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Nature’s Way Resources honors the contributions of our late owner, John Ferguson. “The Lazy Gardener” Brenda Beust Smith and Shelby Cassano welcome your feedback and remain grateful to the many horticulturists who share their expertise.
Published February 11, 2026
TREES FOR HOUSTON staffers and supporters (left) celebrate the planting of TFH’s one-millionth tree — a young Nuttall oak — at the 1847 Kellum-Noble House in Sam Houston Park (downtown Houston). At right, a mature Nuttall oak! If you need free trees, join Trees for Houston to get on the notice list of upcoming tree-giveaways! treesforhouston.org
It took TREES FOR HOUSTON four decades to plant one million trees in Houston. The “1,000,000th Tree” was recently celebrated in grand style by the city’s leaders with the help of volunteers and other supporters!
It was a major accomplishment! Even so, even with such avid volunteer support, our trees are still disappearing faster than Trees for Houston can possibly counter, given how this city and surrounding counties have allowed clearcutting for so many years (including “decades” in my old Aldine neighborhood) before any construction or even sales ever take place.
(Nobody seems to care about all the wildlife destroyed, and the flooding that clear-cutting facilitates!)
Hats off to Barry Ward, TFH’s executive director, for his group’s great efforts to help balance this tragic loss of our environment, native wild growth and our wildlife that depends on such growth and much more.
Want an advanced notice of Trees for Houston’s upcoming tree giveaways? Join at treesforhouston.org or call
(713) 840-8733.
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CLIMATE CHANGE MESSES vs LONG-STANDING GARDENING PRACTICES! Hotter, drier summers, colder winters, more flooding . . . already in the works are changes in our hardiness zones. Word is, Greater Houston’s Zone designations (9-10-11) may, in the not-too-distant future, become Zones 10, 11 & 12, respectively, as our “normal” heat designations move northward. .
Our plants are having to cope with even longer, hotter (and, as we’ve already seen, occasionally colder) temperatures. Anyone experimenting with peonies? More of a rollercoaster than we’ve experienced before! Best coping approach?
• BE OPEN TO NEW RECOMMENDATIONS. We’ve already seen how more intense, long-staying heat and erratic flooding are messing with our best of intentions. Keep in mind when planting and applying mulch (even more of a must than in past). Heavier (organic!) mulch protects tender plant roots from intense heat, conserves moisture, helps regulate underground temperatures, and protects plants from both extreme summer heat stress and sudden winter freezes.
Experts already encourage us to “Plant Earlier” than in past, so plants will grow deeper, stronger roots than before. Updated info, might be able to grow things couldn’t grow before? Maybe we’ll be getting more fall color? Or, up north, maybe they’ll be getting less, as the USDA heat hardiness zones are gradually moving upward.
How does all this translate for us? Right now, expanded growing seasons. Spring earlier, fall later. Longer summers, unfortunately, will include more droughts … remember this when you’re buying new plants. Cacti, anyone? If you’d like to try, log onto our Houston Cactus & Succulent Society.
If you’re worried about soil changes, smart! Check out our late publisher, John Ferguson’s, articles on Nature’s Way Resources (natureswayresources.com) website. He wrote extensively on how area’ gardeners can help soils cope with rapidly-approaching changes. Another really handy, climate-change-aware resource is Texas A&M’s EarthKind Plant Selector (aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/EARTHKIND/plantselector/). Who knows, maybe your future-favorite-plants will be among recommendations specifically for your area of Texas!
PS. Don’t expect a new USDA Hardiness Zone Map any time soon. The (most recent) 2024 Plant Hardiness Zone Map was based on a 30-year average of coldest annual winter temperature in particular locations. The previous one was issued in 2012.
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TIME TO GET OUT THE SHOVELS! If you’re new to this area or just gardening here, this is prime time to start an edible garden. Temps are not predicted to drop as low as they have recently, but don’t put those covers away just yet. Even if they do, below ground, roots will start spreading soon, if they haven’t already.
February is definitely the time to get going. A few reminders (Ok to wait ’til warms up a little):
• Mow the lawn once now to allow sun to reach roots.
• Prune grafted roses by Baxter Williams; Valentine’s Day is the traditional time to trigger healthy new growth (in Nature’s Way Resource’s helpful “Library.” Check out other advice.)
• Plant later-blooming bulbs, corms, and tubers like amaryllis, canna, and gladiolus. Get those in now!
• Appreciate beauty of bare bark. Show kids how you can see bird and squirrel nests.
If the spirit moves . . .
• Plant vine cuttings now. Should grow quickly.
• Plant Louisiana phlox and oxalis around late-appearing shrubs like lantana and hamelia
• Divide crowded perennials like daylilies and daisies.
If you’re really feeling energetic . . .
• Pinch tops off groundcovers to make them spread faster.
• Apply a time-release fertilizer to bonsai.
• Pot plumerias or move back outside on pretty days. Best to still move inside at night.
• Put in plants, not seeds, of alyssum, asters, delphiniums, hollyhocks, larkspur, marigolds, poppies, snapdragons, stocks — they need cold. (Most fade when it gets hot.)
• Remove spent blooms on pansies, daffodils, dianthus, calendulas, cyclamens, snapdragons, and other early bloomers so they will produce more flowers.
Great Don’t-Do tips for really Lazy Gardeners
• Don’t fertilize lawn yet. Mow, but then wait until it needs to be mowed again. That way, you know the grass roots, and not winter weeds, will make use of fertilizer.
• Don’t fertilize plumerias yet either.
• Don’t remove greenery from fading daffodils and other naturalizing bulbs. Dying foliage replenishes bulbs. If too unsightly, just roll the foliage up, anchor to ground.
LOOKING FOR PARTICULAR PLANT? See if we have listed a plant society dedicated to its promotion > natureswayresources.com/lazy-gardener-friends-568/.
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ATTN. GARDEN/PLANT GROUPS
— Nature’s Way Resources offers free guided tours of NWR’s extensive nursery/soil/mulch facilities for garden clubs, plant societies and other plant-oriented, organized groups. As usual, NWR’s now-expanded meeting site is free to above groups. Reservations a must for both. Great time to visit.
- GOOD NEWS FOR BUSY/LAZY GARDENERS: Curbside pickup is now available in the Nature’s Way Resources nursery, and we’re offering plant preorders for special requests. Call in your order, pick it up when it works for you, or let us try to source the plants you’re looking for on upcoming shipments. Find inventory sheet here.
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John’s Corner
NEWS FROM THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF SOIL AND PLANTS
Subject: Native Mulches
In theme with Brenda’s column this week, please take a moment to read a past article of John’s regarding Native Mulch. Native Mulch is gaining wide popularity in the local market due to its obvious results compared to highly processed alternatives that have traditionally been used. It is important to note that while “Native Mulch” might be a current buzzword, they are not all made the same. To find high-quality mulch made by Nature’s Way Resources, visit our facility in Conroe, TX, or our retailer map here.
Click below to learn more about all of the different types of mulch in detail.
Explore our article library to learn more information about various mulches and other topics.
Sponsorship
If you are interested in becoming a sponsor, please contact us at 936-273-1200 or send an e-mail to: lazygardenerandfriends@gmail.com
About Us
BRENDA BEUST SMITH
WE KNOW HER BEST AS THE LAZY GARDENER . . .
but Brenda Beust Smith is also:
- a national award-winning writer & editor
- a nationally-published writer & photographer
- a national horticultural speaker
- a former Houston Chronicle reporter
When the Chronicle discontinued Brenda’s 45-year-old Lazy Gardener” print column — started in the early ’70s as a fun side-project to reporting, it then ranked as the longestrunning, continuously-published local newspaper column in the Greater Houston area. The name, she says, is not just fun, it’s true.
Brenda’s gradual sideways step from reporter into gardening writing led first to an 18-year series of when-to-do-what Lazy Gardener Calendars, then to her Lazy Gardener’s Guide book which morphed into her Lazy Gardener’s Guide on CD, which she now emails free upon request.
Brenda became a Harris County Master Gardener and, over the years, served on theboards of many Greater Houston area horticulture organizations. She hosted local radio and TV shows, most notably a 10+-year Lazy Gardener specialty shows on HoustonPBS (Ch. 8) and her call-in “EcoGardening” show on KPFT-FM.
For over three decades, Brenda served as Assistant Production Manager of the GARDEN CLUB OF AMERICA’S “BULLETIN” magazine. Although still an active broad-based freelance writer, Brenda’s main focus now is THE LAZY GARDENER & FRIENDS HOUSTON GARDEN NEWSLETTER with John Ferguson and Pablo Hernandez of Nature’s Way Resources.
A native of New Orleans and graduate of St. Agnes Academy and the University of Houston, Brenda lives in Humble, TX, and is married to the retired Aldine High School Coach Bill Smith. They have one son, Blake.
Regarding this newsletter, Brenda is the lead writer, originator of it and the daily inspiration for it. We so appreciate the way she has made gardening such a fun way to celebrate life together for such a long time.
About her column, Brenda says: “I don’t consider myself a ‘garden writer.” I started out 50+ years ago as a very lazy “gardening reporter.” I still feel that way today. I hope my columns inspire/help newcomers, but I do not write to them. I write to very experienced gardeners who want to expand their horizons.
JOHN FERGUSON (1951-2025)
John was a native Houstonian with more than 35 years of business experience. He founded Nature’s Way Resources, a composting company known for producing high-quality compost, mulch, and soil mixes. He held an MS in Physics and Geology and was a licensed Soil Scientist in Texas.
Throughout his career, John received numerous awards in horticulture and environmental work. He represented the composting industry for many years on the Houston-Galveston Area Council for solid waste. His personal garden was featured in several horticultural books and in Better Homes and Gardens. His business was recognized by The Wall Street Journal for the quality and value of its products. He was a member of the Physics Honor Society and several professional organizations, and he co-authored Organic Management for the Professional.
John contributed articles regularly to this newsletter and oversaw its publication. We continue to share his past articles each week alongside The Lazy Gardener column to keep his passion, knowledge, and spirit alive for our readers.
SHELBY CASSANO is the communications and marketing lead for Nature’s Way Resources and the editor of The Lazy Gardener and Friends newsletter. Through her business, Leaf and Ledger, she exclusively partners with NWR to direct all marketing efforts, from campaign strategy and content planning to technical production of the newsletter. Shelby holds a B.S. in Agriculture with a concentration in Horticulture from Stephen F. Austin State University and previously managed the company’s nursery.
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