Category Archives: Garden Tips

Butterfly gardening has become one of the most popular hobbies today. What could bring more joy than a beautiful butterfly fluttering around your garden?! Here are some tips to make your garden especially butterfly-friendly.

Plant your butterfly garden in a sunny location (5-6 hours each day), but sheltered from the winds. Butterflies need the sun to warm themselves, but they won’t want to feed in an area where they are constantly fighting the wind to stay on the plants. It is also a good idea to place a few flat stones in your sunny location so the butterflies can take a break while warming up.

Butterflies need water just like we do. Keep a mud puddle damp in a sunny location, or fill a bucket with sand and enough water to make the sand moist.

DO NOT USE PESTICIDES IN YOUR GARDEN!

Butterflies use two different types of plants – those that provide nectar for the adults to eat (nectar plant), and those that provide food for their offspring (host plant). It is best to find out which plant species are native to your area and plant those rather than exotic species.

Below are list of the more common butterflies with their host and nectar plants.

Luring more butterflies to the garden is simple. Texas has more species and subspecies than any other state, and thanks to our long growing season and the huge assortment of native and adaptable plants that thrive in Houston, gardeners can easily provide food and shelter for these desirable creatures.

If you want to attract butterflies, here are a few things to make sure you have to get started:

• A sunny place to bask to warm their bodies: Butterflies are cold-blooded and bask in the sun to raise their body temperatures. A sunny, flowering garden with a flat stone for basking tucked among the blooms will help attract butterflies.

• Some shade for when they rest: Shrubs, small trees and vine-covered trellises provide protection from wind and rain as well as a resting place.

• A fence or tree for a windbreak: Butterflies dislike strong winds, so it helps to include ornamental grasses and tall plants to provide windbreaks.

• Damp soil or sand for a water source: Butterflies drink by sucking water from moist ground. Sink a saucer in the ground, fill with sand and soak. Then put a flat pebble at the edge for a perch.

• Nectar plants for food: Butterflies are attracted to the simpler, brighter flowers. Size, shape, fragrance and visual markings on flowers help butterflies locate nectar. Butterflies more easily spot masses of color, so place flowering plants in groups if possible.

• Food plants for the caterpillars: Encourage female butterflies to lay eggs in the garden by planting larval food plants. The caterpillars that hatch will seek a safe place to form a cocoon. Several days later, a new butterfly will emerge. The larvae, or caterpillars, will eat tender foliage on these food plants, but leaves will grow back.

• No pesticide: Butterflies need an insecticide-free garden.

Herbs aren’t just for the windowsill anymore. Find out how basil, chives, rosemary and thyme can work double duty in the landscape.

Basil(1 of 4)
Dark purple varieties provide beautiful color and make a nice contrast to the standard green varieties. Basil is an annual herb that needs full sun and regular water. If you’re using this in cooking you don’t want to let it go to seed. Pinch off the tips of the plant, removing flowers when they develop.

Rosemary (2 of 4)
If you have a slope in your yard, try a cascading variety. It’ll creep down the slope and fill in nicely. This evergreen shrub enjoys full sun and good drainage. It needs little water once it’s established and requires little or no fertilizer.
Lavender can make a unique hedge. The plants will grow in mounds with little flower heads peaking up over the top. Dwarf varieties will stay under two feet tall so they make nice edging plants for borders. Plant lavender in an area with good drainage and trim 1/3 of the plant back after it blooms, thinning out the stems at the same time.

Thyme(3 of 4)
Lemon thyme is also readily available and has the added benefit of the lemon fragrance. If you’re going to use this in cooking, make sure to ask if the variety you buy at the nursery is edible. Some people plant this as decoration only, so not all thyme plants come from a pesticide-free grower. You could always start from seed as well.

Chives(4 of 4)
The flowers will pop up between 12 and 14 inches tall. This makes for a nice accent plant interspersed throughout the garden, used much like you would an ornamental grass. The flowers will attract bees and the onion smell has been known to repel some pests. These plants can act as a protective border for other plants, blocking out the enemy and inviting friendly bees in.
All of these herbs are easy to incorporate into your landscape and will blend right in with your other ornamentals. With a few herbs, a few more perennials and some annuals, your landscape will look great, smell great and taste great. You can’t get much better than that.

Materials
landscape fabric
landscape fabric ground staples
mulch
plants
Tools
utility knife

Step 1: Lay Down Landscape Fabric
Cut and place the landscape fabric over the entire bed. Use landscape fabric ground staples to hold it in place while you work.

Step 2: Position Plants
Arrange the plants in their pots on top of the landscape fabric. Step back and make sure the arrangement works and looks good. Avoid overcrowding and read all plant labels to make sure they are placed in the appropriate light type.

Step 3: Place Plants in Ground
Using a utility knife, cut an X into the landscape fabric where each plant is located and dig a hole appropriate to the size of the plant. Remove the plant from the pot, loosen the roots by hands or with the utility knife and then place it in the new hole.

A  monarch butterfly feasts on a Mexican milkweed plant in the Tangle wood area of Houston.
adaptable plants that thrive in Houston, gardeners can easily provide food and shelter for these desirable creatures.
If you want to attract butterflies, here are a few things to make sure you have to get started:
• A sunny place to bask to warm their bodies: Butterflies are cold-blooded and bask in the sun to raise their body temperatures. A sunny, flowering garden with a flat stone for basking tucked among the blooms will help attract butterflies.
• Some shade for when they rest: Shrubs, small trees and vine-covered trellises provide protection from wind and rain as well as a resting place.
• A fence or tree for a windbreak: Butterflies dislike strong winds, so it helps to include ornamental grasses and tall plants to provide windbreaks.
• Damp soil or sand for a water source: Butterflies drink by sucking water from moist ground. Sink a saucer in the ground, fill with sand and soak. Then put a flat pebble at the edge for a perch.
• Nectar plants for food: Butterflies are attracted to the simpler, brighter flowers. Size, shape, fragrance and visual markings on flowers help butterflies locate nectar. Butterflies more easily spot masses of color, so place flowering plants in groups if possible.
• Food plants for the caterpillars: Encourage female butterflies to lay eggs in the garden by planting larval food plants. The caterpillars that hatch will seek a safe place to form a cocoon. Several days later, a new butterfly will emerge. The larvae, or caterpillars, will eat tender foliage on these food plants, but leaves will grow back.
• No pesticide: Butterflies need an insecticide-free garden. Avoid toxic products.
Here is a list of nectar plants suitable for the Houston area that will attract butterflies:
Ageratum
Alyssum
Aster
Bird of paradise (Caesalpinia gilliesii)
Black-eyed Susan
Blanket flower
Butterfly weed (asclepias)
Butterfly bush (buddleia)
Coreopsis
Cosmos
Globe amaranth
Goldenrod
Hamelia
Lantana
Liatris
Mexican flame vine

Here is a list of larval food plants suitable for the Houston area that will attract butterflies:
Althea— gray hairstreak
Butterfly weed – monarch
Canna- Brazilian skipper (canna leafroller)
Clover- sulphur
Dogwood- spring azure
Esperanza (Tecoma stans) – gray hairstreak
Frog fruit- buckeye
Mock orange – tiger swallowtail
Parsley hawthorn – gray hairstreak
Texas lantana – painted lady
Passionflower vine – Gulf fritillary, Julia
Paw paw – zebra swallowtail
Queen Anne’s lace – Eastern black swallowtail
Redbud- Henry’s elfin
Ruellia- buckeye, Cuban crescent spot
Shrimp plant – Texan crescentspot
Spicebush – spicebush swallowtail, tiger swallowtail
Wisteria – silver-spotted skipper
Penta
Phlox
Morning glory
Pincushion flower (scabiosa)
Plumbag
Porterweed
Purple coneflower
Salvias
Sedum
Stokes aster
Sweet autumn clematis
Verbena
Zinnias

The ideal time to plant a tree is during dormancy because the roots will have time to establish, arming the tree against our hot summers.

1. The first thing you do is dig a shallow, broad planting hole: Make the hole about three times the diameter of the root ball, but only as deep as the root ball. This allows easier root growth into the surrounding loose soil.If you’re planting on a lawn, you can cut the top of the hole and take the turf off first, like pie pieces. Keep those separate from the rest of the soil. After the tree is planted, put the grass pieces upside-down around the soil, making a berm that will hold in water.

2. Remove the tree container:
Hit the sides of the container with a shovel to dislodge the soil and roots. Or carefully cut the down the sides of the container. Check for circling roots and cut or remove them.

3. Place tree at proper height:
If the tree is planted too deeply, new roots may have difficulty developing because of a lack of oxygen. It’s best to plant the tree 2 to 3 inches above the base of the trunk flare to allow for settling.

4. Straighten the tree in the hole:
View it from several angles before backfilling.

5. Fill the hole:
Fill about one-third full with soil and pack it around the base of the root ball. If wrapped, carefully cut any fabric, plastic, string or wire from the root ball. You can add a small amount of amendments, including watering agent and organic fertilizer. Add more soil and settle. You can use water to help eliminate air pockets that can cause roots to dry out. Step lightly on the soil in the hole to eliminate air pockets.

6. Add stakes if needed:
Use two stakes with wide, flexible tie material supporting the lower half of the tree. Remove after the first year of growth. The stakes can help a top-heavy tree stay straight and can also keep lawn mowers and Weed-eaters away from the tender trunk.

7. Mulch the base of the tree:
Add a 2- to 4-inch layer of shredded bark, peat moss, composted wood chips, leaf litter or pine straw. Do not cover the trunk.

8. Keep it watered:
Soil should be moist, but not soaked. Water at least once a week, barring rain; more often in hot weather.