The Top Choice Team

Common Poisonous Plants in Central Texas The list of poisonous plants in Central Texas is long and wide-reaching. We want to be careful about how we write about this for obvious reasons. So here is my disclaimer… be careful around poisonous stuff. But, we get frustrated when we see the common poisonous plant lists because…

We recently had a sever winter event and many mature cacti were damaged by the cold weather. There was a lot of discussion as to what people should do with their plants. We wrote an article here about assessing plant health, but it didn’t address cacti.  We took a few pictures throughout the weather event…

Have you ever wondered how to trim a sago palm? Perhaps you have experienced one of the following: How to Trim a Sago Palm in Austin Can you trim all the fronds on a Sago Palm? If all of your fronds have been damaged, it is possible to trim your Sago Palm down to the…

Is my plant dead?  Is my plant dead? After this record breaking freeze we are getting a lot of these questions: Can you help me assess my landscape? What should I do now? What is the meaning of life? We are going to write in generalizations (we trust that you are smart enough to apply…

Central Texas Winter Cut Back How can you be successful in your Texas winter cut back? A little work in mid-late winter will result in a more beautiful and healthy landscape for the rest of the year. Each yard is different, in fact each yard can have its own microclimate where plants should be treated…

How Does Military Experience Help with Small Business? All I can do is write to my own experience – limited – personal – growing – ever-changing. I understand myself better and differently each year. But I have this conversation pretty regularly, so I thought I would consolidate my thoughts to maybe help someone in the…

Drunk Birds?! Why is this bird acting so strange? Believe it or not, animals – and especially birds – can get drunk on berries. Occasionally, with the right seasonal conditions, berries will ferment. This generally occurs after a freeze. When a hungry bird runs into a fermented berry, they make friends and odd things can…

I want to grow a cactus…but how? The first thing to know if you want to grow a cactus in central Texas: Don’t over think it.  Cacti are awesome. They take care of themselves and they look cool. Best of all – they are easy to grow.  Step 1 – find a cactus you like. …

Tree removal We love trees, but sometimes the best thing for a landscape is a tree removal. One of my personal pet peeves is when new neighborhoods require 2, 3 or even 4 trees installed in a yard that should really only have one tree. It is short sighted. Why would you remove a tree?…