November Monthly Tips
Purple Porch Pansies (Photo by Shelley Johnson)
This is still a great time to plant trees and shrubs, although the selection at local nurseries and garden shops may not be that extensive. Many garden centers have much less inventory in the fall than they do in the spring, when temperatures are beginning to warm up and more people have gardening on their minds.
If planning to order any seeds for planting next spring, go ahead and order them now—you’ll be more certain of getting the varieties you want, and you’ll have the seeds available once you’re ready to plant.
There is still time to set out cool-season bedding plants, such as pansies, violas, snapdragons, dianthus, and flowering kale. When looking for transplants to purchase, make sure to select short, stocky plants with good green color.
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What Can You Do to Prepare Your Spring-Flowering Bulbs?
Triplets (Photo by Ali T, CC BY 2.0)
When you see lovely bulbs blooming in the spring you may not realize that their life cycle began in the fall.
Our October Monthly Tips recommend that you the buy spring-flowering bulbs such as daffodils, irises, tulips, anemones, hyacinths, and ranunculus during this time of year. Read Dr. William C. Welch’s article Prepare for Bulbs in the Landscape Now to learn how to prepare and plant your bulbs.
Related:
Seasonal Color with Bulbs in El Paso
New! Bulbs to Blooms: Tips for Fall Bulb Planting
Related Videos
Save the Date! 
Live educational events and online webinars are some of the ways we present learning opportunities for gardeners in our area. As the new year gets going, look for our Information Tables where you can get handouts and ask questions about landscaping or gardening. You can also find previous webinars on our YouTube channel.
Here are some upcoming event dates so you can mark your calendar. Click the event link, if shown below, for more information, or watch for our Events page to be updated.
January 2025 – Home Gardening in El Paso class at EPCC. See our web page for our similar Fall 2024 class now in progress. Check for updates in December 2024 to get new registration information.
Read AgriLife TODAY for Texas Gardening News
Hummingbird (Photo by Tina Nord)
Texas A&M AgriLife has a news blog page with several topics like Lawn & Garden, Environment, Life & Health, and Science & Tech called AgriLife TODAY. As gardeners, we’re especially interested the Lawn & Garden category and we want to share these articles with you.
Is Pumpkin a Fruit or a Vegetable?
Foundational Tips for No-Dig Gardening
Pansies Named Newest Texas Superstar
From Moon ‘Dust’ to Moon ‘Soil’
Why Should I Get My Soil Tested?
Ignite Landscapes with Newest Texas Superstar – the Firecracker Plant
Plant and Gardening Questions
Do you have gardening or landscape questions and don’t know who to ask? The El Paso Master Gardener Help Desk will be happy to assist you. You’ll be helped by a volunteer who will provide research-based horticultural information. When you complete the Ask the Help Desk form, you’ll be able to send photos and choose the option to receive an answer by phone or email.
Descriptions of the plant in question or problem are more helpful if they include some background details, information about its growth or decline, and plant care practices you’ve been using or have tried. All photos are appreciated and are especially useful if they show the plant in flower, if possible, as that aids in identification.
Another way to leave questions for our Help Desk volunteers is through the Ask the Help Desk contact form on our Ask Us page. You will receive an answer from a Master Gardener volunteer by phone or email.
El Paso Master Gardeners provide a free service for the public by answering your gardening questions. We follow Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service guidelines and do not endorse or recommend specific products or places of business.
Good to Grow Radio Shows
(Current and Archived)
Care for Gardening Tools in the Fall
Garden Chores for the Fall
Fall Gardening Tips
Gardening in the Fall
Fall Gardening (2018 archive)
Fall Gardening (2021 archive)
Fall Vegetable Gardening in Containers
Fall Gardening: Trees and Shrubs
Garden Pests
Landscape Designs for Desert Gardens
Native Plant Selection
Container Gardening
Toxic Plants and Your Pets
Rose Care
The Efficiency of Irrigation with Trees and Turfgrass
Maintaining Desert and Adapted Trees
Garden Design Tips
Garden Design Trends
Vegetable Container Gardening
Container Gardening, Pt. 1
Container Gardening, Pt. 2
Indoor Plants and Gardening
Evergreen Gardening (caring for houseplants)
Benefits of Mulching
Composting
Native Plants
Irrigation, Part 1 of 2
Irrigation, Part 2 of 2
Watering Your Landscape
Tree Selection and Planting
Trees-What to Know Before You Buy
Tree Pruning
Proper Pruning Tips
Listen live on Saturdays at 11:15 a.m. on 88.5 FM or stream from the archives at KTEP Good to Grow.
Read more about our Good to Grow Radio Show, here.
By the Season – Gardening in El Paso
Find other helpful articles at Gardening in El Paso – Articles and Gardening Topics – Links. Find more videos at Videos and More.
November Monthly Tips
Weeds of Texas Turf (good photos for ID of weeds)
Vegetable Planting Calendar for El Paso County
Vegetable Varieties for El Paso County
Vegetables – Easy Gardening Series (scroll down for Spanish)Pests of Foliage and Flowering Plants
Bug Book-Insect ID and Control
Easy Steps for Drip Irrigation
Ornamental Plants for Far West Texas (including trees)
El Paso Desert Blooms Water Smart Landscaping Guide
Gardening with Perennials (including dividing; sections in Spanish)
Pruning Shrubs in the Low and Mid-Elevation Deserts in Arizona
Low Desert Pruning Guide for Commonly Used Shrubs (includes Tips and Schedule)
What Tree is for Me?
Help Your Tree Survive in El Paso (PDF)
Regional Recommended Tree List (TPG List)
Trees for High Desert Communities
Fruit Trees for El Paso
Training and Pruning Newly Planted Deciduous Fruit Trees
Texas Tree Planning, Planting, Pruning, and Care Guide (text and video; Spanish version at page bottom of selected pages)
Lawn Water Management
Efficient Use of Water in the Garden and Landscape
Watering Trees and Shrubs: Simple Techniques for Efficient Landscape Watering
Watering Tips for Lawns, Vegetable Gardens and Trees – Gardening in El Paso
Videos:
Soil Testing by Skip Richter, Horticulturist—Agrilife.org
Why Test the Soil? by Ignacio Munoz, El Paso Master Gardener
How to Prune Small Trees by Southwest Yard & Garden (nmsuaces)
How to Build a Drip Irrigation System by Southwest Yard & Garden (nmsuaces)
How to Apply Drip Irrigation Systems by Southwest Yard & Garden (nmsuaces)
Irrigation Quick Fixes by Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center at Dallas
Newcomer’s Gardening Snapshot for El Paso County
Many new residents arrive in El Paso each year from climates and growing conditions much different than the Chihuahuan desert. This Newcomer’s Gardening Snapshot highlights some main features of El Paso’s climate and provides links to helpful, informative websites. It also provides links to local gardens exhibiting native and adapted plants for local landscapes. We hope this information assists new gardeners in getting off to a fast start in their new Texas home.
Improve Your Skills with Our
Informative El Paso Gardening Handbook
El Paso County Master Gardeners created a one-of-a-kind illustrated gardening handbook for our area. The El Paso Gardening Handbook addresses El Paso specific gardening concerns and best practices.
Texans Ask About Gardening–Vegetables, Herbs and More
Vegetables Grown at Ascarate Demonstration & Teaching Garden (El Paso Master Gardeners Facebook)
From Asparagus to Swiss Chard plus “Non-Crop” plants and Herbs, you’ll find many of your questions answered in Everything Texans Ask About Gardening, an informative 67-page publication by Joseph Masabni and Patrick Lillard. Organized largely by vegetable name, the questions and answers cover general issues, diseases, and insects. Since this is a digital document produced by Texas A&M AgriLife, you can easily search for a topic or keyword by using the “Find” command if on a PC. Otherwise, here are some page numbers by section:
Vegetable Q&A – pages 1-54
Minor Crops – pages 54-61
Herbs – pages 61-63
Non-Crop Q&A – pages 64-67
Who We Are
The El Paso County Master Gardeners Association, as a member of the Texas Master Gardeners Association, is a non-profit educational and charitable organization supporting the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service in providing quality, relevant outreach and continuing education programs and services to the people of El Paso County. Our local volunteers receive extensive training and experience in a wide range of subjects before certification as Texas Master Gardeners.
In collaboration with the County A&M AgriLife Horticultural Agent, Eduardo Rascon, we educate the community through various events, workshops, and demonstration gardens. Our Master Gardeners volunteer through our Outreach programs and community Projects to provide information and recommendations on horticultural topics to all residents of El Paso County.
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