Jackie Sledge
Big Country Master Gardener Association
I have so many landscape questions, and I search for answers from books and plant magazines as well as online. One of my favorite go-to sources is the Aggie Horticulture website, and I want to share with you why that has become one of my top sources for information.
Texas A&M University furnishes the following explanation about the Aggie Horticulture website at About – Aggie Horticulture Aggie Horticulture (tamu.edu) :
“Aggie Horticulture began serving gardening and horticultural crop production information in October, 1994. Our factsheets, guides and databases are based on years of testing and practice. More than 50 teachers, scientists, and Extension specialists contribute their work to this website. Our goal is to serve the students, producers, professionals and gardeners of Texas…and the World.
Aggie Horticulture and the other servers of the Aggie Horticulture Network are information providers of the Texas A&M University System Horticulture program, including the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Texas A&M University, Texas A&M AgriLife Research, and the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, referred to collectively as Texas A&M AgriLife.”
The Aggie Horticulture website can be accessed at Home – Aggie Horticulture Aggie Horticulture (tamu.edu) or by simply typing Aggie Horticulture in the search box. The sections I use most often are Vegetable Resources, Texas Superstar®, and Earth-Kind Landscaping®, but I continue to check out the other sections to see what information might have been added since my last visit to the site.
Let’s look at information in some of the sections:
Vegetable Resources.
- The Easy Gardening Fact Sheets – Homeowner section includes fact sheets on a number of vegetables. These fact sheets cover everything you need to know about growing a specific vegetable from selecting a site, to planting, and through harvesting. There is also information on planning a garden, planting, composting, mulching, watering vegetables correctly, insects, harvesting, and much more. The most recent addition to Easy Gardening is Herbs for the Texas Landscape.
- The Vegetable Variety Recommendation link allows you to identify the vegetable varieties recommended for a region or for a specific county. Planting a recommended vegetable is a step to having a successful vegetable crop.
- The Problem Solver section includes tools to help with insect and disease problems for some specific vegetables in your garden.
Fruit and Nut Resources:
- The Fact Sheets provide information on many fruits and nuts grown in Texas, and they also show which varieties grow well in the different regions of the state.
Texas Superstar® Resources:
- There is information on the Texas Superstar® designation for all plant varieties – annuals, perennials, per-annuals, trees, woody shrubs, and specialty plants.
- The plant list in each category shows the plant name and has a link to show a picture of the plant as well as a profile of the plant.
- There is a link to the latest Texas Superstar® plant brochure with pictures and short profiles of all plants in each category.
Earth-Kind® Landscaping Resources:
- There are sections on Landscape water conservation, Reduction of fertilizer and pesticide use, Landscaping for energy conservation, and Reduction of landscape wastes entering landfills.
- I like the 10 Ways to Make Your Landscape Earth-Kind® because it provides details and recommendations in 10 different areas.
- Planning the Home Landscape will help when designing your landscape. I have recently used tips from this section when I was adding new plants, shrubs, and beds so they will be successful additions to my yard.
- I find the Plant Selectors, Earth-Kind® Publications, and Landscape Publications all contain very useful information that I rely on when making landscape decisions or solving landscape problems.
This is just a start on Earth-Kind® Landscaping Resources so watch for another article on specific sections and tips to help make your landscape efficient and enjoyable.
If you have any questions, call the Taylor County Extension Office at 325-672-6048 or email us at mgardeners@yahoo.com. We hope you visit bcmgtx.org for information on all Big Country Master Gardener events, like us on BCMGA Facebook, and check out training presentations on BCMGA YouTube. We are here to help you.
