The Dirt
Forty years of notes. Start here if your tomatoes split.
Everything we know about growing in North Texas, more or less in the order we figured it out. The deep guides — vegetable planting, sod care, hydrangeas — are here, alongside what I've been writing about each week.
If you can't find what you're looking for, come see us or send a note. We'd rather over-explain than leave you guessing.
— Katherine
Growing guides
The deep guides.
Long-form references for the things customers ask us about most.
- Guide Vegetable Garden Planting Guide When and what to plant in the North Texas vegetable garden, season by season.
- Guide Seed Starting Guide Indoor and outdoor seed-starting basics for a successful North Texas garden.
- Guide Sod Care Guide Establishing and maintaining a healthy lawn in Wichita Falls and North Texas.
- Guide Growing Hydrangeas How to grow gorgeous hydrangeas in the North Texas climate.
- Guide Trees & Shrubs for North Texas Our top recommendations for trees and shrubs that thrive in Wichita Falls.
- Guide Perennials & Bedding Plants Reliable color for North Texas gardens — perennials that return and annuals that perform.
Field notes
Posts from Katherine.
Plant spotlights, pest alerts, seasonal advice, and the occasional opinion piece.
2024
- Aug 7, 2024 Understanding USDA Plant Hardiness Zones: A Guide for Gardeners Do you know what zone you live in? I’m referring to the USDA Plant Hardiness Zones, a useful tool for gardeners to determine which plants will likely thrive in their area. However, it’s not the end-al
- Jul 29, 2024 Debunking the Myths: The Benefits of Tropical Milkweed for Monarchs Every year, as monarch butterflies embark on their incredible migration, gardeners and nature enthusiasts are faced with a recurring debate: Should you plant tropical milkweed Asclepias curassavica in
2023
- Nov 16, 2023 To Rake or Not to Rake: The Great Leaf Debate Introduction:
- Nov 16, 2023 Battling the Dreaded Mealybug: A Comprehensive Guide to Treatment and Prevention Introduction:
- May 18, 2023 Are you Related to Louis XIV? Do You Have Palace of Versailles Syndrome? Decorating styles come and go, both indoors and out. Home improvement shows will tell you that the kitchen you redecorated just 5 years ago is now “dated.”
- Apr 26, 2023 Why I Hate Those Plastic Flowers in Yards and Cemeteries It’s not just because I grow and sell REAL flowers – it’s because I am a bird lover. That’s right. Plastic flowers are bad for birds (and bees and the environment).
2020
- Aug 15, 2020 Sometimes We Have to Be Reminded of Why We are Here This morning, I opened an email from HGTV about the Ultimate House Hunt 2020. The article featured beautiful photos of hugely expensive homes from all over the world.
- May 20, 2020 The Year I Became a Gardener You may think it odd. My family has owned a garden center for more than 70 years, and I have worked there for about 50 years. But this year, 2020, is the first year I became a real gardener.
2019
- Dec 21, 2019 Smith’s Gardentown Named to Top 100 in U.S. for Fourth Year Smith’s Gardentown Named to Top 100 in U.S. for Fourth Year
- May 22, 2019 I've done exactly the same thing...why isn't it growing? We hear it every day: “I watered this plant exactly the same way I water the other plants. Why is this one dying?”
- May 2, 2019 MORE GOOD REASONS TO SHOP LOCAL. Please read this Blog! I know this is an unpopular opinion. But can we stop buying plants from Costco? Or any other windowless wholesale club or grocery store?
- Mar 10, 2019 The Answer No One Wants To Hear “Doc, what’s wrong with me?”
- Feb 26, 2019 DO IT NOW! We just completed another fabulous (if tiring!) weekend at the Arts Alive! Home and Garden Festival in Wichita Falls.
2018
- Nov 21, 2018 Where are our Christmas Trees? “Where are our Christmas Trees?” Chapter 38 Or, “When the Gales of November Come Early”
- Jun 13, 2018 What You Need to Know About Rose Rosette Disease Avid rosearians have long been aware of Rose Rosette Disease and its devastating effects. Rose rosette is the Emaravirus and it is spread from plant to plant by mites that are almost microscopic.
- May 8, 2018 It's Time to Stop Blaming the Drought Although our terrible drought and the draconian watering restrictions are now more than three years in the past, we talk to several people every day who are still blaming the drought because their yar
- Apr 15, 2018 We are not Successful Unless You are Successful “I’ll bet that last freeze really helped you out because you get to sell more tomato plants to all those people who had theirs freeze!”
- Feb 7, 2018 Driving Regulations May Soon Be Driving Inflation Prepare for some sticker shock in the near future — on everything!
- Jan 3, 2018 New Year's Resolutions We probably already know what some of your New Year’s resolutions are: Eat healthy; exercise more; lose weight; save money; make better investments; maybe even help the environment.
2017
- Oct 25, 2017 Fall Chores FALL CHORES The cooler weather and changing leaves tell us that our landscape plants are going dormant for a winter rest. You should change your gardening routine accordingly.
- Sep 29, 2017 Fall is for Planting It’s Fall! My favorite time of year! — cooler temps, outdoor activities, football — what could be better? Well, the good, slow soaking rains our area received this week makes it even better. Most pla
- Jun 12, 2017 Thank you, Daddy, for That Ugly Piano So often, we don’t realize the sacrifices our parents made for us until it is too late to thank them.
- May 8, 2017 Aren't You Forgetting Something? At Smith’s Gardentown, our cashiers are trained to ask a couple of questions as you are checking out (in addition to the usual polite conversation): “Do you have compost to plant these with? Do you
- Mar 16, 2017 The Age-Old Question The Age-Old Question
- Mar 2, 2017 “. . . and Now I Are One!” When we were small children, back in the 1950’s, our father had an old poster in the back of the nursery (when it was located at 1525 Beverly Drive) depicting four backwoodsmen in dirty overalls with
2016
- Oct 18, 2016 Local Bees Not Endangered Here’s a good example of how headlines don’t tell the entire story, and can in fact, give a totally wrong impression.
- Sep 13, 2016 Fall Is For Planting and Applying Pre-Emergent. Come to Smith's Today! Fall Is For Planting-What To Do Now!
- Jun 21, 2016 Moisture Stress Cuts Both Ways If you are noticing plants that have brown, crispy leaf margins and even yellowing leaves, they are probably experiencing moisture stress. That means not enough moisture is getting to the leaves from
- Jun 15, 2016 Grasshopper Early Warning Grasshoppers are some of the most destructive pests around. In a bad year, they can strip every leaf from your vegetable garden, ornamental landscape, even commercial crops. Full-grown grasshoppers
- May 29, 2016 Here are the top 10 most common mistakes we see from beginner gardeners: 10. Not investing enough in their soil-Our desire for instant gratification means that we have a tendency to want to buy the bigger, more beautiful plant. People use up most of their gardening budget