Hey there, gardening friends. Thanks for joining me today for Episode Six of the ATX Gardens Podcast, which will air on November 27th, 2025. I'm Colleen Dieter, a landscape consultant at ATXGardens.com. Today's episode is all about what to do in the first half of December. But before we get to our gardening to-do list, this episode is sponsored by my landscape consulting business, ATXGardens.com.

I help my customers by alleviating their anxieties about their yards.

This week I met with Annika in Crestview. She wants to turn her suburban lawn into a pollinator garden full of plants that will attract butterflies and bees. I gave her advice about how to get started by killing her lawn using the sheet-mulching method — that’s layering cardboard, compost, and mulch to create a clear planting space before planting.

We also discussed which plants would work in her yard, like mistflowers and desert willow, and I explained how tree planting will help tie the whole landscape together.

So if you have questions about your yard, make an appointment today at ATXGardens.com.

Alright, let's get to the show.

In the first half of December, watch out for freezing weather. Learn more by listening to my last episode, where I go in depth about how to prepare citrus, tropicals, vegetables, and other sensitive plants for cold weather. Remember that most native plants in the landscape do not need any special care during freezing weather — it’s just the tropicals and sensitive plants that aren’t native to areas with freezing temperatures.

With the rains we had at the beginning of November, I'm noticing my first crop of winter weeds starting to sprout, and the key to success with winter weeds is identifying the seedlings and learning what they look like when they’re small.

The number-one mistake people make is removing wildflower seedlings. So if you planted wildflowers or you're in a new house and you're not sure what all is coming up, try to identify the seedlings. Native American Seed Company — there’ll be a link in the show notes — has photos on their website and in their catalog showing what seedlings look like when they're first emerging.

Some winter weeds can be considered wildflowers, and it's up to you to decide which plants you want to keep and which ones you want to remove based on your personal gardening philosophy.

For example, there's a common winter weed called henbit that comes up in my yard every winter. The botanical name is Lamium amplexicaule. I love henbit and I choose to keep most of it in my yard because it's edible and it benefits bees. I also keep dandelions — Taraxacum officinale — for the same reasons. They're edible and great for pollinators. There's just not enough time to pull every weed, so I purposely keep some of them.

There are native plant enthusiasts who would not keep henbit and dandelions because they're not native plants and do not benefit native wildlife as much as native species do. On the other hand, there's a winter weed called hedge parsley — Torilis arvensis, also known as “sock destroyer.” This plant starts out as a tiny carrot-like seedling. It grows all winter and in early spring blooms with beautiful white flowers, which then turn into burrs that stick to clothes, hair, and pet fur. It’s a nuisance and not native, so I have found no compelling reason to keep it. In December, I grab a hoe and start cutting them down when they're tiny so I’ll have fewer big plants to pull later.

December is really the best time to tackle all of those little seedlings. I like to use a Dutch push hoe for mulched areas and a stirrup hoe in gravel or loose soil. A flame weeder is excellent for weeds growing in cracks — just avoid using it on windy days or when there’s a burn ban. See my show notes for links to those tools. I'm an Amazon affiliate, so I do receive commissions.

There are some native plants in our gardens that can also get out of hand. They're prolific, put out tons of seeds, and winter is a really good time to remove them — things like hackberry saplings and baby trumpet vines. Removing them while they’re dormant is more satisfying because if you miss some roots, it takes them months to grow back.

Speaking of little trees, I'm going to tell you a little bit more about woody plants in winter. Now that the weather is cooling off and the trees have lost their leaves, it's okay to start pruning them. Make sure you don't prune any trees that haven’t lost all their leaves yet.

Most shade and understory trees will be losing their leaves now. Most of them do not need pruning. Make sure you know why you are pruning before you start. Compelling reasons include clearing walkways, driveways, streets, or roofs, and removing branches that are rubbing on each other. Repeated injuries from rubbing or hitting vehicles or roofs create open wounds that can let in pests and diseases. Removing those problematic branches is the best reason to prune. Otherwise, most trees don’t need it.

I'm teaching a tree-pruning class at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in January, and there will be more on that later in the episode.

Now, what's going on with fruit trees in the first week of December? Now is a great time for planting containerized pome and stone fruits. Pome fruits have cores, like apples and pears, and stone fruits have pits, like peaches and nectarines. It’s also a good time to plant containerized grapes and persimmons.

For better selection — more varieties and healthier trees — you may want to wait until mid- to late-December or January to visit The Natural Gardener and other local nurseries for bare-root fruit trees instead. There’s a traditional way of growing and transporting fruit and nut trees where they’re grown as seedlings or saplings, then removed from their growing media and shipped with their roots wrapped in paper or sawdust inside plastic. This is called “bare root” because the roots are bare.

Bare-root trees tend to be healthier and perform better than container trees. They’re also easier to ship, so nurseries often have more varieties available, and they tend to be a better value. We’ll talk more about bare-root fruit trees soon, so you may want to make room for some or hold out for bare-root instead of containers.

Protect your citrus from freezing temperatures whenever we get a freeze at night. Listen to the last episode for more citrus protection tips.

For pome and stone fruits, when they drop most of their leaves, spray them with a copper fungicide to control bacterial canker and fungal diseases. Bordeaux mix is another classic organic choice. You can also consider spraying with a probiotic like compost tea or Serenade — links will be in the show notes.

Now we're ready for our mid-show sponsor break.

Hey y’all, this is Colleen Dieter with ATXGardens.com. You know I give plenty of gardening advice on my podcast, but there’s nothing like meeting in person to get the best information for your plants and landscape — and that’s what I can do for you. Visit ATXGardens.com. As a certified arborist and professional gardener with over 20 years of experience, I help my customers by alleviating their anxieties about their yards.

Visit ATXGardens.com to book a consultation with me. During the consultation, we’ll walk through your yard together and answer all your questions. Also at ATXGardens.com, you can shop my favorite gardening apparel, tools, and books that I mention during the podcast. From trees to vegetables to wildflowers, I'm here to help. Make an appointment at ATXGardens.com.

Okay, now we're going to talk a little bit about perennials and bulbs.

There’s really not much to do with perennials and bulbs right now. It’s not time for planting, dividing, or transplanting warm-season perennials. Wait until early spring. Cool-season perennials like yarrow, columbine, and spiderwort can all be planted now since they aren’t sensitive to freezing weather.

You may have some perennials in your yard that look kind of shabby now — they may have powdery mildew or are simply worn out from the long growing season. For example, I have four-o’clocks in my yard that look really pitiful, so I went ahead and cut them down. I have a customer with tall ruellia (Mexican petunias) that had powdery mildew, so we cut those down too. But if your perennials still look okay, leave them as long as possible. Leave the perennials alone right now if you can. We’ll talk more about when and how to trim them in future episodes.

Now moving on to the vegetable garden — and I’m going to lump the herbs in here too.

Again, watch out for freezing temperatures. Make sure you’re keeping the garden moist, especially before freezes. Listen to the last episode for more freeze-protection tips.

Planting vegetables and herbs at this time of year is a little controversial depending on who you ask. Some sources say planting cool-season greens like arugula, lettuce, collards, and root vegetables like beets, turnips, carrots, and radishes is fine now, along with cool-season herbs like calendula, cilantro, and dill.

Others say to wait until late January because repeated winter freezes can damage tiny seedlings. It depends on your risk tolerance. Planting seeds on a warm day is easy and inexpensive — you can always replant if the first batch fails due to bad weather. If you're buying transplants like cabbages, broccoli, and cauliflower, that’s more expensive and riskier.

Perennial herbs like oregano, thyme, and rosemary should wait until spring because they’re cold-sensitive and may not establish well before a hard freeze.

For certain crops, it's best to start seeds indoors because they take too long to mature in our rapidly shifting Austin weather. Tomatoes and peppers are good examples. Starting seeds indoors lets you grow special varieties not sold at nurseries and gives you more plants for less money.

Warm-season vegetables need to be started indoors about eight weeks before the last freeze. Our last freeze is about March 1st, so count back eight weeks — that’s around January 1st. So if you're planning to start tomatoes, peppers, or even basil indoors, start getting your setup ready now.

Choose a south-facing window if possible. Heating pads under your seed trays help warm the soil and speed up germination. Grow lights help too. You'll need trays, pots, and a propagation mix. We’ll have links to those items in the show notes.

Think about how to keep pets away from your seedlings. Start gathering everything now so you're ready in January.

Seed catalogs are arriving now, so start choosing what to grow. Don’t forget about seeds you’ve saved from past years. Check your local seed libraries — many suburban and small-town libraries around Central Texas have seed libraries supported by Central Texas Seed Savers.

Now I’m going to give you some winter advice about turfgrass lawns.

Anytime from October to March is a good time for top-dressing your turfgrass with a quarter-inch of compost. Use any compost you like. I prefer turkey compost because it's high in nitrogen and turfgrass needs plenty of nitrogen.

Top dressing is even more important than fertilizing because compost adds beneficial microorganisms to the soil. These critters eat grass clippings and debris and turn them into nutrients for your lawn. They also aerate the soil, making it fluffier and better at holding moisture and air.

In winter, leave the grass blades tall. Do not mow except to grind up tree leaves or knock down winter weeds. Do not mow the grass low in fall or winter — that exposes the sensitive parts of the grass to cold, stresses the plant, and creates openings for weeds.

During winter, get your mower serviced. Drain the gas — old gas can gel and clog your engine. Make sure the blade is sharp so the turf gets a clean cut instead of a jagged wound.

December is a great time to start planning your lawn-removal design and replacing turf with trees, perennials, and other beneficial plants. Make an appointment with me at ATXGardens.com to learn how to reduce turfgrass on your property.

Now what about wildflowers in winter?

You should be seeing some of your wildflowers sprouting because we got a little rain in November. You may start seeing bluebonnets, lemon beebalm, and pink evening primrose coming up. If you don’t see them yet, don’t worry — it’s still early. Keep watching for seedlings if you planted wildflowers.

You can also plant small wildflower transplants now. Some nurseries carry little bluebonnets, firewheels, and more in six-packs or 4-inch pots. This is a great time to add them to your display.

I have some upcoming events.

Save the date for January 17th at 9:30 — I’ll be teaching a tree-pruning class at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.

And on January 31st, also at 9:30, I’ll be teaching a winter-maintenance class at the Wildflower Center.

These aren’t posted on the Wildflower Center website yet, so registration isn’t open. I’ll let you know when they are. Consider signing up for their newsletter, and also sign up for mine at ATXGardens.com so you receive updates.

That wraps up today’s episode. Don’t forget to check the show notes for links to the tools, plants, and events I mentioned. And if you're enjoying the podcast, please share it with a fellow gardener — it really helps more Central Texans find the show.

I'll see you next time.