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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.

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Published April 8, 2026

LOOKING FOR “DIFFERENT”?  

SHOP ‘PLANT GROUP’ SALES!!!

BET YOU GET SECOND LOOKS AT THESE DAYLILIES!

by Brenda Beust Smith | The Lazy Gardener

Considering what we’re all doing now (ordering seeds, hitting the nurseries, etc.), thought good time to give a little extra publicity to our upcoming plant sales. These (and the great special sales independent nurseries put on this time of year!) make April an ideal time to see what’s new, even if you don’t “intend” to buy! (Please note: I’ll deny any accusation I’m responsible for your — hopefully not TOO extravagant — purchases!

So, with further ado, here’s what I have so far. Use this EXACT format when submitting group notices. Not negotiable! Delay if I have to reformat an entry. Check calendar below, too. If yours is not in, either because rules at top of calendar not followed, or you’re outside the 12-county Greater Houston area (our limit). Keep checking calendar at end of column for added sales.

SAT., APR 11: LONE STAR DAYLILY SOCIETY PLANT SALE, 9am-4pm; Pearland Lumber & Ace Hardware, 2027 N Main St., Pearland. lonestardaylilysociety.org, 281-331-0162.

FRI.-SUN., APR. 17-19: 2026 KINGWOOD GARDEN CLUB GARDENSCAPES HOME & GARDEN TOUR & PLANT SALE. $30.  KingwoodGardenClub.org

CHECK!!!!: Many more Great Gardening Events in calendar (below) may include sales not mentioned in submissions. Contact them. My main goal here is to help smaller & speciality groups get a little extra publicity. They may be your best advice source ever!

APRIL IS OUR MAIN ‘START PLANTING’ MONTH!  But remember, some unique conditions here might not influence other areas, even within Texas borders.  South Texas may be in the 90’s when it’s snowing in the Panhandle! As we just saw, severe thunderstorms may pass through northern (or southern) areas but just barely touch us. North and East (or South and West) parts of our area tend to separately get more heavy rains that more quickly pass through us. West Texas, as usual, is drier, with both very hot and very cold spells. All depends on our changing climate’s whim.

This affects our planting, however. To be safe (save money/backache), for individual plants, check local guides, such as the “2026 URBAN HARVEST PLANTING GUIDES or YOUR LOCAL MASTER GARDENER OFFICE. 

The urge to garden gets really strong now! Best advice: take a really good look around your yard BEFORE hitting above (and/or at your area nurseries). Plants in commercial nurseries are carefully pruned to be eye catchers and may not look the same growing up in your garden. Spending a significant amount on a particular plant? Be sure to ask for care suggestions, anything particular about that plant you should know? Sun? Shade? Specific pruning? etc. Independent nurseries especially want (NEED!) your repeat successes so you’ll become a regular customer!

• EVER CHECKED OUT Houston Botanic Garden’s Facebook Page?  It’s a wealth of gorgeous pictures! 
• Predictions say we’re past our last frost. But as we “older” gardeners know too well, Mother Nature marches to her own drummer and loves to spring surprises on us. It’s been 9 years since our last April Freeze and the (really brave) weather predictors don’t expect one this year. That’s what I wanted to hear!

THINK YOU KNOW DAYLILIES? Recognize these that will be among the for-sale ones at the SAT., APR 11: LONE STAR DAYLILY SOCIETY PLANT SALE! 

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OLDER GARDENERS among you will understand this. It’s so sad to see plants we treasured, played under, and learned to love as children now labeled as invasive, with warnings not to plant them. I frequently have to drive by a huge wisteria. When in bloom, it’s gorgeous. I always give a sad sigh. We had one in our front yard, planted all by itself, so the long branches arched over, creating a wonderful “house” to play under. The scent was like perfume and flowers, gorgeous beyond words. Now, wisteria is a major villain in the South, smothering and killing other trees.

Ditto for Chinese tallows, although these are really nasty plants, despite their beautiful fall color. They scatter seeds fatal to other plants far out around them to protect their territory. If you’re successfully growing “NON-Chinese-tallow” plants that give you gorgeous fall color, do share! Now’s the best time to plant them, too. 

EDITORS’ NOTE: Texas Wisteria (Wisteria frutescens) is not typically considered invasive. However, Chinese and Japanese Wisteria (Wisteria sinensis) (Wisteria floribunda) are. All three can be found in nurseries across the region, so it is important to know which species you’re buying and to avoid the latter two.

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John’s Corner

NEWS FROM THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF SOIL AND PLANTS

Continuing with this month’s theme, we will be continuing to explore what healthy soil is, how to build and maintain it, and more. Please read on to enjoy the writings and teachings of our late founder, John Ferguson.

Subject: What Is A Healthy Soil – Part 5

by John Ferguson, Founder of Nature’s Way Resources

Continuing our discussion of what is a healthy soil we are going to discuss item #4 below: Air & water.

Organic matter from almost fresh to totally decomposed in the form of humus (humins, humic, fulvic acids)

Minerals (nutrients, sand, silt, and clay)

Soil life (microbes and macrobes)

Air & water

Plant choices

Care for and do not destroy the health of the soil one has

Air & water – this is the 4th components of a healthy soil. Plant roots and soil life forms require air (oxygen and nitrogen) and water. For the soil to breathe, which healthy soil does, there have to be pore spaces for the air and channels through which air can flow, sort of like air conditioning ducts in our house, a characteristic we call permeability.

Additionally, the carbon dioxide (CO2) produced by the respiration of microbes and other soil life and the breakdown of the carbon stored in the organic matter has to escape the soil and let oxygen back in, or the good life dies.

How do we get air into the soil? We have a few options:

Tilling – a temporary solution at best- destroys long-term soil structure, creates a hardpan layer, and kills soil animal life and the beneficial fungus that makes soil healthy. Accelerates the breakdown of organic matter, causing the soil to lose its ability to hold and store water and nutrients, greatly accelerating erosion.

The only time one should till is to mix ingredients together when forming a new bed.

Core Aeration – another temporary solution which can provide short-term benefits, especially if fine screened compost is applied to the area and allowed to fill into the holes created by the cores. The compost keeps the holes open and allows the exchange of air and water to enter the soil.

The microbes in the compost will break apart the clay particles over time, creating a more loamy soil. Best usage is on new sod grown in a clay soil. The coring breaks holes in the clay and helps water and air enter the soil.

Note: Healthy soil never needs core aeration as the microbes, earthworms, and other soil life do it for you.

Dead roots – most plants have some of their roots die every year as the soil around the root is depleted in nutrients, and new roots grow into fresh areas. As the old roots decompose, they leave tunnels that air and water can use (Note: they require oxygen to decompose). This is common in mature forest systems. Also, many of our annual weeds play a role in improving aeration in soils.

For example, Dandelions that have large, deep taproots provide this benefit. When they die, their roots decay, leaving a tunnel that air and water can use. Nature uses this plant to correct soil problems, as they grow best on tight, compacted soils.

Burrowing animals – the largest amount of aeration is caused by the insects, earthworms, and burrowing mammals. Earthworm tunnels are like the ductwork in our houses, and along with the microbes, they produce chemicals that glue soil particles together, forming a friable crumb structure, honeycombed with voids for air and water.

Water is stored in the soil in several ways.

First, it is bound chemically by the clay and humus in the soil, next it is stored as a film or coating on soil particles, and last it is stored in the void or interstitial spaces between grains of soil (too much and we call it a waterlogged soil as the air is displaced).

There is a 4th way that we are beginning to understand, and that is in the life forms in the soil. As these life forms eat each other, the water and nutrients stored in their bodies are released into the soil.

Our largest storage vessel for water is the soil. A soil with only 3% organic matter by weight will have a 60% porosity. If 35% of this pore space is air and 25% is water, then the soil will hold over 120,000 gallons of water per acre in the top 18 inches of soil.

A really healthy soil will have over 8% organic matter and go down several feet!

I remember as a boy growing up, my Grandmother would listen on the radio to our first gardening guy, Dewey Compton. Dewey had a saying that has stuck with me:

“It is far, far, far, far cheaper to put a one-dollar plant into a ten-dollar hole than a ten-dollar plant into a one-dollar hole.”

If one does not get the soil correct, it does not matter how much one spends on the plant material.

Even today, a colleague of mine, Randy Lemon of the Gardenline radio show, is still constantly stressing the importance of getting the soil healthy.

This issue is the single biggest mistake that gardeners make!

When one uses low-quality soils, mulch, fertilizers, etc., they will get insects, diseases, weeds, and eventually plant death.

Then they often say, “I have a Brown Thumb”.

– Coming Next Week: What Is A Healthy Soil – Part 5

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