Houston Garden Help
Straight answers on lawns, plants, pests, and landscapes — from a real Houston horticulturist, not a search result.
Since 1991 · Sugar Land · Missouri City · Greater Houston
New to Texas? Here's How Gardening Really Works in Houston, Austin, San Antonio & Dallas
The gardening rules you brought with you don't apply here — and Houston, Austin, San Antonio, and Dallas are four different growing worlds. Here's what every new Texas gardener needs to know, city by city.
✅ Brown Spots in Your Houston Lawn? Do These 3 Tests First
Five Houston lawn problems look identical from the driveway but need totally different fixes. Here are the three quick tests that tell them apart — no lab, no guessing.
Mealybugs in Houston: How to Identify and Get Rid of Them
White fuzzy clumps on your hibiscus, plumeria or muhly grass? Those are mealybugs — and they're eating your plant. How to spot them and treat them in Houston heat.
Fall Seed Potatoes in Houston: When to Plant on the Gulf Coast
Think potatoes are a spring-only crop? Not on the Gulf Coast. Here's exactly when to plant fall seed potatoes in Houston — late August — plus the four varieties that actually produce here and how to grow them from seed piece to harvest.
Front Yard Landscape Makeover | Richmond, Texas
See how Garden Guy transformed a tired Richmond, TX front yard into a lush, layered Gulf Coast landscape — recontoured beds, reset stone borders, refreshed tree rings, and a heat-loving Texas plant palette built to thrive in Zone 9. Get the full plant list free.
Will Sod Take on Hard Dirt? How to Prep Soil Before Laying Sod in Houston
Will this sod take? A summer-school lesson on why you can't just throw sod on hard dirt — plus the exact pro soil prep that makes Gulf Coast lawns root the first time. Free printable steps included.
How Long to Water Your Lawn in a Houston Summer
Only running your sprinklers three minutes in this heat? That's almost always too short. Here are the exact settings Todd uses at our own house — plus the cycle-and-soak trick for Houston clay and the three signs your lawn is secretly thirsty.
First Colony Landscape Makeover in Sugar Land
A First Colony front yard makeover in Sugar Land, TX: how we rebuilt tired, shady beds from the soil up — and the shade-loving plants (Cleyera, camellia, foxtail fern, and more) that thrive under mature live oaks. Grab the free plant list.
Refrigerator Fig Preserves: An Easy Houston Recipe (No Pectin)
Buried in figs? This is my cozy, no-pectin refrigerator fig preserves recipe — no canning, no fuss. A Houston-backyard favorite for using up your Celeste and Brown Turkey harvest, warm on toast or straight off the spoon.
Houston Fall Vegetable Garden: What to Plant by Month
In Houston and along the Gulf Coast, fall vegetable planting doesn't start when the pumpkins hit the grocery store — it starts now, but not with everything. Here's exactly what to plant in June, July, August, and September, from long-season squash to fall seed potatoes and your broccoli-and-cabbage tray starts.
Hammerhead Worms in Houston: How to Identify and Kill This Invasive Garden Predator
That long, slimy, striped worm with the shovel head is an invasive hammerhead flatworm — and cutting it in half only makes more. Here's how Houston gardeners identify it and get rid of it the right way.
How to Landscape a Narrow Side Yard in Houston and the Gulf Coast
Weedy, shady side yard behind your patio? See how we turned a Houston-area strip in Greatwood, Sugar Land into a low-maintenance Gulf Coast garden bed — free plant list inside.