Speaker 1: Coming to you from Iconic Studio a here at proven
Speaker 1: Winners Color Choice Shrubs. It's time for the Gardening Simplified
Speaker 1: radio podcast and YouTube show with Stacy Hervella, me Rick Weist,
Speaker 1: and our engineer and producer Adrianna Robinson. Well, we're getting
Speaker 1: into a key time of the year in the whole
Speaker 1: gardening cycle. Fall an opportunity to make changes in your landscape.
Speaker 1: So today would be a good day to talk about
Speaker 1: some things that you can do now to ensure the
Speaker 1: fact that you're going to have a better landscape next spring.
Speaker 1: And I'll tell you what, Stacey. You inspired me with
Speaker 1: your video of your yard and your project, because I
Speaker 1: got to thinking about supply and demand. Many gardeners and
Speaker 1: landscape landscapers highly recommend adding mulch to your soil in
Speaker 1: the fall for a plethora of reasons. Now, often in
Speaker 1: spring you'll see people after a long winter, they're fired
Speaker 1: up about the gardening season, and they'll order some huge
Speaker 1: ten or twenty yard load of mulch that's dropped in
Speaker 1: a driveway and now you're spreading multch every night after
Speaker 1: work for weeks to come. But fall actually is a
Speaker 1: smart time of the year. I think to apply mulch,
Speaker 1: because if you think about it, you're going to protect
Speaker 1: the soil and the roots of these plants as winter
Speaker 1: comes along and next spring. Instead of spreading mults, you're
Speaker 1: going to be able to do the things that you
Speaker 1: want to do, like planting, pruning, and spreading seeds.
Speaker 2: You know, that's a great point. I think a lot
Speaker 2: of people, including myself, often think of spring as kind
Speaker 2: of prime mulching time because the plants are dormant, so
Speaker 2: you don't have to worry about fussing around things and
Speaker 2: lifting up leaves and trying to get stuff under there.
Speaker 2: But fall, especially if you wait till the plants are dormant,
Speaker 2: are nearly so has very much the same benefits. Sure,
Speaker 2: and you know you don't have to worry so much
Speaker 2: about the plants then trying to make their way through
Speaker 2: the mulch, because by the time spring rolls around, you know,
Speaker 2: the wind and the rain and everything will have worked
Speaker 2: on the mulch. It'll be flattened out and ready to go.
Speaker 2: But it is too late for me, because yes, I
Speaker 2: did spread twenty eight yards of mulch on Memorial Day weekend,
Speaker 2: but I will remember that for the future.
Speaker 1: Well, they call it fall for a reason. I mean,
Speaker 1: think about what the trees are doing in the woods.
Speaker 1: They're dropping the leaves and mulching the soil. And I'm
Speaker 1: still one that is very much for shredding leaves and
Speaker 1: using them as a mulch. But that's something that you
Speaker 1: could do this fall. I'd like to throw into the
Speaker 1: mix too. I recommend that you invest. I was looking
Speaker 1: at money market rates at five percent on a six
Speaker 1: month certificate of deposit. That means that if you were
Speaker 1: to invest now next spring, you could use that money
Speaker 1: to buy plants and use the interest for all the
Speaker 1: accessories like pots, fertilizer, and soil that can get rather expensive.
Speaker 1: If you don't have that kind of liquidity, then what
Speaker 1: you could do is invest in plants at your local
Speaker 1: garden center or greenhouse this fall. Stacy, You're going to
Speaker 1: get those plants at a bargain and they're going to
Speaker 1: be off to the races next spring if you put
Speaker 1: them in the ground this fall.
Speaker 3: It's so true.
Speaker 2: I mean, people really need to understand how much garden
Speaker 2: centers and nurseries do not want to have to overwinter
Speaker 2: that material. And so yeah, you can get some amazing bargains,
Speaker 2: and you might go to the garden center and find
Speaker 2: that the plants don't look quite as prime as you
Speaker 2: have in your mind, and that is normal. They are
Speaker 2: going dormant. And it's not uncommon for plants in a
Speaker 2: nursery situation to go dormant a little bit earlier for
Speaker 2: a couple of reasons. Number one, they started much earlier
Speaker 2: because they spent winter in a greenhouse, so they had
Speaker 2: an earlier start. So they're getting pretty tired. And you know,
Speaker 2: for two, there's a chance of uneven watering. And here
Speaker 2: in Michigan, man, has it been a fall or what?
Speaker 2: It has been so hot, it has been so dry,
Speaker 2: and yeah, so a lot of those plants will look
Speaker 2: as though they're struggling, but really they're just like, you
Speaker 2: know what, I'm done. I'm out conserving my resources, go
Speaker 2: in to bed for the fall. But that doesn't mean
Speaker 2: it's not still going to be a great plant for you.
Speaker 2: So take that risk, especially if it is a great price.
Speaker 2: The risk is very very low. Don't judge it by
Speaker 2: what it looks like when you're standing there at the
Speaker 2: end of September in the garden center.
Speaker 1: Don't judge a book by its cover. You're exactly right,
Speaker 1: and by next spring it'll be beautiful. As a matter
Speaker 1: of fact, I'm one to do this and buy bargain
Speaker 1: plants in fall. It's fun for me. I'm Dutch. That's okay,
Speaker 1: I don't mind. I'll admit it. As a matter of fact,
Speaker 1: I wrote you a little limb of Eric Stacey in
Speaker 1: regards to this subject. A penny saved is a penny earned.
Speaker 1: At least, that's what I've learned in the world of
Speaker 1: horticultural jargon. Who doesn't love a distressed bargain nothing to lose,
Speaker 1: I won't get burned, right.
Speaker 2: Yeah, absolutely, It's very low stakes, and chances are the
Speaker 2: plants are going to be totally Fu'm better than fine.
Speaker 2: You know. It's like people go to the garden center.
Speaker 2: They go, you know, mom's a little bit of haystack,
Speaker 2: a little bit of cornstock, pumpkin maybe then out like.
Speaker 3: And whoa, whoa, whoa.
Speaker 2: There's just this whole part of the garden center that
Speaker 2: you are missing out, Hans. So don't just make that
Speaker 2: that you turn to the pumpkin section and leave just saying,
Speaker 2: you know.
Speaker 1: It's been known as spring since the fourteenth century. There's
Speaker 1: an old English word. I have no idea how to
Speaker 1: pronounce it. I think it's springing. It's spring with an
Speaker 1: an on the end, but it translates into springing time
Speaker 1: or to leap or to burst forth. The point is,
Speaker 1: now is the time to acquire bulbs that you could
Speaker 1: put in the ground that will spring forth next spring.
Speaker 1: And garlic, whether it's garlic narcissus iris, fritillarias aliums, Crocus, tulips, highacince,
Speaker 1: et cetera, et cetera. I really think that that's a
Speaker 1: great investment in fall. And again, when you think about
Speaker 1: bulbs like garlic, alien Fritillaria narciss iris, deer and pests
Speaker 1: will generally leave them alone. And something you can do
Speaker 1: if you're going to invest in these bulbs I do
Speaker 1: it all the time is I'll dig the trench or
Speaker 1: the hole and I'll just have some inexpensive chicken wire around,
Speaker 1: drop that down in the hole, put the bulbs in,
Speaker 1: wrap them, and then put the rest of the soil
Speaker 1: over top. And it seems to work. Well.
Speaker 2: You know, no one ever regrets planting bulbs. You can
Speaker 2: quote me on this if you would like. And I
Speaker 2: am such a proponent of bulbs. I mean, oh my gosh,
Speaker 2: the work you put into planting bulbs, it just pays
Speaker 2: off four years usually. And that's what We're going to
Speaker 2: have a whole show on bulbs coming up, so we'll
Speaker 2: get way deep into it because we are some of
Speaker 2: bulbs's biggest fans.
Speaker 3: And I'm not even touch.
Speaker 1: If you have some turf area in your landscape, and
Speaker 1: if you don't fertilize all year long, that's fine, just
Speaker 1: make sure you're fertilizing in fall. The turf is not
Speaker 1: putting energy into top growth. You fertilize, you're going to
Speaker 1: have a denser, thicker, weed free lawn. I think fall
Speaker 1: is the perfect time if you have some turf areas
Speaker 1: that you want to improve, apply some fertilizer to the lawn.
Speaker 1: It will make a big difference.
Speaker 2: Now, are you a fall thatcher or a spring thatcher?
Speaker 1: On the low? Ooh I am I'm not a thatcher.
Speaker 1: I'm a core air r.
Speaker 2: I meant that's what I meant, cororation, not thatching, de thatching.
Speaker 1: Yeah, core air rating. I personally believe anytime is a
Speaker 1: good time to core air rate if the soil needs it. Now,
Speaker 1: some people won't do it in the heat of summer,
Speaker 1: and I can understand why. So spring and fall probably best.
Speaker 1: In fall, yeah, a great time.
Speaker 2: Yeah. The great thing about core aeration in the fall
Speaker 2: is that all of those plugs that come out that
Speaker 2: look like gooseboop will decompose over winter for the most part,
Speaker 2: kind of flatten out, and you won't have to look
Speaker 2: at them for weeks on end.
Speaker 3: Good fort sign from experience.
Speaker 1: Good point. And I love core air rating. It shakes
Speaker 1: the fillings in the back of your teeth and it's
Speaker 1: just fun. It's lots and lots of fun. And you
Speaker 1: do it during halftime of the football game. So that's
Speaker 1: a great thing to do. Learn the difference between annual
Speaker 1: and perennial weeds. I still believe fall is the time
Speaker 1: to control weeds because they're going to translate locate herbicide
Speaker 1: into the root system if you use an herbicide better
Speaker 1: in fall than they will in spring, where you'll get
Speaker 1: top kill. But again, a thicker, denser lawn, or just
Speaker 1: general control of weeds. Falls a great time to identify
Speaker 1: those annual weed rosettes that are going to become a
Speaker 1: problem next spring, and also the perennial weeds in your landscape,
Speaker 1: so Stacey, throughout the years, I have always done my
Speaker 1: weed control in fall. Yeah.
Speaker 2: People think about weeds as just a pest, but they
Speaker 2: actually are individual plants, and it pays so much to
Speaker 2: just learn what they are a little bit about their
Speaker 2: life cycle. And I don't know, maybe it's just me,
Speaker 2: but I think that buy and large, you resent them
Speaker 2: a little bit less when you know them a little better.
Speaker 1: There you go.
Speaker 3: We're just trying to they're just trying to live.
Speaker 1: Now, let me go to the Dutch side again. Here
Speaker 1: a minutte real quick, and that is I like to
Speaker 1: pick up potting soil in fall. Many times you can
Speaker 1: get a bargain on potting soil and fall. And just
Speaker 1: think about this. If you refresh your containers or put
Speaker 1: potting soil in your containers in fall next spring when
Speaker 1: you're anxious or you've gone to the greenhouse and you've
Speaker 1: picked up your little babies and you can't wait to
Speaker 1: plant them, you don't have to mess around with that step.
Speaker 1: You've got it done in fall. I think falls a
Speaker 1: great time to refresh the soil in your container.
Speaker 2: Oh that's an interesting idea. I guess if you have
Speaker 2: the storage space very often it is also on sale
Speaker 2: because much like the plants, garden center owners and box
Speaker 2: stores do not want to haul that around or shrink
Speaker 2: wrap it and move it to the back forty or
Speaker 2: whatever they're going to do about it. And yeah, just
Speaker 2: you should take advantage of that. Scoop up that bargain.
Speaker 1: You've got it well. Coming up in segment four, we
Speaker 1: have additional items to share with you, things that you
Speaker 1: could do now to have a better landscape next spring.
Speaker 1: You know. The lawn and short of it, Stacey is
Speaker 1: that I love the fall season and I think it's
Speaker 1: the perfect time of the year to be out there gardener.
Speaker 2: It is you got to take advantage of the good weather,
Speaker 2: will you.
Speaker 1: Again, Let's see what Stacey has for us today in
Speaker 1: Plants on Trial that's coming up next here on the
Speaker 1: Gardening Simplified Show.
Speaker 2: Proven Winners Colored Choice Shrubs cares about your success in
Speaker 2: the garden. That's why we trial and test all of
Speaker 2: our shrubs for eight to ten years, making sure they
Speaker 2: outperform everything else on the market. Look for them and
Speaker 2: the distinctive white container at your local garden center. Greeting's
Speaker 2: gardening friends, and welcome back to the gardening simplified show
Speaker 2: where the order of the day is what you can
Speaker 2: do now to save yourself a little bit of time
Speaker 2: and effort in Remember that old fable about the grasshopper
Speaker 2: and the ants where the ants were busy stockpiling for fall,
Speaker 2: and the grasshopper was playing his fiddle and yes, not
Speaker 2: doing anything, and then he left at the ants. He's like,
Speaker 2: why are you all working so hard? I'm having a
Speaker 2: grand old time here in the fall. And then he
Speaker 2: almost froze to death in the winter.
Speaker 1: Yeah, kind of like that. Good lesson, Yeah, good lesson,
Speaker 1: You're better off being antsy.
Speaker 2: I think that's like an Esop's fable or something. I
Speaker 2: just have a vague memory of having it in a
Speaker 2: book when I was kidding, but it just reminded me
Speaker 2: of the same kind of thing. You have to, you know,
Speaker 2: put a little effort in and it will pay off.
Speaker 2: And that is very much what today's plant on Trial
Speaker 2: is about. So, you know, we have talked many times
Speaker 2: about how fault is a great time for planting because
Speaker 2: you know, the temperatures are cooler, the days are shortening,
Speaker 2: so the plant is going dormant on top, and that
Speaker 2: means that all of the energy that it has can
Speaker 2: go into root growth rather than trying to support all
Speaker 2: that foliage, all that flower photosynthesizing all the time, drying
Speaker 2: out from the sun, drying out from the wind. So
Speaker 2: it's just like, you know what, I've got one thing
Speaker 2: to do, and it's grow roots. And that is a
Speaker 2: real benefits lutely for plants. But that's said, there are
Speaker 2: a couple of things that you should avoid planting in fall,
Speaker 2: and we have talked about those as well, But just
Speaker 2: as a reminder, if you live in a colder climate
Speaker 2: like us here in Michigan, are really anywhere where it
Speaker 2: gets snowy frozen, you generally want to avoid planting evergreens
Speaker 2: in fall, and especially broad leaf evergreen. So a broad
Speaker 2: leaf evergreen is basically not a conifer. It's going to
Speaker 2: be something like a holly or a rhododendron. You want
Speaker 2: to avoid planting those generally in fall, although of course,
Speaker 2: if you get one of those great bargains that we
Speaker 2: talked about, you might find yourself doing that. In that case,
Speaker 2: different situation.
Speaker 1: Plant away, but I would agree with you, Stacy, unless
Speaker 1: you're planting it in a really well protected area, then
Speaker 1: you can probably get away with it.
Speaker 2: And you're definitely going to want to mult those if
Speaker 2: you do try that. But so that's something I don't recommend.
Speaker 2: And I also don't recommend that you plant in fall
Speaker 2: anything where you're pushing the plant's heartiness zonne. And you know,
Speaker 2: as gardeners, a lot of us do this, like we
Speaker 2: like to say, oh, hey, you know, this is not
Speaker 2: quite hardy here, but I've seen it survive some places
Speaker 2: and I want to try it. So I am fully
Speaker 2: in support of those types of experiments. But really, if
Speaker 2: you're pushing the hardiness own on something, or it's a
Speaker 2: plant that typically gets winter damage in your climate, and
Speaker 2: I think butterfly bush is a great example, you don't
Speaker 2: want to plant those in full because then there's not
Speaker 2: necessarily enough time for them to develop a good root
Speaker 2: system to withstand any of the challenges winter is going
Speaker 2: to throw at it. You really want to give those
Speaker 2: the benefit of having the spring to fall window to
Speaker 2: grow and.
Speaker 3: Put en route.
Speaker 2: So those are really my primary you know, sort of
Speaker 2: caveats with fall planting, but you know, you also want
Speaker 2: to take this time to invest in things that are
Speaker 2: going to really make your landscape look good sooner than later,
Speaker 2: because you know, even when you plant bulbs. I mean
Speaker 2: this happens to me. I don't know if it happens
Speaker 2: to other people, but you plant those bulbs and you're
Speaker 2: just like, all right.
Speaker 3: Yeah, let's go.
Speaker 2: You know, you're so excited to see them, and you
Speaker 2: know it's going to be months, but you start looking
Speaker 2: forward to that. So it's important, I think, too, to
Speaker 2: use the time to plant something that you can really
Speaker 2: look forward to seeing and doing something well in spring. Now, overall,
Speaker 2: plants are not going to perform their best until they're established,
Speaker 2: which is to say they have a good root system
Speaker 2: in place that they can use all those resources to
Speaker 2: growing and flowering and all of that. But that doesn't
Speaker 2: mean you don't want to see some great results the
Speaker 2: following spring. So I have got the perfect plant for you.
Speaker 2: Today's plant on trial is double plate red Spyria. Now,
Speaker 2: are you a spyria snob?
Speaker 1: I am not a Spyria snob.
Speaker 2: I don't know if you're really a snob about much
Speaker 2: of anything in the garden. Rick, Thank you, I think
Speaker 2: that's a nice thing.
Speaker 1: I happen to like Spyrea. I just find them to
Speaker 1: be easy to grow and beautiful.
Speaker 2: Yeah, they kind of just like to sit around looking
Speaker 2: pretty great without asking a whole lot.
Speaker 1: I mean to me, it's it's not a plant that
Speaker 1: is just planted in front of at Okay, yeah you
Speaker 1: said it.
Speaker 2: And the other place, famously where they are often planted
Speaker 2: is new subdivisions, new developments, are you know, commercial buildings,
Speaker 2: that kind of thing. It's kind of like a con
Speaker 2: you know, like if you have a house, it's like
Speaker 2: the contractor grade cabinets. It's sort of like the contractor
Speaker 2: grade plant. Shrub is very often spirea, and so a
Speaker 2: lot of people have a very snobby attitude about Spyria
Speaker 2: and kind of turn their noses up at it, especially horticulturists, gardeners.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and the same category as potentilla. Yeah, same kind
Speaker 1: of thing.
Speaker 2: But anytime you have one of those plants that is,
Speaker 2: you know, used in those very challenging conditions like a
Speaker 2: gas station. No it's not beautiful, but they've got to
Speaker 2: deal with some very harsh conditions. Crazy drivers potentially driving
Speaker 2: over those areas, died mulch, you know, trash, who even
Speaker 2: knows if they have irrigation. So the reason that contractors
Speaker 2: and so forth are choosing to put Spiria in these
Speaker 2: conditions is because it is tough enough to withstand them,
Speaker 2: and the flowers are are pretty. Now for most people
Speaker 2: they would say, yeah, the flowers are pretty, but they're
Speaker 2: just not around long enough to justify the space that
Speaker 2: a spirea takes. But really, with the double Play series
Speaker 2: of Spyrea that we developed here at proven Winter's Color
Speaker 2: Choice Shrubs, these were selected specifically to kind of bring
Speaker 2: the beauty and shape into the plant that made it
Speaker 2: worth growing, that made it worth choosing rather than just
Speaker 2: ending up with, you know, because it does a little
Speaker 2: bit more, and so the name double Play kind of
Speaker 2: says it all. It does two things. Of course, it
Speaker 2: has great flowers a spyria ought to, but it also
Speaker 2: has really colorful foliage, especially in spring.
Speaker 1: My favorite thing about Spyria's early spring vibrant foliage.
Speaker 2: Right, and it's not something that people generally think about
Speaker 2: as a major factor or a major reason to plant it.
Speaker 2: But all of the Double Play series has been selected
Speaker 2: for Superior folio color when it emerges in spring and
Speaker 2: superior flower color. Now double Play Red Spyria. It does
Speaker 2: get its name because it is an almost true red flower.
Speaker 2: It still got some pink in it. But interestingly, the
Speaker 2: anthers and pollen the male parts of the flower are purple,
Speaker 2: and the sort of combination of that purple in there
Speaker 2: with the deep pinky red flowers does really make it
Speaker 2: come off as looking red. So that's where double play
Speaker 2: Red Spyria gets its name. But it also just so
Speaker 2: happens that the new growth on double play Red Spyria
Speaker 2: is this beautiful burgundy color. And this is a great
Speaker 2: thing about if you were using the opportunity to plant
Speaker 2: and fall to plant double Play Red or any of
Speaker 2: the other double play spyrias, is you are going to
Speaker 2: get that amazing foliage color this spring. So you know,
Speaker 2: a lot of things that plants do you may not
Speaker 2: be able to enjoy for a couple years down the
Speaker 2: line until again they've established that root system. But play Spyria,
Speaker 2: you are gonna get that amazing foliage color immediately following
Speaker 2: in this spring. So it's a great opportunity to plant something.
Speaker 2: It's gonna look good and you don't ever have to
Speaker 2: worry with spyreea of whether or not it's gonna be
Speaker 2: able to withstand the winter. They are very hardy plants.
Speaker 2: Double Play Red Spiria is actually hardy down to USDA's
Speaker 2: own three heat tolerant through USDA's oone eight. So it's
Speaker 2: it's one of these kind of like no risk plants.
Speaker 2: It's gonna look great immediately, it's gonna give you something
Speaker 2: to look forward to in spring. I love pairing these
Speaker 2: double play spyrias with bulbs because they just have sort
Speaker 2: of the right amount of color to set off like
Speaker 2: the yellow of a daffodil with a nice burgundy of
Speaker 2: the double play red spyria. So it's just another way
Speaker 2: to get color in your landscape. And I really like
Speaker 2: we've talked a lot about mulch, which was not necessarily intentional,
Speaker 2: but this is a plant that I would recommend that
Speaker 2: you mulch because having that lighter color mulch really helps
Speaker 2: to set off that color of the foliage as it
Speaker 2: starts to develop in spring. And you know, of course,
Speaker 2: like we said, spiria are very easy to grow. They're
Speaker 2: tolerant of both sun and part shade, and that I
Speaker 2: think it makes them very suitable for those difficult conditions
Speaker 2: where it's like the front of my house. I'm sure
Speaker 2: other people have the situation too. One side sunny, one
Speaker 2: side is like part shade to shade, so it's very
Speaker 2: hard if you're trying to go for that symmetrical look.
Speaker 2: Something like a spyria can actually do that for you
Speaker 2: because it can take both conditions and so you can
Speaker 2: kind of attain that symmetry. So it's very, very versatile.
Speaker 2: It is quite shade tolerant. It is drought tolerant, especially
Speaker 2: once it's established. Although you do want to say if
Speaker 2: you are drought, you're not going to drought struss or
Speaker 2: spiria in its first year. I know you're not going
Speaker 2: to do that because you already know the plant should
Speaker 2: not do. A new shrub should not dry out during
Speaker 2: its entire first season if you can help it. But
Speaker 2: you don't really want to let them dry out during
Speaker 2: the flowering time because that will shorten the life of
Speaker 2: the flowers. They're also pretty deer resistant, Oh good, which
Speaker 2: is important.
Speaker 1: I know they've munched on mine to a degree in
Speaker 1: my landscape. But I was going to mention, you know,
Speaker 1: coming up next week we've got to show on rhythm
Speaker 1: and repetition. I think it's a great plant for that
Speaker 1: also in a landscape because it can stand alone or
Speaker 1: you can plant it in drifts and rows.
Speaker 3: Which is edging. Yeah, it's a very versatile plant.
Speaker 2: Now, I will say it could be now spires are
Speaker 2: generally fairly small, double Play Red is about two to
Speaker 2: three feet tall and wide. I believe I don't have
Speaker 2: it in my notes here, so it can also be
Speaker 2: rabbits that munch on the emerging stems. But honestly, that's okay.
Speaker 2: Even if that does happen, they will just branch out
Speaker 2: and continue to grow.
Speaker 3: So they're really versatile.
Speaker 2: They're pretty, and I think that especially the Double Play
Speaker 2: series does not deserve the snobbery's.
Speaker 1: Usually I agree, and I am not us now I
Speaker 1: like it.
Speaker 2: So you can check us out at Gardeningsimplified on air
Speaker 2: dot com to see photos of double playredspiria and read
Speaker 2: all the reasons why it deserves a place in your gardener.
Speaker 2: Of course, if you're checking out us on YouTube, you'll
Speaker 2: already see that. So we're gonna take a little break.
Speaker 2: When we come back, we're opening up the garden mail bags,
Speaker 2: so please stay tuned. At proven Winner's Color Choice, we've
Speaker 2: got a shrub for every taste and every space. Whether
Speaker 2: you're looking for an easycare rose and unforgettable hydrangea or
Speaker 2: something new and unique. You can be confident that the
Speaker 2: shrubs and the white containers have been trialed and tested
Speaker 2: for your success. Look for them at your local garden center.
Speaker 2: Greeting's gardening friends, and welcome back to the Gardening Simplified
Speaker 2: Show where we're talking about things that you can do
Speaker 2: now for spring to prepare you take this time to
Speaker 2: save you time in spring, and you know, follows definitely
Speaker 2: a time where people don't know what to do if
Speaker 2: they should cut everything back. People, you know, they have
Speaker 2: this instinct that like the landscape should just be barren
Speaker 2: before fall, you know, finishes, and that is not the case.
Speaker 2: So if you have questions about what to prune, what
Speaker 2: you should do, you can always reach us at Gardening
Speaker 2: Simplified on air dot com. We have a contact form
Speaker 2: there can send us your question Nick Niemas, send us
Speaker 2: a photo there and we'll be happy to help.
Speaker 3: But as always, when in.
Speaker 2: Doubt, don't if you don't know what to do, You're
Speaker 2: out there, you're pruning, you're scraping, you're cleaning, you're raking,
Speaker 2: you're doing all the stuff and you don't know if
Speaker 2: you should do something, especially when it comes to pruning
Speaker 2: in fall.
Speaker 3: When in doubt don't coming up.
Speaker 1: In the next segment, will continue with more advice on
Speaker 1: what you could do this fall, Stacy, including my top two,
Speaker 1: my two favorites. Maybe a little controversial, ooh, but we're
Speaker 1: going to share that in the next sevenment.
Speaker 2: So you're not a snob, but you are not afraid
Speaker 2: of a little controversy and a tease.
Speaker 3: All right, So what do we got in the mail bag?
Speaker 1: All right, here we go, Christy writes, I purchased this
Speaker 1: spring two of the Sweet and Low Sweet Box from
Speaker 1: your mail order. That's a plant that you got me
Speaker 1: interested in, Stacy.
Speaker 3: Yes, it's very new.
Speaker 1: I have had them all summer planted in containers on
Speaker 1: my shaded patio zone six B seven. One's doing really well.
Speaker 1: The other developed brown or dark purplish color on a
Speaker 1: few of the leaves. Can you tell me is that
Speaker 1: from overwatering? Thank you love watching your podcast every weekend.
Speaker 2: And Christy did send photos, so we'll have those in
Speaker 2: the YouTube video as well. Is at Gardening Simplified on
Speaker 2: air dot Com in the show notes.
Speaker 3: So if you're not.
Speaker 2: Familiar with Sweet and Low, Sweetbox or Sweetbox in general,
Speaker 2: it is a ground covering broad leaf evergreen, so not
Speaker 2: necessarily one you would want to plant in fall. If
Speaker 2: you live in a cold climate, if you are in
Speaker 2: zone seven, you're probably good to go. And it's called
Speaker 2: sweetbox because it is related to boxwood. But when it
Speaker 2: blooms in late winter, oh my gosh, the fragrance is
Speaker 2: just astounding. And that's where the sweetbox comes from. So
Speaker 2: it blooms at a different time. It's a ground cover.
Speaker 2: When it's happy, it just looks lovely. Because it is
Speaker 2: a broadling evergreen, it kind of wants that acidic, moist
Speaker 2: but well drained soil. And it sounds like and looks
Speaker 2: like from Christie's photos that they are doing very well.
Speaker 2: But what she writes about is she has some concern
Speaker 2: about some purplish or dark foliage that has developed at
Speaker 2: the base of one of the plants. Now, I don't
Speaker 2: see anything that is a cause for concern in these plants.
Speaker 2: And I do want to tell people, you know, plants
Speaker 2: can have foliage churned yellow, they can have foliage churn
Speaker 2: brown for any number of reasons, and sometimes the reason
Speaker 2: is not always clear. But generally speaking, as long as
Speaker 2: the plant continues to grow and the new growth continues
Speaker 2: to emerge healthy and green and happy looking. It's not
Speaker 2: necessarily a cause for concern if that lower foliage is
Speaker 2: turning brown or shedding for whatever reason, especially if it's
Speaker 2: just a little bit, and it tends to be you know,
Speaker 2: con find to the middle of the plant now, because
Speaker 2: these are so new it could be that that foliage
Speaker 2: just can't be supported by the plant anymore. It could
Speaker 2: be that the plant is just shedding those leaves, because
Speaker 2: when Christy wrote this it was already towards the end
Speaker 2: of the growing season. Here. Even evergreens do lose their
Speaker 2: leaves sometimes the evergreen is a little bit of a misnomer.
Speaker 2: It's not quite literally forever. They drop some leaves. So
Speaker 2: it could be that the plant is just taking in
Speaker 2: the chlorophyll. As a result, that leaf is turning brown,
Speaker 2: storing the chlorophyll and will continue to grow. But again,
Speaker 2: the key if to know, if you have to worry
Speaker 2: about a plant that is showing some limited browning or
Speaker 2: yellowing of the foliage, look at the new growth, not
Speaker 2: necessarily that old growth. And as long as the new
Speaker 2: growth is still looking happy and healthy, then chances are
Speaker 2: you don't have any you know, real cause for concern
Speaker 2: or anything to really worry about.
Speaker 1: Do you use sweet and low in your coffee? I
Speaker 1: do not, No it neither.
Speaker 2: I like coffee, you know, so I drink it black.
Speaker 1: I'm trying to kick the cream and sugar bit.
Speaker 3: Oh you are.
Speaker 1: That's that's a whole other story, you know.
Speaker 3: I would have expected.
Speaker 2: I would think, as a former garden center owner, you
Speaker 2: would just be like the pure stuff.
Speaker 3: I need it. I put it right in my veins.
Speaker 1: Xena writes to us Rick and Stacy. I love your program.
Speaker 1: I try to catch you every week. Thank you for
Speaker 1: the fun education. Can I ask you for advice if
Speaker 1: you look up the term cement mites that looks like
Speaker 1: what I have. I love the swing on my patio,
Speaker 1: but after a few minutes I will see this tiny, tiny,
Speaker 1: reddish brown mite. Oh boy, I've been there, done that
Speaker 1: crawling on me. I have sprayed my patio several times
Speaker 1: this year. They still return. Do they nest somewhere or
Speaker 1: fall from the trees. Please give me this information, and
Speaker 1: thanks so much.
Speaker 2: So this is a job for some IPM. You got
Speaker 2: to do a little research in there, and so a
Speaker 2: couple of weeks ago or earlier, this wasn't. It was
Speaker 2: several months ago at this point, but we had a
Speaker 2: question on mailbag from a listener who had chiggers, and
Speaker 2: I had never really gone down the chigger rabbit hole
Speaker 2: as it were, and done my research about what they are.
Speaker 2: They are awful, horrendous creatures. I feel terrible for anybody
Speaker 2: who has them. And these concrete mites very much do
Speaker 2: look like chiggers.
Speaker 3: So anyone who sees a red.
Speaker 2: You know, might kind of scurrying around, might be immediately
Speaker 2: a little bit alarmed. It might, it might be, but
Speaker 2: if you're not getting bitten, then you know they're not chiggers,
Speaker 2: because if there is a chigger near you, it will
Speaker 2: be biting you without question. So yeah, it does look
Speaker 2: like something that is known as cement mites or concrete
Speaker 2: mites does look like a chigger. But again, these concrete mites,
Speaker 2: they don't bite humans. Now, their biggest threat is that
Speaker 2: they do. They can stain your clothing, so if you
Speaker 2: sit on them or something like that in you, it's
Speaker 2: not their blood. It's just that the little insect it's
Speaker 2: or the little mite itself is actually red. But overall
Speaker 2: they are actually beneficial. I know that it's going to
Speaker 2: be hard to convince Zena of this, but they are beneficial.
Speaker 2: They prey on other insects, which is going to include
Speaker 2: probably a lot of plants or insects that are bad
Speaker 2: for the garden.
Speaker 3: But here's the thing.
Speaker 2: They live and breed in moist environments with organic matter.
Speaker 2: So this is a situation where you're going to want
Speaker 2: to look around your porch and identify any areas where
Speaker 2: say leaves start to accumulate, it gets wet and kind
Speaker 2: of that would be like an ideal breeding environment for them.
Speaker 2: So you want to keep that clear. You know, if
Speaker 2: you can adjust irrigation so that it's slightly less moist
Speaker 2: around that area, that also ought to take care of them.
Speaker 2: And if it seems like you know, you spray, they
Speaker 2: go away and they come back, that's because that is
Speaker 2: what happens. So what happens with these with these little
Speaker 2: mites is they have this kind of boom bust life
Speaker 2: cycle where they'll you know, they'll hatch out and then
Speaker 2: they'll be hun of them and then that generation will die,
Speaker 2: but they will have left behind a bunch of eggs
Speaker 2: and then that second generation comes roaring back. So it
Speaker 2: looks like, you know, you just didn't knock them down.
Speaker 2: But it's actually a whole second generation. So you know,
Speaker 2: my advice would be again to use that IPM approach.
Speaker 2: Can you modify the habitat, can you modify the environment
Speaker 2: that is encouraging them, because even if you are open
Speaker 2: to spreading or using chemicals against them, it's not easy
Speaker 2: to try to use a chemical management against these super
Speaker 2: teeny tiny little mites.
Speaker 1: And the problem with them dealing with these through the
Speaker 1: years is again the stain. The stain is like having
Speaker 1: some ketchup on your pants. I mean they stain. I'm
Speaker 1: wearing khaki shorts today and thinking about those chiggers and
Speaker 1: they'll make a mess in a quick hurry.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know I did. I was reading about the
Speaker 2: concrete mites in Ohio State Universities as some like, if
Speaker 2: you're having a wedding in your yard, you may want
Speaker 2: to think about managing the concrete mi so zena.
Speaker 3: Hopefully it'll work.
Speaker 2: Again, take a behavioral modification approach first, if you can.
Speaker 1: Froca asks whether dead heading hardy hibiscus like the Summer
Speaker 1: Summarific series promotes more flowers. Great question.
Speaker 2: It is a great question, and I will say that
Speaker 2: in my experience, it has not.
Speaker 1: How about you same here?
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Now, one thing that's interesting and different about the Summarific
Speaker 2: series compared to other previous hardy Hibiscus is they are
Speaker 2: they have an indeterminate growth pattern. So other Hibiscus, older
Speaker 2: varieties they grow, they set all their flower buds and
Speaker 2: a story, whereas the Summarific Hibiscus will actually, since they're indeterminate,
Speaker 2: just like with tomatoes, they continue to grow and they
Speaker 2: continue to set flowers. So this isn't an issue of
Speaker 2: dead heading where you know, the idea behind dead heading
Speaker 2: something is that the flower has opened, it started to
Speaker 2: set seed, and that if you remove that seed, that
Speaker 2: the plant is like, oh my gosh, I didn't reproduce,
Speaker 2: better make more flowers. And that sometimes works, but in
Speaker 2: the case of the summerfic Hibiscus it does not. But
Speaker 2: they should bloom for a much longer time than more
Speaker 2: conventional older varieties of hardy hibiscus. Have you found that
Speaker 2: as well?
Speaker 1: I agree, and I could see why you know, you
Speaker 1: want to dead head because those big, old, slimy remnants.
Speaker 1: You know, if you're into being tidy, you want to
Speaker 1: tidy it.
Speaker 3: Up much mummies.
Speaker 1: But yeah, exactly, but I don't think it's going to
Speaker 1: benefit the plant.
Speaker 3: No, it doesn't.
Speaker 2: And you know, honestly, I would say that of my
Speaker 2: summerfic hibiscus, maybe fifty percent of the blooms seem to
Speaker 2: set a seed pod. Not all of them do, Okay,
Speaker 2: So if it's not setting a seed pod, then you
Speaker 2: know that's not that idea of you know, the hormones
Speaker 2: going towards seed development and you being able to thwart
Speaker 2: that is kind of a non issue anyway. So like
Speaker 2: everything else in the garden, you just have to enjoy
Speaker 2: it well it lasts and take it for what it is.
Speaker 3: That's how I feel about it.
Speaker 2: So anyway, we're going to take a little break. When
Speaker 2: we come back, we're going to be revisiting our conversation
Speaker 2: about what you can do now for a better spring,
Speaker 2: So please stay tuned. The Gardening Simplified Show is brought
Speaker 2: to you by proven Winners Color Choice Shrubs. Our award
Speaker 2: winning flowering shrubs and evergreens have been trialed and tested
Speaker 2: for your success so you enjoy more beauty and less work.
Speaker 2: Look for proven Winners Color Choice Shrubs and the distinctive
Speaker 2: white container at your local Garden Center.
Speaker 1: Welcome back to the Gardening Simplified Show. It's time for
Speaker 1: branching news. And as we start branching news this week,
Speaker 1: want to mention coming up in a few weeks in October,
Speaker 1: we're going to do a show on Halloween horror stories.
Speaker 1: Harror stories, and what I mean by that is we
Speaker 1: want to hear from you some gardening horror stories. Now,
Speaker 1: I've been in the garden industry for over forty years,
Speaker 1: and let me tell you I've seen some things that
Speaker 1: who For example, I have a neighbor who owns a
Speaker 1: second home and this second home he rents out like
Speaker 1: as an airbnb. His neighbor behind him has a number
Speaker 1: of Tree of Heaven trees growing right on the property line.
Speaker 1: And this neighbor insists on keeping these trees. Now, if
Speaker 1: if you don't know what tree of Heaven is, it
Speaker 1: is just a horrid tree.
Speaker 3: Heaven is a misnomer exactly.
Speaker 1: Some people call it stinking sumac. It's not native to
Speaker 1: the US, and this tree is very, very invasive. As
Speaker 1: a matter of fact, the tree basically has come on
Speaker 1: people's radar again because the spotted lantern fly like tree
Speaker 1: of Heaven. So anyhow, the neighbor insists on growing this
Speaker 1: tree of heaven. His other neighbor to the north of
Speaker 1: him insists on growing bamboo, and bamboo will spread like crazy.
Speaker 1: Yeah so, and that neighbor is insistent on growing bamboo.
Speaker 1: Both of those plants are diminishing the value of his property.
Speaker 1: So to counterattack, he has obtained some mulberry trees and
Speaker 1: now he is extensively planting mulberries hoping the birds drop
Speaker 1: the berries, and they're just having an all out battle.
Speaker 1: I call that a Halloween horror stone.
Speaker 2: That is a horror story. And you know, your Halloween
Speaker 2: horror story could be any number of things. It could be,
Speaker 2: you know, like I know in a previous radio show
Speaker 2: I did, someone called in and said she went to
Speaker 2: put on her garden glove and there was a mouse
Speaker 2: inside it.
Speaker 1: Ohikes, that's a horror.
Speaker 3: It could be anything like that.
Speaker 2: We're open to your ideas and you can send those
Speaker 2: into us at Gardening Simplified on her dot com. We
Speaker 2: would love to hear from you, and for the Halloween
Speaker 2: show we will read those on the air.
Speaker 1: Yeah. You know, when I ran a garden center one spring,
Speaker 1: very busy, you got a lot on your mind. We
Speaker 1: needed to plant up the flower beds out by the
Speaker 1: road and sent a young man out there. I thought
Speaker 1: I had given him good instructions for planting these annuals.
Speaker 1: When I got out there, he had planted them upside down.
Speaker 1: Oh my word, the roots up and the flower Ye
Speaker 1: horror story. What do you do? I don't.
Speaker 3: I guess you turn them are out.
Speaker 1: Yes, we want you horror stories. Send them to us.
Speaker 1: We'll have a lot of fun on that show that's
Speaker 1: coming up in October. Okay, As far as things to
Speaker 1: do in fall so that you have a better spring
Speaker 1: in twenty twenty five, two of my top items, and
Speaker 1: again there may be some disagreement on this, but number one,
Speaker 1: move plants. If you have plants that are too close
Speaker 1: to each other, too close to the house, they need
Speaker 1: to move, or maybe you're just not happy with where
Speaker 1: they're at, move them in fall. I say, take the
Speaker 1: chance once again, soil is warm, cut the plants back,
Speaker 1: and then move them. I think it's the ideal time
Speaker 1: of the year to do that. And Stacey, I have
Speaker 1: plants in my landscape that are eligible for Frequent Flyer miles.
Speaker 1: They've moved to so many times. I love the fall
Speaker 1: season for moving plants and taking that chance.
Speaker 2: Well, you know, I think is a great idea for
Speaker 2: many things. Now, I'll say if you watch my garden
Speaker 2: video about my lawn removal, I will say, oh, the
Speaker 2: top order of priority for me is moving these boxwood
Speaker 2: before spring ends. I have not moved the boxwood I
Speaker 2: was going to do with this fall. I am now
Speaker 2: not going to do with this fall because it's been
Speaker 2: so hot and dry here in Michigan. So again that
Speaker 2: goes back to what I was saying earlier about planting
Speaker 2: evergreens in the fall. So I'm gonna wait on those.
Speaker 2: But the best thing about planting in fall, and I
Speaker 2: do this every year in fall, you know how much plants,
Speaker 2: how much room those plants are taking up, and why
Speaker 2: you need to move them. Now, what happens to me
Speaker 2: is I don't move stuff in fall, and I think, oh,
Speaker 2: I'll remember, take pictures, write notes for myself. And then
Speaker 2: spring comes along and you just have this cute, tidy
Speaker 2: little thing emerging from the ground and you're like, you
Speaker 2: would never overstay your safe. It looks innocent, and then
Speaker 2: you know, now all of that memory of whatever you
Speaker 2: know garden Bully is taking over and edging out its
Speaker 2: neighbors or shading out its neighbors. That's all fresh in
Speaker 2: your mind, and you'll actually believe that it needs to
Speaker 2: be moved. So this is a note for myself as
Speaker 2: much as our listeners.
Speaker 1: Now of course Stacy's video on our YouTube channel in
Speaker 1: her yard, Stacy, you want to remind folks how you
Speaker 1: took out the turf, how you did that.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so I did not do it. I had someone
Speaker 2: else do it, which is always smart. It's a smart
Speaker 2: thing to do. I mean, as with everything in gardening,
Speaker 2: you need to decide what is the best use of
Speaker 2: your time and how you want to spend your time.
Speaker 2: And yeah, I had it done. We just called a
Speaker 2: landscaping company and they came by with a sod cutter
Speaker 2: and hauled it all away. And while we could have,
Speaker 2: of course managed the sod removal itself, the bigger issue
Speaker 2: for us was just the disposal of all of that stuff.
Speaker 3: We don't have a dump.
Speaker 2: We live on a small city lot, so you know,
Speaker 2: having someone come and do that and who has the
Speaker 2: right equipment, and you know, if I had gone out
Speaker 2: and rented you know, the sod cutter and rented a
Speaker 2: big power rake to regrade my yard.
Speaker 3: I don't think it would have cost me that much.
Speaker 2: I remem wouldn't been as much savings to make it
Speaker 2: worth it. So you know, sometimes you just got to
Speaker 2: price that out. It was definitely worth it for me
Speaker 2: to have that done professionally.
Speaker 1: So now it's long gone, and when the turf going
Speaker 1: gets turf, the turf get going. Now, the point I'm
Speaker 1: trying to make here is that it's my favorite time
Speaker 1: of the year to kill turf. My neighbors again call
Speaker 1: me plant a clause. I love to go around and
Speaker 1: pick up leaves and use what nature gives us as
Speaker 1: a leaf mulch and to till into my soil. But
Speaker 1: if you have some grassy areas that you want to
Speaker 1: convert into a planting bed, fall is the time to
Speaker 1: do it. Now. I'm an old guy, okay, So traditionally
Speaker 1: I've used newspaper on top of the grass. It's kind
Speaker 1: of tough to come by newspaper now, but you come
Speaker 1: by brown paper or cardboard or whatever it may be,
Speaker 1: and then throw leaves on top of that, and then
Speaker 1: some soil on top of that and just let it
Speaker 1: cook all winter long, and you till that up next spring,
Speaker 1: you've got an incredible bed to plant, whether it's annuals
Speaker 1: or start a new landscape bed, whatever it may be.
Speaker 1: I just think it's the ideal time of the year
Speaker 1: to do that. So I'm a turf killer in fall.
Speaker 1: Also turf luck, turf luck, turf luck.
Speaker 2: Well, I don't have any turf left to kill now,
Speaker 2: so all my grass is long gone, and I am
Speaker 2: loving it. But I am doing a lot of planting,
Speaker 2: and I am moving several things, especially like summerific hibiscus,
Speaker 2: that kind of stuff that's going to be dormant soon anyway.
Speaker 2: It's just those you know, those boxwoods that are going
Speaker 2: to have to wait until next spring.
Speaker 3: Now, I'm afraid now.
Speaker 1: You did mention taking pictures or video of your landscape
Speaker 1: at this time of the year, so that in February March,
Speaker 1: when you start getting excited about spring, you can be
Speaker 1: reminded of what needs to happen and maybe what you
Speaker 1: need to add to your landscape. Because generally people go
Speaker 1: to garden centers in greenhouses in spring and they buy impulsively.
Speaker 1: But if you go with a plan, odds are you're
Speaker 1: not necessarily going to buy as impulsively, So I do
Speaker 1: think it's a good idea. Does anybody really do it? Well?
Speaker 1: I guess to it because it.
Speaker 2: Depends on the kind of person you are. You know,
Speaker 2: my husband is a very much a planner. He likes
Speaker 2: to have everything on paper, all planned out, and I
Speaker 2: just honestly personally cannot imagine trying to.
Speaker 3: To garden that way.
Speaker 2: I mean, it's just it's an organic, you know, experience
Speaker 2: that you kind of have to do by feel, maybe
Speaker 2: a little more so than by formula. But you know,
Speaker 2: to each their own. We all have our different approaches
Speaker 2: and that's what makes gardens and relationships work.
Speaker 1: There you go, Hey, let's end the show with a
Speaker 1: little bit of horticultural history, just for a moment. I
Speaker 1: wanted to mention that I'm very interested. And a Dutchman
Speaker 1: named Yon vander Hayden. And this guy Yon van Derhayden, yes,
Speaker 1: around sixteen seventy three. It was a Dutch painter, but
Speaker 1: he was also an inventor. He's the guy that's given
Speaker 1: credit for inventing the garden hose.
Speaker 3: Oh.
Speaker 1: I mean, if you think about it, Amsterdam was one
Speaker 1: of those cities that where it's all wood buildings, a
Speaker 1: lot of people living close to each other. Fire is
Speaker 1: always a threat, a concern, and he sewed leather tubes
Speaker 1: together and fifty foot lengths that would allow firefighters to
Speaker 1: get closer to a fire. The rest is history. So
Speaker 1: you know, you can argue about who invented the garden hose,
Speaker 1: but I'm going to say Yan. Now it's spelled jam.
Speaker 1: Some people might say Jan, but I think in Dutch
Speaker 1: it's Yon vander Hayden. Look for him. Fascinating story, a painter,
Speaker 1: an inventor, and he's the guy we can credit for
Speaker 1: those garden hoses in our list.
Speaker 2: Well, you know, Rick, as much as you and I
Speaker 2: both resent hoses, I think at the end of the
Speaker 2: day we are glad they exist.
Speaker 1: Yes we are. Thanks to you and thanks to you
Speaker 1: for watching The Gardening Simplified Show Again we're on YouTube,
Speaker 1: radio and podcast. Thank you Adrianna, and thank you Stacey.
Speaker 1: Thank you have yourself a great week.