Gardening in Central Texas

You can have several gardens in Central Texas each year. A great resource for more information is Texas Gardener magazine. Here are some quick guidelines for planting a garden in Central Texas.

Generally, underground crops need to be planted in late February or March according to the dark of the moon. Above ground crops need to be planted in March and April. Stagger your planting times to help prolong the length of your harvest and give you time to harvest your crops.

Your warm weather crops need to be planted in April or early May for harvesting in the middle of summer. You will need to pay attention to the harvest dates on your particular vegetable varieties and plant accordingly.

The temperatures in Central Texas begin to hit the mid-nineties late in May or in early June. These temperatures don't let up until September and it is very possible to see multiple days in excess of 100 degrees in July and August with little or no rain.

If you want a fall harvest, plant in mid August. This will allow time for the plants to mature before the first frost, which typically occurs in late October or early November. Cooler weather crops generally need to be planted in September or early October for harvests as late as Thanksgiving Day and quite possibly into the middle of December in some years if winter temperatures are fairly mild.

You'll need to be a little creative when providing shade cover for your June to August garden plants though. The sun and temperatures can be excessively hard on the plants in your garden this time of year in Central Texas. You will also need to consider drought resistant crops due to sparse summer rains. One technique you can use is raised beds. These can work quite well since they provide a decent foundation for the attachment of row covers and will aid in the retention of soil moisture.

Happy gardening and have a great harvest this year.

Be aware. Be informed. Be prepared.

Riverwalker