Looking forward to the Garden Guild meeting Saturday

Attracting the Birds and Bees and Butterflies, too.
Mar. 17, 2012, 11:00 AM at the Community Center at 2104  Klattenhoff – Yvette Shelton has arranged for Lynn Hill, an expert in plants that attract and help Birds, Bees and Butterflies, to teach us about the right plants to use in our landscapes. To have sustainable yards and gardens we need birds and bees and butterflies. This will be a great opportunity to get good info and your questions answered just in time for the Spring plantings.

Shade plantings with Tom Spencer

Tom Spencer talked to a crowded room. The garden guild monthly meeting brought in over 60 people interested in learning about growing plants in the shade that we all seem to share here in the neighborhood.


He made a point of how established neighborhoods have to grapple with this issue.  I want to recap some of his points and suggested plants here for those who did not make the meeting. For more examples of shade gardens click on link:  bhg.com/

• ·       Use foliage to create interest. Use different sizes, shapes, textures, colored and variegated varieties, different leaf shapes—fine, fat, long, use mosses, grasses fern.
• ·       Include shade plants that bloom like turks cap,
• ·       Include statuary, pots in colors and shapes
• ·       Encourage growth that displays seasonal change like holly fern
• ·       Find things you love and use lots of them in groupings. Repeat shapes and forms in groupings.
• ·       Decide what kind of space and shape YOU like and use that. If you like flowing areas or regimented straight lines, your garden should include the shapes you enjoy.
• ·       Make spaces utilitarian spaces that draw YOU into them—that you want to spend time in.
• ·       Be practical about what you can maintain.
• ·       Establish water and heat zones for the plantings.

Shade grasses that do well:  inland sea oats (big area), Aztec Grass-Liriope muscari, for ½ shade: Gulf muhly—2 ½’ tall, miscanthus giagantus-gets tall,

Shade groundcovers: straggler daisy—horse herb—4-6” tall, gingers—variegated to 3-3 ½’ tall, hidden ginger- curcuma, scilla peruviana—dormant in heat but comes out in purple flowers in spring

Perenials:  columbines grow in high shade or partial shade, salvias—broad leaf tolerates more shade, tropical sage—white, red, peach, Salvia guaranitica 'Black and Blue' is unique. 

Shrubs- natives are found along the shade line or under the trees. Recommended Mexican Buckeye and red bud, Mountain Laurel; woody plants: flowering quince and jasmine.Oxalis sorrel grows in deep shade as does Asiatic jasmine. For shade vines: star jasmine, cross vine.

Rainwater harvesting and rain barrels with Hari Krishna

Is collecting rain water worth the effort? Is it hard to do? What do you need to do this? How much water can you collect and how do you use it? Where do you get equipment to harvest rainwater? Does it need any treatment?

On Saturday, February 5th the Wells Branch Garden Guild will host guest speaker Dr. Hari Krishna, noted expert on this topic. We'll explore the ways to collect rainwater and to effectively reuse the water we collect, how to find and pay for the systems (rebates available?) and more. 

"At one time Wells Branch probably had more Rain Water Reuse than any other neighborhood.  We still may, but I'm not sure. The one thing I can add to the conversation is how every single drop of treated water we save helps lower the whole neighborhood's water bills." per Donna Howe, WB MUD.

Winter is a time of reflection, planning, and preparation for gardeners in our area

Winter is a time of reflection, planning, and preparation for gardeners in our area. We take time to reflect on what worked (or didn’t) in our gardens and yards last year: did plants tolerate the shade/sun of their location; did plants need too much water; did they suffer from yellow leaves; did the grass tolerate water restrictions or get out of control; did you long to plant tomatoes but not get around to it; did your peach tree give you peaches or grief; do you long for apples on your own tree?  

Many yard and garden tasks need to be done in the cold months of January through early March like pruning trees and shrubs and treating lawns. Trees and shrubs can be planted during this time in addition to late in the fall and be well established. Did you know there are special fertilizers for each kind of grass now that actually kill of some of the other grasses? Or do you want to be gentler to the environment and use compost and other organic materials? Wells Branch does have creeks and run-off continues into the aquifer where our drinking water comes from. Just a thought!

The Garden Guild will meet on January 15^th at noon at the Wells Branch Library to discuss fruit trees planting, care, and varieties. Tim Pfluger from Green 'n Growing in Pflugerville http://www.greenngrowing.com will be our guest speaker at 1pm in addition to a video from KLRU. Everyone should bring their questions and suggestions. Many books on gardening are available at the library and attendees are encouraged to browse.

·       A big thanks to Tara Fisher-Muñoz for her excellent web presentation on myfolia.com. Besides being a good source of information, this will help us keep track of our. She also led us in discussion on how to prepare seedlings for transplanting, which will help us with spring planting.

·       Bob Baugh shared the M.U.D. Board’s invitation to join the new Focus Group. Richard Fadal of Texascapes and Shelly Palmer are leading the group and are trying to find ways to cut back on invasive species and encourage native plants. More info is available on the M.U.D. website http://wellsbranchmud.com/cms/

·       Virginia Almon almonfamily@gmail.com explained Homestead Garden and invited volunteers to help with maintenance.

·       Yvette Shelton atyshelton@austin.rr.com got us up to speed on the Community Garden, costs per plot and other info. 

Topics for future meetings include:

Sat. Feb. 5 - Topic: Rain Water Collection (possibly Hari Krishna lives in Scofield Ranch Neighborhood)

Sat. Mar. 5 - Topic:  Backyard Gardening with John Dromgoole (Date may shift, Deborah Thompson will be contacting John, and it will a WBNA event again)

Sat. April 2 - Topic: Shade Gardening (Will try for Green & Growing owner)

Sat. May 7 - Topic: Tour of Neighborhood Gardens (Please sign up to have yours included)

Other topics discussed was beginning a Farmer’s Market in Wells Branch - perhaps a monthly event from April, May, June, July (?), Lara Bennet is checking regulations. Ideas floated - Neighborhood gardeners produce, invite local farmers...hold in front of the Homestead House. Please let us know if you would support this location. 

Wells Branch Gardening group discusses soil sampling and planting with native plants

Having 2 guest speakers worked well for the group to get information on how to do their soil samples and where to send them. Janet Church even brought the sampling bags and applications to submit them. She had information about sending samples for organic sampling as well. Apparently A&M not only does the sampling but sends a list of recommendations on what to do to correct deficiencies. 


Shelley Palmer brought a number of booklets to help homeowners plan the kind of landscaping they would like to install and information on a grant from the city that defrays the cost of implementing the change from turf to less thirst landscaping. Catch is that you have to remove 500 or more sq ft to qualify. At $20-30 per 100 sq ft plus the water savings it is something I certainly am considering. I wish we had known about this before we converted the side yard to a wandering walk this spring and put in the 2 walks in the backyard with just borders to water. Tripling the perennial bed out front too would have been to include in this type of project. To check the program out go to: City landscape program
Next month we'll meet to discuss landscape plans and winter plantings.