Rain Rain and More Rain

Isn't that just the way it is in the Texas Hill Country -- and especially in New Braunfels? It seems we miss the showers that bless San Antonio and surrounding areas, and then -- WHAM!! -- a downpour. So our thirsty plants are happy, but our yards are soggy, particularly those that suffered dying turfgrass during the drought. It seems all that some of us have remaining is a large patch of mud and weeds.

Never fear, Bob is here!

GRASS REPLACEMENT
If you desire to replace your turfgrass that died during the drought, spring is a great time. Bob has replaced several lawns in the past few weeks, so it's usually not a problem. However, with the recent rains, many yards are simply too soggy to work on at this time. But stick around -- because, as they say about Texas weather -- "if you don't like it, wait ten minutes." Soon the ground will be ready to work again.

The grass itself may be a different matter. Turfgrass farms cannot cut the grass to ship it to us until the fields have had a chance to dry out. Heavy machinery is driven over the grass to slice it off for shipment, and obviously that machinery can damage soaking wet grass.

So, if you need a lawn replacement, let us know now, and we can get you on the schedule for the next time shipments are available.

HERBS
Now is the best time of the year to find just about any herb in Texas. I have my basil growing in a pot outside. It's been in the pot about two weeks and has gone from a 6" tall plant to one that spreads about a foot and stands almost two feet tall.

Mark your calendar for May 8th for the Herb Affair at San Antonio's Antique Rose Emporium. The 2010 Herb of the Year is dill but you can find just about any herb you need there. Hours are 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

FERTILIZING
Bob has been fertilizing several yards this spring with his Basic Organic Program. Three times a year is all you need if you go organic. Call us and Bob can come out and assess your yard and help you get on an organic program. Safer for your pets and children, less expensive for you!

OUR PETS
While we're on the subject, allow me a quick mention of our pets-in-need. Bob's household is a volunteer foster home for www.homesforpets.org, an all-volunteer group that rescues dogs and cats from the local animal shelters. If you have space in your home to temporarily house a pet-in-need, please go to the Web site and let them know you'd like to foster an animal. They will take care of the vet expenses. It's rewarding work.

After the drought

LANDSCAPING
Spring has spring around the landscape and Bob has been working feverishly to keep up with everyone's needs. Many folks have turf needs. Some need re-mulching. Others need entirely new landscapes. Bob is at the ready to serve all types of landscaping needs.

In some cases, Bob must schedule jobs two weeks in advance at this time of the year. All the more reason to call during the "off season" between June and September and during the winter. We can plant year-round in this part of Texas!

RADIO PROGRAM
Here's a new twist: After doing the garden show on KGNB for many years, Bob now also does a Saturday morning garden show on 92.1 FM Radio New Braunfels (KNBT). Be sure to tune in at 8 a.m. on Saturdays and call in with your gardening questions.

EARTH DAY
Earth Day in New Braunfels is April 24th. Be sure to join us at Landa Park for a fun celebration with music, food, gardening tips, local exhibitors and more. Check the official Web site at http://www.nbrootsandshoots.org/EarthDay.htm.

FARMER'S MARKET
Bob will be on hand for the radio show as New Braunfels hosts a new farmer's market starting this Saturday, April 17th. Hear live music from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. while you shop for fresh, locally-grown produce, homemade cheeses, food and crafts. It's located on Castell St. a block south of San Antonio St. behind Friesenhaus. This week benefiting Relay for Life-Comal County, SMSKR-Sally M. Kingsbury Sarcoma Research, and Triple Me MacEquine Sanctuary. Check the new Web site at http://www.nbfarmersmarket.com/index.html.

Have a Happy Spring!
Call Bob at 830-624-7666 or 210-240-6765 for all your landscaping, organic fertilizing and yard pest needs.

WEBSITE UPDATE

It's been awhile since we updated this blog, so here's an entry to let you know we're still gardening!

Bob has had a wonderful year, meeting newcomers to Comal County and New Braunfels, constructing new landscapes for them, and helping existing clients to maintain and care for their landscapes. This part of Texas has been fortunate in missing much of the economic struggles affecting the country, and although many of us have had to tighten our belts, I think most of us agree that we have been fortunate in many ways. And gas prices are dropping, so hallelujah!

Staying in touch --

WEBSITE: We've built a new website to answer your gardening questions and offer advice about lawn care. Plus you can see lots of photos there of Bob's work in the area. Plans for the future include sales of organic products, not just limited to organic gardening products. So check back every season to see what's new. We hope to have some products for sale by the first of next year. The web address is www.bobsorganics.com.

RADIO: After a year's haitus, Bob is back on the radio. Listen to Bob every Saturday on KGNB AM 1420, New Braunfels Radio. Call him with your gardenings questions starting at 7 a.m. That number is 830-629-1420.

Bob will have some fall tips for you soon. Fall is the time for planting in Texas, so let us know if we can help you with your landscape this season! If you're leaving town for any length of time, or if your landscape is overgrown, call Bob to come over and trim things up or thin out the overgrowth every once in awhile. Thinning out the landscape gives the plants a better chance to produce beautiful foliage and blooms for you.

Happy gardening!

BOB'S Lawn Care for Late Winter and Early Spring

Lawn Care for Late Winter and Early Spring

Call Bob now to schedule an appointment
for spring lawn treatment.

Or, for DIY-ers, here's what you need to know.

AERATE, AERATE, AERATE. This is one of the most important steps to a healthy lawn. Aeration permits oxygen, nutrients and water to enter the soil, which speeds up the microbial activity that breaks down food. Earthworms and ants will aerate the soil, or you can use mechanical aeration that actually punches holes into the ground to help the conditioning process. Medina Plus is an excellent liquid product that will loosen the compacted soil and also add trace minerals.

FERTILIZER APPLICATION. Use a slow release Garden-Ville fertilizer such as

Soil Food 5-3-2 in late winter. Apply Sports Turf Plus, Lawn Dressing or Alamo Gro Compost at ½” as a soil amendment. The grass will store nutrients over the winter, thus making them available in the spring. In spring apply Soil Food 7-2-2 for a quick green up. For a complete mineral feed spread Volcanite and Texas Greensand at the rate of 10 lbs. per 1000 sq. ft.

BALANCE YOUR SOIL. Take a soil sample and do a pH test. Test kits can be picked up at your local nursery or send your own sample to Texas Plant and Soil Lab in Edinburg, Tx 78539, 956-383-0739. The more natural fertilizers you use, the more balanced your soil will become.

PROPER WATERING. Water your lawn until it begins to run off or until you have applied ¾ to 1 inch. Repeat the process in 5-7 days. Morning is the best time to water. Avoid night watering as this encourages mold and disease. Remember that thorough watering promotes deep root systems and more drought tolerant turf. Add seed to bare spots if needed.

REMOVE WEEDS BY HAND. Cut your grass often during the growing season and always mow down weeds before they produce seed!! When hand pulling weeds, remove the entire root. For easier removal use a dandelion fork, or wait until after it rains. Remember that weeds will be choked out by healthy grass. Weeds only grow where the soil health is poor. For weeds that are already are up, spot spray with Natural Weed Control. This organic herbicide includes 20% Vinegar and Orange Oil. It kills weeds and grasses in cool or warm weather.

USE CORN GLUTEN MEAL. Corn gluten meal is a great, natural pre-emergent weed killer. Remember that corn gluten meal is effective only prior to seed germination and will do nothing to kill weeds that already exist. Apply 10-20 lbs. per 1000 sq. ft., fall and spring. It’s a mild fertilizer as well.

Happy New Year!

Bob's Organic Garden wishes you a happy and prosperous new year.

As 2006 came to a close, Bob's Organic Garden was pleased to serve many local residents and commercial properties by getting their landscapes in shape for holiday events. Customers came to us for gift certificates for Bob's "Walk & Talk" consultation services and for his fertilization and landscape clean-up packages.

In 2007, Bob continues to offer New Braunfels and surrounding areas top quality landscaping and consulting services, as well as lectures at area garden clubs. Email Bob at bob@bobsorganicgarden.com if you would like Bob to speak to your group.

(Bob speaks tonight at the Men's Garden Club in New Braunfels.)

Our Web site is being constructed as we write this, and we hope to have it up and running in a few weeks. The Web site will have organic gardening advice, xeriscape ideas, deer-resistant plant recommendations, before-and-after photos of Bob's landscape designs, plus information on Bob's Walk & Talk, Bob's Basic-Organic-Program Fertilization Package (B-O-P), and Bob's Landscape Clean-up Packages. Stay tuned.

Bob provides commercial and residential landscaping services, including design, installation, problem-solving and organic maintenance programs. His organic landscaping and gardening advice has been utilized by hundreds of area residents over the past 15 years, and he continues to provide service to many repeat customers.

Bob soon will update his blog with a fresh newsletter. Winter landscaping and gardening tips will be offered along with ideas for spring preparation.

We want to hear from you in the new year! Post your comments here or send us an email.

As always, we look forward to serving you in 2007!

bob@bobsorganicgarden.com

Announcement about Bob's Organic Garden

Announcement about Bob's Hill Country Gardens -- and Bob's Organic Garden

Greetings neighbors and gardening buddies!

After many months of negotiations, it appears we will not have the opportunity to purchase the retail division of Hill Country Gardens after all. Bob and Eileen have moved out of the nursery and as of Saturday, September 16, we turned the daily operations back over to Mr. Schumacher. We are sad that things couldn't work out, but we have received many kind wishes and appreciate the support so many of you have given us.

We are returning to our old company name, "Bob's Organic Garden."

Some positive things have come out of the past few months and our involvement at Hill Country Gardens, not the least of which is bringing the organic message to all our customers, new and old. It's an important endeavor, one that takes care of the earth, saves money and water, and provides better conditions for your plants to thrive in. Many of our customers have adopted an organic program and are starting to see the benefits in the health and watering needs of their plants and turf areas. We hope you've received enough information to adopt organics for your own landscape and gardens, and that you'll continue to spread the word.

We have nurtured the nursery into a new phase -- it's cleaner, healthier looking and in better repair. Our staff – Kathy, Ashley, and Katherine – worked very hard to weed the demonstration gardens and other areas, and Bob and his crew repainted the building, installed new security lighting and much more. So it's been a productive year, and we're happy that our customers will have a nice place to shop in the future.

We have enjoyed serving you over the past several months. After we rest up a bit, Bob will begin looking for another location where he can open his nursery and continue the mission of providing native and xeriscape plants, trees and flowers, as well as organic products and gardening information. As a Texas Master Certified Nurseryman, Bob has a passion for plants and we won’t be able to keep him out of the nursery business for long! So look for good things to come.

In the meantime, Bob continues to design and install custom landscapes in and around the New Braunfels/Garden Ridge area. You also can see him on the lecture circuit with local garden clubs, and he's always happy to help with gardening questions or information about organic methods.

We will continue our "Blog" at http://bobsorganicgarden.blogspot.com/ so check there for monthly news and updates.

Feel free to call our home office anytime at 830-624-7666 with questions or if you have landscaping needs. You also can email Bob at bobsorganicgarden@gmail.com.
Thank you for your patronage and your friendship.

And remember – “Go Organic!”

Warmest Regards,
Bob & Eileen Fitzsimmons
830-624-7666
bobsorganicgarden@gmail.com

October - Time to Put Out Fertilizer and Compost!!

October is the month for the last round of lawn fertilizers.

Use an organic fertilizer with a lower nitrogen level to protect your lawn from burning. We recommend Soil Food 5-3-2 from Garden-Ville. Use 40# per 1,000 sq. ft.

Apply compost to your lawn to increase natural microbe activity in your soil. A ½-inch application in the cooler season builds soil health to protect your lawn in the hotter months, and in turn feeds your turf grass. Apply compost each year and you will see a difference in greening, disease resistance and water savings.

If you need help with these applications, give Bob a call at 830-624-7666 and set up an appointment. Services available in the New Braunfels/Garden Ridge/Bulverde and nearby areas.

BOB'S FALL GARDENING TIPS 2006

by Bob Fitzsimmons, Texas Master Certified Nurseryman

FALL IS FOR PLANTING
Trees and Shrubs:
The period of September through November is a great time to plant trees and shrubs. Cooler weather is better for you and for all plants that may suffer transplant stress. Use an organic root stimulator like Liquid Seaweed, and mulch with 3-4” of compost and shredded cedar.

Roses:
Lightly trim and fertilize your roses during September to get another show of blooms in October. Try our organic Rose Food, available in small bags.

Annuals:
October announces the time to set out cool season annual color. Plant pansies, snap-dragons and flowering kale this month. Use blood meal fertilizer for your pansies.

Veggie gardens:
Prepare beds and plant your cool season vegetables.
Sept.1: Bush beans, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, cucumber, and potatoes.
Oct.1: Beets, chard, collards, garlic, lettuce, and parsley.
Nov. 1: Mustard, onion, radish, spinach and turnips.

Lawn care:
Treat brown patch in St. Augustine grass with whole ground corn meal: 10 to 20 pounds per 1,000 sq. feet. Be on the lookout for “Take All Patch.” We’ve seen this fungus destroy entire yards in this area and seems mainly to affect Raleigh St. Augustine. If you’re installing new turfgrass, consider another variety.

October is the month for the last round of lawn fertilizers.
Use an organic fertilizer with a lower nitrogen level to protect your lawn from burning. We recommend Soil Food 5-3-2 from Garden-Ville. Use 40# per 1,000 sq. ft.
Apply compost to your lawn to increase natural microbe activity in your soil. A ½-inch application in the cooler season builds soil health to protect your lawn in the hotter months, and in turn feeds your turf grass. Apply compost each year and you will see a difference in greening, disease resistance and water savings.

Ask Bob your gardening questions: bobsorganicgarden@gmail.com.
See you in the garden!
--Bob

Bob's Organic Garden
Custom Landscape Design & Installation
102 Brentwood
New Braunfels TX 78130
830-624-7666

Bob's Landscaping - 830-624-7666 metro

Landscape Design & Installation

* Native and xeriscape designs

* Water ponds

* Flagstone & stonework walkways, patios, raised beds and retaining walls

* New construction or revitalizing existing landscapeCustom Design Services

Custom Design Services

* $75/hour

For the do-it-yourself homeowner, we'll design a landscape plan that you can complete yourself.

Walk & Talk/Consultation

* $75/hour

Designed for the do-it-yourself homeowner or landscapes with problem areas.

Bob will come to your home, walk your yard with you, and you can talk about your ideas and get advice on problem areas in your lawn or landscape.

Fertilization/Basic Organic Program (B-O-P)

Enroll in our All-Organic Fertilization Program and Bob will make sure your lawn receives the proper organic nutrients for optimum health. We do the work or lay out a plan for you.

Usual treatment is 3x/year: March, June, and October.

* Services in the immediate New Braunfels/Garden Ridge area. There is a $75 hourly fee for consultations & design estimates. Out-of-area subject to additional charges. Consultation fee is subtracted from your invoice at time of job completion.

Call to inquire about your location.

Bob Fitzsimmons, Texas Master Certified Nurseryman and experienced landscape designer, oversees all landscaping work