If you have not done so in April, plant Cannas and other summer blooming bulbs.

Repot crowded house plants. Move them to a place on your patio or under a large shade tree for the summer. Make sure not to expose them directly to the full sun.

If the weather is extremely dry St. Augustine sod may start to show the signs of chinch bugs.  This is usually a sign of drought stress - water more! 

Fertilization is extremely important.  Don't forget to fertilize the trees and beds as well as the grass.  We recommend Lady Bug, an organic product formulated for our particular area.   Fertilize once every 90 days (four times a year) the first year, then back off to three annual applications.   We treat flowers with a spray solution of Hasta-Gro to encourage blooming.  Be careful at what time of day you spray. An application too late in the day can cause petal and leaf burn.

Early spring color plants such as Pansies (really a winter flower for central Texas) and Petunias fade with the heat of summer - as do geraniums.  Plant full sun beds with heat loving annuals like verbena, portulaca, or gazanias.  If the area that you are planting  will remain dry zinnias and vinca are beautiful choices.  Other good choices for summer color are cosmos and sunflowers.

Treat for leaf munching caterpillars with Bacillus thuringiensis.  This product gives the caterpillars a "tummy-ache" while being relatively non-toxic to people and pets.

Go ahead and plant those Caladiums if you have not done so in late April.

If you have not done so check your sprinkler system.  If you have Austin water utilities, the "Water-Wise" program may be of interest uditors will check your irrigation system for free.  Make the changes needed and make sure that you are watering long enough to encourage deep root growth.  A shallow root system is no match for the Texas sun!   Plant warm season grasses such as Bermuda, Zoysia, St. Augustine, and the work horse of Xeriscape lawn covers, Buffalo grass. It has been our experience that Buffalo grass makes a much prettier turf if mowed regularly like other warm season grasses.

Prune Climbing Roses after they have finished blooming. Treat individual fire ant mounds and use fire ant bait.  We Logic and Ascend due to their low toxicity to humans.