By Dr. Douglas F. Welsh, Landscape Horticulturist

Finally, fall is here. The weather cooling and now is a perfect time to add a new grouping of shrubs to your land-scape. The fall may be the best season to plant, surpassing even the spring. Fall planting follows the heat of summer, before a cool winter season, and trees and shrubs planted in the fall use this to good advantage. Plant roots grow anytime the soil temperature is 40 degrees or higher, which may occur all winter in Texas. During the winter months, the root systems of the fall-planted specimens develop and become established. When spring arrives, this expanded root system can support and take advantage of the full surge of spring growth.
The idea is to transition your house to the lawn or other groundcovers, hide architectural prob-lems and spotlight architectural assets. In sim-pler terms, you want shrubs around the base of the house that compliment the house. The shrubs you select should have a final size that covers the foundation, but does not cover the windows or the front door. You also want shrubs that can prosper in the light and soil conditions available around the foundation. Quite often that means the shrubs must have shade tolerance.

Milberger’s Tree Lot stocks only the most healthy trees ready for transplanting. CLICK HERE TO VISIT OUR ON-LINE TREE LOT