminate in their early growth stages.

Major Weed Problems last summer?If you had a lot of weeds last summer, you may want to consider a pre-emergent herbicide product. This is not necessary for just a few weeds, but can help get a major weed problem under control.  The pre-emergent must be used before summer weeks begin to grow.  After you them starting to grow, it is too late.  Time the application to be just a warmer weather is beginning in spring, around early March. Follow directions carefully regarding the amount to use and note the plants the may be affected.

Turf Tip

"Weed and Feed Fertilizer" are not appropriate for the San Antonio area. Here, the time to apply herbicide is different from the time to apply fertilizer, so you would be wasting one or the other.

5 Ways to protect your landscape from freezing.

1. Water-  If rain has missed your garden, water. Move potted tender plants indoors, including Tropical Hibiscus, Plumeria, young or tropical fruit trees and Bromeliads.
2. Mulch- Give your plants a "blanket" of mulch. Together with moist soil, this helps protect their roots.
3. Cover- Provide cover. Many shrubs, trees and winter annuals tolerate cold, but to try to save blooms, cover flowering Azaleas and fruit trees with row cover, sheets or blankets. Anchor the covers with bricks or stones. Use nursery pots or cardboard boxes to create minigreenhouses for smaller plants. To protect plants from freezing rain and sleet, cover them with a blanket first, then cover them with plastic. Plant parts that touch plastic during a freeze likely will be damaged.
4. Bring in pots- Move containers of tender vegetation indoors, including potted tropical Hibiscus, Plumeria, Bromeliads and Coleus.
5. Assess damage- After a freeze; remove soggy, damaged parts on soft-stemmed plants such as Impatiens and Crinums. Do not prune woody plants such as Garden Hibiscus and Camellia. Leave the freeze-damaged wood to protect live wood farther down the branch. Prune to green, live wood in the spring, after the threat of freezes has passed.