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Speaker 1: Broadcasting from Studio A. Here at Proven Winners Color Choice Shrubs.

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It's time for the Gardening Simplified Show with Stacy Hervella, me,

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Rick Weist, and our engineer and producer Adrianna Robinson. Well,

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consider the potsibilities and Stacy, I did not come up

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with that pun. It was one of our listeners who

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came up with that.

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Speaker 2: Is.

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Speaker 1: We're going to talk about container gardening today and when

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you container garden, you're putting a plant on a pedestal

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for all to see. We're going to break that down

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for you today and have your flowers gone to pot. Well,

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maybe that's a good thing, because some plants are better

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in containers than in the ground. And I should mention

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probably Stacey right off the bat as we talk about

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putting together your beautiful containers for this year, going to

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Proven Winner's website and looking at the recipe ideas. These

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are not ideas that someone just conjured up in a

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room and penciled down, but rather these are vetted and

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trialed recipes. A great place for many people to stop.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, there are so many recipes. I am truly in

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awe of how many they've created and what really makes

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those recipes different. You know, they're for garden centers as

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well as for home gardeners to use in their own inspiration.

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But what Proven Winners does is they take the vigor

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rating of each plant, and they pair plants together so

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that there's not like three super vigorous different plants that

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are constantly competing and constantly overgrowing each other. You can

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have one vigorous plant and you have to position it

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away from the less vigorous plants. And less vigorous isn't bad.

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It just means it doesn't grow as fast or take over.

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So it's really about that balance. And you know, people

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like me just do it by trial and error. And

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I have kind of gone mostly to doing mono containers.

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Oh okay, mostly because I do like the looks. So

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I'm on containers just a container with one plant in it,

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not a big fabulous combination, partly because I do like

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the look, and partly because my containers are on the

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small side. My collection has just kind of turned out

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to be a little bit on the smaller side, you know,

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like fourteen inches and smaller, so they don't necessarily make

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for great pairings. Even though I've tried that for many years,

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I've found myself feeling a little disappointed by the end

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of the season. So I just go for one big,

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super showy thriller in each container and call it today.

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Speaker 1: Interesting. We'll talk about that today, because there is nothing

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wrong with just putting one plant in a pot. Of course,

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monochromatic colors also today there are so many different fabulous

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containers that you can pick from that if you picked

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the monochromatic color for your scheme, sometimes the container can

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be the star of the show. So these are all

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things to keep in mind. And you're right, Stacey, I

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have my personal recipe that I like to use. I

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love to use the salvia blue suede shoes as the

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thriller in a container. It's worked out really well for me.

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And have some pictures for folks on YouTube of the

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hummingbirds coming to my blue suede shoes. And of course

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my theory, Stacey, and that is colorful foliage that you

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get from colius or from heart to heart kalladiums combined

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with let's say a plant like kufia, they almost act

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as a colorful billboard attracting humming birds to your landscape.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, I pick pretty much all of my

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container plantings on two things. Do they attract hummingbirds or

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are they edible? If those two things can be combined,

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great case of maybe nasturtium, let's say. But for the

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most part that those are my qualifications that I need

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to decide if I'm going to grow something in a container.

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And all of us have different, you know, sort of

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qualifications that we use. And yeah, but you know, attracting

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hummingbirds is so important to me because when I sit

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on my back patio there and you know, all of

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the plants are in full bloom, and hummingbirds are coming

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and feeding like you know, five inches from your knee

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because they're just so entranced by all of the flowers.

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I mean, that is just a highlight of the season

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right there.

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Speaker 1: I agree it's thrilling. So here's a simple formula for

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a sixteen inch container. Let's go with a sixteen inch

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container to have a thriller in the center, two to

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three fillers around that thriller, and then two to three

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spillers around the edge, maybe five or six plants. That's

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going to be a packed container. But it takes the

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approach thriller, filler, spiller or focal filler Edger trailer working

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from the center out and stacy. For me, I have

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to admit that one of the fa favorite things for

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me and planting up containers usually ends up being the

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thriller in the center.

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Speaker 2: I agree completely. I mean to me, that's kind of

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what it all gets based around. That kind of determines

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you know, which container you're going to use, what color

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of the you know, filler and spiller you're going to use,

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and all of that. Of course, it can happen another way.

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You can find something else, a spiller that you really

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like and build back from that. But yeah, I find

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that I'm always planning around those thrillers. And like I said,

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I've learned my lesson. I've definitely tried to cram a

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lot of things into a container, and you know, they

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do pretty okay. It's not like I'm like left with

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nothing or I regret it. It's just that I have

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found I prefer to let those thrillers really get big,

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to use all of that container space and just be

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you know, over the top, rather than share the stage.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, and I think your approach with containers should be

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that you can take some risks and this is not

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a long term commitment. If it crashes and burns, we

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can have a do over. Yeah, it's pretty easy to do.

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And that's the great thing about containers. Make sure that

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we have a drainage hole. That's probably one of the

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most important things if you're going to container. Garden and

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potting mix specially designed for containers. It's light and fluffier

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than garden soil, so it drains the water but still

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holds moisture and nutrients, provides air pockets for the roots,

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stays nice and light and fluffy. I looked at a

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quote from a greenhouse here in West Michigan. I love

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the way they put this. Think of potting mix as

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the five star hotel for plant roots, while garden soil

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is more like sleeping on the ground in a tent.

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Speaker 2: But you know, it's very I feel like it's gotten

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really difficult for people to choose what to use at

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the garden center because there are just so many options.

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You know, back in the day, you could see like, Okay,

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there was garden soil, there was potting soil, and that

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was it. And so you're saying, Okay, if it's going

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in the garden, I use the garden soil. If it's

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going in a container. I'm using the potting mix. But

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now it's not like that anymore. Now there's raised bed

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soil and garden soil it. You know, it's just like

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there's all of these crazy names, and the thing is

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you have to look at the ingredients. You have to

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flip that bag over and look at what's in it.

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And potting mixes, regardless of whether they say potting mix

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or potting soil or who knows what on the front,

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they should contain no actual soil. And that's kind of

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a crazy thing for people because they think, oh, you know,

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I still do use the term potting soil, even though

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I try not to. I try to, you know, practice

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what I preach, heer and say potting mix. But you know,

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if you have any actual soil, actual weathered earth material

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in that, yeah, it totally. It makes it heavy. It

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messes with the drainage. It's harder for roots to grow

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in there in the container environment. So you want that

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nice fluffy container mixed potting mix. But you know what

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else has happened in the last like ten or fifteen years.

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They stopped shipping a lot of containers with drainage already

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drilled out. Yeah, they don't have any drainage in them already.

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And a lot of people, especially people who are new

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to gardening, they're buying this container at the garden center

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a store and they're thinking, okay, well, I'm ready to go.

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They don't realize, you know, they don't print on the

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bottom of the container like drill out holes or anything,

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and they expect you to just know this. And this

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is super crucial. You cannot grow in a container without

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a drainage hole unless you're growing a water garden, and

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you will have a water garden like it or not.

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If you're growing a container without a drainage hole.

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Speaker 1: With plastic pots, you'll see an area where you can

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pop out the open up the drainage hole with a screwdriver.

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But yeah, so important and a captain obvious statement. Larger

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containers hold more soil. But that's significant because usually the

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more soil the better. At least your odds of success

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are going to increase. But still, drainage is important. Potting

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soil is expensive, and I can show you the Dutch

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side of me. With smaller pots, I won't reuse the soil,

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I'll dump it out. But in larger pots. I'll amend

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the soil and try and get two to three years

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out of it. But that's just the Dutch side of me.

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And then you have all these people who dummy up

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the bottom of a container using styrofoam balls or broken pots.

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One thing through the years that I've seen a lot

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of people use are those pool noodles. Oh yeah, yeah,

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in the bottom of a big pot, so that you

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don't have to invest as much in soil, but don't

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go cheap on the soil.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, I agree. I am a huge proponent

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of reusing potting soil, not the least bit Dutch, but

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for me, it really is from an environmental reuse standpoint.

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You know, I don't want to throw all that away

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because that's a problem and it is organic matter and

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it will eventually decompose. But I'm going to conserve my

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investment in that material. I'm going to reuse it. And yeah,

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I just dump it all out. I stir in, mix

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in a bunch of bags of compost or compost a

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maneure or anything like that to add some nice rich

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organic matter back in and to stretch it. Because I

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don't know about you, but somehow every year I have

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more containers. I don't even buy more containers.

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Speaker 1: They grow.

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Speaker 2: They grow. Yeah, Like, I don't even say, Okay, I'm

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going to get more containers. I just sort of end

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up with more containers, you know. Like this year, I'm

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doing something different. I am using some hanging baskets on

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the corner of my vegetable garden. I'm fixing them somehow.

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Don't ask me how, because I haven't figured this out yet,

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but I will to the top of the posts of

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the vegetable garden and I'm planting them with nasturtiums to

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trail down. And I'm super excited about it. But hey,

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guess what, that's four more big containers I know I

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have to fill. So it's important to me to stretch.

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Speaker 1: That the things we pot up with, right, Yeah, exactly. Wow. Well,

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coming up in segment four, we'll talk about some combinations

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some favorite plants for containers. Let me end this segment

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with the limb a rick. You're putting plants on a pedestal.

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It's the pride cometh before the Fall Limb a Rick

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or the continued Adventures of Old ned Old Neds Gardening

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skills are self taught. He diligently works his plot. Although

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you may scoff old Ned's now a show off as

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his plantings have gone to pot. Aside from his plot

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that is edible, he has floral pots that are incredible.

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Come here, look see Old neds become artsy putting all

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his plants on a pedestal. To his neighbors. He's an entertainer.

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Their amusement is a no brainer, because when unrehearsed, he

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trips falls head first in the center of his container.

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I'll have to talk about broken pots in segment for two.

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I've seen many of them in my day. Coming up next,

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plants on trial. That's next here on the Gardening Simplified.

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Speaker 2: Show, beautify your home and community with proven Winn's Color

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Choice Shrubs with over three hundred and twenty five unique

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varieties to choose from. There's a flowering shrub or evergreen

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for every taste and every space. Just look for the

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distinctive white container your local garden center or learn more

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at proven Winner's Color Choice dot com. You're Reading's Gardening friends,

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and welcome back to the Gardening Simplified Show, where we

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were talking all about containers. Just in time for Mother's Day,

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partly because mom loves a container, and you can, of

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course buy her a ready made container. You can plant

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up your own container for her with your specially selected

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container and plants. Hanging basket is also a container. But

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whatever you're doing. You know, when we were on break

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just a moment ago, Adriana made an excellent point that

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I know a lot of the ladies in the audience

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will appreciate. She said that a container without a drainage

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hole is like pants with fake or no pockets. And

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you know, we can't have that anymore, Like I mean,

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we boycott those things. So it's the same way, like

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you know, you can have a little container water garden,

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but you do have to realize, no, there's no amount

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of broken pottery shards, there's no amount of pool noodles,

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milk cartons, who knows what that You can put in

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the bottom of a ceramic pot with no drainage and

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make it suitable for anything but plants that love money.

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So let's just get that out of the way right now.

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But I'm a huge container gardener. I love it. I'm

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like I said, I mostly grow edibles or you know,

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hummingbird plants in my containers because they're around me and

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use the ground for other things. But we hear from

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so many people here at priven Winter's Color Choice Shrubs

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about can I grow X in a container? And you know, hey,

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we do our jobs. We sit there, we talk about

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our plants on social media, and you know, we have

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our ads that a lot of our listeners have probably seen.

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And I know they're doing their job because then people,

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you know, write to us and say, oh, gee, I

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saw this at it looks really great. I want this plant.

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I don't want to make beds. I maybe don't have

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space for any more beds, but I really really want

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this plant. And so the container is kind of the

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natural choice for those of us who have maybe maxed

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out ter space or are just looking to you know,

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try something out or want something decorative.

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Speaker 1: Unfortunately, there's so many great choices, Stacey. Even if you

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look at a category like perennials, the Hugh Curros, the Tirrellas,

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the Virginia small hostas, all of those plants are fabulous

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in containers.

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Speaker 2: Yeah. I mean, the simple fact is when people say

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can I grow X in a container? The answer is

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pretty much always yes.

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Speaker 1: Yeah.

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Speaker 2: I mean, there are really very few things that you

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can't grow in a container as long as you have

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reasonable expectations of what the plant is going to look

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like and do, and that you consider the conditions that

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you have for the plant to grow in. That's really

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the key here.

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Speaker 1: Now.

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Speaker 2: You know, I've used this example over and over on

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the show, but I really think it's so vivid. A

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ginko tree in nature will reach up to one hundred

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feet at least fifty I mean, they're massive trees right right,

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and yet you will very often see ginkos as a

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bone side tree. So if you can take a one

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hundred foot tall ginko tree and cram it into a

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bone side container that's like this big, you know, like

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the size of like a jewelry box, then yes, of

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course you can grow a hydrangea or whatever in a container,

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but you have to understand that it is going to

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have a dwarfing effect on any of these plants. So

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the example in the bone side is that if you

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restrict a plant's root room, which is what's going to

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happen when it's being grown in a container, it will

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respond by restricting top growth. So that is what kind

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of makes all of this possible. So you do have

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to realize let's just say that what you want to

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grow in a container is an arborviding. You want to

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have like a little container privacy hedge because you have

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a condo or an apartment or something like that. Well,

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you know, you may look at say green giant arborviting.

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You know, one of the most popular arborvids out there

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is not going to be a giant for you. It

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might reach you know, five seven feet depending on the

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size that you put in it. So you need to

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have those reasonable expectations. And you know, speaking of expectations,

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I don't think I laid out what the plant on

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trial today is.

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Speaker 1: No, you haven't yet.

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Speaker 2: The plant on trial today is shrubs and containers. Oh

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and what you need to know what makes a shrub

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or a perennial because really all of these things that

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I'm about to say translate just as well for perennials

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and even for trees.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, people are more willing to take that risk today. Yes,

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and then you have all these new cultivars available also,

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you know, cascading hydranges. Yeah, I think that they have revolutionized.

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Speaking of Mother's Day, the whole Mother's Day market, Oh.

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Speaker 2: My gosh, they have, I you know, we have really

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We knew they were amazing plants when we saw them

315
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the very trail broadcascad hydrangeas years ago, and we were

316
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so excited to be able to bring them to the US.

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But they have just taken off and just have a

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life of their own and are so beautiful and so

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popular and are really abundant right now in garden centers.

320
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So anyway, so you can grow, yes, almost any perennial

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or shrub in a container, as long as you have

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reasonable expectations and as long as you have the right conditions. Now,

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I do want to get this out of the way first.

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A couple of plants that generally don't make a great

325
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choice in containers are those that are very prone to

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producing runners. Runners and suckering plants generally don't grow well

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in a container. And any fellow herb gardener who has

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gotten the apparently brilliant idea to just say, well, I'll

329
00:17:48,640 --> 00:17:51,160
control my mint by growing in a container, the mint's

330
00:17:51,240 --> 00:17:54,759
like not. Uh, mint does not grow well in a container,

331
00:17:54,799 --> 00:17:58,000
goes way too well in the ground because it does

332
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have that suckering running. But if you try to restrict

333
00:18:02,519 --> 00:18:04,920
mint to a container, it's going to be like, nope,

334
00:18:05,000 --> 00:18:07,400
I'm not growing at all. There is no middle ground

335
00:18:07,440 --> 00:18:10,319
for me. It's all or nothing. And that's true of

336
00:18:10,319 --> 00:18:13,599
certain shrubs and perennials that are again really really known

337
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to sucker. So I'm thinking of things like maybe idea,

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00:18:16,519 --> 00:18:19,720
which is a suckering shrub, anything like that that's kind

339
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of really reproducing our erronia would be another option. So

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00:18:24,799 --> 00:18:27,319
you do want to kind of rule those out, but

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really just about anything else. So whether people think that

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if you live in a cold climate, a shrub or

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perennial's ability to withstand winter cold is the single biggest consideration.

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Speaker 1: Which is true because we have the root system above ground.

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Speaker 2: That is true. But I have to say, in my

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00:18:45,480 --> 00:18:47,880
many years when I was a rooftop gardener, all we

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00:18:47,920 --> 00:18:50,640
did was containers. I mean true, they were massive containers.

348
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They weren't like you know, the home containers. I have

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00:18:53,559 --> 00:18:58,480
seen far less damage from exposure to cold around those

350
00:18:58,559 --> 00:19:03,640
roots than from poor drainage. Again, I would agree, and

351
00:19:03,680 --> 00:19:07,680
it's really poor drainage during periods of cold weather that

352
00:19:07,720 --> 00:19:11,559
are going to be especially detrimental to plants growing in

353
00:19:11,599 --> 00:19:13,880
a container. And I've talked about this before. But really

354
00:19:13,920 --> 00:19:16,680
what happens is we have this ice cube effect in

355
00:19:16,720 --> 00:19:18,920
a container. If we live in a cold climate, the

356
00:19:19,319 --> 00:19:24,880
whole volume of the container freezes, and then when spring

357
00:19:24,960 --> 00:19:28,279
comes and it starts to thaw, it thaws from the

358
00:19:28,319 --> 00:19:31,440
outside in. So the weather's starting to get warmer, it's

359
00:19:31,440 --> 00:19:34,759
not snowing anymore, it's raining, and you have this container

360
00:19:34,960 --> 00:19:37,079
that has like, you know, maybe two inches of thaw

361
00:19:37,119 --> 00:19:39,759
around the outside and a big old ice cube in

362
00:19:39,799 --> 00:19:42,680
the center, and the water's not getting through that ice cube,

363
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and that really causes it to back up. So I

364
00:19:45,279 --> 00:19:48,960
think the bigger consideration here is a plant's ability to

365
00:19:49,079 --> 00:19:53,240
withstand challenging conditions. And there are a number of plants

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that we already know can withstand really really challenging conditions.

367
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So it's not so much about, oh, you know, there

368
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is the sort of old adage that you pick a

369
00:20:01,920 --> 00:20:04,319
plant for a container that's two zones hardier than the

370
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one that you're in. I think if you do that,

371
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you are depriving yourself of so many potential options, because really,

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again it's not usually the cold. It really is usually

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that that water freezing up size is the other one. Now,

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I will say, if you're growing most perennials or shrubs

375
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unless they are a very dwarf variety, you are looking

376
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for containers that are probably in the sixteen inch plus range.

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Speaker 1: Sixteen at a minimum in mild.

378
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Speaker 2: Yeah, I agree, at a minimum, and even then you

379
00:20:33,559 --> 00:20:36,440
know it's going to stay pretty small. The reason that

380
00:20:36,519 --> 00:20:39,240
you want this size, even though I've just made the

381
00:20:39,240 --> 00:20:42,640
example about the bone size, is because what you don't

382
00:20:42,680 --> 00:20:46,519
know about growing bone size is that bone size growers

383
00:20:46,680 --> 00:20:51,680
water their plants like three times a day. It is

384
00:20:51,799 --> 00:20:54,519
not a set it and forget it type of situation.

385
00:20:55,160 --> 00:20:57,440
And most of us, when it comes to growing shrubs

386
00:20:57,440 --> 00:21:00,799
and trees and perennials in our gardens, are not going

387
00:21:00,839 --> 00:21:03,640
to be willing to give that kind of water. So

388
00:21:03,799 --> 00:21:07,400
when we, you know, try to grow a shrub, perennilar

389
00:21:07,480 --> 00:21:10,039
tree in a container that's too small, we are making

390
00:21:10,119 --> 00:21:13,400
a watering nightmare for ourselves because there is simply not

391
00:21:13,680 --> 00:21:18,119
enough volume of soil to support the water needs to

392
00:21:18,200 --> 00:21:20,960
hold onto the water needs for the roots. And in fact,

393
00:21:21,039 --> 00:21:22,880
that is one of the signs if you have a

394
00:21:22,880 --> 00:21:27,119
really difficult time keeping your container adequately watered, one of

395
00:21:27,119 --> 00:21:28,960
the signs that it's time to move it to a

396
00:21:29,000 --> 00:21:31,400
bigger container to take it out and root print it

397
00:21:31,440 --> 00:21:34,160
and put it back in that container or move it

398
00:21:34,200 --> 00:21:37,000
out into the landscape. So really we're not talking about

399
00:21:37,039 --> 00:21:40,559
what's possible, we're talking about what is feasible for most

400
00:21:40,599 --> 00:21:43,079
of us who live in the modern day world and

401
00:21:43,119 --> 00:21:46,279
don't devote ourselves to watering, you know, a fifty year

402
00:21:46,319 --> 00:21:48,519
old bone side. We just want a nice shrub and

403
00:21:48,559 --> 00:21:51,839
a container to enjoy on our patio. So we are

404
00:21:51,880 --> 00:21:54,440
looking at bigger containers. Yet sixteen inch, I would say,

405
00:21:54,480 --> 00:21:57,039
is a bare minimum. You don't have to go to

406
00:21:57,079 --> 00:22:00,400
like one of those huge, massive, like concrete municipal answers

407
00:22:00,400 --> 00:22:02,799
that your city has, you know, in the park. But

408
00:22:03,000 --> 00:22:05,400
I would say you're looking probably more in the twenty

409
00:22:05,440 --> 00:22:09,240
to twenty six inch range for the most part, to

410
00:22:09,400 --> 00:22:11,920
really let the plant come into its own and to

411
00:22:12,000 --> 00:22:15,279
be decorative. And that is the other consideration is, you know,

412
00:22:15,359 --> 00:22:18,160
since you are devoting this real estate and this money,

413
00:22:18,960 --> 00:22:20,720
you know, with the container and the soil and the

414
00:22:20,759 --> 00:22:24,119
care and all of that, is the plant actually decorative

415
00:22:24,240 --> 00:22:28,559
enough to merit this place, to merit this real estate.

416
00:22:29,000 --> 00:22:31,240
And that's a difficult question to answer because we all

417
00:22:31,279 --> 00:22:33,480
have our own you know, versions of that, and if

418
00:22:33,480 --> 00:22:35,200
we live in an apartment or a condo or something

419
00:22:35,240 --> 00:22:36,559
like that, we might say, well, this is worth it

420
00:22:36,559 --> 00:22:38,240
because this is the only way I can grow, say

421
00:22:38,319 --> 00:22:38,880
a lilac.

422
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Speaker 1: Right. The advantage of annual containers is we're pretty well

423
00:22:43,440 --> 00:22:45,920
assured they're going to be blooming their heads off exactly

424
00:22:46,000 --> 00:22:48,759
all season long. So as far as the size of

425
00:22:48,759 --> 00:22:51,960
that container is concerned, Stacy, I'd leave a little room

426
00:22:52,000 --> 00:22:53,440
for some mulch at the base too.

427
00:22:53,680 --> 00:22:56,680
Speaker 2: Malta is going to be your BFF as a container grower,

428
00:22:56,720 --> 00:22:59,960
because you want to protect that surface and minimize water

429
00:23:00,079 --> 00:23:04,440
are evaporating from it. So do consider those decorative issues.

430
00:23:04,759 --> 00:23:07,799
Is this plant giving you enough for what you have

431
00:23:07,880 --> 00:23:09,839
to give it? And you know, there's a couple ways

432
00:23:09,839 --> 00:23:11,440
around that. I want to say, just before we take

433
00:23:11,440 --> 00:23:14,359
a break. You can mix it with annuals. If it's

434
00:23:14,359 --> 00:23:16,519
a big enough container, you can plant annuals around the

435
00:23:16,559 --> 00:23:18,480
size to kind of judge things up a little bit.

436
00:23:19,599 --> 00:23:22,319
And especially if it's an evergreen, you can also think

437
00:23:22,319 --> 00:23:24,519
about putting lights on it, which might be a really

438
00:23:24,519 --> 00:23:27,119
really nice thing to do if you are an apartment

439
00:23:27,200 --> 00:23:30,720
or condo and need that little extra atmosphere so you

440
00:23:30,720 --> 00:23:33,279
know we're always looking at how we can make again

441
00:23:33,359 --> 00:23:37,000
that payoff worth our investment. So there is some food

442
00:23:37,119 --> 00:23:41,119
for thought on shrubs, perennials and trees in a container.

443
00:23:41,200 --> 00:23:42,480
We are going to take a little break when we

444
00:23:42,480 --> 00:23:44,440
come back. We're opening up the mail bags, so police say.

445
00:23:44,440 --> 00:23:54,759
Teamed at Proven Winner's Color Choice Shrubs, we know that

446
00:23:54,839 --> 00:23:57,880
a better landscape starts with a better shrub. Our team

447
00:23:57,920 --> 00:24:01,079
of experts tests and evaluates all of our flowering shrubs

448
00:24:01,079 --> 00:24:03,920
and evergreens for eight to ten years to ensure they

449
00:24:03,960 --> 00:24:08,440
outperform what's already on the market. For easycare, reliable, beautiful

450
00:24:08,480 --> 00:24:11,720
shrubs to accentuate your home and express your personal style.

451
00:24:11,839 --> 00:24:14,559
Look for Proven Winners Shrubs in the distinctive white container

452
00:24:14,759 --> 00:24:17,200
at your local garden center, or learn more at proven

453
00:24:17,200 --> 00:24:22,960
Winner's Color Choice dot com. Greetings gardening friends, and welcome

454
00:24:22,960 --> 00:24:25,240
back to the Gardening Simplified Show, where we're talking all

455
00:24:25,240 --> 00:24:29,079
about containers, but taking a brief respite from that to

456
00:24:29,240 --> 00:24:32,200
answer your garden questions, quandaries and conundrums. And I know

457
00:24:32,799 --> 00:24:36,680
they are abundant as the season comes on and you

458
00:24:36,720 --> 00:24:39,200
know most of us have probably done our garden cleanup

459
00:24:39,599 --> 00:24:41,759
and I'm wondering is this coming back? Is this not

460
00:24:41,880 --> 00:24:44,680
coming back? And I have to say, even though spring

461
00:24:44,759 --> 00:24:47,559
was pretty early for us here in West Michigan, a

462
00:24:47,599 --> 00:24:49,839
lot of things are definitely taking their sweet time.

463
00:24:50,119 --> 00:24:53,279
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, and a lot of things were knocked back

464
00:24:53,400 --> 00:24:57,119
by what I'm gonna call a polar vortex winter. So

465
00:24:57,519 --> 00:24:59,720
same thing in my landscape, a little.

466
00:24:59,440 --> 00:25:02,839
Speaker 2: Slow out of the yeah, So don't panic if certain

467
00:25:02,880 --> 00:25:05,880
things in your landscape aren't showing signs of life just yet.

468
00:25:06,359 --> 00:25:09,599
Had a warm spring at first, and it's not being

469
00:25:09,680 --> 00:25:10,640
kind of cool for all.

470
00:25:10,759 --> 00:25:13,000
Speaker 1: The winter's back, Yes.

471
00:25:13,799 --> 00:25:16,720
Speaker 2: Not quite winter, but you know it's it's definitely cool

472
00:25:16,839 --> 00:25:21,440
and slow. So patience, as always is what we need

473
00:25:21,440 --> 00:25:23,839
as gardeners, even though it's a lot easier to recommend

474
00:25:23,839 --> 00:25:27,799
to you than to follow myself. So if you have

475
00:25:27,839 --> 00:25:30,039
a gardening question for us, you are always welcome to

476
00:25:30,039 --> 00:25:33,400
reach out to us. Our website is Gardening Simplified on

477
00:25:33,559 --> 00:25:36,599
air dot com. There is a contact form right there

478
00:25:36,640 --> 00:25:39,799
that you can use to send us an email. And

479
00:25:40,240 --> 00:25:41,960
please do be aware that, of course we can't answer

480
00:25:42,000 --> 00:25:44,160
all of your questions and only some are suitable for

481
00:25:44,200 --> 00:25:46,160
air because we have such limited time which I am

482
00:25:46,160 --> 00:25:48,240
now currently taking up by talking to you about how

483
00:25:48,279 --> 00:25:52,319
we have limited time, but we do care about your success,

484
00:25:52,319 --> 00:25:54,559
and so you can also reach out to us at Provenwinters,

485
00:25:54,599 --> 00:25:57,000
color Choice dot com and one of our horticultures will

486
00:25:57,000 --> 00:26:01,400
get you a personalized response very quickly because we do

487
00:26:01,640 --> 00:26:05,759
care very much about your gardening success. So, Rick, what

488
00:26:05,799 --> 00:26:06,680
do we got in the mail bag?

489
00:26:07,039 --> 00:26:11,279
Speaker 1: Judy rights to us. I planted two El Nino chetalpas.

490
00:26:11,400 --> 00:26:13,640
This will be their third season. One has a full

491
00:26:13,759 --> 00:26:17,279
vay shape, the other one is just one stalk about

492
00:26:17,319 --> 00:26:20,720
eight feet tall. A few leaves at the top is

493
00:26:20,799 --> 00:26:23,039
all it's ever done. I feel like I need to

494
00:26:23,079 --> 00:26:25,440
print it, but would love some instruction. I'm in the

495
00:26:25,480 --> 00:26:29,920
Texas Hill Country, Zone eight B. I hope you can

496
00:26:30,000 --> 00:26:31,680
see the leaves at the tip.

497
00:26:31,720 --> 00:26:34,319
Speaker 2: Yeah, so she sent a picture. So what Judy has

498
00:26:34,400 --> 00:26:38,599
here is I'm guessing. Because these plants are so uneven

499
00:26:38,640 --> 00:26:40,720
in the way that they're growing, I believe that she

500
00:26:40,839 --> 00:26:44,519
probably started with two small mail order plants rather than

501
00:26:44,559 --> 00:26:46,359
plants from the garden center. And when you buy the

502
00:26:46,400 --> 00:26:50,960
small one court premium Winer's Colored Choice shrubs via mail order,

503
00:26:51,599 --> 00:26:54,000
you're getting a plant that basically we would have sent

504
00:26:54,119 --> 00:26:57,200
to a grower for that grower to grow on in

505
00:26:57,279 --> 00:27:00,599
trim multiple times, whereas if you buy it the garden center,

506
00:27:00,640 --> 00:27:02,680
that work is already done. You have a nice full plant.

507
00:27:02,720 --> 00:27:05,559
Whereas so if you're buying the small ones online you

508
00:27:05,599 --> 00:27:08,279
need to put a little bit of that work in yourself.

509
00:27:08,799 --> 00:27:11,880
And what happens when a grower trains a plant or

510
00:27:11,920 --> 00:27:15,480
grows a plant for sale, they're trimming it multiple times.

511
00:27:15,839 --> 00:27:18,079
Many of them are trimming it through the season as

512
00:27:18,160 --> 00:27:22,200
many times as the growth will allow. Why because when

513
00:27:22,240 --> 00:27:24,519
you trim a plant, when you take off that top,

514
00:27:25,000 --> 00:27:27,680
it branches out below it, and that's what gives you

515
00:27:27,759 --> 00:27:30,319
that nice full look. So I think that what happened

516
00:27:30,599 --> 00:27:33,440
with Judy's here is that it just didn't get trimmed,

517
00:27:33,440 --> 00:27:36,920
and so you have one main growth. They're just getting

518
00:27:36,960 --> 00:27:40,319
taller and taller and taller, and it's not allowing any

519
00:27:40,359 --> 00:27:43,319
of that side or lower growth to come out and

520
00:27:43,400 --> 00:27:46,400
give you that nice full plant. Well, fortunately, you really

521
00:27:46,440 --> 00:27:49,200
cannot go wrong pruiting on the inyo chatalpa. This thing

522
00:27:49,279 --> 00:27:52,240
is a beast. So despite the fact that it's now

523
00:27:52,279 --> 00:27:55,359
made and you are in a warm climate, if it's blooming,

524
00:27:55,359 --> 00:27:57,000
you can wait till it's done blooming to do this.

525
00:27:57,079 --> 00:27:59,079
If it hasn't started blooming yet, you can do it now.

526
00:28:00,039 --> 00:28:02,519
I would go ahead and shop that eight foot broomstick

527
00:28:02,759 --> 00:28:05,480
down to I don't know, a foot two feet.

528
00:28:05,640 --> 00:28:08,640
Speaker 1: I agree have had it with the El Nino in

529
00:28:08,680 --> 00:28:13,400
my yard. I have pruned it and it's really nicely branched. Now.

530
00:28:13,880 --> 00:28:17,440
I think it's all about taking out that terminal bud

531
00:28:17,960 --> 00:28:21,720
stacey and forcing the plant to think to grow.

532
00:28:21,480 --> 00:28:26,680
Speaker 2: Awards absolutely so it will resolve itself very quickly once

533
00:28:26,720 --> 00:28:28,720
you do that pruning. But yeah, you have to remove

534
00:28:28,759 --> 00:28:31,680
that terminal bud. And again this is just a matter

535
00:28:31,799 --> 00:28:34,319
of starting with a smaller plant versus one that the

536
00:28:34,359 --> 00:28:37,079
growers have pruned. And for those of you who have

537
00:28:37,160 --> 00:28:40,039
El Nino that are maybe just growing just fine, you

538
00:28:40,119 --> 00:28:43,079
never have to worry about whacking this plant back. It

539
00:28:43,200 --> 00:28:47,480
is such a beast. It can easily withstand super heavy pruning.

540
00:28:47,799 --> 00:28:49,519
The only thing you want to watch out for, of course,

541
00:28:49,720 --> 00:28:51,960
is if it has flower buds. You want to enjoy

542
00:28:52,000 --> 00:28:54,960
those flower buds and the fabulous fragrance rather than just

543
00:28:55,000 --> 00:28:57,559
cut them off. But even if you're pruning this in

544
00:28:57,599 --> 00:28:59,240
the summer, as long as it's not too late in

545
00:28:59,240 --> 00:29:03,200
the summer will recover. It will be just fine. This

546
00:29:03,279 --> 00:29:04,759
plant can absolutely take it.

547
00:29:04,839 --> 00:29:08,000
Speaker 1: You bet prone aggressively. Sandy writes, Hi, there, I just

548
00:29:08,039 --> 00:29:12,319
purchased a two gallon pot fairy trail Bride hydrangen, and

549
00:29:12,400 --> 00:29:15,559
I'm wondering if the foliage will get darker as it

550
00:29:15,599 --> 00:29:18,680
matures or with more sun. The one I bought has

551
00:29:18,880 --> 00:29:24,079
medium to light green foliage. And as I mentioned Stacey,

552
00:29:24,559 --> 00:29:29,799
in the greenhouse this spring, I've seen that cascade hydranges. Boy,

553
00:29:29,839 --> 00:29:31,400
they're all the things.

554
00:29:31,079 --> 00:29:34,079
Speaker 2: They are, and they are so beautiful. And it's not

555
00:29:34,240 --> 00:29:38,359
totally unusual for a plant after it's newly purchased to

556
00:29:38,440 --> 00:29:41,880
have foliage that isn't the same as when it's outdoors.

557
00:29:42,160 --> 00:29:46,640
When plants are grown in greenhouse conditions what we call

558
00:29:46,759 --> 00:29:50,920
in the industry grown under polly. That blocks out some

559
00:29:51,200 --> 00:29:54,559
of the wavelengths of the sun's light, and very often

560
00:29:54,680 --> 00:29:58,039
the result is that the foliage color is not as

561
00:29:58,079 --> 00:29:59,759
full and as rich as it would be when it

562
00:29:59,759 --> 00:30:03,759
has the full UV spectrum once it is outdoors. So

563
00:30:03,799 --> 00:30:06,119
typically what's going to happen here is that once you

564
00:30:06,200 --> 00:30:09,599
get that plant outside in some full sunlight, it will

565
00:30:09,680 --> 00:30:13,400
naturally green up as it increases its chlorophyll production. If

566
00:30:13,400 --> 00:30:16,240
it doesn't, it could be you know, obviously it's a

567
00:30:16,240 --> 00:30:19,559
lot of a plant's energy to bloom as much as

568
00:30:19,559 --> 00:30:22,799
a fairy trail bride cascade hydrangea does, So it could

569
00:30:22,839 --> 00:30:24,119
be that it could use a little bit of a

570
00:30:24,119 --> 00:30:27,519
fertilizer just to green up, even though you know, undermost conditions,

571
00:30:27,640 --> 00:30:31,039
the growers will have fertilized this thing, you know, amply.

572
00:30:32,079 --> 00:30:34,160
But I also wanted to mention this in terms of

573
00:30:34,200 --> 00:30:36,759
people who are at garden centers right now and are

574
00:30:36,839 --> 00:30:41,000
looking at plants that have either purple or yellow or

575
00:30:41,119 --> 00:30:43,960
variegated foliage, and you know, they're maybe looking at the

576
00:30:44,000 --> 00:30:46,960
plant tag and saying, well, shoot, this says that it

577
00:30:47,000 --> 00:30:48,759
has purple foliage, and the plant in front of me

578
00:30:48,880 --> 00:30:51,039
here is kind of green. Now, this happens a lot.

579
00:30:51,079 --> 00:30:53,599
One plant that comes to mind where I've seen this

580
00:30:53,640 --> 00:30:56,279
happen very often is black lace elderberry, one of our

581
00:30:56,279 --> 00:30:59,880
best sellers. All of these plants, again, they can't fully

582
00:31:00,079 --> 00:31:04,160
produce all of those nice pigments indoors when they're being

583
00:31:04,200 --> 00:31:07,079
grown by the grower. Even if they're not indoors indoors

584
00:31:07,119 --> 00:31:09,359
they're in a quantit hut. They have plastic over them.

585
00:31:09,799 --> 00:31:12,720
That does reduce their ability to produce those pigments. So

586
00:31:13,240 --> 00:31:16,640
what you see in the garden center is not necessarily incorrect.

587
00:31:17,160 --> 00:31:19,799
It does not mean that it's a dud, and it's

588
00:31:19,839 --> 00:31:21,839
not going to color up once it's in your landscape.

589
00:31:21,839 --> 00:31:24,279
It just means that it needs the sun. Also very

590
00:31:24,319 --> 00:31:27,960
true if you're ordering by mail, because a couple days

591
00:31:27,960 --> 00:31:30,519
in a box, in a closed off box before it

592
00:31:30,559 --> 00:31:32,839
reaches you is also going to degrade those pigments. So

593
00:31:33,359 --> 00:31:36,039
not to worry. Get it outside in the full sun,

594
00:31:36,240 --> 00:31:39,720
and within weeks everything will return to exactly what you expect.

595
00:31:39,759 --> 00:31:40,680
I think it's not.

596
00:31:40,680 --> 00:31:45,240
Speaker 1: A pigment of your imagination. Great share rights to us.

597
00:31:45,279 --> 00:31:48,960
What is going on with these arborviti? Why all of them?

598
00:31:49,519 --> 00:31:50,920
Are they saveable?

599
00:31:51,160 --> 00:31:54,119
Speaker 2: Yes? So for our YouTube viewers you're looking at this.

600
00:31:55,440 --> 00:31:58,079
For our non YouTube viewers, what we're talking about is

601
00:31:58,160 --> 00:32:02,720
a row of arborvid looks like mushrooms, very very large

602
00:32:02,759 --> 00:32:03,839
overgrown mushrooms.

603
00:32:04,039 --> 00:32:05,240
Speaker 1: They're very interesting.

604
00:32:05,359 --> 00:32:08,319
Speaker 2: They're very interesting. So the top is green and kind

605
00:32:08,359 --> 00:32:12,079
of mushroom shaped, and then the bottom is brown and

606
00:32:12,680 --> 00:32:16,039
just like a stem. And what you have seen their

607
00:32:16,200 --> 00:32:19,240
share is complements of the deer that is a deer

608
00:32:19,319 --> 00:32:21,519
pruning job on arbor viting.

609
00:32:21,440 --> 00:32:25,960
Speaker 1: And I see them everywhere. I call them deer topiaries.

610
00:32:26,000 --> 00:32:28,160
Speaker 2: That's a great name for them, because that's pretty much

611
00:32:28,200 --> 00:32:28,960
exactly what they are.

612
00:32:29,160 --> 00:32:31,799
Speaker 1: We have some people who like that. Look can they

613
00:32:31,799 --> 00:32:34,640
come in the garden center asking, no, you got some

614
00:32:34,680 --> 00:32:38,079
of those deer topiaries? They do not jewel.

615
00:32:38,400 --> 00:32:41,039
Speaker 2: I wouldn't think so. But I'll tell you what. Now

616
00:32:41,039 --> 00:32:43,599
that you're hearing this from us on the Gardening Simplified Show,

617
00:32:43,880 --> 00:32:46,680
you probably will drive around and see these everywhere and

618
00:32:46,759 --> 00:32:50,240
know exactly what has happened. So yeah, what you'll see

619
00:32:50,240 --> 00:32:52,960
is that this happens basically at deer height. They love

620
00:32:53,079 --> 00:32:56,279
arborviti so much that they will just eat everything that

621
00:32:56,319 --> 00:32:59,720
they can possibly reach within raisin and then what they

622
00:32:59,720 --> 00:33:03,160
can't reach grows and is green and is totally unscathed.

623
00:33:03,839 --> 00:33:06,920
Now you're asking are they saveable? Which is a great question,

624
00:33:07,079 --> 00:33:09,359
and probably years ago I would have told you no.

625
00:33:10,079 --> 00:33:12,440
But I did see something very interesting happen near me

626
00:33:12,480 --> 00:33:14,960
where we have a lot of deer here in West Michigan.

627
00:33:15,920 --> 00:33:18,559
There is a marina that had a bunch of arbor

628
00:33:18,599 --> 00:33:21,759
idy planted along the road and the deer, of course,

629
00:33:21,839 --> 00:33:26,000
just were destroying them. And for a couple of years

630
00:33:26,079 --> 00:33:28,839
every winter they had a landscape company come out and

631
00:33:29,039 --> 00:33:32,960
wrap them in burlap. And I could not believe, if

632
00:33:32,960 --> 00:33:34,839
I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, how much

633
00:33:34,960 --> 00:33:38,839
they were covered as a result of just being physically

634
00:33:38,920 --> 00:33:42,480
barriered off from the deer. Every spring they would start

635
00:33:42,519 --> 00:33:44,200
to recover, they would grow, and the deer didn't really

636
00:33:44,240 --> 00:33:45,880
bother them so much in the summer when there's of

637
00:33:45,880 --> 00:33:49,880
course plenty of foods elsewhere. Yeah, and they did. They

638
00:33:50,000 --> 00:33:52,519
managed to come back in a way that I that

639
00:33:52,640 --> 00:33:56,279
really truly shocked me. So it is possible, but you

640
00:33:56,359 --> 00:33:58,119
do have to keep up on it, because one year

641
00:33:58,400 --> 00:34:01,359
they didn't call a landscape company and now those harbor

642
00:34:01,440 --> 00:34:05,000
viiety are right back to where they used to be. Yes,

643
00:34:05,319 --> 00:34:08,360
So yes, by covering them, especially in winter. You can

644
00:34:08,440 --> 00:34:11,719
use deer repellent now if you wish, but obviously there's

645
00:34:11,760 --> 00:34:13,679
nothing for them to eat, but cover them in winter

646
00:34:14,199 --> 00:34:16,159
to protect the growth that they're going to be putting

647
00:34:16,199 --> 00:34:20,480
on this spring. In this summer, just some burlapp will

648
00:34:20,480 --> 00:34:23,880
work great. You know deer repellent or you know deer deterrent.

649
00:34:23,960 --> 00:34:26,360
You'll have to keep reapplying through the season so that

650
00:34:26,400 --> 00:34:29,559
burlap seem to work great. Wrap it around the parts

651
00:34:29,559 --> 00:34:32,320
that they can reach. Do that every year, and yeah,

652
00:34:32,360 --> 00:34:35,800
they absolutely have a chance at returning, although since you

653
00:34:35,840 --> 00:34:38,119
are signing up for a long term maintenance job, you

654
00:34:38,159 --> 00:34:39,920
might also just want to replace them with something that

655
00:34:40,000 --> 00:34:40,840
is deer resistant.

656
00:34:41,119 --> 00:34:47,320
Speaker 1: So or enjoy the topiaries and accept compliments on their robust.

657
00:34:47,000 --> 00:34:50,920
Speaker 2: Run, or that we're going to take a little break

658
00:34:50,960 --> 00:34:53,920
when we come back. We're continuing our conversation on container growing,

659
00:34:53,960 --> 00:35:02,840
so please see didn't Thanks for listening to the Gardening

660
00:35:02,880 --> 00:35:06,440
Simplified podcast, brought to you by Proven Winners Color Choice Shrubs.

661
00:35:06,599 --> 00:35:09,400
Our award winning flowering shrubs and evergreens are trialed and

662
00:35:09,440 --> 00:35:12,559
tested by experts with your success in mind. Learn more

663
00:35:12,599 --> 00:35:16,480
at Proven Winners color Choice dot com.

664
00:35:16,639 --> 00:35:19,159
Speaker 1: Welcome back to the Gardening Simplified Show. As we talk

665
00:35:19,199 --> 00:35:23,159
about planting up your containers, Stacey, I wanted to mention

666
00:35:23,280 --> 00:35:26,719
right off the bat here that well, some food for thought,

667
00:35:27,039 --> 00:35:30,679
feed your containers. That's my opinion. Whenever I plant up

668
00:35:30,679 --> 00:35:35,039
my containers, I'll use a granular fertilizer when I put

669
00:35:35,079 --> 00:35:38,199
the plants in the ground, then I supplement with a

670
00:35:38,280 --> 00:35:43,559
water soluble fertilizer. I love the proven Winners fertilizers because

671
00:35:43,800 --> 00:35:46,920
they have not only the major nutrients in them, but

672
00:35:47,000 --> 00:35:50,199
they have the micro nutrients. So I'll feed with granular

673
00:35:50,360 --> 00:35:55,280
at the outset and then supplement with water soluble. I

674
00:35:55,320 --> 00:36:00,239
also love to try to restore or claim broken pot

675
00:36:00,679 --> 00:36:04,960
I'll sink broken pots into the ground and use them

676
00:36:05,280 --> 00:36:09,440
as containers as such, or if I have an old,

677
00:36:09,639 --> 00:36:12,519
worn out container like I do right now, a large

678
00:36:12,519 --> 00:36:15,559
square pot it's kind of falling apart, I go to

679
00:36:15,599 --> 00:36:19,239
the hardware store or lumber store, pick up some cedar planks,

680
00:36:19,599 --> 00:36:22,400
build a box around it, and I get a few

681
00:36:22,440 --> 00:36:23,960
more years out of it.

682
00:36:24,199 --> 00:36:26,639
Speaker 2: Now, from your years in the garden center, you know,

683
00:36:26,880 --> 00:36:31,000
you used to sell a lot of pottery tons, So

684
00:36:31,159 --> 00:36:32,960
like what percentage would arrive damaged?

685
00:36:34,199 --> 00:36:39,920
Speaker 1: I would say probably three three four percent arrived damaged.

686
00:36:39,960 --> 00:36:43,119
Then as you process it, you damage some more. And

687
00:36:43,119 --> 00:36:47,679
I'll tell you what, Ceramic pottery can be very very dangerous.

688
00:36:48,639 --> 00:36:52,440
I have seen many injuries and myself cut my hand

689
00:36:52,639 --> 00:36:55,800
on ceramic pottery. Yeah, it's so you have to be

690
00:36:56,199 --> 00:37:00,159
careful in handling it, and not everybody can handle ceramic potter.

691
00:37:00,400 --> 00:37:03,400
Speaker 2: Heavy it is. And you know, I always rear gardening

692
00:37:03,400 --> 00:37:06,559
gloves when I'm bringing mine up from the basement to

693
00:37:06,719 --> 00:37:09,079
the upstairs, just so I get that extra little grip,

694
00:37:09,159 --> 00:37:11,639
because that's you know, moving those ceramic pots. It's one

695
00:37:11,639 --> 00:37:13,760
of those things that you think, oh, I got this,

696
00:37:14,360 --> 00:37:17,000
and then you get like halfway from your storage point

697
00:37:17,039 --> 00:37:19,800
to your outdoor destination and you're like, I don't got this.

698
00:37:20,599 --> 00:37:22,840
Speaker 1: Drop one on your foot and you're gonna feel it

699
00:37:22,920 --> 00:37:23,519
for a while.

700
00:37:23,639 --> 00:37:26,000
Speaker 2: Yeah, and you'll feel the impact in your pocketbook when

701
00:37:26,000 --> 00:37:29,280
you break one of your expensive containers. So they are fragile.

702
00:37:29,440 --> 00:37:31,599
I mean, they're beautiful, and I you know, almost all

703
00:37:31,639 --> 00:37:34,639
of my containers are single color ceramic containers. I love it.

704
00:37:34,679 --> 00:37:37,760
But it's interesting to know that, you know, there's that

705
00:37:37,880 --> 00:37:40,559
kind of amount of breakage just you know, just because

706
00:37:40,599 --> 00:37:42,159
they are fragile and they move around.

707
00:37:42,239 --> 00:37:43,360
Speaker 1: They're heavy and fragile.

708
00:37:43,440 --> 00:37:44,880
Speaker 2: Yes, not a great combination.

709
00:37:45,360 --> 00:37:48,239
Speaker 1: That's why I keep a two wheel cart in my shed.

710
00:37:48,960 --> 00:37:51,800
Some people would refer to it as a dolly to

711
00:37:51,840 --> 00:37:54,760
be able to move stuff like that around, especially as

712
00:37:54,760 --> 00:37:57,440
I get older and really don't care to try and

713
00:37:57,920 --> 00:38:01,800
impress anyone that I can pick that. Now we talked

714
00:38:01,840 --> 00:38:06,199
about thriller, filler, spiller. Good thriller choices include, in my opinion,

715
00:38:06,480 --> 00:38:11,719
tall grasses like the fountain grass, skyrocket. I love using skyrocket,

716
00:38:12,039 --> 00:38:16,719
two can cannas, Drsina plants or cordellines. I love anything

717
00:38:16,800 --> 00:38:20,920
that's tropical as my thriller. In the center of a

718
00:38:21,000 --> 00:38:26,880
container tall Salvius, meteor shower, verbina, some shrubs, maybe a

719
00:38:26,960 --> 00:38:29,519
shrub like Bobo Bobo.

720
00:38:29,719 --> 00:38:31,800
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, I was. I was going to make

721
00:38:31,840 --> 00:38:36,159
Bobo the plant on trial today because years ago, many

722
00:38:36,199 --> 00:38:38,079
many years ago, when I was first started here, when

723
00:38:38,119 --> 00:38:41,400
Bobo first came out, we had a very very large

724
00:38:41,440 --> 00:38:44,920
container with a Bobo Hydrangea in it, planted with Vista

725
00:38:45,119 --> 00:38:49,400
supertunia vista bubblegum around it. And man, the people were

726
00:38:49,440 --> 00:38:52,000
just like, I want to know exactly how to do

727
00:38:52,159 --> 00:38:55,199
this exact container. People just absolutely loved it.

728
00:38:55,760 --> 00:38:59,960
Speaker 1: Another thriller. I love Alocasia emerald Isle. That may be

729
00:39:01,000 --> 00:39:04,199
my favorite. This one's fabulous and I can grow it

730
00:39:04,239 --> 00:39:09,679
in shade or sun hibiscus. You know, you could consider the.

731
00:39:10,360 --> 00:39:11,960
Speaker 2: Hollywood Hollywood hibsius.

732
00:39:12,320 --> 00:39:14,400
Speaker 1: Such make a great thrillers.

733
00:39:13,800 --> 00:39:16,000
Speaker 2: Such a great container plant, especially for those of us

734
00:39:16,000 --> 00:39:18,239
in cold climates. Who that is really our only way

735
00:39:18,280 --> 00:39:20,159
to grow it. But even if you live in a

736
00:39:20,199 --> 00:39:23,360
warm climate and you're just planting on your patio, it

737
00:39:23,440 --> 00:39:25,840
makes a great choice there because these things bloom all

738
00:39:25,960 --> 00:39:29,840
summer long with big, super colorful flowers that stick straight

739
00:39:29,920 --> 00:39:32,199
out rather than hang down, so you can really enjoy

740
00:39:32,239 --> 00:39:35,920
that face, a beautiful face of the hibiscus. You know,

741
00:39:36,000 --> 00:39:39,400
even if I could grow tropical hibiscus in a landscape,

742
00:39:39,480 --> 00:39:41,119
I think I would still grow it in a container. Yeah,

743
00:39:41,559 --> 00:39:43,280
so I could engage with it more and really enjoy

744
00:39:43,320 --> 00:39:44,000
those flowers.

745
00:39:44,199 --> 00:39:49,519
Speaker 1: Agree, majesty palm or a phoenix, Robellini palm, date palm,

746
00:39:49,639 --> 00:39:54,079
love palms as thrillers and containers vines, especially if you

747
00:39:54,119 --> 00:39:56,840
have a support in the center so that the vine

748
00:39:56,920 --> 00:40:00,239
can go vertical. And we haven't mentioned yet to day

749
00:40:00,719 --> 00:40:04,199
crossbine dressed to thrill that maybe that's something.

750
00:40:03,920 --> 00:40:06,320
Speaker 2: That could be that could be an interesting choice for sure.

751
00:40:06,440 --> 00:40:11,559
Speaker 1: Graceful grasses prints tut the dwarf Egyptian papyrus. That's a

752
00:40:11,559 --> 00:40:12,239
great one too.

753
00:40:12,400 --> 00:40:15,079
Speaker 2: Now that's one that you could grow in a container with.

754
00:40:15,039 --> 00:40:16,280
Speaker 1: No draak, no drainage holes.

755
00:40:16,360 --> 00:40:20,519
Speaker 2: You could So we have found you've found a plant here.

756
00:40:20,960 --> 00:40:22,880
If you have one of those fabulous containers with no

757
00:40:22,960 --> 00:40:24,920
drainage holes and you don't want to drill them, which

758
00:40:24,960 --> 00:40:27,639
you probably don't want to drill an a ceramic container anyway,

759
00:40:28,159 --> 00:40:32,000
any of the proven winners tut papyrus will work great

760
00:40:32,119 --> 00:40:32,880
in that container.

761
00:40:32,960 --> 00:40:33,519
Speaker 1: They'll love it.

762
00:40:33,920 --> 00:40:36,079
Speaker 2: Just make sure your neighbors aren't outside when you empty

763
00:40:36,119 --> 00:40:38,840
that container in the fall, because that soil is going

764
00:40:38,920 --> 00:40:42,519
to be pretty darn smelly. That can smell it already

765
00:40:42,639 --> 00:40:43,679
and too unfortunately.

766
00:40:44,079 --> 00:40:45,960
Speaker 1: So you have the thrillers in the center, then we

767
00:40:46,039 --> 00:40:48,519
work our way to the outside with the fillers. The

768
00:40:48,599 --> 00:40:53,199
supporting cast fillers are the workhorses of your container. They're

769
00:40:53,320 --> 00:40:56,639
usually mounding plants that fill in the space around your

770
00:40:56,679 --> 00:41:01,400
thriller create a full, lush look. And I had mentioned

771
00:41:01,440 --> 00:41:06,599
perennials earlier, like hostas or hu karas. So many great

772
00:41:06,760 --> 00:41:10,840
plants to use as fillers. I like Verbina superbnas, any

773
00:41:10,880 --> 00:41:14,679
of those, the bidens or the mini vista petunias, they're

774
00:41:14,760 --> 00:41:20,800
fabulous fillers. Truffala, pink gamprina is great. All of those

775
00:41:20,840 --> 00:41:23,960
would provide great fillers. But the idea is to give

776
00:41:24,000 --> 00:41:28,039
the container some GRAVI toss by filling in around the

777
00:41:28,119 --> 00:41:31,320
thriller that's planted in the center, and then as we

778
00:41:31,360 --> 00:41:34,480
work our way to the outside, we have spillers or trailers,

779
00:41:34,519 --> 00:41:37,679
cascading plants that drape over the edge of your container,

780
00:41:38,360 --> 00:41:43,119
softening the look and adding some movement. We had a

781
00:41:44,000 --> 00:41:46,880
listener to the show, I think earlier this year what

782
00:41:47,079 --> 00:41:50,360
was at Upstate New York that had those super tall containers.

783
00:41:50,920 --> 00:41:53,440
And if you have a tall container, boy, the spiller

784
00:41:53,559 --> 00:41:57,760
is super important. It's a similar concept to the edging

785
00:41:58,000 --> 00:42:01,440
or edger that you would lose you use in a landscape.

786
00:42:01,960 --> 00:42:04,280
If you do it right, it tends to pull the

787
00:42:04,360 --> 00:42:09,000
whole thing together. Lobularia And of course one of the

788
00:42:09,039 --> 00:42:13,800
most popular potato vine would be great. And there's a

789
00:42:14,039 --> 00:42:18,719
great new potato vine this year has been selling fabulously

790
00:42:19,000 --> 00:42:22,079
in the greenhouse. I need to have it for my containers.

791
00:42:22,360 --> 00:42:27,079
It's an introduction this year, Sweet Caroline Sweetheart shadow Storm.

792
00:42:27,239 --> 00:42:31,960
It's an ornamental sweet potato. It has the bright green

793
00:42:32,320 --> 00:42:36,719
foliage with super dark foliage. It's real blotchy. Oh.

794
00:42:37,679 --> 00:42:39,719
Speaker 2: I think it's really cool too. I really like it.

795
00:42:39,880 --> 00:42:42,679
And it's kind of one of those plants that can

796
00:42:42,719 --> 00:42:45,519
go with just about anything. It's going to be a really,

797
00:42:45,559 --> 00:42:47,800
really nice, versatile plan. I think you.

798
00:42:47,800 --> 00:42:53,920
Speaker 1: Bet silver falls dichondra. I love any of the plectranthis.

799
00:42:53,960 --> 00:42:58,880
I love guacamole trailing over the side of a pot,

800
00:42:59,239 --> 00:43:03,559
and I'll add it in a large pot. At one time, Stacy,

801
00:43:03,719 --> 00:43:07,760
I tried oh so easy roses and it actually worked pretty.

802
00:43:07,559 --> 00:43:08,719
Speaker 2: Coo oh that's good to know.

803
00:43:09,039 --> 00:43:10,679
Speaker 1: Yeah, so that was fun. You know.

804
00:43:10,760 --> 00:43:13,079
Speaker 2: I would also say, as you're putting together your container,

805
00:43:13,760 --> 00:43:17,480
don't judge it right after you plant it. You know,

806
00:43:17,599 --> 00:43:20,280
it takes time for these things to knit together. And

807
00:43:20,360 --> 00:43:22,719
if you have just finished your plant and your container

808
00:43:22,760 --> 00:43:26,840
and you step back and you go, eh, give it time,

809
00:43:26,920 --> 00:43:29,960
it's not you. It takes time for your vision to

810
00:43:30,000 --> 00:43:32,920
come to fruition. And if you're thinking of some amazingly

811
00:43:32,960 --> 00:43:35,679
fabulous container that you've seen in the past, well chances

812
00:43:35,679 --> 00:43:37,400
are you saw that at peak later on in the

813
00:43:37,400 --> 00:43:40,440
summer when everything grew together. So give things a chance

814
00:43:40,480 --> 00:43:42,920
to grow. You can always make changes later, but don't

815
00:43:43,400 --> 00:43:45,239
judge it based on you know, when you just got

816
00:43:45,239 --> 00:43:48,519
those you know, three or five little tiny plants in

817
00:43:48,559 --> 00:43:50,840
the container and you see all that soil and you're like,

818
00:43:51,000 --> 00:43:52,679
this is never gonna work. It will work.

819
00:43:52,760 --> 00:43:55,159
Speaker 1: Just have fi will work. Don't judge your book by

820
00:43:55,199 --> 00:44:00,000
its cover. I do have to mention again, I see

821
00:44:00,079 --> 00:44:02,679
a lot of people making the mistake with containers that

822
00:44:02,719 --> 00:44:05,239
they don't know how to water, and so they just

823
00:44:05,320 --> 00:44:08,079
decide to water every day just a little bit. The

824
00:44:08,119 --> 00:44:11,559
soil in the upper profile is soaking wet, and the

825
00:44:11,599 --> 00:44:15,679
soil down below is dust dry. When you water, water thoroughly.

826
00:44:15,760 --> 00:44:20,199
Because we've already covered the drainage whole issue, and bear

827
00:44:20,239 --> 00:44:23,960
in mind that today there are aquapots. There are self

828
00:44:24,119 --> 00:44:30,920
watering pots, wicking pots. These aquapots are very cool, and

829
00:44:31,079 --> 00:44:33,840
we just did a talk this past weekend at the

830
00:44:33,840 --> 00:44:37,360
Greenhouse and Stacy a lot of people were interested in

831
00:44:37,400 --> 00:44:40,400
the features of an aqua pot and how it makes

832
00:44:40,440 --> 00:44:41,360
watering easier.

833
00:44:41,440 --> 00:44:43,239
Speaker 2: Right. The cool thing about the aquapots is you can

834
00:44:43,320 --> 00:44:46,519
get the inserts to go in any container exactly. You

835
00:44:46,559 --> 00:44:49,519
don't just have to already have a self watering container.

836
00:44:49,880 --> 00:44:52,079
But there are a number of self watering containers out there.

837
00:44:52,119 --> 00:44:54,360
The thing that no one tells you about self watering containers,

838
00:44:54,719 --> 00:44:58,000
you do have to water them conventionally until the roots

839
00:44:58,440 --> 00:45:01,199
go down deep enough for them wicking to actually have

840
00:45:01,280 --> 00:45:04,599
an effect, because the wicking does not just start to

841
00:45:04,679 --> 00:45:07,000
go up where the roots are after you've just planted.

842
00:45:07,079 --> 00:45:09,599
So the general guideline if you're planting into a self

843
00:45:09,599 --> 00:45:12,880
watering container, you want to do probably about six weeks

844
00:45:12,920 --> 00:45:16,239
of conventional watering till the roots really start going and

845
00:45:16,280 --> 00:45:19,400
get down enough into the soil matrix that that self

846
00:45:19,440 --> 00:45:23,440
watering feature will actually work. So don't give up hope

847
00:45:23,440 --> 00:45:25,239
too early and say hey, this is in self watering

848
00:45:25,280 --> 00:45:28,199
at all. Need to have roots in place before it

849
00:45:28,239 --> 00:45:29,440
can actually self water.

850
00:45:29,599 --> 00:45:32,159
Speaker 1: It's important to note and of course bear in mind

851
00:45:32,280 --> 00:45:34,360
a Mother's Day weekend, a lot of people will be

852
00:45:34,400 --> 00:45:39,639
getting ten inch hanging baskets, those common ten inch smaller baskets.

853
00:45:39,639 --> 00:45:43,679
Of course, greenhouses and garden centers have beautiful, big hanging

854
00:45:43,760 --> 00:45:47,400
baskets that you can purchase, wonderful, enjoy it, Mom will

855
00:45:47,400 --> 00:45:49,920
love it. But if you get one of those smaller ones,

856
00:45:50,039 --> 00:45:52,079
just bear in mind odds are it's not going to

857
00:45:52,119 --> 00:45:54,960
make it through the summer and it's well, there's nothing

858
00:45:55,000 --> 00:45:59,119
wrong with upsizing it into a larger container because again,

859
00:45:59,599 --> 00:46:03,360
stay the soil mass does matter as we get into

860
00:46:03,400 --> 00:46:04,760
the heat of something.

861
00:46:04,599 --> 00:46:08,480
Speaker 2: That makes a huge difference. Well, this was fun, Yes

862
00:46:08,559 --> 00:46:10,800
it was Yeah, did you contain yourself?

863
00:46:10,960 --> 00:46:15,039
Speaker 1: A lot of ground to cover. Thanks Stacey, thank you Rick,

864
00:46:15,119 --> 00:46:18,800
Thanks Adrianna, and thanks to you for watching us on YouTube,

865
00:46:18,880 --> 00:46:22,400
downloading our podcast, or listening to the radio version of

866
00:46:22,639 --> 00:46:24,320
our show. Have a great week.