Neil Sperry

OPPORTUNITY! TONIGHT JULY 14, 7 PM. FREE!
I just got word from our great friend Steven Chamblee that he will be speaking tonight in the Brundrett Conservation Education Building at the Pineywoods Native Plant Center, 2900 Raguet St. in Nacogdoches. This is part of Stephen F. Austin University's SFA Gardens monthly Theresa and Les Reeves Lecture Series.

Steven is one of Texas' best known and most respected horticulturists. He is Executive Director of the Longview Arboretum and Nature Center, where they received a soaking rain this morning (lucky people!). Steven's topic tonight: "The Longview Arboretum: The Good, The Bad and The Muddy."

If you're anywhere nearby, don't miss this wonderful chance.

Garden Tip: If you have trees that you know were damaged by last February's cold (cracked or dead branches and trunks), have them trimmed or taken down sooner rather than later. You can remember which branches were impacted from how they looked as they were losing leaves in November. If you can't, a certified arborist will be able to do so for you.

Dead branches are starting to fall all across Texas. A grandmother's post on this page made just a few days ago told of a grandchild who had been struck by a falling branch. She required cranial surgery at Children's Hospital to stop a serious brain bleed. One snow, ice or wind storm is all it will take to bring down thousands of branches. Plenty of others will fall just from their own weight.

Do not delay. But perhaps my best advice of all is that you hire a professional – someone who knows how to bring large limbs and entire trees safely. This is not a task for the untrained.

(PLEASE do not post questions unrelated to this topic here. Facebook's new algorithms make it almost impossible for me to find your new posts once I've been through the stack of questions the first time. FB reshuffles the stack. I'm not ignoring you. I can't keep up with their changes.)

NEIL SPERRY'S LONE STAR GARDENING – SAVE!!!
• Great gift for any gardener anywhere in Texas.
• Covers every aspect of gardening: lawns, landscapes, fruit, flower and vegetable gardening.
• Chapter 2 is a 48-page calendar telling you when to plant, prune, fertilize and protect all the plants that you're growing.
• 344 pages. 840 of my best photos. More than 25 multi-page charts.
• Hardback. Printed in Texas by Texans – never on a freight ship!
• Not in stores and not on Amazon because I sign every book as it sells.
• Satisfaction guaranteed or full refund.

BIGGEST SAVINGS OF THE SEASON:
1st book $36.95 plus tax, postage.
2nd and 3rd books to same address ONLY $31 per book!

SPECIAL GOOD ONLY THRU TUES. NOV. 15 at midnight. (YEAH – I KNOW I POSTED THE WRONG DATE. WE WILL LEAVE THE SPECIAL PRICE IN PLACE UNTIL MIDNIGHT TUESDAY NOVEMBER 16! I NEED A VACATION!)

Order from my website:
https://neilsperry.com/store/5th-printing-of-neil-sperrys-lone-star-gardening/
Or call my office (800) 752-4769 between 9 and 5.

REMEMBER: SPECIAL IS VALID UNTIL MIDNIGHT TONIGHT, TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 16. SORRY FOR CONFUSION!

Garden Tip: It's time for the critical fall feeding of your turfgrass, whether St. Augustine, bermuda or zoysia. You'll give your lawn a boost for one more round of growth before the first frost, and that will strengthen it for the winter and get it off to a better start come spring.

Research from most state universities has shown that soils do not need additional phosphorus (with the possible exception of extremely sandy soils). Phosphorus dissolves slowly and accumulates in most soils, often to unwanted levels. Choose a high-quality lawn food with upwards of one-third to one-half of its nitrogen in slow-release form.

Apply the fertilizer, half in a north/south direction and the other half going east/west. Water your lawn deeply after the feeding.

I am not an advocate of weed-and-feed products. If you still intend to apply a pre-emergent weedkiller to prevent germination of annual bluegrass, rescuegrass and other winter grasses, you are late, but it's been so warm that you'll probably still have fairly good results if you do so immediately (prior to Sept. 13). Mow, then apply the fertilizer. Water deeply. Wait one day, then apply the pre-emergent (Dimension, Halts or Balan) and water moderately.

IMPORTANT NOTE: This is my first post in many weeks – since the new Facebook format. PLEASE do not post questions unrelated to this topic here. I'm not sure if FB has corrected things so that you can post questions, but I thought I'd give this a try.

July 29: I thought you might want to see this News Release from the Texas A&M Forest Service about our Texas shade trees. The article provides advice about what to do with trees that are still struggling from damage from the winter storm. (Yes, I know I'm quoted in it – be forewarned. 🙂)

**UPDATE ON TREES RECOVERING FROM THE WINTER STORM**

It's been almost six months since winter storm Uri blanketed Texas in a week-long freeze and, despite ample rain, many Texas trees are still showing signs of stress.

Texas A&M Forest Service teamed up with Neil Sperry and other industry experts in May to send a unified message across the state: wait. Now it's almost August, and we've joined forces again to help concerned home and land owners decide whether it's time to remove their trees, or not.

The short answer is: if your tree is still bare, and hasn't put out a single leaf, it is almost certainly dead. However, most trees are exhibiting some growth - be it from their trunk and core branches, or as shoots coming up from their root system - and so the longer answer isn't quite as straightforward.

For the full scoop, and to learn how and if your trees are going to be okay, make sure to read the full article at: https://bit.ly/3xbWia4

Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service

Friends...
PLEASE DO NOT POST QUESTIONS!
I know I asked that two weeks ago, but Facebook's new format is still a MESS for my page. I thought they'd have it fixed by now. I can't direct you on where to post questions, and I can't find any questions you do post, so we're at an impasse.

I've reached out to 7 or 8 of the smartest people I know seeking their help, but they've all given up. I've probably spent 25 hours trying to get things up and running. Today I asked the help of a friend who specializes in social media, and she is working hard to figure it out.

If you manage or have a large business page or what used to be called a "fan" page and have worked through this format change in a way that allows you to interact with the public, I would really appreciate any jump start you can give me.

In the meantime, folks, please forgive how this will sound – I've been having a bout of vertigo, and reading here is tough. Please only post if you have a very specific comment that might move my bus back into the flow of traffic. (Please don't suggest vertigo remedies – I'm under great doctor's care. Mine is migraine-associated and eye strain at the computer is tough. Using new prism glasses Rx as well. Thanks.)

Thanks, everybody, for understanding!!! I miss our dialogue.

Friends...
NO QUESTIONS, PLEASE!
I am not able to see your questions currently, either on my iMac or my iPhone.

Facebook posted an alert that they would be changing the page layout in a couple of days, and I'm wondering if it might already be underway.

At this point, all of my prior Garden Tips are being duplicated both where they normally would be and under my category of "Community." That latter is where I normally have seen your questions.

SO PLEASE DO NOT POST ANY QUESTIONS ON MY PAGE. I WILL NOT BE ABLE TO SEE OR ANSWER THEM. (Which isn't altogether a bad thing for me personally – I'm trying to finish up signing and mailing of more than 1,000 books today and tomorrow.)

Thanks!

I love to celebrate my state when it's looking beautiful, and this photo just posted by Chad Bowman of Cisco wins a Blue Ribbon!

Purple horsemint (Monarda) and a touch of Indian blankets (Gaillardia) brighten the day. Chad says they've been having lots of rain.

When I asked Chad's permission to repost, to confirm location and to ask his dog's name, he made me smile:

"Certainly! The property is in Morton Valley not far from Cisco. This is Rufus my volunteer. He showed up at the house last February and refused to leave. I tried to find his owners but no one claimed him and he's not chipped. Smart boy hit the lottery and knew it!"