General

December and 2024 in review

December had something for everyone weather wise. If you like it cold there was a few days of that, if you like it warmer there was a lot of that too. We saw some needed rainfall, but nothing extremely heavy or persistent.

2024 was the best year in terms of rainfall and less extreme summer heat and dry spells in at least the last 5 years.

What to expect in January

Home gardeners, it is the month to stay warm, and if you start your own tomatoes from seed it is time to start. If you have winter crops in the ground good for you.   My indeterminate tomatoes I have talked about every month finally succumbed to a frost on January 6th. Seeing as I planted them about March 1 of 2024 that is a pretty good run. I really do think the fall/winter crop was better than the spring. On Sunday as we were preparing for the incoming weather, we picked gallons of both ripe tomatoes we made sauce with and green tomatoes to be fried up. If I would have had more time, we could have pickled some of those green tomatoes too.

Lawn maintenance should be minimal this month.  The frost and cold overnight temps the week of Jan 6th will keep most growth but a few weeds to an absolute minimum.

Action Items

Ants are showing up nearly everywhere-

• Option 1 – Fipronil is a chemical that provides 12 months of protection. It both kills active mounds quickly and remains active for a long time. The downside is it must be applied by a professional licensed applicator. This also treats for fleas and ticks, so if you have pets that’s another benefit.
• Option 2 – Apply a DIY granule insecticide like Amdro, Extinguish Plus, or Once and Done. Then follow up with mound treatment with a dust or liquid. The granule is slow to kill, but acts as a great preventative. The mound treatment gives you fast results.
• Option 3 – I have been trying out a new product in some areas that I didn’t apply Fipronil to at my own home and have been impressed. “Tarrow” is a Borax solution you apply to a piece of cardboard and the workers carry the poison down to the colony.

Municipal Drainage Happenings

December weather was fair, but the early January cold snap has cemented turf grass into dormancy for a while. We are mowing once a month with tractors and twice monthly on shortgrass.

Hunter Soape

November in Review

November weather returned us to our normally scheduled programming after the extended warm spell. By that I mean many days in the 70s with a few bounces back into the 80s. Also, we saw some sporadic rain which helped us recover from that weird fall dry period.

What to Expect in December

Home gardeners, you should be starting to benefit from your fall planted cool season crops.  My indeterminate tomatoes are producing the most they have all season; we discussed how to do this a few months back. The frost will take them out sometime, maybe tomorrow maybe in January. I am going to grow my homegrown tomatoes until they do, and when frost is eminent, we will make fried green tomatoes with the unripe fruit.

Tired of mowing your lawn? You should get a good break now; our grasses are not dormant since we have not had a frost yet. But they know it is time to shut it down for the season. You may need a cut every 2 weeks to deal with some weeds but the weekly mowings are certainly done for a bit.

Action Items

• Enjoy fires in the fireplace or outdoor fire pit on cold evenings.
• Hot chocolate
• Relax and enjoy this holiday season
• Watch out for reindeer droppings in your yard following Christmas day

Municipal Drainage Happenings

November brought a break in the drought and perked up our turf since we had moderately warm temperatures. We are mowing once a month with tractors and twice monthly on shortgrass.

Districts that were treated with a pre-emergent herbicide look clean, those that did not elect for that have noticeably more weed pressure.

Overall, this has been the best year for turf in the past 5 years. No extreme freezes, consistent moisture for most of the year. Only a 45–50-day dry period and it was during 90-degree temps of September and not 100+ temps of July or August.

I am looking forward to another great year in 2025

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year,

Hunter Soape

May in review

May was fairly dry for some and extremely wet for others. The northern and eastern stretches of the greater Houston market saw extensive rainfall and flooding. The western, southwest, and southern areas only saw heavy rain late in the month but areas near rivers experienced flooding from rainfall further up the river basin.

Important dates looking forward

If you have a home garden, hopefully you have been enjoying the fruits of your labor. You can expect to see tomatoes stop setting fruit later in the month when high temps get up around 95 degrees.

Pest problems are likely to show up in the next month. I am seeing lots webworms in trees. We previously referred to these as “fall webworm” but now we are seeing them as early as May. Here is a great pamphlet about webworms and treatment options- https://fbmg.org/files/2024/04/QOW-240409.pdf

I expect to see “army worms” in the next 30 days especially if you have had them before. Follow the recommendations below for treating caterpillars, Army worms can hit fast so have a control measure on hand.

Action items for this month

• It’s time to fertilize again, I am a big fan of the silver bag Nitro-Phos Super Turf this time of year. It has a very slow release nitrogen so you don’t get excessive growth to mow extremely frequently. It also has extra Iron that helps with a nice dark green color
• Landscape pest pressure will continue this month. Aphids and caterpillars are the biggest culprits we will see.
  • BT Worm killer and caterpillar killer is an organic option that is highly effective on smaller caterpillars. Keep it on hand and follow directions. It can be used in the garden as well against tomato hornworms and to some degree Squash vine borers. It does not last long once applied so may need to be used every few days and after rains.
  • Cyonara is a broad range insecticide that will treat most of your insect problems from aphids to ants and caterpillars.
• Roses- Hopefully you started rose feeding in March, now we want to maintain at least a monthly feeding cycle, if you can feed weekly even better, just reduce the amount used appropriately. A quality rose fertilizer is all you need, but skip the Miracle grow and go with Osmocote or Nitro- Phos rose fertilizers.
• Fire ants really are popping up with the rains and warm weather. Our April newsletter detailed treatment options.

Municipal Drainage Happenings

Municipal turf grass conditions are at a 4 year high for the May/June time period. Sufficient rainfall, lack of severe winter freezes, and favorable spring /early summer temperatures have led to good grass stands. Drainage channel maintenance is a high priority item as we enter tropical storm season. Effective and consistent herbicide programs to control aquatic vegetation is the most cost effective. If the rainfall keeps up, I would expect mosquito’s to become a nuisance and a source of resident complaints. We do have a turf-based product to combat Mosquito problems, however you cannot wait till they are already at peak population. It needs to be applied systemically to keep populations low and under control.

Early summer rains and green grass,

Hunter Soape