August 19, 2023 • 43 mins
This week on the WJBO Lawn and Garden Show, local experts Dr. Alan Owings and Zane Mercer from Clegg's Nursery welcome Dr. Heather Kirk-Ballard from the LSU Ag Center to talk about a new consumer survery about your potting soil preferences! If you're interested, you can take the survery here: https://lsu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_4Z9WfBowUrJxS8m
Also, Dr. Alan and Zane touch on the upcoming cool season (can't get here soon enough), the Louisiana Superplant program and caller questions about crepe myrtle "pucks" and more!
The WJBO Lawn & Garden Show also wants to wish Butch Drewes a quick recovery after a snake bite!
If you'd like to be part of the WJBO Lawn & Garden Show, give us a call Saturday mornings between 8a and 9a central at (225) 499-9526 - that's 499-WJBO!
Also, Dr. Alan and Zane touch on the upcoming cool season (can't get here soon enough), the Louisiana Superplant program and caller questions about crepe myrtle "pucks" and more!
The WJBO Lawn & Garden Show also wants to wish Butch Drewes a quick recovery after a snake bite!
If you'd like to be part of the WJBO Lawn & Garden Show, give us a call Saturday mornings between 8a and 9a central at (225) 499-9526 - that's 499-WJBO!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:02):
Good Saturday morning, and welcome tothe WGBO Lawn and Garden Show, brought
to you by Cleg's Nursery. Ifyou have a question about seasonal planting,
lanning, garden concerns, or questionsabout landscaping, call four nine nine WGBO.
That's four nine nine ninety five twosix. Good Saturday morning. My
(00:24):
name is Zane Mercer, joined herewith my favorite co host, doctor Allen
Ellens. Good morning, Zain,good morning. Don't tell butch then okay,
but how's it going today? AnotherSaturday edition of them WJBO Lawn and
Garden Show. No one too hottoday this morning? Anyway, it was
it was eighty three when I leftthe house in Hammond, but then it
(00:46):
was seventy eight when I got here. So tolerable, yeah, not to
not too too hot. Yeah,So what having about the warm weather?
Still here? It's still here andhaving a lot of stuff going on,
Yes, we do, you know, I mean, not a lot of
planting or not too too much,you know, just because as far as
(01:07):
I as far as I'm concerned,I don't like sweating that much except at
work, right, and it's couldbe really tough on plants to Uh,
plant them right now, so youknow, think about what you need to
be planning. What's this? Uhheat wave breaks and uh and uh you
know cool season. Uh we'll behere sooner or later. Where was that
(01:33):
again? Cool season? I don'tknow if I remember what that's like now,
you know, I believe I toldyou before the show started. But
I've been doing a bunch of irrigationwork at Green Springs location, and yeah,
it is just unbearably hot, idios. I mean the temperatures we're we're
experiencing this is unprecedented for the BatonRouge area. And uh, you know
(01:57):
there may be a little bit ofrain Monday, twenty thirty percent chance we
really need it. Covington got areally good rain Tuesday night. They got
three inches. But it must benice, yes, yeah, but I
happened to be in Baton Rouge thatafternoon and it was saw not a cloud
in the sky one oh one whenit was raining three inches in Covington.
(02:19):
Yeah, we didn't really, Imean, it had consistent cloud cover too
much exactly get a breeze here thereright right, But we're still getting some
nice stuff in We are all everybodythat you know has to get something in
the ground for a party anything likethat. Yes, you know, the
croats look very nice. Croats arealways a very good plant for your patio
(02:42):
outdoor living area. Some nice ornamentalpeppers, marigolds, garden moms, oh
yeah, the garden moms. Thejust that little aster all it's been coming
in and it's just been all lookingreally good, real sharp, right,
no buds yet for the most part. But I mean it's a little early
for that. Yeah, still earlyfor the forsanthemus a half flowers. Now
(03:05):
you're talking about the crotins, andI just wanted to take a second talk
about oliver sacrificial plants. They're gettingready to come on, you know.
And it's just I mean, there'sthat's a lot of bang Fearbuck really Yes,
I'm a very very affordable great fallfolish collar and uh. They can
be perennial if you protect them fromthe freezes and uh. And we have
(03:30):
two or three main varieties petrus ofone that's mostly available at Clags and other
gardens. Find that that's probably theshowiest. I like it. I mean
they've got it like the mammy,which I like. That one's cool because
it it looks like a hair curlingright, right, a little bit of
twisted foliage. But no, it'sjust you know that your ornamental peppers are
(03:51):
starting to come on. We're startingto see a few of those, yes,
yes, you know, and it'sjust buck. I've actually seen some
tropical high bisk because blooming fairly well. But the ones that are doing the
best right now are the ones thatare being irrigated, fertilized and are in
a little bit of afternoon shade.Yeah. You think this time of year
(04:12):
tropical hibiscus hot sunny, but it'sactually too hot for them now. So
give them afternoon shade and your landscapeand they're going to still be blooming for
you. Yeah. Yeah. Inmy property along the side yard, I've
got an oak tree and I justyou know, we had those really nice
hibiscus at the very beginning of theyear and that orange. Yes, and
(04:33):
I was like, you know,i'll put some there, see if they
make it, see if they bloomwell. And honestly, I think that's
the best spot in my yard forthem, right, I mean, they
bloom pretty. You know, they'reaway from my insect infested sections, you
know, and it's just like overall, just been performing pretty well, right,
other than the fact I have toput water in most every day.
(04:56):
Yes, yes, you know,but it looks like we got a phone
call phone around to that. Iknow, it's exciting Saturday, al how
you doing today? Doing good?Calling about great myrtles. I dug up
some mature great mortles and I gota hole about the size of a can
(05:17):
of fifteen gallon, and little pupsare coming up and I'm trying to put
stuff on them to you know,kill them, but you're relentless. The
best way to get rid of thatis a product called Triclopier, or we
sell it in There's a it's calledcutting vine killer. That's gonna be that
(05:41):
you're most surefire way to really getthat under control. Okay, yeah,
yeah. The way the way theproduct works is you wound those suckers,
so you'll you'll just clip them withsome snips and you just brush this product
on it and it'll travel down tothe root and take the root out.
Okay, all right, all right, yes sir, and we carry it
(06:05):
at all of our locations. Allright, well, thank you, Okay,
you're welcome, take care of all. Yes, ideas a that is
an issue with digging up a cripemartel, cause you leave the roots sayer
and the roots sucker, but thetricolate pier does a good job. And
gotta watch it, especially early nextspring, because that's when they'll start sprouting
(06:26):
up again. You're not gonna killthem all this fall. Yeah, it's
usually like two about two applications ofbeing real vigilant, right, you know.
The it was funny he had thatquestion. My taycare lady had the
same question Thursday when I picked upmy children. Now they had cut down
a bunch of hollies, right anddoing essentially the same thing. Oh yeah,
(06:46):
and it's just this is what wegot to use. I think I
pulled pulled a jug out of mytoolbox and gave it to him. So,
but now you know, we weretalking about like our sacrificial plants.
Yeah, and some people listening mightnot be familiar with what that is,
all right, And what I meanby that is it's a plant that has
(07:10):
a shorter cycle and your flair bitessentially, you know, it's like your
peppers. They're going to be grownfor the fall when it's hot, all
right, and then the second weget that freeze, their toast, so
we usually just pull them up toreplace them. Yeah, you know,
yeah, they're gonna be two threemonths out there in the landscape. Maybe
(07:30):
some of your container plannings this timeof year are going to last till first
killing frost, or then if youwait till end of September October, start
planning some of your cool season battingplants. Of course those will last all
through the winter. So but alot of your collar for this time of
year is still actually warm season flowers. Solosius would be very nice, the
(07:54):
xenias and marigols would be very nice. Yeah, the incredible un flowers are
going to be spectacular. And theybring it. They bring in the bees
if you want bees in your landscape. I got a contractor that uh he
had bought one for his daughter,Yes, and he mean he about lost
it once it started blooming and stuff. He's like, it just keeps going,
(08:16):
it does, it does. It'stotally unlike the other sunflowers, so
they just keep on blooming. Ithink it's crazy the way it's propagated exactly
exactly. These petting these little pettentedvarieties are all uh, I mean they
take tissue culture. Yeah, they'renot they're not from seeds, so you
can't buy seed of so incredible sunflowersbecause they're vegetatively propagated. But a really
(08:41):
really good plant. This's an LSHue superplant. Also, man, y'all
sure do come out with a lotof seed plants, you know. Oh
you know, I've seen Lantana's lookinggood angelonious driving around looking at the commercial
landscapes, like at the bank andlike our favorite chicken place in Baton Rouge.
Angelonious look really really good. Theyalways look best when it's hot and
(09:03):
when it's dry. Oh yeah,excepting puts, yes, yeah, you
know at the nursery, I justhad to go through quite a bit because
it's just I mean, I knowthey need to be growing, not just
constrained, and those little continually exactly. Yeah. The green Will Springs Ride
location has some nice so angelonious thisweek, so yeah, I've been I
(09:26):
used to use it a lot whenI was a contractor, and I mean
I loved that plant, yes,because it makes a tight little bushy hedge.
White white, lavender, light blue, raspberry, so pink pinkish,
so those color blends, oh yeah, no, so we gotta I mean
I have a whole lot of colorstill over at the nursery. And then
(09:48):
and the biggest thing I'm excited aboutis those mums that are going to be
coming on right. You know,it just ain't nothing like the color of
mums for the fall and early ina season we have like the four inch
pots, the four and a halfinch pots. Then you start seeing the
six inch pots and the bigger momsand eight inch pots and uh so as
(10:11):
you get further into late summer earlyfall, you'll see the bigger moms.
Yeah, and you may see alittle bit of heat delay on the flowers
of this year, but there willcome along and they'll be in good shape.
Yeah. Between that and the crutains, Yes, they make the biggest
statement from your house late from thestreet. They really do. You know.
(10:33):
A very wise man told me onetime. It was that everything else
just exsence your house. Your houseis your centerpiece. Yes, and I
really I took that to heart.You know, it's like all we're trying
to do, we're trying to makeyour house even prettier. Your house is
always the main, the main focus. And of course pumpkins will be in
and about two or three weeks Imean, we got hey yesterday and eight
(10:56):
bales and your corn stalks, andyou can use all that to to decorate
your your front entrants or your backentrants where your visitors come in. Yeah,
I know, the the pumpkins.Don't remind me they're gonna be here
before I know it. Yes,a whole lot of pricing and puttings,
whole lot of pricing. Yes,but they have the craziest little varieties.
(11:20):
I love all these small pumpkins oractually winter squash, but they are really
decorative, really nice. So itlooks like, Allan, we've got Heather
calling, So let's go ahead andtake Heather. Okay, doctor Heather kirk
Ballard from the LSU Accent. Oh, good morning, Heather morning. How
are you. We're doing very good. Better now that we get a celebrity
(11:43):
on the phone. Oh that's funny. This is gonna be our most highest
rated segment in weeks. Yeah,okay, but this morning we're doing very
good for all of you out therelistening. Doctor Heather kirk Ballard is a
horticulture professor at the LSU AGS Center. She does consumer horticulture, what basically
(12:07):
means home gardening, and she's anextension specialist and she's responsible. She has
statewide appointment, so she works withgetting information out to county agents. She
does get growing news articles, sowe appreciate all you do. Heather.
Oh, thank you, thank you. I read a really good article from
(12:28):
me the other day. I likedit. The news article comes out once
a week. Is that correct?Yes, that is correct, and we
can we can. We can findthat on the LSU AGS Center a website,
and it's also published locally in differentlike the Advocate picks it up across
the state. Several other papers pickit up, but those are sent out
(12:52):
and distributed across the state. Veryyou can find them. Yes, on
the LSU AT Center's website. Greatgreat education for the home gardeners around the
state that Heather and other LSU ActCenter folks disseminate weekly. So we appreciate
all that. And there's also aweekly get at Growing video. Is that
(13:15):
right, Heather? That's true?Yes, every week. That one also
goes out statewide. WFB picks itup and those come on Sunday mornings.
The times vary, but it's usuallythe early morning segment. It depends on
you know, what's going on andwhat's hot and what's new. So we
tried to or I tried to talkabout what's going on in the landscape right
(13:39):
or what's going on what is concerninghomeowners farmers for that matter, with gardenings.
So you know, right now everybody'sworried about this heat and keeping their
plants alive and the lack of water. So oh yeah, that's definitely been
the main topic of discussion for itseems like two months now. So yeah,
(14:00):
it is a non stopped topic whileyou were out of town. Actually,
Covington got a real good rain thisweek, but nothing in Baton Rouge,
nothing in Hammond where I live,nothing in Lafayette. So we're still
baking. It's concerning. Yeah,we're watching the tree that looks like fall
out there. I know, yougo into survival mode right now, where
(14:20):
you're conserving every little bit that theycan to survive. So they're dropping those
leaves and it's uh, yeah,it's scary. The lawns are turning brown
and getting crunchy, and yeah,you know, we have a fireband as
well. We don't want to sparkany types of fires, and I think
they're kind of popping up right now. They're just they're popping up without let's
spark like, without any human intervention, right right, and it's just hyah,
(14:46):
it is unbearably hot. So sohowther we have about five more minutes?
But what do you You have apotting media potting soil survey right now?
So so what's the objective of thepotting soil survey that you have out
(15:07):
there right now with one of youragg economic colleagues. Yeah, so Jaredpin,
Doctor Jared Pin is an agg economistwith the LSU AG Center, and
he and I are partnered up.We want to understand the preferences that consumers
have when it comes to potting soils. So we want to make sure that
the products that are being offered atretail garden centers align with the market demand,
(15:31):
you know, so that they canoptimize those products offerings. And there
are many things that make up agood soilist substrate or what we call potting
soils. Many of them are composedof peat moss, which is a common
component of growing media. Lightweight hasgood water holding capacity, but there have
(15:52):
been some concerns raised about its sustainabilityand environmental impact. So we're trying to
understand does that even play into whata consumer thinks about when they go and
buy those those media, so itis a very important component along with things
like perlite and vermiculite. We justwant to understand if fertilizers are important to
(16:14):
be incorporated for those potting soils,that those are the types of things that
they're looking for when they're purchasing pottingsoils. So, because we know that
people that grow in containers, that'sreally becoming very trendy. As housing get
smaller and lawns get smaller, peopleare utilizing container gardens, raised beds,
(16:36):
things like that to meet their gardeningneeds to get that growing in containers,
and it can be very useful thatwe can't do it without a good potting
soil. So we want to understandwhat types that they're looking at and what
types that they're looking for. Youknow that organic is very popular with consumers
as well. We want to understandis it really what the consumer wants or
(16:56):
is it price that drives what theywant. So just getting a better understanding
of what they want to keep themgrowing. I think this has gonna really
yield some very good data. Sothose of you listening, if you want
to take the survey. It wasposted this morning on the Clegs Nursery Facebook
(17:19):
page about seven thirty, so youcan find it at the Clegs Nursery Facebook
page, and also if you scrollthrough the LSU ag Center facebook post for
the last week, it's also uposted there. It takes about five or
ten minutes to complete the survey,and I think it's going to give us
some really valuable information. Yeah,I agree with you. I mean,
(17:45):
price points always important, right,But I mean there's let me, I
see at the at the nursery,I mean many customers which they would they
would rather spend the more money for, like, for example, like a
fox Farm product, right, justbecause I mean that products yielded really exceptional
results for them, right, youknow. And then also at Cleggs we
(18:07):
have Cleg's Nursery potting soil and plantingmix. We have Tiger and Grow and
Garden Grow that was to be bydoctor in Bush so and right. And
I've also always wondered howther, youknow, do people shop by price or
do really really know what potting soilthey want? And then do people start
(18:33):
buying the one that works well forthem and then skip to something else,
or do they always stay with thesame one. Yeah, Yeah, that's
that's what we want to understand.We we also want to understand what types
of brands where they're buying from.Are they buying from the retail garden centers?
Are they getting it both delivered?You know that kind of that kind
of information and what's important. Youknow, we need good drainage, but
(18:57):
we also need good holding capacity.It's like this double edged sword where you
don't want those plants sitting in toomuch water so that we don't get any
root, right, But we allknow that containers dry out very quickly,
especially in this heat. You've gotto keep watering and watering, and so
nutrients become very important because when we'rewatering so much, as that drains out,
(19:21):
we're also leaching out those those nutrients. So those things become very important
when we're thinking about the health andgrowth of our plants. You have to
consider those things for your your growingmedia's or your potting soils. Yeah,
I mean, the most important aspectof growing a plant starts downstairs, you
(19:41):
know, yep, I mean justI mean it's not just it's not just
putting a little grainul fertilizer on it. You know. So it's all about
the soil, all about the mediathat they're planted in. So how long
how long can the folks take thissurvey? Heather, We're gonna leave it
open for a couple more months.Okay, they're about to put it out
(20:04):
in the newsletter with the Louisiana Departmentof Agriculture and for Streets. They're LBAs
there's helping to support us in this, and so that'll be coming out in
their newsletter on August twenty six,and then we're gonna leave it open a
little bit longer. But we putin a grant with the Horticulture Research Institute
and we're hoping to get funded tolook at this nationwide because, believe it
(20:27):
or not, there is very littleinformation on what consumers wants when it comes
to pottings. Well, there's beenvery little research done in this area.
So we're we're trying to, youknow, support the retail garden centers and
support our consumers by understanding their preferences. I think that'd be really cool because,
(20:47):
like I mean, for instance,the same and this isn't across the
board for every single bag, butlike you know, I've I've had I've
bought Miracle grow before from one likeone place and then go ten miles down
the road and it's a different it'sthe same bag, but a little bit
different consistency, right right. Yeah, And sometimes sometimes some of these companies
(21:11):
they also change the blends of theirmixes and they don't, you know,
announce that. I want to justremind everybody that you can look on the
bag on all these materials and findand that's going to tell you what the
components are in that particular media soil. So yeah, and some people do
(21:33):
better with a peat based mix andsome people do better with a bark based
mix, depending on what your wateringtendencies are, yes, exactly. And
they're they're looking at alternatives for peatmoss these days, different types of wood
fibers, things like that. There'salso coconut core. You know, there's
lots of different components that make updifferent potting soils. And they'll continue as
(22:00):
looking at more sustainable you know,growing, they will continue to look at
more at different products that hopefully arenot more expensive, that are more sustainable
and better for the environment. Sowe will continue to look at those types
of because that's a concern for consumers. It truly is. So we want
(22:21):
to meet that demand. And Imean it's important as a responsible Earth's steward,
right We're all stewards of the Earth, and we need to be I'm
very passionate about that. So that'simportant to me too, you know.
No, we need to pay itforward for future generations. That's the way
I kind of look at it,you know, And it's like if you
look at I mean so like PeeteMoss, there's all the concerns about you
(22:45):
know, the fact the bogs takeforever to grow, and you know we
scoop I mean, we scoop outmore than it, you know, grows,
and uh, I don't know.I think once we get if we
get some more options out there,it's really going to open up some doors,
absolutely more tools in the toolbox toget the job done. That's so
(23:08):
well, Heather, sure appreciate it. Thank you for joining us, Heather.
We hope y'all have a good weekend. Yea. Thank you everybody take
that survey for us. We reallyappreciate your input and feedback. On the
Cleg's Nursery Facebook page, we'll beposting the survey about once a week or
so and trying to get some someconsumers to complete it. And also on
(23:33):
my personal page, I'll be doingthat and also lsu ag Center's Facebook page.
You'll see the survey of being postedregularly. So thank you for joining
us. How They're hope to seeyou soon. Take care, y'all,
have a good day. Okay,bye bye, Yeah, doctor doctor Ballard.
She was talking about the h theshake trees, And I've been noticing
(23:53):
that the last two weeks or so, the the some maples, water oaks,
a few trees like that are reallystarting to show stress and they're going
defoliate prematurely this year or fall fall, which color is kind of setting in.
And I mean, I've got lookslike a native pecan. Yes,
(24:18):
the foliage and stuff is all suckergrowth, like sixty feet in the air,
so I can't really tell, butI've got one, and I've got
to get cut down in my house, and it just progressively looked worse and
worse, right right, But Imean I'm driving down the road. I
mean there's a pine tree, amature pine tree, yes that I'm pretty
sure that sucker's dead. Yes,And it's it's right in the space right
(24:42):
next to the road and the sidewalk, so there's really there's not enough root
or soil in that whole right toreally even hold water, let alone the
fact that we haven't got any waterexactly exactly. And you know, cripe
martles really I'm not done well thisyear. And that was really more cold
(25:03):
weather related. But normally crepe martleslike it hot and dry, but it's
just been too dry for crepe martlestoo. Mine. Look the one I
have in my front yard, it'sa tuscarora. Nah, I'm still getting
pretty good color on it, butthat's I mean I run a soaker hose
on it for like an hour,yes, every other day, and then
(25:23):
I mean I put I've probably puttwenty pounds of fertilizer on it exactly right,
take a bust a bag of GrowerSpecial, right, you'll put it
out there. But yeah, no, it's you're right, there's everything has
been stressful, yes, I meanthe so normally, I mean we don't
sell as many of the smaller crapemyrtles as we used to, but I
(25:47):
mean three gallon crape myrtles were almostnot i mean not non existent, yes,
right, the ones that we couldbuy, Yes, you didn't want
to buy those right right, becauseit was I mean, you're buying something
they got burnt six feet up exactly. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh,
it looks like we got a phonecaller. Okay, let's see who
(26:10):
this. I wonder who this couldpossibly be? Yeah, Hi, how's
it going? Good morning, gentlemen, Good morning, I'm worried about Okay,
Yeah, we're fine. We're doinggood. People here at the Baton
Regeneral taking very very good care ofme. I'm appreciate it and every one
(26:32):
of them for what they've done.But now hopefully I'll be getting out of
here pretty soon. But the reasonfor my call is you've brought up something
a little earlier. Alan, I'dlike for you to go into a little
bit more depth on it. Theprogram that I really do like. Would
you explain to them a little bitmore about the Louisiana Superplant Program, how
the plants are selected, what theprocess is, and don't they do some
(26:56):
trials and Hammond if I'm not mistaken, right, Yeah, So the LSU
Act Center Louisiana Superplant Program's been outfor about fourteen fifteen years now, and
it uh there's three or four plantsevery year that are named Louisiana Superplants based
on evaluations of how those plants dohere in Louisiana. A lot of those
(27:18):
trials are doing at the LSU ActsCenter and Hammond and it's a really good
program because now we have a listof about fifty five or sixty plants that
we can confidently recommend to home gardenersthat are going to be good flowers,
shrubs, trees for the for thelandscape, and they're gonna be easy care,
(27:41):
low maintenance, not prone to diseaseinsect problems. So we were talking
about the sun incredible sunflowers. They'reone of the superplants for this year.
The blew my mind of Bobulus bluedays was a superplant and it's a fabulous
informer. So working, working,someone working, so some of that I
(28:03):
can't talk. Where can someone goto get a listing of these plants.
We need to be posting that moreregularly on the on the Cleg's nursery page,
but we do nursery page. Iwonder, I wonder who does that?
I wonder who does that? Youknow? And uh, but but
actually Clegg's does a good job withCarrie and Louisiana superplants, and uh,
(28:26):
we can always improve on our signsand improve on promoting the superplants. But
uh but we uh we do afairly good job with with that program,
doing a great job. Guys,I gotta go back, thank you.
Okay, So I don't know abutch what everybody? Heh he got bit
by a snake yesterday. But buthe's okay. So he's got glad he
(28:51):
called the end of that lessons.No, he is okay, And yeah,
I was kind of worried about himyesterday because I you know, I
guess he's like me, I justlike to give one word text message response,
you know. But it's I mean, you know, it's it's something
that doesn't happen very often, right. But also it is so dry,
yes, that they are out exactlyyou know, I mean they are looking
(29:12):
for water, and that's essentially whathappened me and he just mounting his own
business exactly exactly. And they're kindof grouchy probably too. Yeah. Well
it's like and there's no water,yes, right, so the frog population
is probably kind of hidden, right, And that's usually what you know water
(29:33):
micasins all that actually go after thepeople that kind of maintain bird bass and
fountains, the bees and the butterfliesand the birds or congregating around those constantly.
You turn on the sprinkler and here'sall the birds coming in. So
I have a puddle jumper from mytwo sons, yes, and I'll kick
(29:55):
that on. And I know thesecond that sprinkler starts hitting about five foot,
all of a sudden, every singlebird flies into the flies into my
uh like onto the treehouse because theywere about to go fly through right.
Cool off. He starts seeing thesquirrels come out, and uh, and
I'm getting questions about you know,armadillast dig and then other kind of quote
(30:19):
unquote varmints in the landscape right now, and they're just going into the areas
where the water is. Yeah,so long, so long. There's not
a whole lot we can do aboutthat. We can put repellents out,
but you know, they're just nature'sanimals that are trying to find a water
source and try to find some food. And I got a dog to try
(30:41):
and scare him off. He yes, he doesn't do a very good job.
I think he's more scared of them. So but now that's you know,
which brought up a real good questionabout the superplants. Yeah, because
I believe we're correct me if I'mwrong. But we're in American beauty berries.
American supert bears are superplant, agreat native berries this time of year,
(31:03):
and we got a ton in overits seas. I'm trying to I
keep on. I kept on runningout last year, right, and then
y'a couldn't put the place. Yes, right, So I was like,
well, maybe if I orders alittle extra, it'll tape me through.
That's just that's one plant that's beendoing great for the ita. Virginia willow,
(31:25):
the Henry's garnet. That's the Louisianasuperplant that's native, and that is
that is a sturdy, sturdy shrub. I love it. It's good for
regular landscape bes, but also themunicipalities and folks that are putting again rain
gardens and water collection facilities are usingVirginia willow it in that situation too,
(31:47):
because they can stand a little bitof water, like I just like how
versati the are. Yeah, theycan grow in the shed and bloom.
Well, yes, they can takewater, right, they can take a
little bit of drop conditions, right, you know, and then they can
take some right, So nice fallfull which color about six inch white blue
panicles in the springtime, so onsee the fall color from the foliage.
(32:10):
Yeah, that's more of a sellingpoint for me than the flowers. If
you don't know it, Virginia,well o Henry's Garnet, I'll look that
up, and and a considerate alsorabbit eyed blueberries, jeff Blue Climax Premier
Bright. Well, they're all lsuagg Center superplants. That's it. That's
another plant that I think people wantto use as a only fruiting plant.
(32:34):
Yes, and that is I meanI ate the ones in my house,
but that is not why I plantplanted them because I wanted a blueberry hedge.
Yes, for that fall color,which kind of performs the same way
as the it ta where it turnsto gorgeous reddish orange right right where I
mean it's just a pretty row.It sticks once it drops its leaves,
right right. Yeah. So sometimesI forget to post, you know,
(32:58):
the superplant information on the y'all Clag'sNursery facebook page. Well, we'll do
a better job of that. Andthere is a Facebook page lsu Accent or
Louisiana Superplant, So uh, sowell you can go also to that page
and see what's going on. Yeah, now I've been meaning to, you
know, Butcher was talking about goingout to the or over at the research
(33:19):
himand research station, and is thatwhere you worked. I worked my last
ten years at LSU at the researchstation in Hammond. Right. That is
the best place to eat lunch isoutside outside you in all your little testing
grounds right right. It was justlike a very refreshing Yeah. They had
they had a field day at theend of July. It was very hot.
Nobody passed out and on the sunGarden tour, so uh, good
(33:45):
to go about labor day. That'swhat I'm going to do and check out
the summer survivors. Yeah. Andthere are plants that do not crash and
burn, believe it or not.There are there are question do they have
irrigation and all those bids irrigations andall those beds. Yes, you know,
I mean it's like, I mean, it's a perfect little experience,
(34:06):
a place to experiment right right right. Fruit trees are gonna be coming.
They are they are, you know, it is mid August, but fall
is on the way. And believeit or not, yea, And usually
about labor days of time for cicrustrees to arrive and fruit trees to arrive.
So have you heard anything about citrustrees azane and mainly satsumas. I
(34:27):
have it on good authority, Uhhuh, all right, that I'm gonna
get some satsumas. You are,Yeah, I can't tell you when because
I don't know when. Okay,you know, it was just I don't
know when they're shipping out, Okay, you know, but I would say
in the next week or something verygood, very good week to two weeks.
I'm actually really excited. We managedto get ahold of some dwarf citrus,
(34:49):
which, if you're not familiar,that's just any of your your run
of the male citrus trees, satzumas, oranges, all that, but grafted
to a dwarf root stock a littleless bigger scrower so it helps stunt the
plant to just maintain it into alittle bit smaller size. Now that said,
you could just you could just keepyour citrus pruned as well, you
(35:10):
know, different ways to make thesame thing happen, you know, But
I'm excited about that. Hadn't hadactual true dwarf citrus in a couple of
years, you know, and youknow I used to be reluctant to get
them because I mean they were somewhatI don't want to see small. But
it was just I mean, ifyou looked at the regular ones and you
(35:34):
looked at these, actual trunk wastwice the size, and well, should
go with that one. So that'sreally exciting. But we're gonna be getting
a couple varieties of sat zooms,you know, some women's things like that
and dwarf, and then we'll begetting some regular sets sat zoom was that'll
reach full maturity, right right,that's just overall that is the craziest business.
(35:58):
Yes, you know, and wehave a very few wholesale growers of
citrus trees, so we're just allthe independent garden centers, like Legs,
We're just dependent on when they havethem available and then the call weather.
The last couple of years, it'sheart citrus. So there's a big demand
for citrus trees, and and peoplewant more citrus trees. So I mean,
(36:29):
miss Shirley told me I needed toget orange. Yes, you know,
uh so, but it's you know, it's such a good little fruit.
Man. I used to love thatwas like my dog, my dog
treats, yes, because my littleterrier and my lab would tag team and
steal them off the off the tree, right, you know. And I
(36:50):
used to be mad. I thinkabout it now and I'm like, that
was adorable, you know. Butit's just it's a really neat plant,
yes, really weird loss about transportingbetween state, right, you know.
And that's why there's only a fewdistributors. Right, there's there's a few
disease and insect quarantines and uh ah, but anyway, it's good to hear
that satsumas are coming, because theyhave been out of supply for about six
(37:15):
months an hour or since last fall, or you know, there were still
some at retail it at Clegg's ina few places, but uh but we
basically have been liquidated up satsuma treesfor a good while. Colm quiets also
and then we uh so those distributorsdon't typically grow, they don't grow larger
size contains, right, right,you know, but we will we will
(37:37):
grow them from you know, right, and we've got really nice fifteen gallons
in as well. Good, soif you wanted something a little bit bigger
than what you would normally find right, I've got one size larger. Yes,
good, good, And that's reallyI'm glad we're getting back to that.
Yes, because a lot of contractorsand stuff, they when they plant,
(38:00):
they'll plant a whole landscape for acustomer. You know. They don't
want to just put a little,tiny, skimpy, little citrus tree in
the ground, and they want somethinga little bit more established, to make
more of a statement exactly. Andthat's what we're trying to accommodate for.
You know. Another exciting thing isgot those papaus in? Oh yeah,
we got some papaus in. AndI don't know if y'all are familiar with
(38:21):
the papa tree. It's a reallycool little native fruit. Yes she I've
never had one. You know,no one that ever has any ever wants
to give me any. I thinkthey hog them off right right, there's
not there's not much availability of papawtrees either, so long you need to
probably plant two papaw trees to getsome pollination. I've had very good luck
(38:44):
with getting fruit on non name varietiesof papaus, so most of the growers
in this area that sell papaus justhave the native straight species. We don't
have name varieties available. But there'spapawks trees that I planted at the research
station in Hammond, and we geta few fruit off those every year.
(39:07):
And then I mean we've got westill have blueberries, blackberries. I've got
a really neat variety of raspberry.Actually it's seeking. Yeah, it seemed
seems to be performing pretty well forbeing a raspberry, right right, you
know called it sun gold. Yeah, okay, yeah, there are there
are some raspberries now that possibly inBaton rouge. We got to do something
(39:28):
with so on. I mean Iexpected them to all burn up with all
this heat, and they still lookokay. Right. You know, fig
trees are very popular when you getbeyond the satsumas and the comquats. People
want the mire improve lemon that's verypopular. This fall would be a good
time to put blueberries and blackberries inthe sweet spot with those black with blueberries,
(39:52):
I found it November to December exactly. You know that's when you're gonna
really get root activity. If youpl like a gallon of a one gallon,
yes, right, normally I wouldnever plan a one gallon, but
except during that time. Oh yeah, but uh no, I mean,
it's just and we're gonna get allof our fall shipment of of other fruit
trees like your pears or apples allthat stuff a little bit later in the
(40:15):
season, towards like the end ofSeptember, middle of septime, just because
I mean, it's just it's hot. Hard to keep these tall, pretty
apple trees alive. Yeah, We'vegot to have some tempa sure and some
rainfall relief soon, you know.So, because it's just I mean,
the irrigation over at Seagan alone orany of the nurseries, it's just it's
(40:36):
it's hard to put on enough waterto keep these guys happy, exactly.
Yeah. And if you all outare not out there irrigating your lawn and
guarding landscape, you really need tobe doing that. It's hard to catch
up when you haven't been irrigating properlythe last month or two. Yeah,
that's what I've been. I've beentrying to stress, Like I get it
(40:57):
a crazy eyes at me whenever Iexplain that I have soaker hoses in my
beds, run them for like seventyto ninety minutes exactly, and so I'm
like wait, and they look atme like I'm insane exactly. All these
people that tell me that you're agate for five or ten minutes, you're
not doing any good. But ifyou go, and if you go into
(41:19):
any section of my beds, yes, and you can go. I mean
you can go with your finger orwith a little metal spike or something.
There is moisture at least about afoot down, good footing a half down.
And what that kind of helps preventis like my azaleus and other shrubs
in that area from developing very shallowroots exactly, and they almost pushed themselves
(41:43):
out the ground. You'll see thatin the landscape occasionally, where you know,
it'll just be uh, it's almostlooks like the plant is standing off
the ground with some roots, andthat is just from shallow watering. Yeah,
so it looks like we have aquick caller room and about to run
out of time, but we'll goahead and get it real quick. Hey
(42:06):
Eve, how are you doing today? I'm doing pretty good. I've been
listening to the show and I enjoyedhearing. Oh well, get to my
question, Azalius. How much theazaleas look good? They're not. I
just don't know how much water theyactually need. They don't look as if
(42:27):
they need any I would. Iwould put water on them every couple of
days. The biggest thing is wewant to keep that soil from getting hydrophobic.
That's the that's when you really startto see heat stress on azaleus.
So until we start getting it seeingsome rainfall, it's good to put put
(42:50):
a good bed of water, youknow, five ten gallons or so in
the area, right. Yeah,And I've really seen Azalia starting to soccer
last week or two. So ifyour zealeus look good, they still need
to have some irrigation put on themvery soon. We've got a rough week
ahead, so well, it lookslike we're out of time. Thank you,
Eve. We appreciate doctor Heather kirkMallard being with us. Yeah,
(43:14):
it was a good show. It'salways good to be here with Zang.
Yeah. I'd like to hear snakecall to Yes, we're glad Busch is
doing okay. We hope, wehope everybody has a good weekend. And
you know, we do have thingsat the garden center, so come out
and see us. I'll get youa few crotons and maybe a bag or
two a potting soil. Yeah,and check out your Clegs Nursery Facebook page.
(43:37):
We always love to have comments andlikes lair yea, well it sounds
good. Well I'll see you nexttime. Thank you very much, have
a good weekend.
Good Saturday morning, and welcome tothe WGBO Lawn and Garden Show, brought
to you by Cleg's Nursery. Ifyou have a question about seasonal planting,
lanning, garden concerns, or questionsabout landscaping, call four nine nine WGBO.
That's four nine nine ninety five twosix. Good Saturday morning. My
(00:24):
name is Zane Mercer, joined herewith my favorite co host, doctor Allen
Ellens. Good morning, Zain,good morning. Don't tell butch then okay,
but how's it going today? AnotherSaturday edition of them WJBO Lawn and
Garden Show. No one too hottoday this morning? Anyway, it was
it was eighty three when I leftthe house in Hammond, but then it
(00:46):
was seventy eight when I got here. So tolerable, yeah, not to
not too too hot. Yeah,So what having about the warm weather?
Still here? It's still here andhaving a lot of stuff going on,
Yes, we do, you know, I mean, not a lot of
planting or not too too much,you know, just because as far as
(01:07):
I as far as I'm concerned,I don't like sweating that much except at
work, right, and it's couldbe really tough on plants to Uh,
plant them right now, so youknow, think about what you need to
be planning. What's this? Uhheat wave breaks and uh and uh you
know cool season. Uh we'll behere sooner or later. Where was that
(01:33):
again? Cool season? I don'tknow if I remember what that's like now,
you know, I believe I toldyou before the show started. But
I've been doing a bunch of irrigationwork at Green Springs location, and yeah,
it is just unbearably hot, idios. I mean the temperatures we're we're
experiencing this is unprecedented for the BatonRouge area. And uh, you know
(01:57):
there may be a little bit ofrain Monday, twenty thirty percent chance we
really need it. Covington got areally good rain Tuesday night. They got
three inches. But it must benice, yes, yeah, but I
happened to be in Baton Rouge thatafternoon and it was saw not a cloud
in the sky one oh one whenit was raining three inches in Covington.
(02:19):
Yeah, we didn't really, Imean, it had consistent cloud cover too
much exactly get a breeze here thereright right, But we're still getting some
nice stuff in We are all everybodythat you know has to get something in
the ground for a party anything likethat. Yes, you know, the
croats look very nice. Croats arealways a very good plant for your patio
(02:42):
outdoor living area. Some nice ornamentalpeppers, marigolds, garden moms, oh
yeah, the garden moms. Thejust that little aster all it's been coming
in and it's just been all lookingreally good, real sharp, right,
no buds yet for the most part. But I mean it's a little early
for that. Yeah, still earlyfor the forsanthemus a half flowers. Now
(03:05):
you're talking about the crotins, andI just wanted to take a second talk
about oliver sacrificial plants. They're gettingready to come on, you know.
And it's just I mean, there'sthat's a lot of bang Fearbuck really Yes,
I'm a very very affordable great fallfolish collar and uh. They can
be perennial if you protect them fromthe freezes and uh. And we have
(03:30):
two or three main varieties petrus ofone that's mostly available at Clags and other
gardens. Find that that's probably theshowiest. I like it. I mean
they've got it like the mammy,which I like. That one's cool because
it it looks like a hair curlingright, right, a little bit of
twisted foliage. But no, it'sjust you know that your ornamental peppers are
(03:51):
starting to come on. We're startingto see a few of those, yes,
yes, you know, and it'sjust buck. I've actually seen some
tropical high bisk because blooming fairly well. But the ones that are doing the
best right now are the ones thatare being irrigated, fertilized and are in
a little bit of afternoon shade.Yeah. You think this time of year
(04:12):
tropical hibiscus hot sunny, but it'sactually too hot for them now. So
give them afternoon shade and your landscapeand they're going to still be blooming for
you. Yeah. Yeah. Inmy property along the side yard, I've
got an oak tree and I justyou know, we had those really nice
hibiscus at the very beginning of theyear and that orange. Yes, and
(04:33):
I was like, you know,i'll put some there, see if they
make it, see if they bloomwell. And honestly, I think that's
the best spot in my yard forthem, right, I mean, they
bloom pretty. You know, they'reaway from my insect infested sections, you
know, and it's just like overall, just been performing pretty well, right,
other than the fact I have toput water in most every day.
(04:56):
Yes, yes, you know,but it looks like we got a phone
call phone around to that. Iknow, it's exciting Saturday, al how
you doing today? Doing good?Calling about great myrtles. I dug up
some mature great mortles and I gota hole about the size of a can
(05:17):
of fifteen gallon, and little pupsare coming up and I'm trying to put
stuff on them to you know,kill them, but you're relentless. The
best way to get rid of thatis a product called Triclopier, or we
sell it in There's a it's calledcutting vine killer. That's gonna be that
(05:41):
you're most surefire way to really getthat under control. Okay, yeah,
yeah. The way the way theproduct works is you wound those suckers,
so you'll you'll just clip them withsome snips and you just brush this product
on it and it'll travel down tothe root and take the root out.
Okay, all right, all right, yes sir, and we carry it
(06:05):
at all of our locations. Allright, well, thank you, Okay,
you're welcome, take care of all. Yes, ideas a that is
an issue with digging up a cripemartel, cause you leave the roots sayer
and the roots sucker, but thetricolate pier does a good job. And
gotta watch it, especially early nextspring, because that's when they'll start sprouting
(06:26):
up again. You're not gonna killthem all this fall. Yeah, it's
usually like two about two applications ofbeing real vigilant, right, you know.
The it was funny he had thatquestion. My taycare lady had the
same question Thursday when I picked upmy children. Now they had cut down
a bunch of hollies, right anddoing essentially the same thing. Oh yeah,
(06:46):
and it's just this is what wegot to use. I think I
pulled pulled a jug out of mytoolbox and gave it to him. So,
but now you know, we weretalking about like our sacrificial plants.
Yeah, and some people listening mightnot be familiar with what that is,
all right, And what I meanby that is it's a plant that has
(07:10):
a shorter cycle and your flair bitessentially, you know, it's like your
peppers. They're going to be grownfor the fall when it's hot, all
right, and then the second weget that freeze, their toast, so
we usually just pull them up toreplace them. Yeah, you know,
yeah, they're gonna be two threemonths out there in the landscape. Maybe
(07:30):
some of your container plannings this timeof year are going to last till first
killing frost, or then if youwait till end of September October, start
planning some of your cool season battingplants. Of course those will last all
through the winter. So but alot of your collar for this time of
year is still actually warm season flowers. Solosius would be very nice, the
(07:54):
xenias and marigols would be very nice. Yeah, the incredible un flowers are
going to be spectacular. And theybring it. They bring in the bees
if you want bees in your landscape. I got a contractor that uh he
had bought one for his daughter,Yes, and he mean he about lost
it once it started blooming and stuff. He's like, it just keeps going,
(08:16):
it does, it does. It'stotally unlike the other sunflowers, so
they just keep on blooming. Ithink it's crazy the way it's propagated exactly
exactly. These petting these little pettentedvarieties are all uh, I mean they
take tissue culture. Yeah, they'renot they're not from seeds, so you
can't buy seed of so incredible sunflowersbecause they're vegetatively propagated. But a really
(08:41):
really good plant. This's an LSHue superplant. Also, man, y'all
sure do come out with a lotof seed plants, you know. Oh
you know, I've seen Lantana's lookinggood angelonious driving around looking at the commercial
landscapes, like at the bank andlike our favorite chicken place in Baton Rouge.
Angelonious look really really good. Theyalways look best when it's hot and
(09:03):
when it's dry. Oh yeah,excepting puts, yes, yeah, you
know at the nursery, I justhad to go through quite a bit because
it's just I mean, I knowthey need to be growing, not just
constrained, and those little continually exactly. Yeah. The green Will Springs Ride
location has some nice so angelonious thisweek, so yeah, I've been I
(09:26):
used to use it a lot whenI was a contractor, and I mean
I loved that plant, yes,because it makes a tight little bushy hedge.
White white, lavender, light blue, raspberry, so pink pinkish,
so those color blends, oh yeah, no, so we gotta I mean
I have a whole lot of colorstill over at the nursery. And then
(09:48):
and the biggest thing I'm excited aboutis those mums that are going to be
coming on right. You know,it just ain't nothing like the color of
mums for the fall and early ina season we have like the four inch
pots, the four and a halfinch pots. Then you start seeing the
six inch pots and the bigger momsand eight inch pots and uh so as
(10:11):
you get further into late summer earlyfall, you'll see the bigger moms.
Yeah, and you may see alittle bit of heat delay on the flowers
of this year, but there willcome along and they'll be in good shape.
Yeah. Between that and the crutains, Yes, they make the biggest
statement from your house late from thestreet. They really do. You know.
(10:33):
A very wise man told me onetime. It was that everything else
just exsence your house. Your houseis your centerpiece. Yes, and I
really I took that to heart.You know, it's like all we're trying
to do, we're trying to makeyour house even prettier. Your house is
always the main, the main focus. And of course pumpkins will be in
and about two or three weeks Imean, we got hey yesterday and eight
(10:56):
bales and your corn stalks, andyou can use all that to to decorate
your your front entrants or your backentrants where your visitors come in. Yeah,
I know, the the pumpkins.Don't remind me they're gonna be here
before I know it. Yes,a whole lot of pricing and puttings,
whole lot of pricing. Yes,but they have the craziest little varieties.
(11:20):
I love all these small pumpkins oractually winter squash, but they are really
decorative, really nice. So itlooks like, Allan, we've got Heather
calling, So let's go ahead andtake Heather. Okay, doctor Heather kirk
Ballard from the LSU Accent. Oh, good morning, Heather morning. How
are you. We're doing very good. Better now that we get a celebrity
(11:43):
on the phone. Oh that's funny. This is gonna be our most highest
rated segment in weeks. Yeah,okay, but this morning we're doing very
good for all of you out therelistening. Doctor Heather kirk Ballard is a
horticulture professor at the LSU AGS Center. She does consumer horticulture, what basically
(12:07):
means home gardening, and she's anextension specialist and she's responsible. She has
statewide appointment, so she works withgetting information out to county agents. She
does get growing news articles, sowe appreciate all you do. Heather.
Oh, thank you, thank you. I read a really good article from
(12:28):
me the other day. I likedit. The news article comes out once
a week. Is that correct?Yes, that is correct, and we
can we can. We can findthat on the LSU AGS Center a website,
and it's also published locally in differentlike the Advocate picks it up across
the state. Several other papers pickit up, but those are sent out
(12:52):
and distributed across the state. Veryyou can find them. Yes, on
the LSU AT Center's website. Greatgreat education for the home gardeners around the
state that Heather and other LSU ActCenter folks disseminate weekly. So we appreciate
all that. And there's also aweekly get at Growing video. Is that
(13:15):
right, Heather? That's true?Yes, every week. That one also
goes out statewide. WFB picks itup and those come on Sunday mornings.
The times vary, but it's usuallythe early morning segment. It depends on
you know, what's going on andwhat's hot and what's new. So we
tried to or I tried to talkabout what's going on in the landscape right
(13:39):
or what's going on what is concerninghomeowners farmers for that matter, with gardenings.
So you know, right now everybody'sworried about this heat and keeping their
plants alive and the lack of water. So oh yeah, that's definitely been
the main topic of discussion for itseems like two months now. So yeah,
(14:00):
it is a non stopped topic whileyou were out of town. Actually,
Covington got a real good rain thisweek, but nothing in Baton Rouge,
nothing in Hammond where I live,nothing in Lafayette. So we're still
baking. It's concerning. Yeah,we're watching the tree that looks like fall
out there. I know, yougo into survival mode right now, where
(14:20):
you're conserving every little bit that theycan to survive. So they're dropping those
leaves and it's uh, yeah,it's scary. The lawns are turning brown
and getting crunchy, and yeah,you know, we have a fireband as
well. We don't want to sparkany types of fires, and I think
they're kind of popping up right now. They're just they're popping up without let's
spark like, without any human intervention, right right, and it's just hyah,
(14:46):
it is unbearably hot. So sohowther we have about five more minutes?
But what do you You have apotting media potting soil survey right now?
So so what's the objective of thepotting soil survey that you have out
(15:07):
there right now with one of youragg economic colleagues. Yeah, so Jaredpin,
Doctor Jared Pin is an agg economistwith the LSU AG Center, and
he and I are partnered up.We want to understand the preferences that consumers
have when it comes to potting soils. So we want to make sure that
the products that are being offered atretail garden centers align with the market demand,
(15:31):
you know, so that they canoptimize those products offerings. And there
are many things that make up agood soilist substrate or what we call potting
soils. Many of them are composedof peat moss, which is a common
component of growing media. Lightweight hasgood water holding capacity, but there have
(15:52):
been some concerns raised about its sustainabilityand environmental impact. So we're trying to
understand does that even play into whata consumer thinks about when they go and
buy those those media, so itis a very important component along with things
like perlite and vermiculite. We justwant to understand if fertilizers are important to
(16:14):
be incorporated for those potting soils,that those are the types of things that
they're looking for when they're purchasing pottingsoils. So, because we know that
people that grow in containers, that'sreally becoming very trendy. As housing get
smaller and lawns get smaller, peopleare utilizing container gardens, raised beds,
(16:36):
things like that to meet their gardeningneeds to get that growing in containers,
and it can be very useful thatwe can't do it without a good potting
soil. So we want to understandwhat types that they're looking at and what
types that they're looking for. Youknow that organic is very popular with consumers
as well. We want to understandis it really what the consumer wants or
(16:56):
is it price that drives what theywant. So just getting a better understanding
of what they want to keep themgrowing. I think this has gonna really
yield some very good data. Sothose of you listening, if you want
to take the survey. It wasposted this morning on the Clegs Nursery Facebook
(17:19):
page about seven thirty, so youcan find it at the Clegs Nursery Facebook
page, and also if you scrollthrough the LSU ag Center facebook post for
the last week, it's also uposted there. It takes about five or
ten minutes to complete the survey,and I think it's going to give us
some really valuable information. Yeah,I agree with you. I mean,
(17:45):
price points always important, right,But I mean there's let me, I
see at the at the nursery,I mean many customers which they would they
would rather spend the more money for, like, for example, like a
fox Farm product, right, justbecause I mean that products yielded really exceptional
results for them, right, youknow. And then also at Cleggs we
(18:07):
have Cleg's Nursery potting soil and plantingmix. We have Tiger and Grow and
Garden Grow that was to be bydoctor in Bush so and right. And
I've also always wondered howther, youknow, do people shop by price or
do really really know what potting soilthey want? And then do people start
(18:33):
buying the one that works well forthem and then skip to something else,
or do they always stay with thesame one. Yeah, Yeah, that's
that's what we want to understand.We we also want to understand what types
of brands where they're buying from.Are they buying from the retail garden centers?
Are they getting it both delivered?You know that kind of that kind
of information and what's important. Youknow, we need good drainage, but
(18:57):
we also need good holding capacity.It's like this double edged sword where you
don't want those plants sitting in toomuch water so that we don't get any
root, right, But we allknow that containers dry out very quickly,
especially in this heat. You've gotto keep watering and watering, and so
nutrients become very important because when we'rewatering so much, as that drains out,
(19:21):
we're also leaching out those those nutrients. So those things become very important
when we're thinking about the health andgrowth of our plants. You have to
consider those things for your your growingmedia's or your potting soils. Yeah,
I mean, the most important aspectof growing a plant starts downstairs, you
(19:41):
know, yep, I mean justI mean it's not just it's not just
putting a little grainul fertilizer on it. You know. So it's all about
the soil, all about the mediathat they're planted in. So how long
how long can the folks take thissurvey? Heather, We're gonna leave it
open for a couple more months.Okay, they're about to put it out
(20:04):
in the newsletter with the Louisiana Departmentof Agriculture and for Streets. They're LBAs
there's helping to support us in this, and so that'll be coming out in
their newsletter on August twenty six,and then we're gonna leave it open a
little bit longer. But we putin a grant with the Horticulture Research Institute
and we're hoping to get funded tolook at this nationwide because, believe it
(20:27):
or not, there is very littleinformation on what consumers wants when it comes
to pottings. Well, there's beenvery little research done in this area.
So we're we're trying to, youknow, support the retail garden centers and
support our consumers by understanding their preferences. I think that'd be really cool because,
(20:47):
like I mean, for instance,the same and this isn't across the
board for every single bag, butlike you know, I've I've had I've
bought Miracle grow before from one likeone place and then go ten miles down
the road and it's a different it'sthe same bag, but a little bit
different consistency, right right. Yeah, And sometimes sometimes some of these companies
(21:11):
they also change the blends of theirmixes and they don't, you know,
announce that. I want to justremind everybody that you can look on the
bag on all these materials and findand that's going to tell you what the
components are in that particular media soil. So yeah, and some people do
(21:33):
better with a peat based mix andsome people do better with a bark based
mix, depending on what your wateringtendencies are, yes, exactly. And
they're they're looking at alternatives for peatmoss these days, different types of wood
fibers, things like that. There'salso coconut core. You know, there's
lots of different components that make updifferent potting soils. And they'll continue as
(22:00):
looking at more sustainable you know,growing, they will continue to look at
more at different products that hopefully arenot more expensive, that are more sustainable
and better for the environment. Sowe will continue to look at those types
of because that's a concern for consumers. It truly is. So we want
(22:21):
to meet that demand. And Imean it's important as a responsible Earth's steward,
right We're all stewards of the Earth, and we need to be I'm
very passionate about that. So that'simportant to me too, you know.
No, we need to pay itforward for future generations. That's the way
I kind of look at it,you know, And it's like if you
look at I mean so like PeeteMoss, there's all the concerns about you
(22:45):
know, the fact the bogs takeforever to grow, and you know we
scoop I mean, we scoop outmore than it, you know, grows,
and uh, I don't know.I think once we get if we
get some more options out there,it's really going to open up some doors,
absolutely more tools in the toolbox toget the job done. That's so
(23:08):
well, Heather, sure appreciate it. Thank you for joining us, Heather.
We hope y'all have a good weekend. Yea. Thank you everybody take
that survey for us. We reallyappreciate your input and feedback. On the
Cleg's Nursery Facebook page, we'll beposting the survey about once a week or
so and trying to get some someconsumers to complete it. And also on
(23:33):
my personal page, I'll be doingthat and also lsu ag Center's Facebook page.
You'll see the survey of being postedregularly. So thank you for joining
us. How They're hope to seeyou soon. Take care, y'all,
have a good day. Okay,bye bye, Yeah, doctor doctor Ballard.
She was talking about the h theshake trees, And I've been noticing
(23:53):
that the last two weeks or so, the the some maples, water oaks,
a few trees like that are reallystarting to show stress and they're going
defoliate prematurely this year or fall fall, which color is kind of setting in.
And I mean, I've got lookslike a native pecan. Yes,
(24:18):
the foliage and stuff is all suckergrowth, like sixty feet in the air,
so I can't really tell, butI've got one, and I've got
to get cut down in my house, and it just progressively looked worse and
worse, right right, But Imean I'm driving down the road. I
mean there's a pine tree, amature pine tree, yes that I'm pretty
sure that sucker's dead. Yes,And it's it's right in the space right
(24:42):
next to the road and the sidewalk, so there's really there's not enough root
or soil in that whole right toreally even hold water, let alone the
fact that we haven't got any waterexactly exactly. And you know, cripe
martles really I'm not done well thisyear. And that was really more cold
(25:03):
weather related. But normally crepe martleslike it hot and dry, but it's
just been too dry for crepe martlestoo. Mine. Look the one I
have in my front yard, it'sa tuscarora. Nah, I'm still getting
pretty good color on it, butthat's I mean I run a soaker hose
on it for like an hour,yes, every other day, and then
(25:23):
I mean I put I've probably puttwenty pounds of fertilizer on it exactly right,
take a bust a bag of GrowerSpecial, right, you'll put it
out there. But yeah, no, it's you're right, there's everything has
been stressful, yes, I meanthe so normally, I mean we don't
sell as many of the smaller crapemyrtles as we used to, but I
(25:47):
mean three gallon crape myrtles were almostnot i mean not non existent, yes,
right, the ones that we couldbuy, Yes, you didn't want
to buy those right right, becauseit was I mean, you're buying something
they got burnt six feet up exactly. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh,
it looks like we got a phonecaller. Okay, let's see who
(26:10):
this. I wonder who this couldpossibly be? Yeah, Hi, how's
it going? Good morning, gentlemen, Good morning, I'm worried about Okay,
Yeah, we're fine. We're doinggood. People here at the Baton
Regeneral taking very very good care ofme. I'm appreciate it and every one
(26:32):
of them for what they've done.But now hopefully I'll be getting out of
here pretty soon. But the reasonfor my call is you've brought up something
a little earlier. Alan, I'dlike for you to go into a little
bit more depth on it. Theprogram that I really do like. Would
you explain to them a little bitmore about the Louisiana Superplant Program, how
the plants are selected, what theprocess is, and don't they do some
(26:56):
trials and Hammond if I'm not mistaken, right, Yeah, So the LSU
Act Center Louisiana Superplant Program's been outfor about fourteen fifteen years now, and
it uh there's three or four plantsevery year that are named Louisiana Superplants based
on evaluations of how those plants dohere in Louisiana. A lot of those
(27:18):
trials are doing at the LSU ActsCenter and Hammond and it's a really good
program because now we have a listof about fifty five or sixty plants that
we can confidently recommend to home gardenersthat are going to be good flowers,
shrubs, trees for the for thelandscape, and they're gonna be easy care,
(27:41):
low maintenance, not prone to diseaseinsect problems. So we were talking
about the sun incredible sunflowers. They'reone of the superplants for this year.
The blew my mind of Bobulus bluedays was a superplant and it's a fabulous
informer. So working, working,someone working, so some of that I
(28:03):
can't talk. Where can someone goto get a listing of these plants.
We need to be posting that moreregularly on the on the Cleg's nursery page,
but we do nursery page. Iwonder, I wonder who does that?
I wonder who does that? Youknow? And uh, but but
actually Clegg's does a good job withCarrie and Louisiana superplants, and uh,
(28:26):
we can always improve on our signsand improve on promoting the superplants. But
uh but we uh we do afairly good job with with that program,
doing a great job. Guys,I gotta go back, thank you.
Okay, So I don't know abutch what everybody? Heh he got bit
by a snake yesterday. But buthe's okay. So he's got glad he
(28:51):
called the end of that lessons.No, he is okay, And yeah,
I was kind of worried about himyesterday because I you know, I
guess he's like me, I justlike to give one word text message response,
you know. But it's I mean, you know, it's it's something
that doesn't happen very often, right. But also it is so dry,
yes, that they are out exactlyyou know, I mean they are looking
(29:12):
for water, and that's essentially whathappened me and he just mounting his own
business exactly exactly. And they're kindof grouchy probably too. Yeah. Well
it's like and there's no water,yes, right, so the frog population
is probably kind of hidden, right, And that's usually what you know water
(29:33):
micasins all that actually go after thepeople that kind of maintain bird bass and
fountains, the bees and the butterfliesand the birds or congregating around those constantly.
You turn on the sprinkler and here'sall the birds coming in. So
I have a puddle jumper from mytwo sons, yes, and I'll kick
(29:55):
that on. And I know thesecond that sprinkler starts hitting about five foot,
all of a sudden, every singlebird flies into the flies into my
uh like onto the treehouse because theywere about to go fly through right.
Cool off. He starts seeing thesquirrels come out, and uh, and
I'm getting questions about you know,armadillast dig and then other kind of quote
(30:19):
unquote varmints in the landscape right now, and they're just going into the areas
where the water is. Yeah,so long, so long. There's not
a whole lot we can do aboutthat. We can put repellents out,
but you know, they're just nature'sanimals that are trying to find a water
source and try to find some food. And I got a dog to try
(30:41):
and scare him off. He yes, he doesn't do a very good job.
I think he's more scared of them. So but now that's you know,
which brought up a real good questionabout the superplants. Yeah, because
I believe we're correct me if I'mwrong. But we're in American beauty berries.
American supert bears are superplant, agreat native berries this time of year,
(31:03):
and we got a ton in overits seas. I'm trying to I
keep on. I kept on runningout last year, right, and then
y'a couldn't put the place. Yes, right, So I was like,
well, maybe if I orders alittle extra, it'll tape me through.
That's just that's one plant that's beendoing great for the ita. Virginia willow,
(31:25):
the Henry's garnet. That's the Louisianasuperplant that's native, and that is
that is a sturdy, sturdy shrub. I love it. It's good for
regular landscape bes, but also themunicipalities and folks that are putting again rain
gardens and water collection facilities are usingVirginia willow it in that situation too,
(31:47):
because they can stand a little bitof water, like I just like how
versati the are. Yeah, theycan grow in the shed and bloom.
Well, yes, they can takewater, right, they can take a
little bit of drop conditions, right, you know, and then they can
take some right, So nice fallfull which color about six inch white blue
panicles in the springtime, so onsee the fall color from the foliage.
(32:10):
Yeah, that's more of a sellingpoint for me than the flowers. If
you don't know it, Virginia,well o Henry's Garnet, I'll look that
up, and and a considerate alsorabbit eyed blueberries, jeff Blue Climax Premier
Bright. Well, they're all lsuagg Center superplants. That's it. That's
another plant that I think people wantto use as a only fruiting plant.
(32:34):
Yes, and that is I meanI ate the ones in my house,
but that is not why I plantplanted them because I wanted a blueberry hedge.
Yes, for that fall color,which kind of performs the same way
as the it ta where it turnsto gorgeous reddish orange right right where I
mean it's just a pretty row.It sticks once it drops its leaves,
right right. Yeah. So sometimesI forget to post, you know,
(32:58):
the superplant information on the y'all Clag'sNursery facebook page. Well, we'll do
a better job of that. Andthere is a Facebook page lsu Accent or
Louisiana Superplant, So uh, sowell you can go also to that page
and see what's going on. Yeah, now I've been meaning to, you
know, Butcher was talking about goingout to the or over at the research
(33:19):
himand research station, and is thatwhere you worked. I worked my last
ten years at LSU at the researchstation in Hammond. Right. That is
the best place to eat lunch isoutside outside you in all your little testing
grounds right right. It was justlike a very refreshing Yeah. They had
they had a field day at theend of July. It was very hot.
Nobody passed out and on the sunGarden tour, so uh, good
(33:45):
to go about labor day. That'swhat I'm going to do and check out
the summer survivors. Yeah. Andthere are plants that do not crash and
burn, believe it or not.There are there are question do they have
irrigation and all those bids irrigations andall those beds. Yes, you know,
I mean it's like, I mean, it's a perfect little experience,
(34:06):
a place to experiment right right right. Fruit trees are gonna be coming.
They are they are, you know, it is mid August, but fall
is on the way. And believeit or not, yea, And usually
about labor days of time for cicrustrees to arrive and fruit trees to arrive.
So have you heard anything about citrustrees azane and mainly satsumas. I
(34:27):
have it on good authority, Uhhuh, all right, that I'm gonna
get some satsumas. You are,Yeah, I can't tell you when because
I don't know when. Okay,you know, it was just I don't
know when they're shipping out, Okay, you know, but I would say
in the next week or something verygood, very good week to two weeks.
I'm actually really excited. We managedto get ahold of some dwarf citrus,
(34:49):
which, if you're not familiar,that's just any of your your run
of the male citrus trees, satzumas, oranges, all that, but grafted
to a dwarf root stock a littleless bigger scrower so it helps stunt the
plant to just maintain it into alittle bit smaller size. Now that said,
you could just you could just keepyour citrus pruned as well, you
(35:10):
know, different ways to make thesame thing happen, you know, But
I'm excited about that. Hadn't hadactual true dwarf citrus in a couple of
years, you know, and youknow I used to be reluctant to get
them because I mean they were somewhatI don't want to see small. But
it was just I mean, ifyou looked at the regular ones and you
(35:34):
looked at these, actual trunk wastwice the size, and well, should
go with that one. So that'sreally exciting. But we're gonna be getting
a couple varieties of sat zooms,you know, some women's things like that
and dwarf, and then we'll begetting some regular sets sat zoom was that'll
reach full maturity, right right,that's just overall that is the craziest business.
(35:58):
Yes, you know, and wehave a very few wholesale growers of
citrus trees, so we're just allthe independent garden centers, like Legs,
We're just dependent on when they havethem available and then the call weather.
The last couple of years, it'sheart citrus. So there's a big demand
for citrus trees, and and peoplewant more citrus trees. So I mean,
(36:29):
miss Shirley told me I needed toget orange. Yes, you know,
uh so, but it's you know, it's such a good little fruit.
Man. I used to love thatwas like my dog, my dog
treats, yes, because my littleterrier and my lab would tag team and
steal them off the off the tree, right, you know. And I
(36:50):
used to be mad. I thinkabout it now and I'm like, that
was adorable, you know. Butit's just it's a really neat plant,
yes, really weird loss about transportingbetween state, right, you know.
And that's why there's only a fewdistributors. Right, there's there's a few
disease and insect quarantines and uh ah, but anyway, it's good to hear
that satsumas are coming, because theyhave been out of supply for about six
(37:15):
months an hour or since last fall, or you know, there were still
some at retail it at Clegg's ina few places, but uh but we
basically have been liquidated up satsuma treesfor a good while. Colm quiets also
and then we uh so those distributorsdon't typically grow, they don't grow larger
size contains, right, right,you know, but we will we will
(37:37):
grow them from you know, right, and we've got really nice fifteen gallons
in as well. Good, soif you wanted something a little bit bigger
than what you would normally find right, I've got one size larger. Yes,
good, good, And that's reallyI'm glad we're getting back to that.
Yes, because a lot of contractorsand stuff, they when they plant,
(38:00):
they'll plant a whole landscape for acustomer. You know. They don't
want to just put a little,tiny, skimpy, little citrus tree in
the ground, and they want somethinga little bit more established, to make
more of a statement exactly. Andthat's what we're trying to accommodate for.
You know. Another exciting thing isgot those papaus in? Oh yeah,
we got some papaus in. AndI don't know if y'all are familiar with
(38:21):
the papa tree. It's a reallycool little native fruit. Yes she I've
never had one. You know,no one that ever has any ever wants
to give me any. I thinkthey hog them off right right, there's
not there's not much availability of papawtrees either, so long you need to
probably plant two papaw trees to getsome pollination. I've had very good luck
(38:44):
with getting fruit on non name varietiesof papaus, so most of the growers
in this area that sell papaus justhave the native straight species. We don't
have name varieties available. But there'spapawks trees that I planted at the research
station in Hammond, and we geta few fruit off those every year.
(39:07):
And then I mean we've got westill have blueberries, blackberries. I've got
a really neat variety of raspberry.Actually it's seeking. Yeah, it seemed
seems to be performing pretty well forbeing a raspberry, right right, you
know called it sun gold. Yeah, okay, yeah, there are there
are some raspberries now that possibly inBaton rouge. We got to do something
(39:28):
with so on. I mean Iexpected them to all burn up with all
this heat, and they still lookokay. Right. You know, fig
trees are very popular when you getbeyond the satsumas and the comquats. People
want the mire improve lemon that's verypopular. This fall would be a good
time to put blueberries and blackberries inthe sweet spot with those black with blueberries,
(39:52):
I found it November to December exactly. You know that's when you're gonna
really get root activity. If youpl like a gallon of a one gallon,
yes, right, normally I wouldnever plan a one gallon, but
except during that time. Oh yeah, but uh no, I mean,
it's just and we're gonna get allof our fall shipment of of other fruit
trees like your pears or apples allthat stuff a little bit later in the
(40:15):
season, towards like the end ofSeptember, middle of septime, just because
I mean, it's just it's hot. Hard to keep these tall, pretty
apple trees alive. Yeah, We'vegot to have some tempa sure and some
rainfall relief soon, you know.So, because it's just I mean,
the irrigation over at Seagan alone orany of the nurseries, it's just it's
(40:36):
it's hard to put on enough waterto keep these guys happy, exactly.
Yeah. And if you all outare not out there irrigating your lawn and
guarding landscape, you really need tobe doing that. It's hard to catch
up when you haven't been irrigating properlythe last month or two. Yeah,
that's what I've been. I've beentrying to stress, Like I get it
(40:57):
a crazy eyes at me whenever Iexplain that I have soaker hoses in my
beds, run them for like seventyto ninety minutes exactly, and so I'm
like wait, and they look atme like I'm insane exactly. All these
people that tell me that you're agate for five or ten minutes, you're
not doing any good. But ifyou go, and if you go into
(41:19):
any section of my beds, yes, and you can go. I mean
you can go with your finger orwith a little metal spike or something.
There is moisture at least about afoot down, good footing a half down.
And what that kind of helps preventis like my azaleus and other shrubs
in that area from developing very shallowroots exactly, and they almost pushed themselves
(41:43):
out the ground. You'll see thatin the landscape occasionally, where you know,
it'll just be uh, it's almostlooks like the plant is standing off
the ground with some roots, andthat is just from shallow watering. Yeah,
so it looks like we have aquick caller room and about to run
out of time, but we'll goahead and get it real quick. Hey
(42:06):
Eve, how are you doing today? I'm doing pretty good. I've been
listening to the show and I enjoyedhearing. Oh well, get to my
question, Azalius. How much theazaleas look good? They're not. I
just don't know how much water theyactually need. They don't look as if
(42:27):
they need any I would. Iwould put water on them every couple of
days. The biggest thing is wewant to keep that soil from getting hydrophobic.
That's the that's when you really startto see heat stress on azaleus.
So until we start getting it seeingsome rainfall, it's good to put put
(42:50):
a good bed of water, youknow, five ten gallons or so in
the area, right. Yeah,And I've really seen Azalia starting to soccer
last week or two. So ifyour zealeus look good, they still need
to have some irrigation put on themvery soon. We've got a rough week
ahead, so well, it lookslike we're out of time. Thank you,
Eve. We appreciate doctor Heather kirkMallard being with us. Yeah,
(43:14):
it was a good show. It'salways good to be here with Zang.
Yeah. I'd like to hear snakecall to Yes, we're glad Busch is
doing okay. We hope, wehope everybody has a good weekend. And
you know, we do have thingsat the garden center, so come out
and see us. I'll get youa few crotons and maybe a bag or
two a potting soil. Yeah,and check out your Clegs Nursery Facebook page.
(43:37):
We always love to have comments andlikes lair yea, well it sounds
good. Well I'll see you nexttime. Thank you very much, have
a good weekend.
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