create a beautiful, low water use landscape

Welcome to the Trinity Glen Rose Landscape Page!

Welcome to the Trinity Glen Rose landscape page! Here, we'll provide all kinds of great information to help you create a colorful landscape that requires less water to maintain. We'll also show you the best organic types of fertilizers to use which won't pollute the Trinity Aquifer.

TGR Irrigation Consultation Coupon Program

Thanks for taking part in the Trinity Glen Rose District - SAWS Irrigation Consultation Program. Here’s how the TGR Irrigation Consult Coupon Program will work.

Customers living in these TGR zip codes will be eligible for the coupon - 78015, 78023, 78254, 78255, 78256, 78257, 78258, 78259, 78260, 78261, 78266.

If you are a SAWS customer, call or email SAWS to schedule an irrigation consult.
Call SAWS at 210-704-SAVE (7283), or email Juan.Soulas@saws.org.
At the conclusion of the consult, SAWS will provide a copy of the consultation report.
Send a copy of the consultation report to TGR and we will send the $50 coupon to you.
You can email the copy of your irrigation consult report to: mail@TrinityGlenRose.com. Or you can mail the report to: 6335 Camp Bullis Rd, Suite 25, SATX 78257.

If you are not a SAWS customer, please email: mail@TrinityGlenRose.com to set up an appointment. We will provide you with the coupon after the irrigation system consult.

Watersaver Landscape Design Schools

The Trinity Glen Rose District is proud to be partnering with the Gardening Volunteers of South Texas in cosponsoring their Watersaver Landscape Design Schools. The landscape design schools offer great presentations from landscape design pros, and make time for one on one planning for your own landscapes as well.

The next Landscape Design Schools will be held in the fall, so stay tuned for more information regarding the exact dates and locations.

The cost for the workshop is $30 for individuals or $50 per couple. Breakfast is on us, plus, you'll receive a goody bag full of water-saving ideas and tools.

Check out the GVST website here.

Welcome Calvin Finch!

The Trinity Glen Rose Groundwater Conservation District welcomes Calvin Finch to TGR water conservation team. Calvin is one of San Antonio's foremost experts on horticulture and water-saving landscapes. Each month we will feature some great insights on how to create a colorful and healthy landscape without using tons of water. You can also like us on Facebook to get some great hints in between newsletters. Here's some background on Calvin. Help us welcome Calvin to the team!

Dr. Calvin Finch

After retiring from a successful career in Horticulture and Water Conservation with Texas A&M University and the San Antonio Water System, Dr. Calvin Finch continues to appear regularly on television and radio in the San Antonio area. He also has a weekly horticulture column published in the San Antonio Express-News and six other South Texas newspapers. Dr. Finch’s work in water conservation, horticulture, the media and with volunteers has garnered numerous state and national awards. He received a Ph.D. from Texas A&M in Horticulture.

Try These Plants for Adding Summer Color to Your Yard

by Calvin Finch

Bougainvillea

While the harsh summer heat has not quite hit South Texas yet, we all know that it is coming. That hot and dry weather can pose a serious challenge to gardeners and plants, but there are some perennials that thrive in the sun and heat. These following varieties are all drought tolerant and prosper in our soils or containers.

Esperanza, Tecoma stans, (often called yellow bells) is the head of a list of excellent shrubs that produce showy blooms in the Texas summer sun. The best selection “Gold Star” has half-dollar size tubular yellow flowers that usually begin blooming in April and bloom until Thanksgiving. Other selections have smaller blooms and begin blooming later in the summer. If you see an 18 inch transplant blooming in its container at your favorite nursery it is probably a “Gold Star”. Esperanza grows to about 7 feet tall each spring after freezing back to the ground each winter. It is a favorite nectar source for hummingbirds and butterflies, and the favorite egg laying site for gray hairstreak butterflies. Deer do not eat esperanza.

Pride of Barbados (Caesalpinia pulcherrima) has glow- in- the- dark orange and yellow blooms. They appear in June in flat clusters at the top of the 6-7ft. plant every year. The foliage is very airy and tropical looking. Poinciana flowers last almost as long as esperanza blooms and the two showy shrubs are often planted together on dry hot sites such as parking lot islands. Poinciana freezes back to the roots every winter. Unfortunately the deer do eat the stems and foliage.

Firebush, Hemalia patens, grows to 6 or 7 feet tall when planted in the soil but it only grows to 3 feet tall with a very attractive globe shape if planted in a 16 inch container. The red tubular flowers are dime-size with thin tubes. They appear after mid-June on the decorative reddish foliage. Firebush is very popular as a nectar source for hummingbirds. The toughest bird in the area takes possession of the firebush. If you grow it in a container on the patio, in the fall you will be entertained by the dogfights over the firebush between the migrating hummingbirds. In late fall firebush foliage turns a deep red that is very showy. Deer will eat firebush.

Duranta is also called Brazilian sky flower for its blue/purple blooms. Two species are on the market- D. erecta is most common. D. stenostachya is from Brazil. It makes a smaller shrub with bigger flower clusters. The bloom period begins in June after the shrub has reached about 7 feet tall. Some winters it freezes back to the roots but it seems to tolerate more cold than the other summer heat bloomers described so far. The clusters of flowers dangle from the ends of the stems like ear rings. Duranta is a favorite butterfly plant. In late summer and the fall they are often covered with queen and gulf fritillary butterflies. . The yellow berries that follow the flowers are another attractive part of the plant. They last far into the winter before they are eaten by the birds.

Thryallis, Galphimia glauca, is a yellow flowered shrub where the small yellow blooms decorate the stems in branched clusters all summer. Thryallis is not as prone to freeze back as Esperanza. Many stems survived the freezes of 2017. The plant grows to 6 feet tall but is a slower grower than the other summer bloomers. Thryallis fits well in a shrub border planting with esperanza. It is also deer proof.

Bougainvillea, B. species, is one of the best container plants for summer color in this region. It thrives on full sun and heat. There are many colors of bougainvillea including pink, red, off-white, and lavender. The double petaled versions have attractive flowers but the spent petals don’t fall off like they do on the single petaled varieties. You may have to spend time pulling off spent blooms. In recent years more and more bougainvillea have been planted in the ground. Some survived up to the winter of 2017 because we had such mild weather. It is best to put bougainvillea in freeze proof protection every winter. The usual plan with bougainvillea is to plant them in hanging baskets or other containers where they are allowed to become root-bound. If you plant bougainvillea in a larger container or in the ground it concentrates on growing foliage until it becomes root bound. Once root bound the plant blooms in six or seven week cycles. Another key to bougainvillea culture is to let it dry out between watering. Fertilize with granular hibiscus food.

Attracting and Producing Butterflies in your Landscape

by Calvin Finch

Monarch Butterfly

Butterflies are a desirable addition to our landscapes. They are colorful and interesting. In South and Central Texas we have a large number of butterfly species to enjoy. Our moderate climate allows some species to be active all 12 months of the year. As adults, butterflies feed by collecting nectar from blooming plants. The most obvious way to increase the variety and number of butterflies that visit gardens and landscape is to offer nectar producing blooms 12 months of the year. There are two other actions by gardeners that can add to the number and variety of butterflies that live and reproduce in our landscapes- provide egg-laying sites for butterflies and adopt an insecticide-use policy in your garden that minimizes butterfly or caterpillar damage.

Here is a list of plants by calendar quarter that will produce blooms to meet the needs of butterflies all year around.

May, June, July - Plumbago, Mistflower, Milkweed, Pavonia, Cosmos

August, September, October - Coneflower, Vitex, Penta, Lantana, Sunflower, Mealy Blue Sage

November, December, January - Fall Aster, Lavender Lantana, Calendula, Alyssum, Dianthus,

February, March, April - Verbena, Coreopsis, Salvia Greggii, Fanick’s Phlox, Rain Lily

In addition to blooming plants to provide nectar for the butterflies year-round, a landscape that offers some key caterpillar food plants will reward the gardener with interesting reproduction activities and more butterflies to observe.

For Monarchs and Queen butterflies include one or more species of milkweed (Asclepias). The tropical milkweed has attractive orange or yellow flowers and is the easiest transplant to find, but there are several native milkweeds that are desirable. Plant native milkweeds if they are available, otherwise plant the tropical species. Milkweed has chemicals in the foliage that are taken in by the butterflies to produce a bitter taste and are important to discouraging predators. The most common native milkweed, called “butterfly weed,” Asclepias tuberosa, grows to 18 inches tall with attractive yellow blooms.

If you have citrus growing in your landscape you will probably have Giant Swallowtails lay their eggs on the plants. The caterpillars look like bird droppings!

Plant dill, fennel, and or parsley and expect Black Swallowtails to find the plants for egg-laying, even if the plants are growing in containers.

Passion vine is a vigorous plant that produces showy blooms in several color choices. They are also known for being the favorite egg-laying site of Gulf Fritillary butterflies. It is not unusual for the feeding caterpillars to strip the vine nearly bare of foliage and leave the blooms on bare stems.

The “Gold Star” selection of Texas yellow bells rates as one of the best hot weather blooming plants in our area. It is very attractive and drought tolerant. Texas yellow bells also are a favorite egg-laying site of the Gray Hair-Streak butterfly.

Other favorite caterpillar food plants include flame acanthus for Janais Patch and Texas Crescent Spot butterflies; cudweed for the American Painted Lady butterfly; Ruellia species for Buckeye butterflies, and cannas for Brazilian Skippers.

The third factor in increasing butterfly numbers in your landscape is to adopt a reasonable insecticide policy.

You can eliminate all insecticide use but that is tough to do if you have a large garden, and it is not necessary.
Be prepared to tolerate some level of damage or “sharing” of your plantings with insects, especially caterpillars.
One key is to limit insecticidal spraying to a specific target such as stink bugs on your peaches or cabbage loopers on your broccoli. It is desirable to avoid general widespread sprays that use general insecticides. Applications such as a landscape- wide mosquito spray or an application to all of your tall pecans can be tough on the butterfly and caterpillar populations but sometimes difficult decisions must be made.
Granular applications may be more controlled and have less accidental caterpillar or butterfly kill potential than sprays.
Use insecticides with limited killing impact (to targeted pests) and a short term potency. It is important to remember that organic and manufactured insecticides can both kill butterflies.

For more information and activities on attracting butterflies there are many resources on the internet and in the library. My favorite source of information is the book “Butterfly Gardening For The South” by Geyata Ajilvsgi.

Make Your Landscape Colorful this Summer

by Calvin Finch

The snapdragons, stocks, pansies, cyclamen, primrose and other cool weather annuals are looking good and should continue being attractive for another 5 or 6 weeks, but it is not too early to start thinking about summer annuals. They are available at area nurseries and can be planted now.

Zinnias are the most popular annual for hot weather color. Zinnias are also favorite nectar sources for butterflies and hummingbirds. Plant a large bed and you will receive the extra color provided by large numbers of butterflies. The “Dreamland” selection is one of the large sized zinnias available as transplants. Two of my favorites “Cactus” and “California Giants” are available as seed. The large zinnias grow to 3 feet tall and make excellent cut flowers. Use the mid-size selections for massed planting. Small sized zinnias such as “Lilliput” do well in containers or as borders. Deer usually do not eat zinnias.

Semperfloren begonias are known as shade plants but if they are planted early before the summer heat arrives they are tough enough to survive the summer in full sun. Begonias have waxy foliage and small blooms. They grow to about 12 inches tall. Use them in containers or in massed plantings in the sun or shade. There is a new begonia on the market called “Whopper”. It is a Texas Superstar with all the good characteristics of the semperfloren begonia but 3 times the size!

Penta can grow in sun or shade as well. They are available in red, white, pink, and lavender. Penta are the premiere container plant for shady patios. Hummingbirds and butterflies take advantage of their large umbels of small blooms. They bloom constantly through late fall.

Purslane and moss rose are low growing hot weather blooming plants for full sun. They are available in every color you can imagine but the blooms close up in the evening and re-open in the morning. Use them for hanging baskets and other containers. Both species are drought tolerant.

Plant cosmos by seed to replace spring wildflowers. The yellow and gold versions are the showiest but they are also available in pink, white and lavender. Cosmos will reseed all summer. They are drought tolerant. They are a favorite butterfly plant but are not a disciplined grower. Give them plenty of room.

Coleus and caladiums are foliage plants. Some can be used in full sun and others require shade. For a good summer show look for the coleus with the dark wine or light green colored foliage. Coleus and caladiums are not xeriscape plants. They need plenty of water.

For hot weather color from perennial plants consider esperanza, poinciana, firebush, duranta, thyralis, salvias, four-o-clocks and lantanas. All grow in full sun and are drought tolerant. Deer do not eat esperanza, thyralis, salvia, four-o’clock or lantanas. All freeze back during cold winters but regrow from the roots. For more information such as growth pattern, final height, and flower color visit plantanswer.com

Your Annual Guide to Lawn Care

Article by Calvin Finch

February/March

Aerate and top dress your lawn. Use an aerator that cuts and removes a plug of soil which it places on the soil surface. The machines can be rented or the service purchased. Apply one half -inch of compost after the aeration. The compost penetrates the aeration holes to bring organic material into the root zone.
It is too early to fertilize. Wait until real grass has been mowed twice.
Apply a pre-emergent herbicide to reduce summer weeds from germinating. This is especially important if you were bothered by sandburs and/or crabgrass. Halt, Dimension, Crabgrass Preventer, Amaze and XL are good herbicides for the job. Note that a second application should be applied in mid-June.
To be ready for the hot weather when it arrives, call in your irrigation contractor to check out and repair your system. Make sure the rain sensor is working and all leaks are repaired. Have him/her instruct you how to change the watering amounts if necessary.
Have your mower sharpened and the engine tuned up. Mow in March to keep the lawn weeds in check.

April

Mowing starts in earnest this month. Mow St. Augustine at 3 inches tall, Bermuda at 1.5 inches, zoysia at 2 inches tall and buffalo grass at 5 inches. Mow frequently enough that only one-third of the grass blade is removed at every mowing. Once per week is usually sufficient.
After you have mowed real lawn two times, it is time to fertilize the lawn. Use slow release lawn fertilizer. The first number is the percentage of nitrogen. Apply one pound of nitrogen per 1,000 square feet. If the fertilizer has a 19-5-9 formula, that means about 5 pounds of fertilizer per 1,000 square feet. The bag will tell you what rate to set the spreader to achieve the pounds of nitrogen.
Chlorotic (yellow) grass is a common symptom of St. Augustine grass. It appears in spring when the soil is too cool for the roots to pick up iron. Chlorosis will address itself with time and a change in weather or you can apply an iron chelate product by hose-end sprayer.

May

Rely on the weekly watering recommendation provided by SAWS and posted weekly by email to determine how much water to apply each week. Sign up on their website even if you are not a SAWS customer. The recommendation is based on San Antonio’s actual weather conditions and proven by over 15 years of use.
The winter weeds are trying to go to seed before the heat kills them. Keep the lawn mowed every week to reduce production of the weed seeds for next winter.

June

Make your second application of pre-emergent herbicide to prevent sandburs
It is time to apply a soil insecticide if your lawn was attacked by grubs last year. The same insecticide will also control chinch bugs.

July

Watering is the key. Apply the published recommendation each week. For especially hot areas such as along the sidewalk that seem to dry out, give them a little extra water by handheld hose.

August

Chinch bugs will make your lawn look moth eaten. The damage usually appears on the hottest part of the lawn. The lawn drying out will cause a similar symptom. Hand water the spots every day for 2 or 3 days. If the area does not green-up it is probably caused by chinch bugs. Apply a soil insecticide.

September

Apply a pre-emergent herbicide to prevent winter weeds. Check the label to make sure the weeds you had last year in your yard are on the label. Rescue grass, bedstraw, dandelions, thistle, henbit and annual bluegrass are common
Discontinue watering in the evening and let the lawn go a little dry in order to prevent brown patch fungus. If it appears anyway apply a treatment of a labeled soil fungicide.
The lawn has switched to its autumn growth mode so it is time to apply a winterizer fertilizer. Again, apply one pound of nitrogen per 1,000 square feet. The fertilizer will be utilized by the lawn for winter hardiness and a fast green-up in the spring.

November, December, January

Switch to a winter irrigation regime. Water every 3 weeks if it does not rain from now until May.
You should only have to mow every few weeks to control winter weeds.