If you live in San Antonio and the Hill Country area then February through May is our peak season for oak wilt. Oak wilt is a fungus that is transferred to oak trees by several means. As we prune oak trees during this time sap beetles will feed on newly pruned sights. As the sap beetles feed they transfer the oak wilt spores to the oak tree. Sap beetles are no bigger than the period at the end of this sentence. This is the reason it is very, very important to paint all oak pruning sights with paint within 30 minutes of each cut. It does not matter which kind paint you use as long as you paint the sight so that you prevent the sap beetle from feeding and transferring oak wilt spores. Once an oak tree is infected with oak wilt then the roots of that tree will transfer the disease to other nearby oak trees. For this reason it has been very difficult to control the spread of oak wilt and we loose thousands of trees every year to this devastating disease. Remember oak wilt only affects oak trees and you only need to paint tree cuts if they are oaks. You should always paint even when we are not in the peak season and you should alway have a licensed professional prune your trees if you decide not to do it yourself. Painting is not a 100% guarantee however it does drastically help the spread of the disease.
I have often been asked the question, "when is the best time to plant sod in San Antonio TX?" And the answer is,whenever you want. Although grass does not grow during the colder seasons it does take root. Spring and Summer can get pretty hot leaving you to water more frequently than if you plant in the Fall or Winter. And since we do not have hard freezes that last for weeks at a time the grass will continue to root during our few cold days of winter. However you must remember your not going to see that lush green lawn until Spring, so you will need to be patient.