What part of Texas are you in? Then I can get specific.

Better yet, use the search feature at the bottom of this forum for "lasagna" - the method works well regardless of what part of the country you are in!

I live in san antonio tx, it reaches about 100 degrees over here.

Lisa--
Good I'm in Houston so it's closer to the same planting dates, etc. Texas is a big state and Amarillo is completely different than San Antonio. I've had my home for 12 years now:
1. If you can afford GOOD QUALITY topsoil get it. If not, you can get around that too. Lasagna method does work well in Texas but it has some drawbacks when it gets over 95 degrees for 39 straight days and no rain. It's more of a long term solution...not one for planting now.
2. If you have mostly Bermuda grass--you will have to "deal" with those issues for a couple of years. Johnson grass too. Just keep on top of it and don't let the weeds get away from you. (try to work late in the afternoon or early morning right now) Pull them as soon as they are big enough to get roots and all!
3. Go ahead and put the topsoil on top of what you have cleared-- don't worry about the roots--most will be smothered. If you can't get topsoil get bags of (or a load of depending on the size) HARD WOOD mulch. Make sure it's hardwood not cypress, pinebark, or anything else. The hardwood will decompose and turn into really good topsoil. The others not as good and cypress will take years to decompose (even in our heat). Before you do, get the underlying soil as wet as you can. If you can grab bags of grass clippings (and if you get really lucky this time of year--leaves!) layer them between your layers of hardwood mulch. If you get a load of topsoil, immediately get it as wet as you can and cover with hardwood mulch.
4. From PERSONAL EXPERIENCE if you use newspaper layers, use it NO MORE than 5 layers deep and make sure the soil is very wet under it and the newspaper is also wet when you put it down! Otherwise, here in Texas in the summer, it forms barriers which prevents the underlying soil from getting a deep soaking when it does rain. Do not buy peat moss it is a waste of money. I use newspaper too but only around the base of perrennial plants and something like tomatoes or peppers that will be in place for a long time.
5. You can plant for fall: tomatoes and peppers (by Aug 1st), cucumbers, and squash. Tomato and pepper plants you need to call all the nurseries in your area--they are a little harder to find transplants of in the fall. Cucumbers and squash can be grown from seeds. The rest of your garden will need to sit there and let that mulch start to decompose (and it will, really fast down here) making good soil until first of September.
6. Email me (Click on my name it will be easy to do)and I can be more specific about where you need to go and what you need to buy (or how to get around buying). I can also give you links for planting tables in your area and other useful sites. There are also lots of groups that meet in your area to swap plants (they always have plants they just want to give away to good homes--perennials in Texas tend to need dividing often!). Alot of that information, specific products, and stores I can't post on this site. Please email me. Texas gardeners are very friendly and like to help! There are also a lot of books geared towards Texas gardening you could either buy or check out of the library.
7. If you can start mulching now, you will have a decent fall garden and a super garden next spring!
:) Debbie

Lisa--put out an "all-call" for San Antonio info for you. Here is a direct quote from a response this morning from a pal in San Antonio:
"For tomatoes, the extension service is recommending Amelia, Celebrity, Heatwave, Solar Fire, Sun Pride and Tomato444 (I haven't grown any of these, so can't comment on results.) We have quite a few very good nurseries; my favorite is Rainbow Gardens (3 locations.)"
Debbie

Hi Lisa,

When you have more questions, consider posting on the Texas Forum. There are lots and lots of real Texas Friendly folks on that forum and I'm sure you'll get lots of helpful information.

Happy gardening,
Skybird

I am going to plant a garden 20' by 20' what I need to know is what vegtables grow good together. And how much' of each vegtable to grow there is two in the family

David

An excellent question. It's often beneficial to plant certain herbs and flowers with your vegetables, too. You might find the "Companion Plants" forum of this website very useful. I also came across a website with a lot of good companion planting advice: try ghorganics dot com, or google "Golden Harvest Organics", then select the companion planting section from the tabs at the top of the page.

How much to grow is going to depend on a lot of things - which variety you choose (some produce more heavily than others), what your tastes and appetites are like, etc. Have you checked the vegetable or square foot gardening forums yet? The permaculture forum is another good one.

Unless you want to grow wheat or something, you should have plenty of space in your 20x20 garden for just two people. For example, last summer our family of six could not keep up with our 6 cukes, 12 tomatoes (6 plum, 6 slicers), and 6 japanese eggplant; the green beans, frying peppers and lettuces did not produce as heavily for me.

Good luck with your new garden!

Diane

David - Try to find a copy of 'Square Foot Gardening' [old copies are just fine], it will give you a lot of help on growing vegs; it's especially good for 'succession planting' which is the best/easiest way to provide a steady supply of fresh veggies for a family. My copy does give some sowing guidelines, but mostly you have to read the packets, be honest about how much you will really eat of something -- and don't plant lots of un-liked vegs. If you put in 2 beds at 4 feet wide x 20' long, you will likely have more vegs than you can eat. [When that happens, get interested in freezing stuff, or throw a party.) I haven't found SQF very useful for companion planting, probably because Bartholomew does such a good job of replacing one type of plant with a different, which may not like the first plant's companion. I don't worry too much about companions - I do put in lot of marigolds every few feet, and sage plants or onionsets go here and there, where ever there is room; and I do try to keep the peppers away from the tomatoes (they really aren't pals). OTOH, I do mulch well, and the soil is very good (30 years of lasagna does make a difference!)

BTW, if you do go lasagna, please remember that it is supposed to be kept somewhat moist for the first few months -if a poking finger comes out dry, add water to the soil. And yes, the paper *must* be kept covered or else it wicks out the moisture into the air - this should not be a problem since the topmost layer of any lasagna should always be a couple inches of mulch. And the point of a thick bottom layer of soggy paper is to prevent weeds from sprouting, especially in a new planting bed! Even inch-thick bottoms will eventually decompose, but that takes long enough to smother weed-seedlings and prevent invading weeds from growing up through the lasagna. A new lasagna bed can be planted in immediately, just add about an inch of compost or good soil around each rootball of the transplants. By the time they grow rootlets through that inch of ready-made soil, the lasagna isn't very new. I've noticed that many annual flowers and vegs grow outstandingly well in new lasagna -- in fact, I make a point of using one side of the pole-bean row for an on-going lasagna all summer - the beans produce more than twice as much when they have the paper-grass-clipping-weed mix. And no doubt the mulch and extra moisture help :) My area is noted for not only for weeks and weeks of 90-100 degrees, it is often accompanied by 80+% humidity and no rain. I've learned to take advantage of anything that keeps the plants happy with a minimal effort on my part (oh yeah, I do love spot-irrigation systems), and I've found that lasagna pretty much meets my requirements for easy-does-it, as well as the needs of the plants.

I live in Central Tx and I would like to know what vegtables would be good to grow in my area?Also how big should my garden be to make sure my vegtables are spread apart enough?

Hello,
I need help! This is my first vegtable and fruit garden. I am not sure how to water them. I was told to water every other day once I have watered for one whole week for the first time. Is that true? I live in San Antonio, Texas. I am good at starting from seed, but after that I am clueless. Can someone please help!? Thank you, Nicky

Nicky - the general rule-of-thumb is to water enough more so that the plants have received the equivalent of 1" rain every week. Learn what your plants expect: sedums, rudbeckia, etc can often do well with an inch a month, but ferns, geraniums, etc may need 2 inches a week. Buy a rain gauge and keep your own records - you want to know how much *your* gardens received, so that you only add the minimum more. In heat and/or drought, the additional watering can add up to a tremendous amount of water, so do mulch well and -as soon as you can afford it -do spend a bit of money for either small-diameter soaker hoses or drip irrigation; both soaker and drip systems put the water where it's needed rather than letting 60-80% of it evaporate. Drip irrigation is also the best way to "spot control" if you have plants which need extra moisture mixed in with those that have average requirements.

HI everyone,
I have my first garden going great guns, but this week I notice a problem, a lot of leaves on the cuke and squash plants have little bity holes in them, I' ve look for insects but can not see any. Someone told me to put a few drops of Dawn dish liquid soap with a quart of water and spray the leaves, my question is has anybody heard of this or can anybody help with another remendy to this problem.
thank you
Jacqueline

Hello, my name is Billie. I am living in Mid Michigan. This year, I have planted my very first garden, I planted it a bit late too if I might add. My garden area is nothing but clay. I used a product called Root Blaster on my pre-grown plants (ie tomato, cucumber, habenero, and red/green pepper). I guess my question is, what should I use to fertilize my garden? And after my plants begin producing fruit, what type of fertilizer should I use to make the fruits bigger (like my pumpkins)?

Jacqueline 8 - that is the right percentage of soap to water. Be sure to get the under-side as well as the top of each leaf saturated. You can add a tablespoon of garlic juice (or the strained result of soaking minced garlic in water overnight) as a general bug deterrent. Always try your solution on a test plant before using it throughout the garden. I've never met the plant that objected to garlicky water but there are some that don't like soap (so use a couple drops of canola oil instead). My own preferred solution uses garlic juice, sudsy ammonia (1/4 cup to each qt water) and 1/4 teaspoon canola oil in a spray bottle. I splish wherever I see a plant that's being nibbled on. A separate bottle of 50-50 water and ammmonia is handy if slugs try to invade (ammonia's just as effective as coffee, and a lot more convenient).

I want to grow an avocodo plant or tree.Could you please tell how. Do I leave the skin on the seed,or let it dry out? Also how long does it take to sprout? Thank you so much for any information.

Hi, I live in a very small town in Oregon, named Spray. It is considered high desert, But I would love to have a vegtable garden. It can get very HOT here and only rains about 14 inches a year, topping that with a short growing season. Reading some of the remarks you have give to others, my question I believe was answered. (Question: How can I make the best with my watering challenges, and improve my soil,?) But what is Lasagna?. Please give details. Thank you.

Mary, link is to a quick answer. You'll find more info in the New to Gardening forum if you scroll to the bottom of the page and do a "search" for 'lasagna' or for 'new beds'.

Here is a link that might be useful: definition of lasagna

When is the best time to start a vegtable garden? Also my soil is very dry so what do I need to prepare the soil for the garden? What type of watering system do I need to water my garden?