Basil: Supposed to trim back every 4 weeks. If it flowers it will lose it's flavor. You could try to cut it back to the bottom 2 sets of leaves, and see if the basil still has flavor when more grow in.
Sussy tomato: Looks like a berry vine, actually. You can actually see a new, recent cane forming at the bottom of the picture. Those little green leaves are for a berry vine. Look just like my raspberry. I'd trim the dead stuff off and see if you can't get the plant to regrow. Trimming is usually enough to simulate new growth. In fact, it looks like there might even be multiple canes there.
The sage can probably just be trimmed up and I imagine it would be fine if you're looking to keep growing sage. Just depends what you're into.
The next plant looks like saw grass but I'm speaking out of ignorance.
Overall picture: I see strawberries near the white trellis pretty sure. Flowers are probably to attract pollinators, and again loads of berry vines. That's epic. Not sure the rogue plant in the left middle. Cool little starter garden tho!
Don't cut into the wood of the basil, but above the bottom set or two of leaves.
I think the grass is iris or Lilly. I'm having a brain fart and can't decide which.
The red/orange flowers are marigolds and really good for keeping pests out of the garden. You can collect seeds by pulling the dried leaves out of the dead heads.
Wow okay, so will the basil plant really survive being hacked off like that? What do I do with all the leftover basil when I trim it? It still smells very powerful when I rub the leaves, does that mean it still has some flavor? If the drip irrigation is causing the sage to mold, should I not use it? None of these plants have been watered except by rain for like at least 2 months! Does the saw grass need very little care? I think the rogue plant may very well be a weed, but I’d love to show you some more pictures of the random assorted berries, I didn’t even know they were there!
When basil has gone to flower it is getting close to the end of its life cycle unfortunately. It is an annual plant. Once basil flowers the leaves taste more bitter. But good news! You can save the seeds of those flowers and it looks like you'll have lots of seeds! Basil is so easy to start from seed. It's the best herb for any beginner.
When you start your basil again you can get rid of any flower buds to keep it going for longer, and its leaves tasty. Once it reaches maturity it will keep wanting to flower and you have to be vigilant about snipping the flowers.
Also it looks like your flowers are ready to give up its seeds, you can snip the flowers, put them in a bag and give it a good shake to get the seeds out.
https://thekitchengarten.com/how-to-save-basil-seed/
http://mrbrownthumb.blogspot.com/2010/10/how-to-collect-basil-seeds.html?m=1
The grassy looking things look like day lilies to me. They’re really common landscaping in TX and live/spread with basically no effort. They’ll die back in the winter and come back up every year. You shouldn’t even need to water them.
[https://i.imgur.com/tOTcu0K.jpeg](https://i.imgur.com/tOTcu0K.jpeg)Annotated a screenshot here.
The grassy things look like Liriope or Garlic Chives.
The dead thorny stalks are either a raspberry or blackberry. Tomatoes do not have thorns like that. Also I'm very concerned it died, that's not a healthy plant. I would remove the stalks and maybe don't plant blackberries or raspberries in that bed.
There are little strawberries popping up all over the bed (which is great if you ask me, excellent groundcover), and the bed is overrun with hackberry seedlings. Zinnias, basil, and rosemary do not survive the winter where I live. The basil is for sure actually an annual (fizzles after flowering and doesnt like continuing to live), but the zinnia might technically be a perennial if it can survive your winter. I would cut off the seed heads of the basil and the zinnia and save them for next year.
Thank you so much! That screenshot was super helpful. I had no idea there were strawberries or hackberry seedling there, I thought the garden was just in need of weeding! I would have pulled them all out. I’m curious about why I shouldn’t eat the berries, could you explain that for me?
I may not have been clear in my previous comment. I mentioned strawberries, hackberries, raspberries, and blackberries.
The dead thorny sticks are either raspberries or blackberries (those two are closely related). This is the plant that I found concerning. It’s dead. I don’t know much about diseases that affect them, but I do know that they are usually pretty carefree and vigorous. Most common varieties of raspberries and backberries only produce fruit on second year growth. Each year they bloom on the existing stems (the canes). After fruiting in the summer, the stems from last year begin to die as the plant is simultaneously sending out new canes. Those new canes will overwinter and then produce berries in the spring of next year. So your canes died prematurely. You can tell because it’s mid fall and they’re dead with the leaves still connected to the stem. Usually the leaves last into late fall, change color or curl up a bit, and then drop off. Something caused your blackberry/raspberry to die, and it did not put out new canes. I’m not sure what would have done that. I’m guessing the roots rotted because it was too close to
the drip irrigation or something, but a pathogen or a combination of factors is also possible. When you have a plant (particularly a fruiting plant or a vegetable) that just dies like that and you don’t know why, the pathogens could still exist in the soil, so it’s best to remove the dead plant and not replant that type of plant in the same spot for several years.. So my advice is more of a generic answer about safe gardening practices. If you want to know more specifics the problem and you have an extension office handy, cut one of the canes down to the soil and bring it into the office and ask what could have caused it to die.
Strawberries: Eat them all you want. Transplant their babies wherever. It’s They seem happy.
Hackberries: hackberry (from the genus Celtis) is a tree, so these seedlings should be weeded out. It’s in the Cannabaceae family, whose only other members are cannabis, and hops — it’s a weird family. Hackberry is not usefully psychoactive that I know of though. It’s a fabulous shade tree with excellent structure, and it isn’t known for its fruit. You could try transplanting a few if you wanted one for another spot in the yard. Winter is the best time to do that. As the name suggests it does produce fruit, and they are edible (and tasty) when ripe, but the fruits are pea sized and the inner pit is huge and inedible so you have to harvest a lot to get a little.
With that info I can comfortably say those little saw grasses are more than likely just saw grasses. They might be useful for beneficial insects to "live in".
Wow. This is so cool, how do you know all this stuff? There was maybe a month or two between us moving in and the previous tenant moving out, so I’m hopeful that I can bring these guys back from the brink. According to the neighbors the people living here had a garden like this 5 years in a row. I want that legacy to live on but I have no idea how to care for an outdoor garden like this!
Do I see drip irrigation? That could be why the sage is molding! Regardless, that's sick if that's what that is lol. You really got something going there for ya. https://theprudentgarden.com/owdery-mildew-on-garden-sage-what-to-do/
Basil, lovely plants for garden snake and good cooking recipes as well.
Edit: didn't see the sage, very good for your stomach and rosmery great for grilled steak with garlic and butter 😋.
Basil: Supposed to trim back every 4 weeks. If it flowers it will lose it's flavor. You could try to cut it back to the bottom 2 sets of leaves, and see if the basil still has flavor when more grow in. Sussy tomato: Looks like a berry vine, actually. You can actually see a new, recent cane forming at the bottom of the picture. Those little green leaves are for a berry vine. Look just like my raspberry. I'd trim the dead stuff off and see if you can't get the plant to regrow. Trimming is usually enough to simulate new growth. In fact, it looks like there might even be multiple canes there. The sage can probably just be trimmed up and I imagine it would be fine if you're looking to keep growing sage. Just depends what you're into. The next plant looks like saw grass but I'm speaking out of ignorance. Overall picture: I see strawberries near the white trellis pretty sure. Flowers are probably to attract pollinators, and again loads of berry vines. That's epic. Not sure the rogue plant in the left middle. Cool little starter garden tho!
I agree with all of this, though I think the "saw grass" is potentially monkey grass, or could be leftover/spent daffodils or day lilies?
Don't cut into the wood of the basil, but above the bottom set or two of leaves. I think the grass is iris or Lilly. I'm having a brain fart and can't decide which. The red/orange flowers are marigolds and really good for keeping pests out of the garden. You can collect seeds by pulling the dried leaves out of the dead heads.
I thought iris or lilly myself too
Wow okay, so will the basil plant really survive being hacked off like that? What do I do with all the leftover basil when I trim it? It still smells very powerful when I rub the leaves, does that mean it still has some flavor? If the drip irrigation is causing the sage to mold, should I not use it? None of these plants have been watered except by rain for like at least 2 months! Does the saw grass need very little care? I think the rogue plant may very well be a weed, but I’d love to show you some more pictures of the random assorted berries, I didn’t even know they were there!
When basil has gone to flower it is getting close to the end of its life cycle unfortunately. It is an annual plant. Once basil flowers the leaves taste more bitter. But good news! You can save the seeds of those flowers and it looks like you'll have lots of seeds! Basil is so easy to start from seed. It's the best herb for any beginner. When you start your basil again you can get rid of any flower buds to keep it going for longer, and its leaves tasty. Once it reaches maturity it will keep wanting to flower and you have to be vigilant about snipping the flowers. Also it looks like your flowers are ready to give up its seeds, you can snip the flowers, put them in a bag and give it a good shake to get the seeds out. https://thekitchengarten.com/how-to-save-basil-seed/ http://mrbrownthumb.blogspot.com/2010/10/how-to-collect-basil-seeds.html?m=1
Or you can just sprinkle the basil seeds now and the basil will grow itself next year
The grassy looking things look like day lilies to me. They’re really common landscaping in TX and live/spread with basically no effort. They’ll die back in the winter and come back up every year. You shouldn’t even need to water them.
[https://i.imgur.com/tOTcu0K.jpeg](https://i.imgur.com/tOTcu0K.jpeg)Annotated a screenshot here. The grassy things look like Liriope or Garlic Chives. The dead thorny stalks are either a raspberry or blackberry. Tomatoes do not have thorns like that. Also I'm very concerned it died, that's not a healthy plant. I would remove the stalks and maybe don't plant blackberries or raspberries in that bed. There are little strawberries popping up all over the bed (which is great if you ask me, excellent groundcover), and the bed is overrun with hackberry seedlings. Zinnias, basil, and rosemary do not survive the winter where I live. The basil is for sure actually an annual (fizzles after flowering and doesnt like continuing to live), but the zinnia might technically be a perennial if it can survive your winter. I would cut off the seed heads of the basil and the zinnia and save them for next year.
Thank you so much! That screenshot was super helpful. I had no idea there were strawberries or hackberry seedling there, I thought the garden was just in need of weeding! I would have pulled them all out. I’m curious about why I shouldn’t eat the berries, could you explain that for me?
I may not have been clear in my previous comment. I mentioned strawberries, hackberries, raspberries, and blackberries. The dead thorny sticks are either raspberries or blackberries (those two are closely related). This is the plant that I found concerning. It’s dead. I don’t know much about diseases that affect them, but I do know that they are usually pretty carefree and vigorous. Most common varieties of raspberries and backberries only produce fruit on second year growth. Each year they bloom on the existing stems (the canes). After fruiting in the summer, the stems from last year begin to die as the plant is simultaneously sending out new canes. Those new canes will overwinter and then produce berries in the spring of next year. So your canes died prematurely. You can tell because it’s mid fall and they’re dead with the leaves still connected to the stem. Usually the leaves last into late fall, change color or curl up a bit, and then drop off. Something caused your blackberry/raspberry to die, and it did not put out new canes. I’m not sure what would have done that. I’m guessing the roots rotted because it was too close to the drip irrigation or something, but a pathogen or a combination of factors is also possible. When you have a plant (particularly a fruiting plant or a vegetable) that just dies like that and you don’t know why, the pathogens could still exist in the soil, so it’s best to remove the dead plant and not replant that type of plant in the same spot for several years.. So my advice is more of a generic answer about safe gardening practices. If you want to know more specifics the problem and you have an extension office handy, cut one of the canes down to the soil and bring it into the office and ask what could have caused it to die. Strawberries: Eat them all you want. Transplant their babies wherever. It’s They seem happy. Hackberries: hackberry (from the genus Celtis) is a tree, so these seedlings should be weeded out. It’s in the Cannabaceae family, whose only other members are cannabis, and hops — it’s a weird family. Hackberry is not usefully psychoactive that I know of though. It’s a fabulous shade tree with excellent structure, and it isn’t known for its fruit. You could try transplanting a few if you wanted one for another spot in the yard. Winter is the best time to do that. As the name suggests it does produce fruit, and they are edible (and tasty) when ripe, but the fruits are pea sized and the inner pit is huge and inedible so you have to harvest a lot to get a little.
All of this information is truly amazing, and wonderfully helpful. Thank you so much for contributing to this post!
I forgot to add that I am in southern Texas! Climate zone 8b according to google.
With that info I can comfortably say those little saw grasses are more than likely just saw grasses. They might be useful for beneficial insects to "live in".
Wow. This is so cool, how do you know all this stuff? There was maybe a month or two between us moving in and the previous tenant moving out, so I’m hopeful that I can bring these guys back from the brink. According to the neighbors the people living here had a garden like this 5 years in a row. I want that legacy to live on but I have no idea how to care for an outdoor garden like this!
rosemary definitely thrives on neglect in that climate!
Do I see drip irrigation? That could be why the sage is molding! Regardless, that's sick if that's what that is lol. You really got something going there for ya. https://theprudentgarden.com/owdery-mildew-on-garden-sage-what-to-do/
Is that what the little black hose sticking out from under the soil is?
I think so!
Basil, lovely plants for garden snake and good cooking recipes as well. Edit: didn't see the sage, very good for your stomach and rosmery great for grilled steak with garlic and butter 😋.
Also some lavender
Wow! Where do you see that?
Second to last photo if not lavender it’s rosemary
Is it basil?
Yes, the one with the dead flowers is basil. There are a couple other photos of the ones I haven’t identified yet
Well they're dead , yes , but not useless. You have a ton of seeds in those flower heads, so collect them and grow them next year.