It’s early June and already the temperatures are predicted to soar into the high 90′s.  Yes, North Texas is in for another hot summer, along with another year of drought conditions.

The United States Drought Monitor map for June 4, 2013,  indicates that more than 95% of Texas is in some level of drought. Approximately 59.6% of Texas is in “Severe” or worse drought conditions and 16% of Texas is in an “Exceptional Drought,” which is the monitor’s highest level of drought.

Many North Texas cities are continuing last year’s watering restrictions. These restrictions apply to the use of hose-end sprinklers or automatic irrigation systems on commercial and residential properties.

Drip irrigation systems, soaker hoses and hand-watering are generelly permitted on any day. Keep in mind that most turf grasses and plants only need about one inch of water every five to ten days. Watering your landscape daily actually encourages a shallow root system.

Updated List of North Texas Watering Restrictions:

Addison: Stage 2 – Once Every Five Day Per Address

Allen: Stage 3 – Once Per Week, Per Map

Arlington: Twice A Week – Odd/Even – Addresses No Watering Between 10 am & 6 pm

Carrollton: Stage 1 – Voluntary – Twice A Week – Odd/Even Addresses

Colleyville: Stage 1 – Twice A Week – Per Map

Coppell: Stage 1 – No Watering Between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m.

Crowley: Stage 1 – Twice A Week – Odd/Even Addresses

Dallas: Twice A Week – Odd/Even – Addresses

Denton: Voluntary – No Water Between 10 am & 6 pm

DeSoto: Voluntary

Euless: Voluntary – No Water Between 10 am & 6 pm

Farmers Branch: Stage 1 – Voluntary

Flower Mound: Stage 1 – Voluntary – No Watering Between 10 am & 6 pm

Forney: Stage 3 – Once Per Week, Odd / Even

Fort Worth: Stage 1 – Twice A Week, Odd Even

Frisco: Stage 3 – Once Per Week – Per Trash Day – Per Map

Garland: Stage 3 – Once Per Week – Per Trash Day – Per Map

Grand Prairie: Twice Per Week – Odd / Even Per Address

Grapevine: Voluntary – No Water Between 10 am & 6 pm

Hurst: Twice Per Week – Odd / Even Per Address

Irving: Stage 2 – Twice Per Week – Odd / Even Per Address

Keller: Stage 1 – Twice A Week – Odd/Even Addresses

Lewisville: Stage 1 – Voluntary

Little Elm: Stage 3 – Once Per Week, On Trash Pick Up Day

Mansfield: Stage 1 – Twice A Week – Odd/Even – Addresses

McKinney: Stage 3 – Once Per Week, On Normal Residential Trash Pick Up Day

Mesquite: Stage 3 – Twice Per Week, Odd/Even

Murphy: Stage 3 – Once Per Week, Odd / Even Per Address

North Richland Hills: Stage 1 – Twice a Week – Odd/Even – Addresses

Plano: Stage 3 – Once Per Week, Per Address Odd / Even

Prosper: Stage 3 – Once Per Week, Residential by address

Richardson: Stage 3 – Once Per Week - Odd/Even – Addresses

Rowlett: Stage 3 – Once Per Week, Odd / Even Per Address

Southlake: Stage 1 – Twice Per Week, Per Address Odd / Even

Terrell: Stage 3 – Once Per Week, Odd / Even Per Address

Related Posts

• How A Drip Irrigation System Can Help Reduce Your Landscape Watering Costs
• 3 Steps to Improving Your Landscape Irrigation System
• 6 Tips For Water Wise Landscaping and Reducing Watering Costs
• 10 Water-Wise Perennials for North Texas

Watering Restrictions Continue in Many North Texas Cities

Dallas and many other North Texas cities will continue landscape watering restrictions. Most experts agree that even in the heat of summer, landscapes only need about one inch of water every five to seven days.

This allows the water to sink deeply into the soil and encourages stronger root growth. Daily watering will cause a shallow root system, making your grass more susceptible to damage from extreme heat, pests, and diseases.

According to the April 2013 U.S. Drought Monitor map, about 98% of Texas is currently experiencing some level of drought. Some areas have severe or exceptional drought conditions.

In addition to increasing watering costs, the drought can mean increased plant loss and other issues for North Texas property owners.

Recently in the Huffington Post:

“L’Oreal Stepney, deputy director for water at the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, told lawmakers that 1,011 communities have imposed water restrictions and 19 water systems have less than 180 days of water, three have less than 45 days, and one is trucking in water to meet residents’ needs.”

How to Maintain Healthy and Beautiful Plants with Less Water 

According to many of the local watering restrictions, business and residential property owners are prohibited from using irrigation systems more than twice per week. However, you can use other watering methods, such as drip lines, soaker hoses, and hand watering.

You can keep your landscaping looking great without having an outrageous watering bill.

The key is to ensure that your irrigation system is in proper working order and to use drought tolerant native plants.

Improve Your Landscape Irrigation System: Implementing just a few of changes and improvements can significantly impact your irrigation system, watering costs, and your landscape’s appearance.

Use Native Plants: 10 Water-Wise Perennials for North Texas: One of the best ways to add color to your property is by planting native perennials. Many of these native plants are drought tolerant and can withstand the heat of a Texas summer without requiring frequent watering.

North Texas Water Restrictions: Are you familiar with your local watering restrictions? Take a look at this list of North Texas Watering Restrictions to find out which, if any, watering restrictions are in effect in your area.

Do you have questions about tree pruning, lawn care, weed/pest control, irrigation or other issues that affect the landscaping on your property? Ask The Gardener!

VMC Landscape created the Ask The Gardener feature of this blog to help commercial property managers and property owner find simple solutions to their landscaping questions. The landscaping experts at VMC Landscape are here to help you.

Ask the Gardener: How Do I Kill Weeds in My Lawn?

Ask The Gardener: How Do I Get Rid of Fire Ants?

Related Posts

• What Can You Do About Spring Landscape and Garden Pests?
• What Can You Do About Web Worms?
• Harmful Landscape Insects and Pests

Are you’re stumped by a landscaping  or gardening problem on your property,  simply  Ask the Gardener!

The best way to control these harmful landscape insects is with an integrated management system. By keeping your turf grass and plants healthy, they are better able to defend themselves against landscape pests and diseases.

In last week’s blog post, “Landscape Pest Good Bugs vs. Bad Bugs,” we talked about some beneficial landscaping insects. This week, we will focus on some of the harmful landscape insects commonly found in North Texas.

Common Harmful Landscape Insects in North Texas

Shown above: Rose Aphids, Garden Snail, Hornworn and Chinch Bug.

Sucking Insects

Aphids: This small insect, with its piercing and sucking mouth, is a common pest to many species of roses. Aphids suck the sap from plants, causing dried and damaged leaves. You will most often find aphids on roses, crepe myrtles, and pecan trees.

Chinch bugs are another type of sucking insects that feed on turf grass, especially St. Augustine. They inject the grass with their toxic saliva, which causes the turf grass to wilt and die.

Chewing Insects

Caterpillars: Caterpillars generally start to appear in North Texas in the spring and fall. The larvae of butterflies, caterpillars also include hornworm and spring cankerworm. While they are not considered to be harmful to most plants, their feeding on the leaves and flowers of your plants will mar the look of your landscaping.

Grubs Worms: These fat white worms are most prevalent in hot summer months. They feed on the roots of turf grass. Dead patches in your St. Augustine, Bermuda, zoysia, or buffalo grass might be evidence of the presence of grub worms.

Snails and Slugs: Holes in the leaves of your Irises and other flowers could be a sign of snails. You might even see them under flower pots as well as under the rims. Snails and slugs feed on the leaves, flowers, stems, and roots of plants by scraping off the tissue or chewing holes in the leaves or flowers. They also leave unattractive slime trails on sidewalks and other surfaces that can last for up to a week.

Snails need lots of moisture. Controlling the irrigation of your turf grass and floral beds may discourage snails and slugs.

Web Worms: These voracious little grubs are one of the most common pest problems we have in the DFW area. After a few years of drought and our recent cool, wet spring weather, you can expect to see the familiar webs high in the branches of your Pecan and other narrow leaf trees.

Grub worms Japanese Beetles snails are a few of the other harmful landscape pests (pdf) that can be found in North Texas.

Biting Insects

Fire Ants: While they are not generally damaging to plants, fire ants are one of the most troublesome landscaping insects. Anyone who has accidentally stepped on a fire ant mound knows how extremely painful the sting of one of these angry little guys can be.

Fire ants are very aggressive and will protect their mounds from any threat. If you make the mistake of disturbing the mound, hundreds of fire ants will pour out of the nest and sting anything within their reach.

There are several commercial pesticides available for the treatment of fire ants. Pouring boiling water into the mound is also helpful and is a more eco-friendly option. However, a chemical mound drench or insecticide fire ant granules are generally the most effective solutions. Fire ant bait treatment is often used because they have they have less of an effect on the environment.

How to Control Harmful Landscape Pests

Chemical treatments combined with good landscaping practices can be part of your integrated management system. LINK

You can control many of these landscaping pests with the proper use of pesticides, traps, or chemical treatments. When selecting pesticides, be careful to select those that will not kill beneficial insects.

Including perennial and native plants in your landscape design will help to attract beneficial insects to your property.

Contact Mark Slick at VMC Landscape to find out how to control harmful landscape pests on your property.

Web worms in your trees, chinch bugs in your St. Augustine grass, and other insects can cause severe damage. But not all insects are detrimental to your landscaping.

Beneficial Insects

There is an army of insects in the soil and flying around your property that can help with the control of landscape pests. By feeding on harmful pests like aphids, caterpillars, grubs, and soft-bodied insects, these bugs are nature’s own pest control system.

How are some insects beneficial? Honeybees and other insects are a vital part of the pollination of many species of flowers and plants. Predatory insect like lady bugs and soldier bugs feed on many species of harmful pest insects. Parasitic insects like spiders lay their egg inside or on top of pests, including insects and grubs, using them as food for their larvae.

Ladybugs: Adults ladybug beetles and their larvae love aphids, especially the aphids that often infest roses. They are not just the cute little red and black specked bugs you see in your garden, but they also feed on the scale insects, mealybugs, mites, and powdery mildew that can damage your plants.

Lacewings: Also known as aphid lions, these tiny insects with delicate wings feed on aphids, mealybugs, scale, and mites. Just one Lacewing larva can eat more than 100 insects in a single day.

Braconid Wasps: These non-stinging wasps feed on web worms, horn worms, caterpillars, and other grubs.

Spiders: It may hard to believe, but most of the 3,000 species of North American spiders are actually helpful to your landscape. Spiders are predatory insects and feed on aphids, other spiders, beetles, mites, and even fire ants.

You could purchase beneficial landscape insects, but why pay for what Mother Nature provides for free? The best way to attract ladybugs, braconid wasps, and other beneficial insects to your property is by including plants known to attract them.

Including these perennial and native plants in your landscape design will help to attract beneficial insects to your property:

• Texas Sage
• purple coneflower
• Sage
• Dill
• Shasta Daisy
• coreopsis
• yarrow
• asters

Along with properly used chemical treatments, these good bugs can be part of your integrated management system.

*When selecting pesticides, be careful to select those that will not kill beneficial insects.

VMC Landscape is here to help you with your landscaping needs. We have several ways to stay on top of the ever-changing trends in the commercial landscaping industry.

 VMC Landscape Blog

We publish informative articles every week that will interest both commercial and residential property owners. Take a look at a few blog posts to help you take care of spring landscaping on your property:

Essential Spring Landscaping Tasks for North Texas

How to Prune Roses to Get the Best Spring Blooms

The Perfect Time to Plant Bulbs, Rhizomes and Tubers

10 Water-Wise Perennials for North Texas

Add Beautiful Color to Enhance Your Property This Spring

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• Join the conversation
• Ask landscaping questions
• Learn about the latest landscaping techniques and trends

VMC Landscape Social Media

Stay informed on the latest landscaping trends and news by following us on social media.  We post daily updates on Facebook and Twitter. You can also find us on LinkedIn.

‘Like’ our Facebook Page and join in the conversation about landscaping trends that affect North Texas property owners.

‘Follow us’ on Twitter to get regular updates about commercial landscaping, gardening news and plant care information.

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Find out more about about our company and services.

Growing Trends Newsletter

Our monthly newsletter,  Growing Trends provides our clients with news about our company, as well as the latest landscaping trends and events. This informative, monthly newsletter will arrive in your email inbox.

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Do you have questions about a landscaping issue?  Or maybe  you want to transform the exterior of your property with a beautiful landscape design.  Contact the experts at VMC Landscape, we are here to help you. 

Christy developed her  excellent customer response skills in the commercial real estate, municipality and independent school district sectors.  She will leveraged her customer response skills and experience for success in business development, client communication, property evaluation and consultation with VMC Landscape.

VMC Landscape Account Executives, Christy Earley and Craig Emery manning the booth at the Apartment Association of Greater Dallas trade show.

Christy is also active in several industry organizations and has served in increasingly responsible positions with BOMA and IREM to drive improvements in quality performance and compliance.

• BOMA Dallas- 2012 Chairman Allied Advisory Council
• BOMA Dallas- 2010 Co-Chair Networking Committee
• BOMA Fort Worth- 2006 Board of Directors
• IREM Fort Worth- Member
• B.B.A. LeTourneau University

You can contact Christy by email at: cearley@vmclandscape.com.

Because they generally build their nests high in the branch of narrow leaf trees, like Pecan trees, getting rid of web worms can be difficult.

Web worms’ larvae create a thin webbing (bag) around branches, feeding on the leaves of fruit, nut, and ornamental trees and shrubs.

Due to last year’s extremely hot temperatures and this spring’s cool, wet weather, web worms are expected to be abundant.

How to Get Rid of Web Worms

Natural Method

Pruning infected branches and removing accessible webs can help to stop them from spreading.

Residential gardeners can try using a few natural methods to kill webworms’ green worms, leaf rollers, and other larvae by spraying an orange oil drench mixture. For the insecticide to be effective, however, you must first penetrate the web. You will need a high-pressure commercial sprayer to reach upper branches of your trees.

Another natural way to handle a web worm problem is by tearing a hole in the web and then releasing trichogramma wasps. These native, non-stinging wasps feed on web worms.

Insecticides 

Start by pruning the infected branches. To make sure that the insecticide is most effective, puncture the bag and apply chemical insecticides such as Orthene, Dipel, or Thuricide using a spreader-sticker. This method is most effective after the eggs have hatched, but before the webs are created.

If web worms are already present in your trees, you can use an insect larvae insecticide. Diazinon, malathion, orthene, or  B.T. containing insecticides can effectively control web worms. To be most effective, be certain to spray enough insecticide to cover all the leaves of your trees.

When using any chemical pesticides, always follow the instructions carefully.

What can you do to get rid of web worms and other annoying pests from destroying the beauty of your landscaping? This is the second in a series about getting rid of these and other common landscape and garden pests. Read: What Can You Do About Spring Landscape and Garden Pests?

For help with landscape pests on your commercial property, contact VMC Landscaping. 

Spring in Texas is a wonderful time of year for landscapers and gardeners. Flowers are blooming, leaves are growing on the trees, and grass gets greener every day.

Spring has arrived and everything is coming back to life.

That also means some of our least favorite things about spring are coming back too… PESTS!

With warm weather and spring rains, weeds, insects, and other landscaping pests could be invading the plants and trees on your property.

Common Landscape and Garden Pests in North Texas

Web Worms

These voracious little grubs are one of the most common pest problems we have in the DFW area. After a few years of drought and our recent cool, wet spring weather, you can expect to see the familiar webs high in the branches of your Pecan and other narrow leaf trees.

Insects and Bugs

There are thousands of different insects species are in North Texas. Common insects like ants, spiders, wasps, grubs, and a vast variety of worms can be found on almost every property in North Texas.

However, not all insects, worms, or bugs are harmful to your landscaping. Many insects are actually beneficial to plants. Of course, you know that bees help propagate certain flowers. But did you also know that lady bugs feed on the aphids that can destroy your roses?

Weeds

Cool season broadleaf weeds are another common problem in North Texas. Our mild winter and early spring weather creates the perfect conditions for rapid growth for these weeds.

Pesky weeds like dandelion, chickweed, clover, burweed, and henbit are especially noticeable in the early spring.

During the summer months, warm season broadleaf weeds like buttonweed, wood sorrel, spotted spurge (Milk Purslane), and nutsedge will start to appear.

You can control weeds by using a post-emergent herbicide during their active growth season. However, use caution when using any chemicals. Application of the wrong herbicide can damage your grass and harm the environment.

The best way to prevent a weed’s growth is with regular mowing and proper fertilization of your turf grass in late winter and spring. These simple actions improve the appearance of turf areas and reduce the competition weeds provide; however, mowing and fertilization does not eliminate weeds from the turf.

For a more robust solution, you can institute an Integrated Pest Management program on your property. The goal of Integrated Pest Management is to eliminate pest problems by strengthening and stabilizing the landscape and creating the proper balance of conditions that are more favorable for plants than for pests.

At VMC Landscape, we often recommend this program to many of our commercial properties, especially those who are concerned with an eco-friendly approach to pest management.

What can you do to stop these annoying pests from destroying the beauty of your landscaping? This is the first in a series of blog posts about getting rid of these and other common landscape and garden pests.  

Why Prune Roses?

Since we don’t have very cold weather in North Texas, roses will continue to grow even during the winter months. After a long winter, they will need to be pruned to remove overgrown, dead  and diseased canes.

To ensure lush blooms and a healthy plant, a heavy bi-annual pruning is essential. Pruning removes dead, diseased or weak canes and canes that cross each other in the center of the plant and prevent proper ventilation.

Pruning also improves the overall beauty and health of the plant and stimulates growth that will produce abundant flowers.

When to Prune Roses in North Texas

There are two times a year when you should give your roses a heavy pruning: spring and fall. Spring rose pruning in North Texas usually takes place in the third week of February to the first week of March.

Roses can be pruned year round. Keep in mind that every time you cut off old blooms and remove twiggy growth, you are promoting new growth.

How to Prune Roses in the Spring

You Will Need: 

• Protective gardening gloves (heavy leather gloves work best to protect against sharp thorns)
• Clean, sharp pruning shears that make a clean cut. Dull shears will cause wood to splinter
• Long handled loppers for trimming larger branches
• Long bladed hedge clippers for shaping and dead-heading antique climbers and ramblers
• Use a mixture of one part Clorox or alcohol to ten parts water to sterilize shears between each cut. This helps reduce the chances of insects or disease entering the wound.
• Garden rake to remove parings from under healthy plants.

The first step in spring pruning of roses like Hybrid Teas, Grandifloras, Floribundas and Climbing Roses is to remove dead, old and non-productive canes. These canes are usually gray and scaly. Also remove sucker growth (growing out of the rootstock) as close as possible to main root to encourage basal breaks (new shoots at the base of the plant).

Pruning cuts should be slanted toward the outside of the plant, just above a bud that is beginning to swell.  If you are pruning grafted plants you need to remove any suckers that grow out of the original stock below the graft.

Shape the plant by pruning each cane back to a dormant bud. Buds that have already started growing will not produce as many blooms. Dormant buds will start new growth after pruning and will produce abundant and lush blooms.

Be sure to remove any cuttings, leaves and debris from beds around the bush after pruning is completed. Cover rose beds with thick layer of organic mulch.

Pruning Tips for Specific Rose Varieties 

• Hybrid Teas, Grandiflora and Floribundas need to be cut back to 18 to 24 inches or about one-half their former height. Remove all dead diseased branches.
• Miniatures are usually pruned in the spring. Cut miniatures close to the ground (2 to 3 inches). If the plant is more than three years old, you should divide it by cutting the plant in half or more. Be sure to leave some roots on each division.
• Prune Climbing Roses to make room for the new growth. Remove dead canes and lightly trim the remainder of bush to about a third of its former height. Some Antique Rose varieties bloom on old wood and only bloom once during the season. They should be pruned after they have bloomed. Ever-blooming varieties bloom on new wood, they should be lightly groomed throughout the year. Support the canes by tying or weaving canes to a trellis, wall or fence.
• Rambler roses should be pruned right after blooming.
• Antique Roses that bloom once a year need to be pruned after flowering.  The variety that re-bloom should be pruned in January through mid February. Dead-heading during the flowering season will encourage more blooms.

Do you have roses on your commercial property? If so, Contact the expert gardeners at VMC Landscape to help you have a bounty lush and beautiful blooming roses this year.