Speaker 1: Coming to you from Studio A Here at Proven Winners,
Color Choice Shrubs. It's time for the Gardening Simplified Show
with Stacy Hervella, me, Rick weisst and our engineer and
producer Adrianna Robinson. Last week our show was just do it.
This week don't do it. We're gonna go down the
list today and Stacy, I'm gonna take this occasion to
have a rant, at least right off the top on
three things. However, let me say it is Stacy who
always says, when in doubt, don't don't, don't do it,
don't do it. So here we go. My number one item.
We have an AI problem. We have an AI problem,
and I'm not talking about artificial intelligence.
Speaker 2: Well, we do have that problem too, We have that too.
Speaker 1: Yeah, don't order, don't get duped online. And it's getting
worse since we did that.
Speaker 2: It's ridiculous, it's horrible.
Speaker 1: But no, the AI I'm referring to as automatic irrigation,
don't set it and forget it. But the number one
thing that drives me crazy is I'm still convinced that
automatic irrigation is meant for turf lawns, not woody plants
or shrubs in your landscape, they should be watered when
they need water. So often in the garden center, I
will have someone come up to me with pictures on
their phone, or in some occasions I've stopped by homes
like I did this past week, and sure enough, in
the landscape there are irrigation heads above the ground right
behind the shrubs. The plants are getting drenched, or even worse,
the upper profile of the soil is drenched and drowning.
Down below it's dry as dust because they're just sprinkling
for ten minutes and these plants die. So just bear
in mind that, in my opinion, much of this irrigation
that we use, but people want the convenience so they
don't want to have to think about watering. So in
early spring we set the irrigation system and then we
walk away, not paying attention to the weather. But it
kills a lot of plants, it can.
Speaker 2: And I think part of the issue too, is that
the people who put in irrigation systems, those control modules
are pretty complicated. Yeah, they are not really designed for
the average person to just pop out there and go, oh,
I want to change zone one to water once a week,
and then my shrubs will get the right amount of water.
It doesn't work that way. They're actually quite complex and
can be very difficult to figure out. So, but that
doesn't mean it's not possible to reprogram them. So if
you have an irrigation system, it doesn't mean to rip
it out. Just contact your landscape company, your irrigation company
and work with them to understand the zones and come
up with a plan that actually works for your yard.
Because yeah, they're going to set it and forget it
because they don't have the time to sit there and
think in depth about all your different plants and everything.
But that doesn't mean that they can't work with you
to develop what you have into a more suitable program
for irrigation.
Speaker 1: Yeah. It just drives me crazy. And I see it
all the time and they wonder why the plants are strung.
It makes me burn thunderwood.
Speaker 2: Don't you love it when it's pouring rain and the
fountain the irrigation's just going off like there's no tomorrow
and it's running down the street. It's terrible.
Speaker 1: Oh, drives me nuts. Here's another one and we already
touched on it. Yeah, that whole AI thing. I'm seeing
people now more than ever, coming in asking for the red, white,
and blue hostas, et cetera, et cetera. And if you
just read the reviews online, these people got a package
of seeds, not plants, and of course the seeds didn't
germinate or materialize into what they were looking for. Again,
burn thunderwood. That's my new phrase, thunderwood is a poisoned sumac.
Speaker 2: Oh I didn't know that.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so it's a phrase when you're ticked off, burn
thunder I like it. Yeah, I'm going to use Well, you.
Speaker 2: Know the other thing about these ai plants, right, I mean,
speaking as two people who have spent a long time
in the horticulture industry, and with this show as evidence,
we're not trying to keep any cool stuff from you, right,
we talk about it all the time. So it's not
like there's a secret treasure trove of really amazing, wild,
wacky plants that we've all just been you know, gatekeeping
from you because you're whatever, not a good enough gardener.
That does not exist. They are computer generated, specifically designed
to appeal to, you know, your most basic visual instincts
and go ooh, I love purple and that you know,
fluorescent purple hosta with paint streaks is exactly what I need.
I can't believe I've never seen this before. You've never
seen it before because it doesn't exist. And uh yeah,
so don't think that, Like, yes, innovations happen, but innovations,
you know. I would say the wildest innovation that we
have had in the last you know, ten years is
probably the glow in the dark petunias, not all of
that crazy stuff you're seeing with AI.
Speaker 1: Here's another one for you. Don't do it. This one
may be controversial. Don't put down landscape fabric and multure
plants with stone mulch. Don't do it. In my opinion,
I don't think the stone is good for the plants.
The stone may look nice when you initially put it in,
but it's going to become a maintenance nightmare. The weeds
are going to grow in between the cracks and crevices,
and even if you were to spray the weeds with
a herbicide, let's say, you're still going to have to
pull them or remove them. They're going to look awful.
So my opinion is, if you're thinking about using stone
mulch around your plants, don't.
Speaker 2: Do it don't do it, I agree, at least for Michigan. Now,
I will say, especially out west where the climate can
be very arid, stone mulch is probably going to be
your best beat because you don't have to worry about fire.
And of course a lot of those desert plants they
look just fine with the stone mulch. But over here
in Michigan, where we're growing these temperate plants, generally from
more humid climates, it looks out of place. It's typically
very bad for the plants. And I cannot tell you,
over my many years here how many people I have
seen kill or very nearly kill their plants through that
combination of landscape fabric and rock. And let's not talk
about the fact that it is extremely hard to put
down and extremely hard to remove. If you change your
mind because your plants are dying, it is the worst.
So if you don't have fire danger a regular shredded
bark organic mulch, it's actually gonna enrich your soil is
going to be far better. It's going to still have
weed prevention, it's going to be better for the plants.
It's going to enrich your soil, and you won't have
all those liabilities of a stone mulch, got it, and
rocks in your shoe, which no one likes.
Speaker 1: Don't I call them riot rocks. Just don't do it.
Don't do it. Don't ignore canopy trees. You've got some
beautiful trees in your neighborhood overhead. Again, every time storms
come through, we're reminded of the danger of these trees
and what could happen. Any good arborist will tell you,
don't ignore the trees. Arborists are worth their weight in gold.
And I'm not saying that just because I have a
son who's an arborist. But tree maintenance is important. So
don't ignore your trees. I'm not saying don't eliminate. I'm
not saying eliminate these trees. I'm saying, maintain them. You know,
winter pruning can be done. Take care of your trees,
pay attention, and don't have a tree fall on your house.
Speaker 2: Oh that's for sure. And you know, even little things
that we think of as regular maintenance for other plants
in our yard, like fertilizing, like watering, can make a
huge difference to a tree's overall health, and especially older trees.
If you live in a soil that's not super fertile
like our sandy soils out here. You know, fertilizing every
couple of years can make a huge difference in the
healthier tree.
Speaker 1: Don't volcano mult oh, don't do it. Don't do it.
As a matter of fact, it's a good idea. Don't
copy your neighbors. That's what happens. Somebody does something and
everyone else in the neighborhood then has to have that
plant or do it the way their neighbor did it.
Don't do that, you know, be original. Here's a controversial
one for you, Stacey. Don't try to This is real controversial.
Don't try to grow succulents indoors. I love succulents outside,
but don't try to grow them indoors.
Speaker 2: Yes and no, Well, don't have reasonable expectations if you
grow them indoors, because I do successfully grow some succulents
indoors with pure neglect and they do great. But you know,
the biggest thing is all of these really cool akavirias
and stuff that are for sale, and you buy this cute,
tidy little rosette you can't wait to get at home,
and it's going to be so amazing and that thing
gets back to your house and it just starts elongating
and stretching, and everyone's like, what happened? I can't grow anything.
But you know, certainly jade plants that kind of thing
are okay. But you do need to know what's going
to happen inside.
Speaker 1: And like we said in our just do it show,
think about the environment that these plants grow in so
you can better care for them. I told you it'd
be controversial. Yeah, well so all right. So Stacy is
the one who always says, when in doubt, don't so
in her honor, I wrote this week's limerick thinking of you, Stacy.
It comes at the end, okay. It can be a
real temptation, a quick fixed cultivation. This miraculous breakthrough could
be your bugaboo and not your plants salvation. My neighbor
sought out advice for his backyard paradise. Don't do it,
I said to my neighbor, trying to save him some labor.
He didn't listen and paid the price. You see, the
moral of these silly rhymes can save you grief sometimes.
For example, if you live next to Stacy, make sure
the distance is spacey. If hanging up back porch wind chimes,
just don't don't do it.
Speaker 2: Just don't you know. You know, there's a lot of
love for windchimes out there, but there's a lot of
people who don't want to listen to clinging metal all night.
Speaker 1: This is a controversial show. We're going to get letters,
comments and mail, keep them coming. Plants on trial next
here on The Gardening Simplified.
Speaker 2: Show, beautify your home and community with proven Winner's Color
Choice shrubs with over three hundred and twenty five unique
varieties to choose from. There's a flowering shrubber evergreen for
every taste and every space. Just look for the distinctive
white container your local garden center or learn more at
proven Winner's Color Choice dot com. Greetings gardening friends, and
welcome back to the Gardening Simplified Show, where the topic
of today is just don't do it. In contrast to
last episode, which was just do it. So last time
we were talking about things that you should definitely do.
This time we're talking about the things that you should
avoid doing. You know, mostly from a horticultural perspective. Obviously,
this could become very taste oriented and we could go
on all episode about the things that we don't like
and we don't think people should be doing. Oh yeah,
but we're not talking about our personal taste. We're talking
about horticultural Uh you know advice here.
Speaker 1: Like roots need oxygen, so don't And then I'm going
to say, don't bury your plants. But then I think, okay, etymology, Stacy,
is it berry or bury? What is it? Don't say it.
Speaker 2: As long as you as your meaning is understood, it
doesn't matter. Is or I would say Barry bury bury Erry. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I think it's a Midwest thing.
Speaker 2: It must be. Okay, maybe it's an English word that
we have just adapted and give it our own American pronunciation.
Speaker 1: People look funny at me when I say bury.
Speaker 2: It's it sounds a little strange. It's also the Japanese
word for pig burry.
Speaker 1: I'm sorry for sidetracking us here.
Speaker 2: Anyway, continue.
Speaker 1: Anyway.
Speaker 2: Actually, I don't think it's a Japanese word for pig.
I think I'm mistaken. It's the Japanese word for the
noise that pigs make.
Speaker 1: Oh not a ink.
Speaker 2: No, not ak. There's different animal sounds you can find
them online. Different cultures interpret animal sounds completely differently. It's
very interesting. If you're into that so fascinating. Yes, always
something to learn the things we learn on this show,
and you should learn because that's what gardening is all about.
So anytime you're curious about something, you say, I'm gonna
look that up, find out more, uh, and do it.
That is a thing you should do. But we're talking
about what you shouldn't do. And when it comes to
Plants on Trial, as I said last week, Plants on
Trial is all about plant that you should plant in
your yard or at least consider planting in your yard
because it looks great and solves problems and is easy
to grow, like the rest of the proven Winner's color
choice shrubs. And when I've been saying, when in doubt,
just don't for a while now right like probably two years.
And the majority of the times that I use this
phrase is regarding pruning, and it's specifically regarding quydrange of
pruning most often, because hydrangs are the plants that are
most often pruned wrong. And you know, it's very it's
confusing until you you know, are able to see this
all mapped out. But some hydrangers bloom on old wood,
which is to say that they create their flower buds
for the following year as soon as they finish blooming
in the current one. So a big leaf hydrangea, which
is today's plant on trial, let's dance big band hydrangea,
and a big leaf angel like this starts to set
its flower buds in August, So in August twenty twenty
four it was sitting it's July twenty twenty five flower buds,
and have those flower buds on all through the year.
Now take, on the other hand, something like a panicle
hydrangel like Limelight or Pinky Winky. These bloom on new wood,
which is to say that they don't carry flower buds
through the winter. They only start to create them after
they start to leaf out in spring. So right now
panicle hydrangees are only just starting to create their flower buds,
which are going to be open in about two months
or so, probably closer to six weeks. So for the reason,
people get really confused about pruning hydranges, and that's why
I always say, when in doubt, don't because if you
don't prune any of your hydranges, you are far likely
to get better results than if you prune all of
your hydranges. But the key really is when I say
just don't do it. Don't prune your big leaf Hydrangees
by all means plant them. You should absolutely plant them.
They're fabulous, They are completely emblematic of some summer. They
are a plant that does need special sighting. You need
to make sure that you are placing it somewhere if
you live in a cold climate where it can get
a little protection from the worst of the winter weather.
Moist mulch and wood mulch soil definitely not stones. I've
seen plenty of hydrange of macrophilla take a nose dye
from being planted in a stone bed. So planting them.
Sighting them is very very important. But once you have
them sighted, not pruning them is so is so crucial
to being able to enjoy them, because if you prune them,
they're not going to flower. Now they can rebloom, and
today's plant on trial, let's dance big band does rebloom,
But you don't necessarily want to count on that rebloom
because what that means is you still missed all of
the initial bloom in July, so you still miss out
on dozens and dozens of flowers. And here's the thing
about big leaf hydrangees. And that's not just true of
Let's Dance Big Band, but all big leaf hydrangees. And
this I think is one of the most egregious things
about it. It looks like it should be pruned it. Really.
It's one of those plants when you're going through and
fall and doing your fall clean up, and then you're,
you know, trying to put the garden to bed, going
through in spring, trying to wake the garden up and
get everything cleaned out. If you come across a big
leaf hydrangea and you aren't familiar with what it looks like,
you were going to get those snips out of your
pocket and you were going to cut this whole thing
back to nubs because it just looks like it should
be premne. And I'm not even saying it looks like
it's dead necessarily. There is just something about those stems.
I can't quite put my finger on it. It's like
it's begging you to cut it back.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's just straight sticks out of the soil, and
you feel you're doing your due diligence by chopping them back.
Many people do.
Speaker 2: Yes, I've done it myself before I knew what I
was doing, so you're in good company, I guess at least,
And you know, there's just something about the color too
that makes them look kind of dead. So win in doubt,
just don't prune, no matter what type of hydrangea it is,
because nothing bad is going to happen to the hydrangeas
that can be pruned if you don't prune, and something
good is far more likely and going to happen if
you don't prune the ones that can't be prune, and
a lot of people it's easy to learn the difference.
If you spend some time thinking about it and observing
your plants, you can easily start to discern what those
differences are. But it does take a little bit of
a you know, dedication to learning and identifying those factors. Now,
what makes let's dance big band reblooming hydrangea bigger different,
bigger different than others is that the flowers are very large,
which is why I just said bigger. So it does
have extra large flowers. But one of the things that
I think is really special about this plant is it
is one of our most vivid big leaf hydranges. So
the color of big leaf hydrangeas is related to soil chemistry.
It's also related to temperature because you're gonna generally get
brighter colors in cooler temperatures than in very very hot
temperatures because plants synthesize their pigments at night, so cool
nights let them synthesize more effectively and you get much
better pigments in color. And it's also based on genete,
so they're you know, every individual hydrangea is going to bloom.
These big leaf hydranges is going to bloom as a
reflection of its growing conditions temperature and soil chemistry and
all of that. But it's still going to have kind
of a range that it can attain, you know, a
range of blue, a range of pink, and the just
don't do it. Part of let's stand's big band is
that this plant looks so gorgeous in all of its
color iterations that you don't even have to worry about
trying to change the flower color if it isn't blooming
the color that you want, because it looks so good
in bright purple, which is the farthest it's going to
go towards the blue side or that bright almost red
type of pink. Now, generally speaking, big leaf hydrangeas, the
more red tones they have in them, the less likely
they are to go to blue. So a lot of
blue hydrange is like true blue. Big leaf hydranges will
it most go kind of a pale pink, and they'll
swing more towards the blue. Plants that swing more towards
brighter or more intense pinks generally won't go all the
way to blue. They'll go to purple. And the purple
is gorgeous. Like a lot of people think that the
purple happens when you're just like in that almost acidic environment,
and all hydrangs can kind of go through a purple
ish phase as they go through that, But really it's
primarily genetics, and this is one of those plants that
will be an absolutely glorious deep purple, which I think
I might like even better than the blue. I mean,
the blue's great. I love it, don't get me wrong,
But I love that deep, rich purple that a good
well grown hydrangea macrophilla like Let's Stance big band can
take on.
Speaker 1: It's gorgeous, it really is. And I'm just sitting back
listening and enjoying my drink because this is this is
an important topic that causes a lot of confusion for people.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so just planges, just don't prune them if you
don't know what you're doing. It's very very simple. It
is a really really interesting plant. Another thing that you
need to know about, just don't do it. And this
would be another one of my just don'ts if it
is at all possible, and that is don't use high
phosphorus fertilizers. Interest So, in general, high phosphorus fertilizers are
bad because most American soils, in most residential areas have
more than enough phosphorus for your plant's needs. And a
plant can't benefit from extra phosphorus. So it can't go like,
oh great, I got all this extra phosphorus. I'm just
gonna like be a beefcake right now. It can't do that.
So what happens is that the soil can only hold
on to so many phosphorus ions and they run off,
and especially out here in West Michigan, they're going to
land in Lake Michigan in one of our ponds and
rivers and lakes and all of that, and that's what
causes algael blooms in the water. Now, low phosphorus fertilizers
are especially important for big leaf hydrangeas because if you
have high phosphorus, it is going to tie up aluminium
ions in the soils causes a chemical reaction. The aluminum
ion are not free for the plant to take up,
and therefore, if you are hoping for more of a
purple or blue color, it won't actually happen. So look
for low phosphorus fertilizers. If you are growing Let's Dance,
big band reblooming Hydrangea or any reblooming hydrangea and are
looking to go more on the blue or purple side,
so do plant it. Don't do any of those things.
If you missed any of those things, you'll find them
on our shutouts at Gardeningsimplified on air dot com, and
you'll also find Let's Stance Big Band Hydrangea at your
local garden center. Ready to get into your garden. We're
going to take a little break. When we come back,
we're opening up the mailbag, so please stay tuned. At
Proven Runners Color Choice Shrubs. We know that a better
landscape starts with a better shrub. Our team of experts
tests and evaluates all of our flowering shrubs and evergreens
for eight to ten years to ensure they outperform what's
already on the market. For easycare, reliable, beautiful shrubs to
extend your wait, your home and express your personal style.
Look for Proven Winner's Shrubs in the distinctive white container
at your local garden center or learn more at proven
Winner's Color Choice dot com. Greetings gardening friends, and welcome
back to the Gardening Simplified Show, where it is our
pleasure to answer your garden questions, quandaries and conundrums. And
if you have one of those, you can reach out
to us at help HLP at Gardeningsimplified on air dot com.
We only have time for a few questions every episode,
so if you need a question answered more quickly, just
go to Proven Winners Color Choice dot com and one
of our horticultures. We'll be happy to get you an answer.
And I did want to just kind of address in
general to all of our listeners, especially if you are
in the Midwest. If you feel like your vegetable garden
is behind, it is not just you. Uh, you are
in good company. It has been an extremely cool spring, unbelievable. Yeah,
and I was.
Speaker 1: The plants, basil, cucumbers, tomatoes ouch.
Speaker 2: All of that heat loving stuff. I was planting some
seeds in the garden the other day and it said,
you know, so when soil temperatures are seventy and I
was like, I don't even know if that's going to
happen this year. I'm sewing this stuff right now. It's
been a very chilly spring. So if you feel like
your vent shtable garden has just been poking along, you
are in good company. It's not you, it's everything. So
don't worry about it too much, and we'll just hope
for the best.
Speaker 1: And oh you're you're right here in Michigan in the north,
it's been unusual this year, and in the garden center industry,
we were grappling with frost and cold on June first.
Speaker 2: No one wants that. I mean, come on, you're done
with that by then? Done too much work, so done
with Yeah, my friend had a frost on June first too,
so lost a bunch of tomatoes. Anyway, just a little
assurance there from your friends here at the Gardening Simplified Show.
We got a nice note from a listener named Nedda,
who we answered a question for her last summer about
our iris and she wrote us to say thank you
for your terrific advice. Last August, I submitted a question
about some irises that never bloomed my sister's yard. Thanks
to your expertise, I dug them up, divided them, and
replanted them higher. The irises ended up being shared in
three yards and they all bloomed a beautiful shade of orange.
And these are the most gorgeous orange aren't just not
a color you often see in bearded iris. So not
only did she get iris blooms, she got really really
cool iris blooms. And she said thanks again, and I
wish everyone a wonderful growing season. So I thought that
was so nice for her to tell us that our
advice worked.
Speaker 1: It is nice, and this is the don't do it show,
but it proves the fact that sometimes, Netta, you just
got to bend over and split your plants. It'll be
great for your iris and your neighbors will be entertained.
And that's what happened here.
Speaker 2: So so do it. Yes, take our advice. I don't
want to get that confused and then don't do it show,
So do take our advice. Okay, we're trying the best
week here to help you out, So what have we
got in the mail day?
Speaker 1: James Wrights, Hi, I have had this bloomerang lilac in
the front of my residence for about four years. I
garden in Ottawa, Ontario. I took this picture today May
twenty eight. I think this is the best that it's
looked since I planted it from the garden center pot.
I've gotten a couple of comments this year from neighbors
about how full it looks. My question is how to
prune to get a second flush of blooms later this season.
It bloomed very nicely last spring as well, so I
pruned trim deadheaded to get reblooming, but sadly didn't get
any reblooming. I want to try again this year, wondering
if I may have done something in the way I
pruned it last year that stopped that second flush of flowers.
Speaker 2: Right. So, and he did include a photo and this
plant is looking absolutely gorgeous in James's yard, and I
feel like I have seen this everywhere. So the flip
side of the cool spring is that a lot of
the flower colors are just gorgeous. I was saying when
I was talking in Plants on Trial about how hydrange
of flower color can be influenced by temperatures. Many, many
flowers can be and it's not that they change colors,
just that they can be more or less vivid depending
on nighttime temperatures. And these cool nights have been outstanding
for lilacs. I feel like they are the most vivid
I have ever seen. So, James, whether you are talking
about bloomerang, reblooming lilac, or any reblooming shrub, the key
to getting the reblooms. So the plant already bloomed on
old wood in spring. Now you're going for that new
wood bloom later in the season. The key on any
reblooming shrub to getting that rebloom is that the plant
needs to put on as much new growth as possible
after that spring bloom. So what's happening really? And you're
in Ottawa, Canada, so it's probably a bit cooler there.
But this also tends to coincide with warming weather. It's
you know, by this time it's June, it's July, it's
getting much much warmer out, the days are getting longer,
rainfall all starts to maybe decline, and so you're trying
to get as much possible growth as you can with
this plant, whereas nature's like, WHOA, slow down the growth here.
You know, it's summertime and we're going to put the
brakes on things. But if the plant does not put
on enough new growth in this period, it's not going
to be able to create those flower buds. So one
of the strategies towards that can be pruning. Pruning, is
it necessary. I've said on the show that when it
comes to bloomerang, I very much embrace pruning because I
don't like the way the seed heads look. That's it
just don't do it for me. Don't like the way
they look like green bananas with cork dots on them.
I don't know, there's something about them. I really just like.
And when you lightly trim it, you don't need to
prune it like get heavy shears out. You're just going
to give it a light trim and take off the
thin sort of stems along the outer edge of the plant.
Get those seeds out. Now, everything that was a single
growing point is at least two growing points. That's going
to be double the amount of new growth. That's going
to be double the amount of flowers. You also need
to keep watering and fertilizing. And I'm not usually a
huge like you know, fertilizer like crazy, but for the
best rebloom, fertilizer really is crucial because you need that
plant to put on taking that energy and put on
that growth for the best rebloom. So I would say
now is a great time to put down another application
of fertilizer. Like I said, there's nothing special to trimming it.
I don't think that you trimming it was wrong. Was
the reason that it didn't flower last year. It probably
just didn't put on enough growth. So fertilize it, water
it if needed, give it that trim. Trimming it does
delay the rebloom slightly compared to an untrimmed plant, but
I have found that they rebloom longer into fall, so
I think it's worth it. You can try it one
year one way and one year or the other and
see what you think. But it's nothing that you did.
It's just a matter of making sure that that plant
keeps growing vigorously and healthily so that you get the
best display.
Speaker 1: It's great advice. Stacey Audrey writes to us Hi, I
love your show. My partner and I are getting ready
to move into our first home together in West Michigan.
Super excited to do some landscape design with our new space.
Do you have any advice where to start with garden
design basics? Any books you recommend. I've heard you mentioned
the concept of outdoor garden rooms before. We'd love to
learn more about that and other design principles ideas if possible.
Hoping to go with a cottage garden feel throughout the property.
I have a decent grasp of plant selection, but feel
less confident with placement, especially starting from scratch. Would greatly
appreciate any tips or resources.
Speaker 2: So thank you so much for your question, Audor, and
congratulations on your new home. If you didn't listen to
our Just Do It show last episode, you might want
to do that for my hedge advice for new homeowners,
depending on what it looks like. But yes, I do
have a great resource for you, and that is a
British garden designer named John Brooks. So he is a
very well known garden designer and he wrote a bunch
of excellent garden design books for homeowners and gardeners. I
think they are some of the best that I have
ever seen. And he's just really good at sort of
taking a lot of these concepts and distilling them into
a way that makes sense. There's a number of them
I think that you know, they're not I don't know
if he's still writing. He's probably quite old now, but
you can certainly find, you know, used copies, probably at
your library or you know, on the Advanced Book Exchange
or something like that. He is really so inspiring and
such a great teacher for garden design. And then the
other thing I would say, and this would be my
advice for anyone. Anytime you're you know, taking a walk
or driving around and you see a landscape or an
element of a landscape that resonates with you, don't just
go oh, that's pretty and move on. Take time to
kind of analyze what's actually happening there and think about
what is it that you like. Is it the color?
Is it the plants in it? Is it the combination?
Is it the scale of those plants to the building?
Is it their placement. There's all of these things, and
I think once you start to cultivate that mentality of
reading and analyzing things that you like, then you're much
more able to start reinterpreting those concepts. At home.
Speaker 1: Now. One person i'd suggest also following. We've had her
on the show before, and that is Jan Johnson. Johnson
spelled not with Ann on the end, but e n.
She wrote a book called garden Topia. But what you
can do is follow her on Instagram. She's constantly posting
landscape ideas, landscaping ideas, and of course you can also
get Jan on substack. So that would be a suggestion
I'd get.
Speaker 2: That's another really good one for someone who is still practicing.
The other thing I would say, and this is sort
of it took me a long time, so don't feel
like you need to rush into this, even though you
know I wish that I had done it sooner. Identify
your non negotiables. What are the factors that you need
to have. Do you need to have a dining garden.
Do you need to have an herb garden? Do you
need to have a native plank garden. These are just
some ideas off the top of my head, Like what
are your biggest goals that you are not willing to
give up? So identify two or three of those and
then look at the assets and liabilities of your yard. So,
for example, in my yard, not a lot going for it.
But I have a beautiful old brick garage that's actually
quite interesting, so we wanted to incorporate that into the
garden and not just make it look like a garage.
So look for things like that that are in your
yard that you can incorporate, and then any liabilities, identify
what those are and work to minimize those. If it's
a neighbor's view plan hedge.
Speaker 1: And you do that by getting out a piece of
paper and doing a simple bubble drawing. Google that how
to do a bubble drawing and you can do what
you just explain there, Stacy, I think that's important, yep.
Speaker 2: So we will put these resources in the show notes.
In the meantime, definitely check out John Brooks and Jan
Johnson and luck with your project. It sounds so fun
and so full of promise. So thank y'all so much
for your questions. We're going to take a little break.
When we come back, we're going to complete our conversation
about just don't do it as well as a just
don't do its speed round, So please stay tuned. Thanks
for listening to the Gardening Simplified podcast, brought to you
by Proven Winners, Color Choice shrubs. Our award winning flowering
shrubs and evergreens are trialed and tested by experts with
your success in mind. Learn more at Proven Winners color
Choice dot com.
Speaker 1: Welcome back to the Gardening Simplified Show. Today for branching news,
we continue our talk of don't do it and Stacey,
I'm going to say right off the bat, don't throw
up your hands and say the deer eat everything. I'm
giving up. Don't do it, don't give up. And next
week's show, the buck will stop here. We're going to
talk about deer next week.
Speaker 2: Oh, I can't wait. I have got some things to say.
Speaker 1: And it can be frustrating. Hey, here's a quick one.
Polymers in planters and baskets to help with watering. Number one,
follow the label directions like you only need just a
little bit in a container. If you add more than that,
you're gonna have a gelatinous mess. And don't spill them
on the ground. They're really slippery.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Yeah, put them in the lower portion of the container,
not in the upper portion of the container. You're going
to have a mess with polymers.
Speaker 2: Yeah. I remember when they first came out and people
were freaking out thinking it was some kind of like
worm in their soil. I remember there was like a
lot of concern. If the Internet had been around back then,
woof you got people would have freaked out.
Speaker 1: Well, you want to do a shotgun approach? What are
we doing shod speed round shotguns? Read Oh, we were
talking about deer.
Speaker 2: So it's a just don't do it speed round. And
if you haven't joined us for a speed round before,
it's where we just kind of of rapid fire. Give
our thoughts on things that you should just not do
in various categories. For example, rick, what would be or
just don't do it? For puney, it can be a tip,
it can be a plant, it can be a tool.
Speaker 1: Two things right off the top as I go through neighborhoods,
don't create meatballs and tuna cans. I see people out
there just pruning away and creating these shapes. Does not
look natural. I don't like meatballs and tuna cans. The
other one would be beautiful weeping trees that we have
as specimen plants in our landscape, and people will chop
them off and make them look like it's a Beatles haircut.
When the Beatles came into the United States, in the
nineteen sixties. That's what their haircut look like. And that's
what people are doing to these weeping trees.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Sometimes you know, one is planted in a poor
spot and it needs a little bit of a haircut,
but in your yard it doesn't. And guess what, you
don't have to mow under it. You can just let
it grow and weep and it will be a fun
place for kids to play and hide. So yeah, don't
cut it just for the mowing, Just you know, get
the grass out and then let it be. That's why
you picked a weeping plant in the first place, isn't it.
So ma, just do don't I just don't do it.
For pruning, I'm gonna say anvil pruners. I mean, i
could go a lot of different directions here, and I've
already gone to the plant that you shouldn't prune, which
is big leaf hydranges. But I'm gonna say anvilpruners. So
bypass pruners go like this, They passed the blades past
each other like a scissors, and an anvil pruner it
comes down on a plate, and anvil pruners are known
to stay sharp longer. So a lot of people in
forestry will use them. Cut flower growers will use them.
But you do not want to use them on your plants,
because instead of making that nice, crisp, clean cut, it
makes a big, frayed cut a lot of surface area,
and plants can't heal as well from a lot of
surface area. So it's fine you cut with bypassed pruners
from your plant and then give them anvilpruner cuts for arranging,
for example. It can be just fine for that, but
the problem is that anvilprunters are so much cheaper than
bypass pruners, so very often people will buy them and
not know that they have made a terrible mistake. So
invest in bypass prunters, not anvil all right, Just don't
do it.
Speaker 1: Perennial controversial, send your cards, letters and mail. I can
take it. I'm a big boy. As a matter of fact,
I made the mistake a few weeks ago of mentioning
I had this really tough spot in my landscape and
it's pure sand and so I grow sweet autumn clematis.
Nobody wants that thing invasive that, so please forgive me
for suggesting that. I didn't suggest it, I just said
that I like it. I had mine growing through an evergreen.
I'm gonna say perennial. Here it comes Lily of the Valley.
Speaker 2: Ah, I can see that.
Speaker 1: I can see that, but I'm going to get beat
up on that. But I prove you know.
Speaker 2: I love Lily of the Valley. I have my sentimental reasons,
but I still wouldn't necessarily recommend that anyone plant it
unless they also have sentimental reasons. I just don't do it. Perennial.
It is an epic plant of the show. It comes
around every year Tuna chamelion plants. We have had many
tales of woe from our listeners who have had this plant.
It is so hard to get rid of, even if
you're willing to use herbicides. It has this waxy coating
on the leaves that makes it almost impossible to get
any kind of herbicide to stick. Any little teen c
piece that you leave in the soil will result in
more whutunia again also known as chameleon plant. I did
actually see this plant in the garden center when I
was shopping this past spring, and I was like, what
are you guys doing? Do you hate your customers? So yeah,
just don't do it. If you haven't listened to our
previous listeners with their tales of woe, you will. You
should because then you will understand why. So just don't
do it, shrub, I.
Speaker 1: Know, I mean, yeah, it's easy for me. Okay, taxes
or used especially with boring, deer will eat them poisonous boring.
Speaker 2: And slow boring also slow growing, so you know you're
not going to get a lot of coverage.
Speaker 1: You want meat balls and tuna cans, plant taxes.
Speaker 2: That they are very commonly seen that way. My just
don't planted shrub is going to be a conventional or
basic for scythia. Really yes, because.
Speaker 1: You're going to this one.
Speaker 2: Well, but here's why. Here's why. Now, I did just
take a very large, mature one out in my yard,
and the reason why is I just didn't feel that
it was worth the real estate for what it gave.
You know, Yeah, it is really nice in spring when
it has yellow flowers, But you know what else is
nice in spring with yellow flowers the daffodils that are
all over my yard, So I don't really feel I
need more yellow good point. And it was huge, I
mean this thing was like ten feet tall and wide
and it didn't do anything outside of that flowering. It
didn't get good fall color, where some of our newer
selections of show off for scythia at least get good
purple fall color. So I think, especially when you have
something taking up that much real estate, it ought to
do more than you know, a two week hurrah. So
that's why that's my just don't do it, Just don't
do it tree.
Speaker 1: Oh got a half hour a calorie pear Bradford, Yeah,
Sulberry's Siberian elm. You can make along list.
Speaker 2: I'm gonna say Norway maple. Yeah, that too, because you know,
calorie pears still are sold in stores. Unfortunately, there is
a real campaign to eradicate them, so hopefully that is
a bating So I'm with you on that, but I
feel like Norway maple is one of those trees. It's
still so easy to find and it's kind of a
garbage plant, not a fan, no fall color, nothing really,
just quick shade. Whats your just don't do it watering
tip or tool.
Speaker 1: You have no idea how to water, and so you
water based on a schedule. You just do it every day,
but just a little bit. And again, the soil in
the up. Whether it's a houseplant, a shrub, an annual,
whatever it may be. The roots are soaking, wet at
the surface, dry below, and you wonder why that plant
is declining.
Speaker 2: I just don't do it. Watering tip is don't think
that the rain is going to take care of it,
so you don't need to water. How many times have
we all fallen into this trap?
Speaker 1: You pay attention to the roads.
Speaker 2: Summer, I'm lazy. I don't want to water. It's supposed
to rain tomorrow. I mean, I think there are a
few better ways to make sure it doesn't rain the
following day than opting to not water. So I usually will,
you know, find the wherewithal deep inside me to say, okay,
I got a water because I do want it to
rain tomorrow, and it doesn't always work. But I don't
like to push fate. I don't like to tempt fate
with watering anymore. So don't kid yourself. You probably need
to water unless you're already watered. But you know, if
it's dry, it's middle of summer, don't count on the
rain what you're just don't do it.
Speaker 1: Mowing tip don't fertilize the daylights out of the lawn
in spring, it's going to grow like nuts anyhow, and
you're going to be on the lawn more constantly. The
most important time of the year to feed your lawn
is fall. The lawn is putting its energy into root establishment,
root growth, not top growth. You want a nice lawn,
feed it in the fall.
Speaker 2: Okay, just don't do it in the spring. I'm gonna say,
just don't do it. Assuming that the seed that you buy,
it's your local garden center, box store, are the only options.
There's a lot of grass seed out there for a
lot of different purposes, and with a little bit of
research and patience, you will find one that is far
better than whatever you can grab off the shelf. Yes,
I have one last thing. We have time for one
last one. What is your just don't do it tool tip?
Speaker 1: It's well, I guess you could argue whether or not
it's a tool. But again, if you came to my
house and watched me frustrated, tangled and tripping in my hose,
get a good hose and like I mentioned last week,
our viewers and listeners convinced me to get a hose link.
I'm glad I did.
Speaker 2: Oh, I'm glad to do it. Yeah, I just don't
do A tooltip is something that I think we have
all fallen victim to before, and that is using the
wrong tool for the job. So you're out there in
the garden, you come across a rock or who knows
what in the soil, and you're like, oh, yeah, I've
just got my you know, little shovel here. I guess
I'll just pry at this thing that I have no
idea of what it is, and next thing you know,
you got a broken shovel. So don't be lazy, even
though I'm you know, again saying this for my own
benefit as well as for everybody else's get the right
tool for the job, not whatever you happen to have
on hands.
Speaker 1: Speaking of which, real quickly, I have found that I'm
addicted to five gallon buckets. I collect them, you get
them free, or someone's throwing it away, and it's like,
the last thing I need is another five gallon bucket,
but I pick it up because they're handy around the garden.
Can't help it. I've got a thing for five gallon buckets.
Speaker 2: We won't tell your wife. Well, so that was a
quick look at some of the things we think you
should just not do in the garden. If you miss
any of them, check us out on youtubeer you can
watch the whole show, along with some extra special footage
that Adriana puts in and photos from our listeners. So
thank you Rick, thank you, thank you Adriana, and thanks
so much to all of you for listening. We truly
appreciate it and hope you have a wonderful week ahead.