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The Top Choice Austin Landscaping Blog

Irrigation Leak

By The Top Choice Team / September 16, 2021

How to find an irrigation leak Think you may have an irrigation leak? We care about water conservation because we care about the environment and we like to save money. It is ok to admit both. Perhaps one motivates you more than the other, but both are good. If we are going to waste water,…

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Common Poisonous Plants in Central Texas

By The Top Choice Team / May 13, 2021

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…

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How to trim a cactus damaged by cold

By The Top Choice Team / March 16, 2021

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…

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How to trim a sago palm in Austin

By The Top Choice Team / March 16, 2021

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…

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Is My Plant Dead?

By The Top Choice Team / February 25, 2021

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…

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What happens to the Texas Landscape when it gets this cold?

By The Top Choice Team / February 18, 2021

What happens to the Texas Landscape when it gets this cold? Background Information: This was written in mid-February 2021 during a “winter vortex”. You may have heard of the movie – The Perfect Storm – well that was about a different storm. Similar though. Central Texas saw multiple days under snow. While this may be…

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Central Texas Winter Cut Back

By The Top Choice Team / December 16, 2020

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…

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How Does Military Experience Help with Small Business?

By The Top Choice Team / December 7, 2020

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…

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Drunk Birds?! Intoxicating Berries in Texas.

By The Top Choice Team / November 24, 2020

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…

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How to Grow a Cactus in Central Texas

By The Top Choice Team / November 24, 2020

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. …

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