🌷 SPRING (March–May) Garden Tasks

This is the big push for warm-season crops. Austin warms fast—plant early for best results. Find out when the last frost is, and base the planting on that date!

Garden Tasks

• Finish planting before temps consistently hit 90°F (usually mid-May).

• Harden off indoor seedlings before transplanting.

• Set up drip irrigation or soaker hoses—critical for Austin’s heat.

• Begin pest monitoring for:

  
  

  • Cabbage loopers

  • Aphids

  • Squash vine borers (lay eggs April–June)

    
    

• Mulch heavily to keep soil cool.

Veggies That Thrive in ATX Spring?

Best warm-season performers:

• Tomatoes: ‘Celebrity’, ‘Juliet’, ‘Sun Gold’, ‘Phoenix’, ‘Tycoon’

• Peppers: ‘Shishito’, ‘Poblano’, ‘Cayenne’, ‘Gypsy’

• Eggplant: ‘Black Beauty’, ‘Ping Tung Long’

• Squash: ‘Early Prolific Straightneck’, tender zucchini varieties (plant early before borers peak)

• Cucumbers: ‘Straight Eight’, ‘Marketmore 76’, ‘Lemon Cuke’

• Green beans: ‘Contender’, ‘Blue Lake Bush’, ‘Provider’

• Corn: ‘Honey Select’, ‘Silver Queen’

Herbs:

• basil

• cilantro (bolts early—best in March)

• dill

• parsley

• oregano

• mint (best to keep in a pot, will become invasive)