Fall Water Garden Services

Leaves are dropping regularly and are probably the biggest challenge in maintaining a naturalistic water feature. It is important to empty the skimmers and keep the leaves scooped out regularly. Clogged skimmers cause a myriad of problems, cutting off flow to the pump, and causing fill valves to run excessively since the water level drops in the skimmer.

Since water plants are starting to go dormant, one solution for shaded ponds is to cover the pond with a leaf net using tubing to suspend the net off the water. We can custom fit a leaf net system to virtually any pond.

Call for more details.

Don't let leaves muck up your water feature!

Time to Order Bulbs

If you want a beautiful spring show of annual tulips, daffodils, paper whites, or jonquils, now is the time to order them! Bulb prices start as low as $.75 each installed with a minimum of 100 bulbs.

We will be picking up our bulb orders this month and start planting after Thanksgiving. Call to place your order today!

Not sure what to plant? Email us!

Beautiful tulips in bloom

Pleasant Fall Days and Holidays Ahead

Our fall weather is really just getting started. We may see a freeze by around the end of the month, but we should also see a lot more mild weather in the next 2 months. The rains have been great, and maybe they will continue and get our lakes out of the drought situation.

Fire ants are extremely active this time of year, foraging for food to last through winter. This is the ideal time to apply bait products. You will see new mounds pop up after every rain. Feeed your ants. Feed them!

Gardeners look to the change of seasons as a chance to plant pansies, kale, and other cool season plants that we can’t use during our hot summers.

There are still lots of chores to do — replacing plants, prepping veggie gardens, mulching beds, trimming trees, and raking leaves. And we have splendid weather for doing our outdoor chores. But if you aren’t big on chores, remember that’s what we are here for! So dig this fall weather and leave the real diggin’ to us.

The Autumn Blaze Maple - One of few maples adapted to our area

Fire Ants - Here to Stay, What You Can Do

Fire ants came out with a vengeance after the October rains. This is a typical pattern, where the ants are less active in hot dry summer conditions and begin foraging and spreading aggressively as weather cools and soil moisture rises. Fire ants cannot be eliminated, they can only be managed. Sad, but true. Queens can fly and move their colonies up to 3 miles and may do so several times a year. It is impossible to keep ants from migrating into a property. Colonies may also dig as deep as 10 feet into the ground, and 3-4 foot deep is common. Other than using bait products that workers can carry to the queens hidden deep underground, it is virtually impossible to poison an entire mound.

Call to schedule a treatment today while conditions are still optimal!

This is a great time to apply bait-type controls. The ants will be very active through the remainder of November – December,foraging for winter, and will carry baits to the queens. Baits have a minimal environmental impact and offer long term control, up to 80-90% effectiveness. The Texas Department of Agriculture’s “Texas Two Step” recommends treating individual mounds that are in problem areas with a mound treatment and to broadcast bait products throughout the entire area. The other proven method is to broadcast fipronil across the entire property or around the perimeters of larger properties to create a chemical barrier effective for up to 8 months. Ants die as they tunnel or cross through the barrier. Fipronil can also offer up to 80% effectiveness and a longer residual effect, but is also somewhat more expensive.

Fire ants are not just annoying, they are destructive and dangerous. They can inflict serious and painful injury to young children and adults who may be allergic, and are renown for colonizing outdoor electrical equipment and shorting it out.

A Special Congratulations- and a Call for Support!

Spencer Young, our pond and pool service guy extraordinaire, also happens to be married to an extraordinary lady. His wife Deborah is one of 3 nationwide finalists for Teacher of the Year!

The Today Show with Kathie Lee and Hoda hosts this award each year, and it is an honor and testament to Deborah’s dedication as a teacher to have made it through the selection process to this point. The teachers are nominated by parents of their students, and each have a compelling story and are all deserving of recognition.

We would encourage you to copy and paste the link below into your browser, read their stories, and then show your support for Deborah and the public schools of Texas and cast a vote for her!

Who Should Be Teacher of the Year?

Voting ends Monday November 4th at midnight, so do your part if you get this in time.