Cold Facts to save your Spring-Tomball-Magnolia TX foliage!
Last year the Houston Chronicle had a great article about plant survival in freezing temperatures. Since it is almost February I was thinking I was going to get away without having to post about this but it is not to be; we are looking to have several days of frigid temperatures starting tomorrow (lows in the low to mid 20′s). Here in Houston we rarely have frigid temperatures and for sure not several days in a row. I love all the tropical plants that I’m able to grow in Spring and by using what they said I saved my plants last year and plan to again this year. This year I also have a winter garden going and I sure don’t want to lose my lettuce.
After reading the article I realized that I’ve not been going at this correctly. What you want to do is mulch, water and cover. If it has not rained you need to water first which I had to do last year but this year we have had rain. Water and mulch should be enough for certain plants. Those plants would be abelia, azalea, boxwood, eleagnus, Hawthorne, holly, ligustrum, loropetalum, mahonia, nandina, roses, wax myrtle and yaupon. After an extended freeze these shrubs will probably show foliage damage without cover but should put on new leaves in the spring.
We went the extra step covering plants with fiber row covers, sheets & blankets. This will raise the temperature a few degrees depending on the cover. For even extra protection we added a layer of heavy plastic over the cloth covers and secured it with bricks and stones. The article said not to place plastic directly on the plants. (This is where I have been going astray). My plants are again double wrapped and I feel that again I will have healthy plants after the cold snap. Of course we have moved our potted plants inside.
Protecting your plants from cold weather in Spring TX!!
Do not wash frost or ice off the plants the morning after the freeze. If you wash the frost off it raises the temperature too fast and can damage the plant’s cell tissue. After the frigid temperatures are over assess the damage but DO NOT prune. The freeze damaged wood will protect live wood farther down the branch (should we have more frigid temperatures).
In the spring prune to green at your normal pruning time. I have always heard mid February for pruning.
I hope this is it for our frigid weather. We have lived here 14 years and I don’t ever remember covering plants this late in the season. I remember a radio commentator years ago saying we have two seasons in Houston summer and January. It looks like winter is going in to February for us this year. Hopefully this will be the last time to cover the plants.
table but not many. With the changes in the loan industry most 100% loans are gone so you will need some cash.
The other item
you will need to bring is a picture ID such as your driver’s license or a passport. A number of years ago I had a client who was moving to another state. He came back for the closing and to get his furniture. A few days before closing I found out that he had turned in his driver’s license to the other state and only had a piece of paper for a drivers license. He did not have another picture ID. Back then I talked the title company in to letting us get a membership at Sam’s Club and using it as a picture ID. As I told you this was quite a few years ago I’m not sure if that would fly today. Long story short I highly recommend not turning in your driver’s license if you are planning on buying a house unless you have another type of picuter ID.
I am continuing my Tomball TX first time home buyer series. In this post we are going to talk about home owners associations. On a regular basis I have people asking me to find them a home that is not in a homeowner’s association. Usually this is someone moving here from another state and usually the area that they are moving from has zoning in affect. 
This is my 6th post in my Tomball TX first time home buyers series. I have chosen to discuss the Texas option fee and the home inspection in the same post. Your option period is typically that period of time where you do your home inspections. I have lived in four states and each state has handled the home inspection process in a different manner. In Texas all residential contracts have an “option fee” clause. This clause allows buyers and sellers to negotiate a specified time during which the buyer can fully evaluate the house. For this right, they buyer pays the seller a nonrefundable “option fee”. Once you have finished negotiations and all parties have signed the contract you now have a fully executed contract. Prior to this it was called an offer but you are now under contract. As a Spring TX first time home buyer you need to know that this is a legally binding contract. You have probably negotiated a certain amount of days for your option. You are now going to be in your option period. The option days start counting the day after the contract is fully executed by all parties.
has termites and one that is going to get them. What I am saying here is don’t freak out if you find termites they are very common and treatment is fairly easy. I have seen brand new construction where they have found termites. The inspector should be able to give you an idea if there is any permanent damage.
So what kind of a home offer do you make for your Tomball TX home? In this post I am going to discuss the items that we will need to negotiate. In Texas we have an 8 page resale contract. Price is what most Tomball TX first time home buyer’s think of when making an offer but there are a number of other terms that will also need to be negotiated.I am going to go through the items on our Texas contract that I expect we will be negotiating. 
I’m often asked by my Tomball TX first time home buyers “How much under the listing price should we offer?” This is an excellent question. As I had told you at the 
Now that you are pre-approved and have decided on the area you want to live in it is time to start searching for your Tomball TX home. At this point you are going to have a list of homes that you have identified from your web search. We can then schedule a time that works for both of us to look for your home.I don’t recommend looking at more than 10 Tomball TX homes at a time. I have found if you look at more than that it becomes difficult to remember what you have seen. You are going to want to bring a notebook along so you can take notes as we go. If you can tell that a home is not going to work then it is best just to move on to the next home. 
