Cool Weather Designs

It’s that time of year for hosting visits with family and friends. The temperatures are becoming milder, and your yard and patio are no longer saunas. Fall in Houston means nourishing rainfall and plenty of breezy sunshine. It’s the perfect time to amend your soils with organic compost, and to plant some cool season annuals and perennials.

Some of our favorite Houston fall color plants are: Lobelia, Pansies, Violas, Cyclamen, Amazon Dianthus, Sweet William, Snapdragons, Calendula, Alyssum, Kale, Dusty Miller and Swiss Chard. The fiery orange blooms and cool purple petals are wonderful complements to any fall décor. And though we rarely get snow in Houston, a few plantings of white Dianthus, Alyssum, or the snowflake-patterned Dusty Miller can give that cool weather touch.

Prevent Brown Patch In Your Lawn

We love to see fall colors in our trees and in our gardens, but not so much in the grass! Cooler weather, unfortunately, promotes other growth as well: cool-season bugs and fungi. Brown patches in turfgrass are often caused by the Rhizoctonia species fungus and fall sod webworms. The best way to prevent brown patch in your lawn is to avoid over-fertilizing with high nitrogen fertilizer during the fall and winter. The fungus moves from plant to plant in standing water, so if your lawn had puddles in the summer, those areas are prime candidates for the brown patch in the fall.

Re-grading your lawn can address these issues, and improve drainage. Lawn aeration also helps by removing extra thatch, bringing better air circulation and water penetration. Preventative application of fungicide may be necessary for areas where the fungus has occurred in the past.

Contact us at Sterling Design & Landscape Resources to talk with one of our experienced landscape designers. We would love to help you with your fall gardening needs.