May 2, 2026 • 39 mins
Teresa Watkins, a horticulturist and landscape designer, hosts Better Lawns and Gardens, Florida’s most popular gardening radio show. Rebecca Koraytem, a representative for David Austin Roses®, shares advice on choosing and caring for roses. Teresa introduces the Dirty Word of the Day: "Pleasure garden," and answers listeners’ questions about landscaping and gardening.
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Speaker 1 (00:10):
Welcome back to the second hour of Better Lawns and Gardens.
Good morning, Thank you for joining us. It's going to
be a great week. Why because we're going to get
some rain and we definitely need it here in Florida.
Just remember, if you get one to one and a
half inches of rain this week, you do not need
to irrigate your turf, your garden beds, vegetables may need
(00:31):
a little bit more water depending on how warm it's
going to get in your area, but we could see
mid nineties for central and South Florida, so you want
to just keep an eye on it.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
Check the soil.
Speaker 1 (00:44):
If the soil is moist, cool, or damp, you do
not need to water it. If it's warm, dry and
it just fizzles right through the sandy soil fillss right
through your hands, then you can go ahead. And water
only needs one and a half inch of water a week,
and so we do appreciate it. Let's do the dirty
(01:04):
word of the day.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
And now it's time for the dirty word of the
Day on Better Lawns and Gardens with Teresa.
Speaker 1 (01:11):
Watkins, and the dirty word of the day is pleasure garden.
A pleasure garden is a park or garden that is
open to the public for recreation and entertainment. Pleasure gardens
differ from other public gardens by serving as venues for
entertainment various feat variously featuring such attractions as concert halls, bandstands,
(01:33):
amusement rides, zoos, and menageries. Historically, a pleasure garden or
pleasure ground meant private flower gardens, shrub gardens, or a
formal wooded areas such as a bosque, that was planted
for enjoyment, with ornamental plants and neat paths for walking through.
(01:53):
These were distinguished from the other areas in a large
garden planted as a lawn or as a landscape park,
or the useful area of the kitchen garden. Pleasure gardens
provided a cool and refreshing refuge from the summer heat,
and the two meetings of the term as the ornamental
parts of a garden and as a commercial place of
(02:13):
entertainment have coexisted in English from at least the seventeenth century.
So the Governor's Palace had a beautiful, beautiful pleasure garden
that you could walk through, and I will be posting
photographs of it on our Facebook page at Better lawns
and gardens.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
If you have a gardening question, this is the.
Speaker 1 (02:34):
Time you want to wait till we have Rebecca Correa
tem from David Austin Roses coming up. And she is incredible.
She is a wonderful rosarian. She's gardened here in the South,
so she is going to be talking to us about
David Austin roses. So get your pen and paper ready.
(02:54):
I'm going to be giving you my favorite roses after
I talk with Rebecca. So that's what are called his rossarians? Yeah, okay,
so rosarians. There is the redneck rosarian in Texas and
he has got wonderful roses. Okay. And so yeah, rosarian
is someone who grows roses. Okay. That's good to know
(03:16):
that's not the dirty word of the day.
Speaker 3 (03:17):
I feel smarter.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
There you go.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
Big thank you to Dana Venrick at Quality Green Specialist Nursery.
He has wonderful, wonderful gift certificates and plant shrubs and
trees to give for Mother's Day and he's at three
point thirty three West Michigan Street in DeLand. So thank
you for he came on this morning. And then also
Howie and Karen and Peterson's Nursery in Lakeland are going
(03:43):
to have their Butterfly Garden class at nine thirty b YOC.
That's right, bring your own chair there you go, and
some water. You want to bring some water, maybe an
umbrella to stay out of the sun, that would be great.
What can you be planned this month? Herbs Annis and basil,
bay laurel, and cardamen, cardome or cardoon, and then chives, coriander, dill, fennel, lemon, balm,
(04:12):
regular rosemary, sage, savory, sweet marjoram, mint, terragon, and thyme,
and so these herbs you could be planting them in
your landscape as a beautiful annual groundcover. Rosemary does beautifully
as a shrub and it does have pretty flowers on
it too when it goes to flower shrubs and trees.
(04:35):
In Florida, you can usually plant a shrub or a
tree any time of the year. You probably wouldn't do
it during a severe freeze or right before a hurricane,
but most of the time, every day out of the
year in Florida you can plant a plant, which is
why we love to garden here in Florida.
Speaker 3 (04:55):
That's exactly right, I mean, you know, and it's it's
always good to check to see how our weather is
going to be or what season is going to be.
Is going to be a dry season, well, then maybe
you might want to search for something that's a dryer tolerant,
that is tolerant.
Speaker 2 (05:08):
That is true. So may is it our dry month?
Speaker 1 (05:11):
You want to set your irrigation for one half inch
of water application two times a week.
Speaker 2 (05:19):
Check that your rain sensor is working.
Speaker 1 (05:21):
If after these rains come through and your irrigation system
comes on, then you know your rain sensor is not working.
It is a technical device and it needs upkeep and maintenance,
and you might just need a new one. But that
thirty five to forty dollars rain sensor that you have
on your house in an unobstructed place will save you
hundreds of dollars over the year. So it definitely is
(05:45):
worth it. And it's a state law. It is required
by law that if you have an automatic irrigation sprinkler
system that comes on that is automatic as a timer,
you need to have a rain shut off device on it,
no matter how how old it is, because it's been
a state law since nineteen sixty seven, all right, So
you definitely want to do that.
Speaker 2 (06:06):
You want to.
Speaker 1 (06:06):
Finish your spring feedings with slow release no phosphorus fertilizers
and then on your lawn right now you can if
you just need to greet it up, you can just
use an iron only product. This is i'd say that
you should be walking your yards once a week, looking
at your leaves, on your shrubs, looking underneath, seeing if
(06:28):
there's speckled, see if you see anything eating it. Also
to walking your lawn to catch a problem before it
becomes a major problem. Chinch bugs are starting right now,
so you may have to check that out. If it's
Saturday morning, you're listening to Better Lawns and Gardens from
the Summit Responsible Solutions Studios. I'm Teresa Watkins and this
is Florida's.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
Talk and Entertainment Network.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
Good morning from the Summit Responsible Solution Studios.
Speaker 2 (07:23):
Welcome back to Better Lawns and Gardens.
Speaker 1 (07:26):
I'm Teresa Watkins, and Mother's Day is coming up and
one of my favorite plans to have are roses.
Speaker 2 (07:34):
And so we have Rebecca Corey ATIM.
Speaker 1 (07:36):
She brings over thirty two years of experience to the
field of horticulture, garden design, and education. She's an award
winning writer and experienced horticulturist. She has served as an
editor for Southern Living magazine. Rebecca is currently the United
States sales executive for David Austin Roses, and she has
(07:56):
practical gardening experience in both the Pacific north West and
the South. Additionally, she hosts the YouTube channel Rebecca on Roses,
where she shares her extensive knowledge of roses and garden care.
We want to thank Rebecca for coming on Better Lawns
and Garden Again. It's always been a pleasure. We welcome.
Good morning, Rebecca.
Speaker 4 (08:17):
How are you doing great? And thank you so much
for having me back. It's great to be here.
Speaker 1 (08:24):
Oh well, we just so enjoyed talking to you. And
my one of my favorite plants are roses, So you're
up there as a top priority, Rebecca. So, as a
US representative for David Austin Roses, you travel all over
the country. How are David Austin Roses energizing the rose industry?
Speaker 4 (08:45):
You know, David Alston's have really sparked this beautiful romance
with roses again. They've captured the imagination of people who
aren't even gardeners. And I think it's because they epitomize
charm and grace. Their beauty has wooed us into making
roses a part of the landscape, not just a section
(09:09):
of the garden anymore. And the English roase is so
popular many of the other rose brands are starting to
emulate its look.
Speaker 2 (09:19):
That is so true.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
I do consider them romantic, and I love them in
an English garden cottage style. But they look beautiful in
pots and on arbors. They are just wonderful to use
in the landscape. So what are the ideal growing conditions
for David Austin roses.
Speaker 4 (09:36):
Well, it is true that all roses love full sun
at least six hours a day. But in the hot,
humid South or anywhere in the US where it's really
you've got a lot of intense sun, mourning sun that
transitions into afternoon shade or dappled light is ideal. Of course,
(09:57):
all roses love well during soil. If you have really
sandy soil, or if you have clay, just amend the
entire planting area with a compost or a soul conditioner.
I recommend about thirty percent. You don't want to overdo it.
(10:19):
You don't want the roses to be so comfortable they
don't leave that hole and of course you want well draining.
You don't want it to be a boggy.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
Area, right, And so roses, you're talking about the ideal conditions.
And you mentioned the South, and you lived here in
the South.
Speaker 2 (10:36):
Where did you live?
Speaker 4 (10:38):
I have lived in South Carolina, Alabama, North Carolina, so
I've had about three different zone experiences.
Speaker 2 (10:47):
Yeah, I can just imagine. Well, here in Florida, David Austin,
roses do very.
Speaker 1 (10:52):
Well and in my yards, and so how do they
tolerate for new gardeners, a new beginning in rose gardening,
how do they tolerate the southern heat.
Speaker 4 (11:04):
This is something that has always surprised me. As matter
of fact, when I joined Before joining David Austin, Michael
Marriott tried to get me to plant roses at Southern
Living to test them, and I was like, I don't
think they're going to work. That's in English roads. Well,
I actually planted a couple in my garden. I did
(11:26):
everything wrong. Came home from a trip one night and
was like, what is that fabulous fragrance? So they actually
do quite well. There are certain varieties like Litchfield Angel,
Lady of Chilatte, Princess Alexander, of Kent. A lot of
the new varieties are so much more disease resistant, like
Ni Bevan Gabriel Oak, and they're going to be a
(11:49):
lot easier for you to incorporate into those heavy, high heat,
high humidity southern gardens.
Speaker 1 (11:57):
Well, I will tell you I've used ah in a
client's yards and Lady of Shalott and they've done very well.
So I'm really pleased with that fragrance. What do you
think I only buy roses with fragrances? What do you
think should be important when you're considering fragrance for a rose?
Speaker 4 (12:16):
Absolutely all David Elson roses are fragrance their five fragrance profile.
So you have old rose, which we think fragrance should smell.
You know, a rose should smell like. You have mirr,
which is conducive to the English rose group, Fruity Americans
are drawn to a fruity fragrance, and you have musk.
(12:38):
All the other fragrances come from the petals, the must
fragrance comes from the stamens. And then of course there
is Tea, which is Lady of Shalot and Charles Darwin,
and it smells like you have opened a pack of
China tea.
Speaker 1 (12:55):
Oh yes, that's that's wonderful. I'm getting excited here listening
to you. So what flowers do you use and how
often should roses be fertilized?
Speaker 4 (13:06):
You know, I roses are going to eat a lot
in the Florida area because it's hot, and when it
is hot, when that flow temperature is fifty degrees and above,
even if you're using a slow release fertilizer, it's going
to release more rapidly. Because David Austen roses produce a
(13:28):
lot of flowers, they're going to go through that fertilizer too.
So always make your first application when you see those
new leaves appearing. If you haven't fertilized yet, go ahead
and do it. And I tend to fertilize almost once
a month four to six weeks, depending on how your
(13:49):
season is going. When it's hot and rainy, a lot
of fertilizer gets used. And then in Florida and in
our hot areas of the South, that fertilizer or the
roses a lot of times are not going to go dormant.
And so you have to quit fertilizing and fall just
(14:09):
to say slow down, you need to rest, You need
to kind of try to go dormant and then you'll
be ready to go the next year.
Speaker 1 (14:18):
Okay, So what do you suggest is a good time
to cut roses? Because to get the most blooms, when
should you cut it?
Speaker 4 (14:27):
David Austin's respond extremely well to pruning, So first of all,
don't be shy to deadhead. Okay, I would say you
can do your hard prune on roses in Florida, depending
on where you are. If you're down south, you can
actually do this in December. It may be January. You
(14:51):
might even be busy and not even do it till February.
But you're pruning a David Austin shrub rose according to
its position, and the garden always take out dead, diseased
or dying, and then shape things up according to where
it is. The older the rose, the more you're going
to remove. And I am not shy about cutting my
(15:14):
roses back by half. You're just going to get a
lot better foliage when you dead head after those blooms.
That's going to give you more flowers through the season,
and in really hot areas. I'm a massive advocate of
a summer prune, So in late July, early August cut
(15:35):
those roses back. They grow so fast in your region,
and then you're going to be rewarded with a fabulous
fall flush when my yesters cool.
Speaker 2 (15:47):
That's great.
Speaker 1 (15:47):
I always try and do that before we go away
on vacation, and then you know, you don't have to
look at them when they're cut back, and then when
you get back you see all the new growth and
it's very exciting. Yes, and so what type of rose
rities do does David Austin Cary and grow?
Speaker 4 (16:03):
Well, you're going to everyone's familiar with the shrub type roses,
which you know, that's like the poet's wife, Princess Alexander
of Kant. Then I Bevan that I mentioned, but we
have some of the world's most gorgeous climbers too. So
the Generous Gardener, if you are a fan of New Gone,
(16:23):
Generous Gardener is amazing. I also love James Goalaway and
Mary Delaney. A lot of people are afraid of ramblers
and they should not be so Malvern Hill's all Brighton Rambler,
the Lady of the Lake. Those are fabulous ramblers that
are in our collection. And a rambler is a little
(16:45):
different because it has fewer thorns. Ours do repeat bloom
and the canes are a thinner and so that makes
them a little more pliable, easier to train. And then
of course we have our stand roses which are on
three foot trunks. So they look wonderful accenting a door
(17:06):
or creating a focal point in the landscape.
Speaker 1 (17:09):
Oh, they do, so you have. We've just got a
few more minutes. Rebecca, thank you for joining us today.
But what is your YouTube channel Rebecca on roses? What
can gardeners learn from it?
Speaker 4 (17:22):
Yeah, so I started that back in COVID when I
could not travel and really get out there and be
with the people. But you're going to get an in
depth history on David Austin and what they were. You're
going to learn all about my favorite design tips and tricks,
and you're going to have background information on varieties and
(17:45):
it's something that's interesting. You mentioned it because that is
on my to do list to start adding the more videos,
so look for more to come.
Speaker 2 (17:54):
That's wonderful.
Speaker 1 (17:55):
So David Austin rose is our perfect gift for Mother's Day.
So where can our listeners find and buy David Austin
roses in Florida?
Speaker 4 (18:04):
Go to your favorite garden center and go soon. Because
Mother's Day is always the big push to get roses
into a garden center. They sell out quickly, so often
in your region we see that they're gone by Father's Day.
You might find a few stragglers, you know, later in
(18:24):
the summer or even in to fall if you have
someone who specializes in roses, and carry them over. But
the name of the game is get there, get them early,
give them to mom, plan them in your garden and enjoy.
Speaker 2 (18:36):
That's wonderful.
Speaker 1 (18:37):
Can they also purchase them online?
Speaker 4 (18:40):
Yes they can. You can go to David Austin roses
dot com. We are shipping two quarts now and you
can always pre order for next year.
Speaker 2 (18:50):
Oh that's a wonderful idea. Rebecca. Thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (18:54):
For coming on and discussing roses with me.
Speaker 2 (18:56):
You've really excited me.
Speaker 1 (18:58):
I can't wait to plant more roses.
Speaker 4 (19:01):
Oh thanks for having me.
Speaker 2 (19:02):
All right, take care, we'll talk to you soon.
Speaker 4 (19:04):
Well.
Speaker 3 (19:05):
I love the fact that you can pre order them,
so then if something happens and you get sidetracked and
you don't get anything ordered for this one, and then
June comes around and you're like, oh.
Speaker 1 (19:13):
I miss that, then it sounds like maybe you could
pre order for this next year.
Speaker 2 (19:16):
Possibly, Yes, there you go, there you go.
Speaker 1 (19:18):
It's a win win situation right there. And they're beautiful.
And Tom and Lake Nona. That I talked about Frakr's,
he texted and says, please discuss Fragrance. I only buy
fran Roses. So when we come back, get your petted
papers ready. I'm gonna give you my antique roses, my
David Austin Rose favorites, my drift roses, my climbers. You're
going to hear a lot of my favorites there, So
(19:40):
get a petted paper ready from the Summit Responsible Solution Studios.
If it's Saturday morning, you're listening to Better Lawns and Gardens.
I'm Teresa Watkins and this is Florida's Talk and Entertainment Network.
(20:11):
Welcome back to Better Lawns and Gardens. If you have
a gardening question, you can give me a call one
triple eight four five five two nine six seven. Go
ahead and put it in your phone one triple eight
four five five two nine sixty seven, or you can
text two three six eight zero. And So I wanted
to give you a rundown real quick on my favorite roses.
(20:34):
But if you would like to have me send this
to you, and I can do this through email, then
you can go onto Better Lawns dot com and say, Teresa,
send me an email of your favorite roses and I
will send it to you. Antique roses that I love,
Josephine Land, Louis Philippe. You have to have a Louis
(20:57):
Philippe Rose, Louise. Oh, Dear Madam Isaac Perrier, Madam Plantier,
and just this week Joan here in Florida, she purchased
a Madam Plantier. Then Zephyren Drohan, Zephyrin Drohan, Climbers America,
Don Juan Joseph's Coat. Joan also bought a Joseph's coat.
(21:21):
Lady Banks Rose Yellow. I love the yellow and new
dawn Drift roses. I love the apricot, the popcorn yellow,
the red and the white drift roses. David Austin roses
my absolute favorite.
Speaker 2 (21:35):
David Austin roses.
Speaker 1 (21:37):
Abraham Darby, Oh, the fragrance Tom is incredible, it is beautiful.
Speaker 2 (21:43):
I love it.
Speaker 1 (21:44):
Litchfield Angel Rebecca mentioned that one I have used it before.
Speaker 2 (21:49):
It is great.
Speaker 1 (21:50):
Lady of Shalot and then Bosco Bell and Buttercup, Gertrude Jiggle, Graham,
Thomas Jude, the Obscure Lady, Emma Hamilton, Queen of Sweden,
the Generous Gardner which Rebecca also mentioned, and the Shepherdess.
Those are wonderful. David Austin Roses Color and Fragrance Flora Bundas.
(22:15):
I absolutely love angel face. The fragrance is overwhelming and
just beautiful, very heavenly sentimental. It's called sentimental for a reason.
It is fragrant Grand of Flora Laggerfield, Melody, Perfume, Perfume
may let me say that again, Melody Perfume May. Queen
(22:38):
Elizabeth Roses, the Hybrid Tees Chrysler Imperial Double Delight, Mister
Lincoln and Perfume Delight, all beautiful, and the colors are
are wonderful, and the fragrance is great Polyanthus this is
These are the miniatures. The Fairy China Doll and cecil
(23:00):
Owner Shrubs are Belinda's Dream and Distant Drums and Cocoa Loco.
Speaker 2 (23:06):
I love them all.
Speaker 1 (23:07):
So those are my favorite Roses. And if you'd like
a copy, can just go to Better LUNs dot com
or ask me on Facebook and I will send it
to you.
Speaker 2 (23:17):
Let's go to Michael and Palm Bay. Good morning, Michael.
How can I help you?
Speaker 5 (23:21):
Hey, good morning Teresa. Yes, I had a sad replacement
company out to my house to give me a bit
on getting some Saint Augustine grass. Uh okay, I had
previously put down over the top of these weak areas.
(23:42):
Some store bought topsoil and commonewer mix, and over the
winner the only thing that seemed to want to appreciate
my efforts or weeds. Yeah, so I decided I think
to replace that grass wi sad being Saint Augustine. When
the man came out, I said, I had already put
(24:03):
those amendments down. He said, oh, no for Saint Augustine grass. Uh,
Saint Augustine needs sand. So I just calling. That's all
new to me. He said, that was St. Augustine was
not a natural grass. It was kind of a formulated
grass that only grows well in sand. No, I'm to
make sure that I'm being told right.
Speaker 2 (24:25):
You hear me moaning here? Michael. I'm sorry, I said,
did you hear me moaning?
Speaker 4 (24:31):
God?
Speaker 1 (24:31):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (24:32):
Yeah, No, I thought that was me.
Speaker 1 (24:35):
No, no, no, Saint Augustine will do fine. The kalmanour
black cow is fine and good for Saint Augustine. Saint
Augustine is a native grass and it does not do
well in sand. It can, but it needs a lot
of water. So organic material in your soil is good.
(24:55):
So I would just suggest that the so I don't
know what you put down, and I don't know what
your sod looked like before, or your area looked like before,
But we don't need to rot a till and bring
up all those seeds from down below. So the next
time you get sawed, just lay it down on your ground.
(25:16):
You don't need to amend the soil again this year, okay,
but you don't necessarily need to put sand down. I mean,
I just don't keep adding layers and layers onto it.
I don't mind the top soil. I don't mind the
black cow or the manure. That's fine, but.
Speaker 2 (25:34):
I wouldn't necessarily What kind of soil do you have anyway?
Speaker 5 (25:38):
Oh, there's plenty of sand, Yeah that's what.
Speaker 4 (25:40):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (25:41):
Where I mean you're in Palm Bai. Yeah, so I
would do a soil test.
Speaker 2 (25:46):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (25:47):
There's a product called agra Tech Agritech. It's the University
of Florida Soil Test Kit. It's about forty dollars. You
can get it on Amazon or at your local extension office.
Send it to the university. Your postage and everything is
all included in that. Send it samples away to the
University of Florida. They're going to tell you what your
(26:08):
soil is like and what to fertilize it with. I
think that's going to be your big thing. So we've
had a stressful two years that the landscape, the soil,
I mean sorry, the sod has had a hard time.
Now when you put the new sawd down, how often
did you water it?
Speaker 2 (26:27):
How did you water it in at the beginning.
Speaker 5 (26:31):
A lot. It was almost always wet, just about every day.
Speaker 2 (26:34):
Okay. That's going to be an issue, all right.
Speaker 1 (26:37):
So I want you to when next time you get sawed,
this is how I want you to water the sowd.
Speaker 2 (26:42):
Okay. I want you to water it.
Speaker 1 (26:45):
Every day for the first week, one to one okay,
every day for the first week. And I want you
to calibrate it so that you're only putting about an
inch to an inch and a half even two inches
a day. Okay, that's one once a day for the
first week, once every two days the second week, then
(27:06):
once every three days the third week, and by the
end of the month you're on that schedule.
Speaker 2 (27:11):
Of twice a week watering.
Speaker 1 (27:13):
What that's going to do is it's going to push
those roots down deeper. If you water every day for
a month, six weeks and sometimes they even allow you
two months in some parts of the state to water it,
it's never going to develop a root system, a deep
root system, and you want a deep root system right now.
Like I said, the last two years, it's very difficult
(27:33):
for turf, especially in sodding it and putting a new
saw down.
Speaker 2 (27:37):
You want to make sure you get the right amount. Okay, okay, quick.
Speaker 5 (27:41):
Grill sure could you repeat? Originally when you answered my
phone call, you said, do not rototill.
Speaker 2 (27:50):
If you do sod, I want you to streak.
Speaker 5 (27:55):
One company was just going to have me, was just
going to put down the new sod over the old
without doing anything.
Speaker 2 (28:01):
That's not bad.
Speaker 1 (28:03):
The old grass is going to, you know, decompose and
it's going to turn into good soil, So that's not
necessarily a bad thing, okay, But I would just want
to make sure that you're not laying laying layering bad
sand and soil over each other. So I don't want
it to be above the sidewalk. I don't want you
to increase the elevation, you know, to that extent. If
(28:26):
it's just patchy and it's dead, I don't necessarily want
you to put it over weeds, okay, And so I would,
I would scrape the weeds out. I would just scrape
the top off if you have bad areas.
Speaker 2 (28:40):
But then you can just lay the sod right down.
I got you, okay.
Speaker 5 (28:44):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (28:45):
So so when you rode a till, when you go
down six to eight inches to twelve inches, you're bringing
up those old weed seeds to the top, and with
the sunlight, it's going to Germany and you're going to
get a weed issue. Okay, So just lightly scrape the
top so you can get good contact between the roots
and the soil.
Speaker 5 (29:03):
Okay, thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (29:04):
You're welcome.
Speaker 2 (29:05):
Call me back, Michael, let me know how you do.
Speaker 1 (29:07):
Maryanne, hang on, and then also too, I have Laurian's
say cloud.
Speaker 2 (29:12):
Hang on, I've got yours.
Speaker 1 (29:13):
And Tom, thanks for the question and.
Speaker 2 (29:15):
All the rest.
Speaker 1 (29:16):
We're gonna be right back with more of better Lawns
and Gardens. I'm Teresa Watkins from the Summit Responsible Solution Studios.
This is Florida's Talk and Entertainment Network. Welcome back to
(29:47):
Better Lawns and Gardens. I'm Teresa Watkins. Do you have
a gardening question? You can give us a call one
triple eight four five five two nine sixty seven or
you can text two three six eight zero to give
a shout out to the Florida contingent Michelle and Vicky
and Joan in June and Jay. It was just great
to spend time with you, so thank you so much.
(30:09):
So Laurie and Say cloud says, good morning. I have
a huge ponytail palm that's the centerpiece of my lawn.
It's probably ten feet tall and the base is about
a four foot across. It has all these new branches
or pups coming out of the top, some on the side.
I'm moving and I'd like to take a piece with me.
How do I harvest one of those and put it
(30:31):
in a pot? And will it survive in North Florida
in the ground. Thank you well, Laurie, that's a great question.
Speaker 2 (30:39):
So this is.
Speaker 1 (30:39):
What you do for your to get new pups okay,
and so here we go. You want to okay, so
decide on which part or which segment you want to
take with you, all right, and.
Speaker 2 (30:54):
You're going to take a saw or a large.
Speaker 1 (31:00):
Knife serrated would be fine. Sterilize it. Make sure it's
sterile because you're doing surgery now, so you want to
make sure you're not introducing any disease into to.
Speaker 2 (31:11):
The open wound.
Speaker 1 (31:12):
And you're going to slice one of those pops off
as close as you can to the base of the
ponytail palm.
Speaker 2 (31:21):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (31:22):
You're going to slice it off, and then you're going
to let it air dry.
Speaker 2 (31:27):
Okay. So it needs to get.
Speaker 1 (31:28):
Kind of a callous, a little bit of a scab
over it, and you want to do that, and it's
going to take about a week to ten days, all right,
and just leave it in the open air in the
full sun.
Speaker 2 (31:40):
And let it dry.
Speaker 1 (31:42):
Then when you're ready to plant it, okay, And you
want to plant it before you move, unless you're moving
in the next week. You want to then get a
rooting hormone, and you're going to dip the end of
that ponytail palm into the rooting hormone, okay, and then
you're gonna plant it, and you're going to do about
(32:03):
half and half. So you want to do a succulent
type of soil uh into and into the to the pot,
a succulent. You want it to be about fifty percent
per life, fifty percent organic material and a succulent or
a cactus soil would not be bad. Okay, that would
(32:25):
be fine, all right, and then plant it in that
you want to plant it so that the.
Speaker 2 (32:29):
Base is right at the top of the of the soil.
Speaker 1 (32:34):
And then you want to water it real well and
keep it in you know, full sun. You know, you
can do morning sun and afternoon shade if you want.
But the pot you sedelect to plant it in. I
want you to not use ceramic or clay because the
bulb is going to grow big and big, and it's
going to get stuck in that pot and you're gonna
(32:55):
have to break the pot to get the ponytail out. Okay,
So it's not going to stay one pot, and it's
gonna get big. I've seen ponytails palms get as big
as a Volkswagen. Okay, as big as a volkswagon, that
tall and that wide, and it kind of takes over.
Speaker 2 (33:12):
They get even bigger than that.
Speaker 1 (33:14):
They get to be they can get to be thirty
feet tall in this native home country. And so you
want to then put it in a plastic pot that
you can break as you repoted, and you're gonna need
to do that probably every two to three years when
if you plant it in the ground, and you're not
gonna be able to do it in North Florida. I'm
just saying anyone planting it in the ground in central
(33:36):
and South Florida, you don't want to do it near
the door of the house because it gets huge in
the ground.
Speaker 2 (33:42):
All Right, You're taking it.
Speaker 1 (33:43):
Up to North Florida where it's not gonna survive the winter,
so you're gonna want to bring it in. So putting
it in a pot is going to be the best
thing for it. Okay, So you just want to cut
a slice of it off, let it air dry, then
dip it in rooting hormone and go ahead and plant it,
and then water it well and keep it watered. Probably,
(34:04):
you know, in the plastic pot is not going to
evaporate as much. But depending on where it is, you
could need to water it once a day. Okay, depending
on how hot it is, and if it's in the
full sun, all right, hopefully that helps you. Laura, thank you.
Let's go to Maryanne and Longwood. Good morning, Marianne, thank
you for calling.
Speaker 4 (34:21):
Good morning. Let's see my first question is that aga panther?
Speaker 1 (34:25):
Yes, with four bulbs on a plastic cat.
Speaker 4 (34:28):
And I don't hope I don't have to do everything
you just said.
Speaker 1 (34:31):
No, no, no no.
Speaker 2 (34:33):
You want to divide it up?
Speaker 4 (34:35):
Yeah, I want to divide it and put it in
the ground.
Speaker 2 (34:37):
Okay, go ahead, just lift it out, cut them off.
Speaker 1 (34:40):
If there's fida pot, if they're if they're growing together
and they're kind of the bulbs have kind of merged,
then you can go ahead and divide it up with
a knife, use a sterile knife, and then just plant
it in the ground. That's it. Okay, that's it.
Speaker 4 (34:52):
And then full sign made it through the winter.
Speaker 2 (34:56):
Good.
Speaker 3 (34:56):
But a lot of them are all yellow leave on
the outside.
Speaker 2 (35:01):
Okay, just give it a haircut.
Speaker 1 (35:04):
Just give it a haircut, whack it back and let
it let it grow back.
Speaker 2 (35:08):
It will.
Speaker 4 (35:10):
Oh yeah, should I cut the whole thing?
Speaker 2 (35:12):
Yeah, well, I've cut the yellow leaves off.
Speaker 1 (35:14):
But if you I mean, if you've got more yellow
leaves than green. I would just whack the whole thing
back down to the ground. Okay, all right, okay, let's
know how you do. Thank thank you Marianne for calling
and for listening to better lawns and gardens. I like,
Casher's a little bit Hesita. She's like, oh, oh, okay,
that's good. You call good questions. Good questions, and you
(35:37):
know what, don't be afraid to cut. Depending on what
it is, it may have to be at a certain
time of the year. Right now, we just got through
cutting back. Our point setis so you cut point setias
in the months with a so that's April.
Speaker 2 (35:51):
If you haven't done it, do it really quickly.
Speaker 1 (35:54):
And this is the last month that you can fertilize
your lawn before we go on fertilizer band in June.
Speaker 2 (36:01):
So if you have.
Speaker 1 (36:02):
Not fertilized your your lawn, first get a soil test
that tells you what you need to put down and
it'll tell you know, they'll give you directions on what
fertilizer to use. Just generally a fifteen zero fifteen fertilizer
will do fine for Saint Augustine and for Zeoutsta and
(36:23):
for all the other plants because you don't need any phosphors.
Never fertilize before a rainstorm. And if you live on
a lake or a body of water, low lying body
of water, you want to stay at least fifteen to
twenty feet away from the shoreline, depending on how what
kind of slope you have. If you've got a swale
in your yard, then don't fertilize to that swale. Do
(36:45):
not fertilize after the swale, okay, and that protects your lake.
We get these algae blooms in our lakes because everybody's
fertilizer runs off into the lake and it causes the
algae blooms. So don't ascerbate issue. You know, we're going
to get some algae blooms because we naturally have plants
dying in the water and that increases the algae. But
(37:08):
by fertilizing before rainstorm, you're gonna lose seventy percent of
that fertilizer to stormwater runoff, and you're creating your own
algae bloom. So you don't want to do that, all right,
one triple eight four five five two nine sixty seven,
or you can text two three six eight zero Just
got a couple of minutes left. If you'd like to
get our May newsletter in your backyard, you can go
(37:29):
to my website and that's she sh e Dash Consulting
dot com. She Dash Consulting dot com. And on the
very front page your landing page that you that my
website that you come to, it says would you like
to subscribe to the newsletter?
Speaker 2 (37:47):
And just put in.
Speaker 1 (37:48):
Your name and your zip code and your email address
and you will get the next issue of in your
backyard and that will be good. So what can you
be doing this month? This is a good month to
seed Behea grass. You can go ahead and put Behea
grass down. You want to use the Argentina, get the
Argentina Behea grass, not the Pensacola. The Argentina has less
(38:11):
grass seed and the Pensacola has a lot of grass seed,
which you may you may want that if you're doing
pasture grass or you want a lot of Behea grass growing.
But you put you mo the Behea grass the Pensacola
and then two to three days later the grass, the
flowers go to seed and it looks like you need
(38:31):
to mow again. So with Argentina, you're not gonna have
to mow as much.
Speaker 2 (38:36):
You want to.
Speaker 1 (38:36):
Avoid mowing with dull blades. That's very important. You're doing
surgery when you are cutting plants. Make sure your lawnmower
blades are sharpened every five mowings. Make sure your landscape
maintenance company is sharpening their lawnmower blades and that they
clean their trailer off before they come to your yard.
Thank you to Data Vendrick with Quality Green Specialists and
(38:59):
Rebecca Coram from David Austin Roses. Wonderful, wonderful Mother's Day's
coming up. Don't forget Mom, Lizzie. Thank you so much,
and a big thank you to all our listeners.
Speaker 3 (39:09):
Yes, thank you to Teresa. Appreciate you and glad that
you are back.
Speaker 2 (39:13):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (39:13):
If it's Saturday morning, you're listening to Better Lawns and Gardens.
I'm Teresa Watkins and this is Florida's talk and Entertainment network.
Speaker 3 (39:21):
If you miss any of the show, you can always
go back and recap it at Better Lawns dot com.
Speaker 1 (39:26):
Better Lawns dot Com also, and you can click.
Speaker 3 (39:28):
Down on the bottom if you want to submit a
question to Teresa Watkins. Better Lawns dot com
Welcome back to the second hour of Better Lawns and Gardens.
Good morning, Thank you for joining us. It's going to
be a great week. Why because we're going to get
some rain and we definitely need it here in Florida.
Just remember, if you get one to one and a
half inches of rain this week, you do not need
to irrigate your turf, your garden beds, vegetables may need
(00:31):
a little bit more water depending on how warm it's
going to get in your area, but we could see
mid nineties for central and South Florida, so you want
to just keep an eye on it.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
Check the soil.
Speaker 1 (00:44):
If the soil is moist, cool, or damp, you do
not need to water it. If it's warm, dry and
it just fizzles right through the sandy soil fillss right
through your hands, then you can go ahead. And water
only needs one and a half inch of water a week,
and so we do appreciate it. Let's do the dirty
(01:04):
word of the day.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
And now it's time for the dirty word of the
Day on Better Lawns and Gardens with Teresa.
Speaker 1 (01:11):
Watkins, and the dirty word of the day is pleasure garden.
A pleasure garden is a park or garden that is
open to the public for recreation and entertainment. Pleasure gardens
differ from other public gardens by serving as venues for
entertainment various feat variously featuring such attractions as concert halls, bandstands,
(01:33):
amusement rides, zoos, and menageries. Historically, a pleasure garden or
pleasure ground meant private flower gardens, shrub gardens, or a
formal wooded areas such as a bosque, that was planted
for enjoyment, with ornamental plants and neat paths for walking through.
(01:53):
These were distinguished from the other areas in a large
garden planted as a lawn or as a landscape park,
or the useful area of the kitchen garden. Pleasure gardens
provided a cool and refreshing refuge from the summer heat,
and the two meetings of the term as the ornamental
parts of a garden and as a commercial place of
(02:13):
entertainment have coexisted in English from at least the seventeenth century.
So the Governor's Palace had a beautiful, beautiful pleasure garden
that you could walk through, and I will be posting
photographs of it on our Facebook page at Better lawns
and gardens.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
If you have a gardening question, this is the.
Speaker 1 (02:34):
Time you want to wait till we have Rebecca Correa
tem from David Austin Roses coming up. And she is incredible.
She is a wonderful rosarian. She's gardened here in the South,
so she is going to be talking to us about
David Austin roses. So get your pen and paper ready.
(02:54):
I'm going to be giving you my favorite roses after
I talk with Rebecca. So that's what are called his rossarians? Yeah, okay,
so rosarians. There is the redneck rosarian in Texas and
he has got wonderful roses. Okay. And so yeah, rosarian
is someone who grows roses. Okay. That's good to know
(03:16):
that's not the dirty word of the day.
Speaker 3 (03:17):
I feel smarter.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
There you go.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
Big thank you to Dana Venrick at Quality Green Specialist Nursery.
He has wonderful, wonderful gift certificates and plant shrubs and
trees to give for Mother's Day and he's at three
point thirty three West Michigan Street in DeLand. So thank
you for he came on this morning. And then also
Howie and Karen and Peterson's Nursery in Lakeland are going
(03:43):
to have their Butterfly Garden class at nine thirty b YOC.
That's right, bring your own chair there you go, and
some water. You want to bring some water, maybe an
umbrella to stay out of the sun, that would be great.
What can you be planned this month? Herbs Annis and basil,
bay laurel, and cardamen, cardome or cardoon, and then chives, coriander, dill, fennel, lemon, balm,
(04:12):
regular rosemary, sage, savory, sweet marjoram, mint, terragon, and thyme,
and so these herbs you could be planting them in
your landscape as a beautiful annual groundcover. Rosemary does beautifully
as a shrub and it does have pretty flowers on
it too when it goes to flower shrubs and trees.
(04:35):
In Florida, you can usually plant a shrub or a
tree any time of the year. You probably wouldn't do
it during a severe freeze or right before a hurricane,
but most of the time, every day out of the
year in Florida you can plant a plant, which is
why we love to garden here in Florida.
Speaker 3 (04:55):
That's exactly right, I mean, you know, and it's it's
always good to check to see how our weather is
going to be or what season is going to be.
Is going to be a dry season, well, then maybe
you might want to search for something that's a dryer tolerant,
that is tolerant.
Speaker 2 (05:08):
That is true. So may is it our dry month?
Speaker 1 (05:11):
You want to set your irrigation for one half inch
of water application two times a week.
Speaker 2 (05:19):
Check that your rain sensor is working.
Speaker 1 (05:21):
If after these rains come through and your irrigation system
comes on, then you know your rain sensor is not working.
It is a technical device and it needs upkeep and maintenance,
and you might just need a new one. But that
thirty five to forty dollars rain sensor that you have
on your house in an unobstructed place will save you
hundreds of dollars over the year. So it definitely is
(05:45):
worth it. And it's a state law. It is required
by law that if you have an automatic irrigation sprinkler
system that comes on that is automatic as a timer,
you need to have a rain shut off device on it,
no matter how how old it is, because it's been
a state law since nineteen sixty seven, all right, So
you definitely want to do that.
Speaker 2 (06:06):
You want to.
Speaker 1 (06:06):
Finish your spring feedings with slow release no phosphorus fertilizers
and then on your lawn right now you can if
you just need to greet it up, you can just
use an iron only product. This is i'd say that
you should be walking your yards once a week, looking
at your leaves, on your shrubs, looking underneath, seeing if
(06:28):
there's speckled, see if you see anything eating it. Also
to walking your lawn to catch a problem before it
becomes a major problem. Chinch bugs are starting right now,
so you may have to check that out. If it's
Saturday morning, you're listening to Better Lawns and Gardens from
the Summit Responsible Solutions Studios. I'm Teresa Watkins and this
is Florida's.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
Talk and Entertainment Network.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
Good morning from the Summit Responsible Solution Studios.
Speaker 2 (07:23):
Welcome back to Better Lawns and Gardens.
Speaker 1 (07:26):
I'm Teresa Watkins, and Mother's Day is coming up and
one of my favorite plans to have are roses.
Speaker 2 (07:34):
And so we have Rebecca Corey ATIM.
Speaker 1 (07:36):
She brings over thirty two years of experience to the
field of horticulture, garden design, and education. She's an award
winning writer and experienced horticulturist. She has served as an
editor for Southern Living magazine. Rebecca is currently the United
States sales executive for David Austin Roses, and she has
(07:56):
practical gardening experience in both the Pacific north West and
the South. Additionally, she hosts the YouTube channel Rebecca on Roses,
where she shares her extensive knowledge of roses and garden care.
We want to thank Rebecca for coming on Better Lawns
and Garden Again. It's always been a pleasure. We welcome.
Good morning, Rebecca.
Speaker 4 (08:17):
How are you doing great? And thank you so much
for having me back. It's great to be here.
Speaker 1 (08:24):
Oh well, we just so enjoyed talking to you. And
my one of my favorite plants are roses, So you're
up there as a top priority, Rebecca. So, as a
US representative for David Austin Roses, you travel all over
the country. How are David Austin Roses energizing the rose industry?
Speaker 4 (08:45):
You know, David Alston's have really sparked this beautiful romance
with roses again. They've captured the imagination of people who
aren't even gardeners. And I think it's because they epitomize
charm and grace. Their beauty has wooed us into making
roses a part of the landscape, not just a section
(09:09):
of the garden anymore. And the English roase is so
popular many of the other rose brands are starting to
emulate its look.
Speaker 2 (09:19):
That is so true.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
I do consider them romantic, and I love them in
an English garden cottage style. But they look beautiful in
pots and on arbors. They are just wonderful to use
in the landscape. So what are the ideal growing conditions
for David Austin roses.
Speaker 4 (09:36):
Well, it is true that all roses love full sun
at least six hours a day. But in the hot,
humid South or anywhere in the US where it's really
you've got a lot of intense sun, mourning sun that
transitions into afternoon shade or dappled light is ideal. Of course,
(09:57):
all roses love well during soil. If you have really
sandy soil, or if you have clay, just amend the
entire planting area with a compost or a soul conditioner.
I recommend about thirty percent. You don't want to overdo it.
(10:19):
You don't want the roses to be so comfortable they
don't leave that hole and of course you want well draining.
You don't want it to be a boggy.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
Area, right, And so roses, you're talking about the ideal conditions.
And you mentioned the South, and you lived here in
the South.
Speaker 2 (10:36):
Where did you live?
Speaker 4 (10:38):
I have lived in South Carolina, Alabama, North Carolina, so
I've had about three different zone experiences.
Speaker 2 (10:47):
Yeah, I can just imagine. Well, here in Florida, David Austin,
roses do very.
Speaker 1 (10:52):
Well and in my yards, and so how do they
tolerate for new gardeners, a new beginning in rose gardening,
how do they tolerate the southern heat.
Speaker 4 (11:04):
This is something that has always surprised me. As matter
of fact, when I joined Before joining David Austin, Michael
Marriott tried to get me to plant roses at Southern
Living to test them, and I was like, I don't
think they're going to work. That's in English roads. Well,
I actually planted a couple in my garden. I did
(11:26):
everything wrong. Came home from a trip one night and
was like, what is that fabulous fragrance? So they actually
do quite well. There are certain varieties like Litchfield Angel,
Lady of Chilatte, Princess Alexander, of Kent. A lot of
the new varieties are so much more disease resistant, like
Ni Bevan Gabriel Oak, and they're going to be a
(11:49):
lot easier for you to incorporate into those heavy, high heat,
high humidity southern gardens.
Speaker 1 (11:57):
Well, I will tell you I've used ah in a
client's yards and Lady of Shalott and they've done very well.
So I'm really pleased with that fragrance. What do you
think I only buy roses with fragrances? What do you
think should be important when you're considering fragrance for a rose?
Speaker 4 (12:16):
Absolutely all David Elson roses are fragrance their five fragrance profile.
So you have old rose, which we think fragrance should smell.
You know, a rose should smell like. You have mirr,
which is conducive to the English rose group, Fruity Americans
are drawn to a fruity fragrance, and you have musk.
(12:38):
All the other fragrances come from the petals, the must
fragrance comes from the stamens. And then of course there
is Tea, which is Lady of Shalot and Charles Darwin,
and it smells like you have opened a pack of
China tea.
Speaker 1 (12:55):
Oh yes, that's that's wonderful. I'm getting excited here listening
to you. So what flowers do you use and how
often should roses be fertilized?
Speaker 4 (13:06):
You know, I roses are going to eat a lot
in the Florida area because it's hot, and when it
is hot, when that flow temperature is fifty degrees and above,
even if you're using a slow release fertilizer, it's going
to release more rapidly. Because David Austen roses produce a
(13:28):
lot of flowers, they're going to go through that fertilizer too.
So always make your first application when you see those
new leaves appearing. If you haven't fertilized yet, go ahead
and do it. And I tend to fertilize almost once
a month four to six weeks, depending on how your
(13:49):
season is going. When it's hot and rainy, a lot
of fertilizer gets used. And then in Florida and in
our hot areas of the South, that fertilizer or the
roses a lot of times are not going to go dormant.
And so you have to quit fertilizing and fall just
(14:09):
to say slow down, you need to rest, You need
to kind of try to go dormant and then you'll
be ready to go the next year.
Speaker 1 (14:18):
Okay, So what do you suggest is a good time
to cut roses? Because to get the most blooms, when
should you cut it?
Speaker 4 (14:27):
David Austin's respond extremely well to pruning, So first of all,
don't be shy to deadhead. Okay, I would say you
can do your hard prune on roses in Florida, depending
on where you are. If you're down south, you can
actually do this in December. It may be January. You
(14:51):
might even be busy and not even do it till February.
But you're pruning a David Austin shrub rose according to
its position, and the garden always take out dead, diseased
or dying, and then shape things up according to where
it is. The older the rose, the more you're going
to remove. And I am not shy about cutting my
(15:14):
roses back by half. You're just going to get a
lot better foliage when you dead head after those blooms.
That's going to give you more flowers through the season,
and in really hot areas. I'm a massive advocate of
a summer prune, So in late July, early August cut
(15:35):
those roses back. They grow so fast in your region,
and then you're going to be rewarded with a fabulous
fall flush when my yesters cool.
Speaker 2 (15:47):
That's great.
Speaker 1 (15:47):
I always try and do that before we go away
on vacation, and then you know, you don't have to
look at them when they're cut back, and then when
you get back you see all the new growth and
it's very exciting. Yes, and so what type of rose
rities do does David Austin Cary and grow?
Speaker 4 (16:03):
Well, you're going to everyone's familiar with the shrub type roses,
which you know, that's like the poet's wife, Princess Alexander
of Kant. Then I Bevan that I mentioned, but we
have some of the world's most gorgeous climbers too. So
the Generous Gardener, if you are a fan of New Gone,
(16:23):
Generous Gardener is amazing. I also love James Goalaway and
Mary Delaney. A lot of people are afraid of ramblers
and they should not be so Malvern Hill's all Brighton Rambler,
the Lady of the Lake. Those are fabulous ramblers that
are in our collection. And a rambler is a little
(16:45):
different because it has fewer thorns. Ours do repeat bloom
and the canes are a thinner and so that makes
them a little more pliable, easier to train. And then
of course we have our stand roses which are on
three foot trunks. So they look wonderful accenting a door
(17:06):
or creating a focal point in the landscape.
Speaker 1 (17:09):
Oh, they do, so you have. We've just got a
few more minutes. Rebecca, thank you for joining us today.
But what is your YouTube channel Rebecca on roses? What
can gardeners learn from it?
Speaker 4 (17:22):
Yeah, so I started that back in COVID when I
could not travel and really get out there and be
with the people. But you're going to get an in
depth history on David Austin and what they were. You're
going to learn all about my favorite design tips and tricks,
and you're going to have background information on varieties and
(17:45):
it's something that's interesting. You mentioned it because that is
on my to do list to start adding the more videos,
so look for more to come.
Speaker 2 (17:54):
That's wonderful.
Speaker 1 (17:55):
So David Austin rose is our perfect gift for Mother's Day.
So where can our listeners find and buy David Austin
roses in Florida?
Speaker 4 (18:04):
Go to your favorite garden center and go soon. Because
Mother's Day is always the big push to get roses
into a garden center. They sell out quickly, so often
in your region we see that they're gone by Father's Day.
You might find a few stragglers, you know, later in
(18:24):
the summer or even in to fall if you have
someone who specializes in roses, and carry them over. But
the name of the game is get there, get them early,
give them to mom, plan them in your garden and enjoy.
Speaker 2 (18:36):
That's wonderful.
Speaker 1 (18:37):
Can they also purchase them online?
Speaker 4 (18:40):
Yes they can. You can go to David Austin roses
dot com. We are shipping two quarts now and you
can always pre order for next year.
Speaker 2 (18:50):
Oh that's a wonderful idea. Rebecca. Thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (18:54):
For coming on and discussing roses with me.
Speaker 2 (18:56):
You've really excited me.
Speaker 1 (18:58):
I can't wait to plant more roses.
Speaker 4 (19:01):
Oh thanks for having me.
Speaker 2 (19:02):
All right, take care, we'll talk to you soon.
Speaker 4 (19:04):
Well.
Speaker 3 (19:05):
I love the fact that you can pre order them,
so then if something happens and you get sidetracked and
you don't get anything ordered for this one, and then
June comes around and you're like, oh.
Speaker 1 (19:13):
I miss that, then it sounds like maybe you could
pre order for this next year.
Speaker 2 (19:16):
Possibly, Yes, there you go, there you go.
Speaker 1 (19:18):
It's a win win situation right there. And they're beautiful.
And Tom and Lake Nona. That I talked about Frakr's,
he texted and says, please discuss Fragrance. I only buy
fran Roses. So when we come back, get your petted
papers ready. I'm gonna give you my antique roses, my
David Austin Rose favorites, my drift roses, my climbers. You're
going to hear a lot of my favorites there, So
(19:40):
get a petted paper ready from the Summit Responsible Solution Studios.
If it's Saturday morning, you're listening to Better Lawns and Gardens.
I'm Teresa Watkins and this is Florida's Talk and Entertainment Network.
(20:11):
Welcome back to Better Lawns and Gardens. If you have
a gardening question, you can give me a call one
triple eight four five five two nine six seven. Go
ahead and put it in your phone one triple eight
four five five two nine sixty seven, or you can
text two three six eight zero. And So I wanted
to give you a rundown real quick on my favorite roses.
(20:34):
But if you would like to have me send this
to you, and I can do this through email, then
you can go onto Better Lawns dot com and say, Teresa,
send me an email of your favorite roses and I
will send it to you. Antique roses that I love,
Josephine Land, Louis Philippe. You have to have a Louis
(20:57):
Philippe Rose, Louise. Oh, Dear Madam Isaac Perrier, Madam Plantier,
and just this week Joan here in Florida, she purchased
a Madam Plantier. Then Zephyren Drohan, Zephyrin Drohan, Climbers America,
Don Juan Joseph's Coat. Joan also bought a Joseph's coat.
(21:21):
Lady Banks Rose Yellow. I love the yellow and new
dawn Drift roses. I love the apricot, the popcorn yellow,
the red and the white drift roses. David Austin roses
my absolute favorite.
Speaker 2 (21:35):
David Austin roses.
Speaker 1 (21:37):
Abraham Darby, Oh, the fragrance Tom is incredible, it is beautiful.
Speaker 2 (21:43):
I love it.
Speaker 1 (21:44):
Litchfield Angel Rebecca mentioned that one I have used it before.
Speaker 2 (21:49):
It is great.
Speaker 1 (21:50):
Lady of Shalot and then Bosco Bell and Buttercup, Gertrude Jiggle, Graham,
Thomas Jude, the Obscure Lady, Emma Hamilton, Queen of Sweden,
the Generous Gardner which Rebecca also mentioned, and the Shepherdess.
Those are wonderful. David Austin Roses Color and Fragrance Flora Bundas.
(22:15):
I absolutely love angel face. The fragrance is overwhelming and
just beautiful, very heavenly sentimental. It's called sentimental for a reason.
It is fragrant Grand of Flora Laggerfield, Melody, Perfume, Perfume
may let me say that again, Melody Perfume May. Queen
(22:38):
Elizabeth Roses, the Hybrid Tees Chrysler Imperial Double Delight, Mister
Lincoln and Perfume Delight, all beautiful, and the colors are
are wonderful, and the fragrance is great Polyanthus this is
These are the miniatures. The Fairy China Doll and cecil
(23:00):
Owner Shrubs are Belinda's Dream and Distant Drums and Cocoa Loco.
Speaker 2 (23:06):
I love them all.
Speaker 1 (23:07):
So those are my favorite Roses. And if you'd like
a copy, can just go to Better LUNs dot com
or ask me on Facebook and I will send it
to you.
Speaker 2 (23:17):
Let's go to Michael and Palm Bay. Good morning, Michael.
How can I help you?
Speaker 5 (23:21):
Hey, good morning Teresa. Yes, I had a sad replacement
company out to my house to give me a bit
on getting some Saint Augustine grass. Uh okay, I had
previously put down over the top of these weak areas.
(23:42):
Some store bought topsoil and commonewer mix, and over the
winner the only thing that seemed to want to appreciate
my efforts or weeds. Yeah, so I decided I think
to replace that grass wi sad being Saint Augustine. When
the man came out, I said, I had already put
(24:03):
those amendments down. He said, oh, no for Saint Augustine grass. Uh,
Saint Augustine needs sand. So I just calling. That's all
new to me. He said, that was St. Augustine was
not a natural grass. It was kind of a formulated
grass that only grows well in sand. No, I'm to
make sure that I'm being told right.
Speaker 2 (24:25):
You hear me moaning here? Michael. I'm sorry, I said,
did you hear me moaning?
Speaker 4 (24:31):
God?
Speaker 1 (24:31):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (24:32):
Yeah, No, I thought that was me.
Speaker 1 (24:35):
No, no, no, Saint Augustine will do fine. The kalmanour
black cow is fine and good for Saint Augustine. Saint
Augustine is a native grass and it does not do
well in sand. It can, but it needs a lot
of water. So organic material in your soil is good.
(24:55):
So I would just suggest that the so I don't
know what you put down, and I don't know what
your sod looked like before, or your area looked like before,
But we don't need to rot a till and bring
up all those seeds from down below. So the next
time you get sawed, just lay it down on your ground.
(25:16):
You don't need to amend the soil again this year, okay,
but you don't necessarily need to put sand down. I mean,
I just don't keep adding layers and layers onto it.
I don't mind the top soil. I don't mind the
black cow or the manure. That's fine, but.
Speaker 2 (25:34):
I wouldn't necessarily What kind of soil do you have anyway?
Speaker 5 (25:38):
Oh, there's plenty of sand, Yeah that's what.
Speaker 4 (25:40):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (25:41):
Where I mean you're in Palm Bai. Yeah, so I
would do a soil test.
Speaker 2 (25:46):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (25:47):
There's a product called agra Tech Agritech. It's the University
of Florida Soil Test Kit. It's about forty dollars. You
can get it on Amazon or at your local extension office.
Send it to the university. Your postage and everything is
all included in that. Send it samples away to the
University of Florida. They're going to tell you what your
(26:08):
soil is like and what to fertilize it with. I
think that's going to be your big thing. So we've
had a stressful two years that the landscape, the soil,
I mean sorry, the sod has had a hard time.
Now when you put the new sawd down, how often
did you water it?
Speaker 2 (26:27):
How did you water it in at the beginning.
Speaker 5 (26:31):
A lot. It was almost always wet, just about every day.
Speaker 2 (26:34):
Okay. That's going to be an issue, all right.
Speaker 1 (26:37):
So I want you to when next time you get sawed,
this is how I want you to water the sowd.
Speaker 2 (26:42):
Okay. I want you to water it.
Speaker 1 (26:45):
Every day for the first week, one to one okay,
every day for the first week. And I want you
to calibrate it so that you're only putting about an
inch to an inch and a half even two inches
a day. Okay, that's one once a day for the
first week, once every two days the second week, then
(27:06):
once every three days the third week, and by the
end of the month you're on that schedule.
Speaker 2 (27:11):
Of twice a week watering.
Speaker 1 (27:13):
What that's going to do is it's going to push
those roots down deeper. If you water every day for
a month, six weeks and sometimes they even allow you
two months in some parts of the state to water it,
it's never going to develop a root system, a deep
root system, and you want a deep root system right now.
Like I said, the last two years, it's very difficult
(27:33):
for turf, especially in sodding it and putting a new
saw down.
Speaker 2 (27:37):
You want to make sure you get the right amount. Okay, okay, quick.
Speaker 5 (27:41):
Grill sure could you repeat? Originally when you answered my
phone call, you said, do not rototill.
Speaker 2 (27:50):
If you do sod, I want you to streak.
Speaker 5 (27:55):
One company was just going to have me, was just
going to put down the new sod over the old
without doing anything.
Speaker 2 (28:01):
That's not bad.
Speaker 1 (28:03):
The old grass is going to, you know, decompose and
it's going to turn into good soil, So that's not
necessarily a bad thing, okay, But I would just want
to make sure that you're not laying laying layering bad
sand and soil over each other. So I don't want
it to be above the sidewalk. I don't want you
to increase the elevation, you know, to that extent. If
(28:26):
it's just patchy and it's dead, I don't necessarily want
you to put it over weeds, okay, And so I would,
I would scrape the weeds out. I would just scrape
the top off if you have bad areas.
Speaker 2 (28:40):
But then you can just lay the sod right down.
I got you, okay.
Speaker 5 (28:44):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (28:45):
So so when you rode a till, when you go
down six to eight inches to twelve inches, you're bringing
up those old weed seeds to the top, and with
the sunlight, it's going to Germany and you're going to
get a weed issue. Okay, So just lightly scrape the
top so you can get good contact between the roots
and the soil.
Speaker 5 (29:03):
Okay, thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (29:04):
You're welcome.
Speaker 2 (29:05):
Call me back, Michael, let me know how you do.
Speaker 1 (29:07):
Maryanne, hang on, and then also too, I have Laurian's
say cloud.
Speaker 2 (29:12):
Hang on, I've got yours.
Speaker 1 (29:13):
And Tom, thanks for the question and.
Speaker 2 (29:15):
All the rest.
Speaker 1 (29:16):
We're gonna be right back with more of better Lawns
and Gardens. I'm Teresa Watkins from the Summit Responsible Solution Studios.
This is Florida's Talk and Entertainment Network. Welcome back to
(29:47):
Better Lawns and Gardens. I'm Teresa Watkins. Do you have
a gardening question? You can give us a call one
triple eight four five five two nine sixty seven or
you can text two three six eight zero to give
a shout out to the Florida contingent Michelle and Vicky
and Joan in June and Jay. It was just great
to spend time with you, so thank you so much.
(30:09):
So Laurie and Say cloud says, good morning. I have
a huge ponytail palm that's the centerpiece of my lawn.
It's probably ten feet tall and the base is about
a four foot across. It has all these new branches
or pups coming out of the top, some on the side.
I'm moving and I'd like to take a piece with me.
How do I harvest one of those and put it
(30:31):
in a pot? And will it survive in North Florida
in the ground. Thank you well, Laurie, that's a great question.
Speaker 2 (30:39):
So this is.
Speaker 1 (30:39):
What you do for your to get new pups okay,
and so here we go. You want to okay, so
decide on which part or which segment you want to
take with you, all right, and.
Speaker 2 (30:54):
You're going to take a saw or a large.
Speaker 1 (31:00):
Knife serrated would be fine. Sterilize it. Make sure it's
sterile because you're doing surgery now, so you want to
make sure you're not introducing any disease into to.
Speaker 2 (31:11):
The open wound.
Speaker 1 (31:12):
And you're going to slice one of those pops off
as close as you can to the base of the
ponytail palm.
Speaker 2 (31:21):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (31:22):
You're going to slice it off, and then you're going
to let it air dry.
Speaker 2 (31:27):
Okay. So it needs to get.
Speaker 1 (31:28):
Kind of a callous, a little bit of a scab
over it, and you want to do that, and it's
going to take about a week to ten days, all right,
and just leave it in the open air in the
full sun.
Speaker 2 (31:40):
And let it dry.
Speaker 1 (31:42):
Then when you're ready to plant it, okay, And you
want to plant it before you move, unless you're moving
in the next week. You want to then get a
rooting hormone, and you're going to dip the end of
that ponytail palm into the rooting hormone, okay, and then
you're gonna plant it, and you're going to do about
(32:03):
half and half. So you want to do a succulent
type of soil uh into and into the to the pot,
a succulent. You want it to be about fifty percent
per life, fifty percent organic material and a succulent or
a cactus soil would not be bad. Okay, that would
(32:25):
be fine, all right, and then plant it in that
you want to plant it so that the.
Speaker 2 (32:29):
Base is right at the top of the of the soil.
Speaker 1 (32:34):
And then you want to water it real well and
keep it in you know, full sun. You know, you
can do morning sun and afternoon shade if you want.
But the pot you sedelect to plant it in. I
want you to not use ceramic or clay because the
bulb is going to grow big and big, and it's
going to get stuck in that pot and you're gonna
(32:55):
have to break the pot to get the ponytail out. Okay,
So it's not going to stay one pot, and it's
gonna get big. I've seen ponytails palms get as big
as a Volkswagen. Okay, as big as a volkswagon, that
tall and that wide, and it kind of takes over.
Speaker 2 (33:12):
They get even bigger than that.
Speaker 1 (33:14):
They get to be they can get to be thirty
feet tall in this native home country. And so you
want to then put it in a plastic pot that
you can break as you repoted, and you're gonna need
to do that probably every two to three years when
if you plant it in the ground, and you're not
gonna be able to do it in North Florida. I'm
just saying anyone planting it in the ground in central
(33:36):
and South Florida, you don't want to do it near
the door of the house because it gets huge in
the ground.
Speaker 2 (33:42):
All Right, You're taking it.
Speaker 1 (33:43):
Up to North Florida where it's not gonna survive the winter,
so you're gonna want to bring it in. So putting
it in a pot is going to be the best
thing for it. Okay, So you just want to cut
a slice of it off, let it air dry, then
dip it in rooting hormone and go ahead and plant it,
and then water it well and keep it watered. Probably,
(34:04):
you know, in the plastic pot is not going to
evaporate as much. But depending on where it is, you
could need to water it once a day. Okay, depending
on how hot it is, and if it's in the
full sun, all right, hopefully that helps you. Laura, thank you.
Let's go to Maryanne and Longwood. Good morning, Marianne, thank
you for calling.
Speaker 4 (34:21):
Good morning. Let's see my first question is that aga panther?
Speaker 1 (34:25):
Yes, with four bulbs on a plastic cat.
Speaker 4 (34:28):
And I don't hope I don't have to do everything
you just said.
Speaker 1 (34:31):
No, no, no no.
Speaker 2 (34:33):
You want to divide it up?
Speaker 4 (34:35):
Yeah, I want to divide it and put it in
the ground.
Speaker 2 (34:37):
Okay, go ahead, just lift it out, cut them off.
Speaker 1 (34:40):
If there's fida pot, if they're if they're growing together
and they're kind of the bulbs have kind of merged,
then you can go ahead and divide it up with
a knife, use a sterile knife, and then just plant
it in the ground. That's it. Okay, that's it.
Speaker 4 (34:52):
And then full sign made it through the winter.
Speaker 2 (34:56):
Good.
Speaker 3 (34:56):
But a lot of them are all yellow leave on
the outside.
Speaker 2 (35:01):
Okay, just give it a haircut.
Speaker 1 (35:04):
Just give it a haircut, whack it back and let
it let it grow back.
Speaker 2 (35:08):
It will.
Speaker 4 (35:10):
Oh yeah, should I cut the whole thing?
Speaker 2 (35:12):
Yeah, well, I've cut the yellow leaves off.
Speaker 1 (35:14):
But if you I mean, if you've got more yellow
leaves than green. I would just whack the whole thing
back down to the ground. Okay, all right, okay, let's
know how you do. Thank thank you Marianne for calling
and for listening to better lawns and gardens. I like,
Casher's a little bit Hesita. She's like, oh, oh, okay,
that's good. You call good questions. Good questions, and you
(35:37):
know what, don't be afraid to cut. Depending on what
it is, it may have to be at a certain
time of the year. Right now, we just got through
cutting back. Our point setis so you cut point setias
in the months with a so that's April.
Speaker 2 (35:51):
If you haven't done it, do it really quickly.
Speaker 1 (35:54):
And this is the last month that you can fertilize
your lawn before we go on fertilizer band in June.
Speaker 2 (36:01):
So if you have.
Speaker 1 (36:02):
Not fertilized your your lawn, first get a soil test
that tells you what you need to put down and
it'll tell you know, they'll give you directions on what
fertilizer to use. Just generally a fifteen zero fifteen fertilizer
will do fine for Saint Augustine and for Zeoutsta and
(36:23):
for all the other plants because you don't need any phosphors.
Never fertilize before a rainstorm. And if you live on
a lake or a body of water, low lying body
of water, you want to stay at least fifteen to
twenty feet away from the shoreline, depending on how what
kind of slope you have. If you've got a swale
in your yard, then don't fertilize to that swale. Do
(36:45):
not fertilize after the swale, okay, and that protects your lake.
We get these algae blooms in our lakes because everybody's
fertilizer runs off into the lake and it causes the
algae blooms. So don't ascerbate issue. You know, we're going
to get some algae blooms because we naturally have plants
dying in the water and that increases the algae. But
(37:08):
by fertilizing before rainstorm, you're gonna lose seventy percent of
that fertilizer to stormwater runoff, and you're creating your own
algae bloom. So you don't want to do that, all right,
one triple eight four five five two nine sixty seven,
or you can text two three six eight zero Just
got a couple of minutes left. If you'd like to
get our May newsletter in your backyard, you can go
(37:29):
to my website and that's she sh e Dash Consulting
dot com. She Dash Consulting dot com. And on the
very front page your landing page that you that my
website that you come to, it says would you like
to subscribe to the newsletter?
Speaker 2 (37:47):
And just put in.
Speaker 1 (37:48):
Your name and your zip code and your email address
and you will get the next issue of in your
backyard and that will be good. So what can you
be doing this month? This is a good month to
seed Behea grass. You can go ahead and put Behea
grass down. You want to use the Argentina, get the
Argentina Behea grass, not the Pensacola. The Argentina has less
(38:11):
grass seed and the Pensacola has a lot of grass seed,
which you may you may want that if you're doing
pasture grass or you want a lot of Behea grass growing.
But you put you mo the Behea grass the Pensacola
and then two to three days later the grass, the
flowers go to seed and it looks like you need
(38:31):
to mow again. So with Argentina, you're not gonna have
to mow as much.
Speaker 2 (38:36):
You want to.
Speaker 1 (38:36):
Avoid mowing with dull blades. That's very important. You're doing
surgery when you are cutting plants. Make sure your lawnmower
blades are sharpened every five mowings. Make sure your landscape
maintenance company is sharpening their lawnmower blades and that they
clean their trailer off before they come to your yard.
Thank you to Data Vendrick with Quality Green Specialists and
(38:59):
Rebecca Coram from David Austin Roses. Wonderful, wonderful Mother's Day's
coming up. Don't forget Mom, Lizzie. Thank you so much,
and a big thank you to all our listeners.
Speaker 3 (39:09):
Yes, thank you to Teresa. Appreciate you and glad that
you are back.
Speaker 2 (39:13):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (39:13):
If it's Saturday morning, you're listening to Better Lawns and Gardens.
I'm Teresa Watkins and this is Florida's talk and Entertainment network.
Speaker 3 (39:21):
If you miss any of the show, you can always
go back and recap it at Better Lawns dot com.
Speaker 1 (39:26):
Better Lawns dot Com also, and you can click.
Speaker 3 (39:28):
Down on the bottom if you want to submit a
question to Teresa Watkins. Better Lawns dot com
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