North Haven Gardens

What is the difference between a Meyer & Eureka Lemon?

Both Meyer Lemons and Eureka Lemons are in stock now! Plant in one our large, colorful pots and place outside in an area that receives a good 6 hours of direct sunlight. Protection from the aftrnoon sun is best. Feed spring and fall with NHG Organic Herb & Veggie Food. In winter, bring indoors and place in a bright window until spring.

All citrus attracts bees and butterflies to the garden. Plus, their blooms smell so sweet! Oranges, limes, and grapefruit also in stock.

Eureka Lemons are the lemons you might find in your local grocery store. They have a more tart flavor, bright yellow color, and are oval in shape. The plants reach roughly 10'-12' in height and have a wider growth habit.

Meyer Lemons are much sweeter than the Eureka variety. They have a slight orange tone to instead of a pure lemon, a thinner skin, and a bit smaller. The plant grows to a more compact 8'-10'.

Photo credit Former Chef (make lemonade!)
Meyer Lemon is on the left. Eureka Lemon is on the right.

Spring Will Be Here Before You Know It! Get Your Garden Beds Ready!

January is the perfect month to amend existing garden beds and create new ones for a jump-start on spring. Once the warm weather returns, you'll be so happy your bed-building, cleaning and refreshing is already done.

We recommend:

Existing Beds: Apply 1” of compost and work into the soil with a sturdy garden fork or hand cultivator.  When adding compost around existing shrubs, turn in the compost gently to be sure not to disturb roots.

Create New Garden Beds: Everyone loves fresh, new beds for perennials, annual color, shrubs, and herbs! Clear the area of debris, turf, and weeds (do not till! come into the store for great ideas to remove turf organically!) Install steel edging or pretty stones to prevent soil from eroding from the bed. Spread about 1-2” of expanded shale if you need to improve drainage, and 3-4” of compost onto the site, then till in to a depth of 6”, or hand cultivate. Once planted, topdress with 2" of hardwood or cedar mulch.

Create New Vegetable Beds: Raised beds provide the 12” depth necessary for all your favorites, from potatoes (Plant late January through February) to tomatoes (transplants arrive late-February, ready to plant!). Easy-to-assemble pre-fab raised bed kits are available here at NHG! Or, come see our Vegetable Demonstration Garden for great ideas on different styles of raised beds you can build yourself. Once you decide which raised bed you want, clear the area where it will be placed (do not till) and put down several layers of newspaper, topped with weed-block fabric. Fill the raised bed with a mixture of topsoil, cow manure, Humax Garden Soil Builder, and compost. How much of each will depend on the size of your beds. We are here 7-days a week to help you with those calculations. Using one of our pre-fab beds? We’ve already done the measurements and soil bag numbers here.

All new beds benefit from an application of Medina Soil Activator to stimulate microbial activity, reducing the amount of time it takes for the soil in your beds to loosen and break down for healthier, better draining soil. Microbes digest organic matter, releasing the nutrients for up-take by your plants. Remember, you must fertilize when planting in "new" soil, as nutrients in the soil may not yet be available to plants.

Top all beds with 2” of mulch to prevent weeds and increase moisture retention winter, spring, summer and fall. We like pine straw mulch for azaleas, hydrangeas and other acid-lovers; and shredded hardwood mulch for everything else.

We look forward to seeing what all of you will be planting this year. And don’t forget, with all the new water restrictions in Dallas, you’ll need to attend our programs on proper watering through summer and beyond. We are here to prove that with the right education and products so you’ll be able to beautifully maintain your landscape while dramatically reducing your water usage. See our Jan/Feb programs here.  

Plant Fruit Trees Now!

 
Here at North Haven, we knoow you love to eat fresh edibles grown in your own backyard. With harvest time just around the corner, many are dreaming of fresh fruit and homemade pies. Why not plant your very own urban orchard this weekend? Not only will you be devouring the mouth-watering fruits of your labor for years to come, you will also have delightful blooming trees to decorate your yard early next spring.

 

Fruit trees require 6 or more hours of sun a day, but may not require as much space as you think. There are dwarf varieties of many favorites available, such as peaches ‘Bonanza’ and ‘Bonfire’. Other space-saving options include container growing, growing on an espalier, and columnar apples that grow full size fruits on very narrow trees. It’s worth noting that most fruit trees can easily be kept pruned to the gardener’s desired height. Some folks may also be concerned with how many trees they can fit in their yard and still get fruit. Its true that most trees require a cross pollinator, and those that don’t will still produce more heavily with one. However, there are some exceptions such as peaches, pomegranates, and plums. If your neighborhood has a lot of fruit trees, they may cross-pollinate each other, allowing you to cheat a bit.

 
Once you’ve selected your site, plant into native soil, or use North Haven Organic Potting Soil in containers. Mulch well wherever you plant. All fruit trees will benefit from a feeding of Espoma Tree-tone, and how often will depend on the variety of tree. During late December, you should spray with organic Dormant Oil to help head off any pest problems that might otherwise develop later in the season.

 
 

After choosing from all the exciting fruit tree varieties at North Haven Gardens that perform well in our area, you can have your backyard orchard planted in no time.

Delicious, Homegrown Avocados for YOU!

 
Avocado trees are in stock now! We’re very happy to introduce ‘Joey,’ ‘Lila,’ and ‘Poncho.’ All are variants of the Mexican Avocado, with fruits about 6 to 8 ounces in size. Mature trees are 15’ to 20’ tall and as wide, so allow plenty of space. Avocados perform best with a partner for cross-pollination, so allow room for two (or get a tree for your neighbor). Provide a western or south western exposure to provide radiant heat in the colder months. In winter, mulch trees above the graft union on the trunk; mulch should be cleared away once danger of freeze is past. Trees should be covered once temperatures reach the 20s. Since the trunks are susceptible to sun scald, you’ll want to wrap the exposed portion of the trunks during summer months to avoid damage.

Plant Avocados in a hole as deep as the root ball and double the width in native soil. No need to amend the soil. It’s important to acclimate trees to our soils as quickly as possible. Remember when planting you’ll want to deeply water the newly installed tree, and monitor its water needs throughout the first year. A tree gator is perfect to keep it consistently watered for it's first summer. Give it root stimulator such as Superthrive at time of planting, and once each month for the first 12 months. After the first year, fertilize spring, summer, and fall with Espoma Citrus-tone to keep them healthy.

Yes, you can still plant veggies in N. Texas

Merry Christmas everyone! Just a heads up that we have some beautiful cool season vegetable and herb transplants right now.  Swiss chard, mustard greens, collard greens, cabbage, cauliflower, dill and cilantro are just some edibles you can plant right now and are in-stock.  Mix with colorful pansies, violas and cherianthus for a cheery edible garden through winter and spring!

 

Still time to plant cool season veggies...

Wondering if it's too late to plant cool season vegetables? Not at all! This is still a great time to plant transplants of cool season crops like broccoli, collard greens, Brussels sprouts, lettuces, chard, cilantro, dill, fennel and more. You can even still direct seed beets, turnips, carrots and mixed salad greens.

If you planted your first succession of broccoli back in September, you should be coming up on your first harvest soon! We will have fresh organic broccoli available for sale from our market garden any day now!