What To Do In The North Texas Garden In Late May
- Replant garden spaces that have opened up after early harvests. I plan to replace my garlic and onions with cucumbers, eggplant, peppers, ProCut sunflowers, and
zinnias . - Watch tomato foliage for signs of disease (yellow and brown lesions) and remove all diseased leaves. Keeping tomatoes well-pruned will control disease without having to apply fungicides.
- Keep pinching blooms off basil. This encourages branching for a stockier plant that won’t flop over so easily.
- Complete all major plantings before the heat sets in.
- Treat worm and caterpillar damage with BT (Bacillus thuringiensis) but take care to spray early morning or late evening to reduce chance of affecting pollinators.
- Sharpen mower blades.
- Start tomato, eggplant, pepper seeds for fall vegetable transplants. Shop local garden centers for pumpkin and winter squash seeds that can be directly planted in mid-June.
Texas A&M Fall Vegetable Planting Guide
Founder of The Dallas Garden School, Callie is an expert garden educator with 17 years of personal and professional gardening experience. She specializes in growing food, small-space gardening, managing community gardens, and plant propagation. She has an MBA from Southern Methodist University, a bachelor's degree from Skidmore College, and served as a horticulture intern for the Dallas Arboretum & Botanical Gardens. Callie is a member of the Native Plant Society of Texas, The Herb Society of America, the National Garden Bureau, and is a Certified Texas Master Gardener.
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Hi Callie, Are the dates listed when to start seeds indoors for fall vegetables or when to plant seedlings out? Looking at tomatoes as the example, for Region III I’m seeing July 1. Thanks!
Great question! The July 1 date is for tomato transplants. I made a North Texas planting chart that is a bit more clear here. (Scroll to bottom.) My seedlings will probably be ready to go into the garden around July 15 based on my records from seed-starting in the spring.