June 27, 2026 • 39 mins
Landscape designer, garden expert, and host Teresa Watkins gets an early start on Independence Day by quizzing producer Lizzie Steele on patriotic gardening trivia. The Dirty Word of the Day is “Solarization vs. Occultation.” Teresa also answers callers’ gardening questions and responds to text messages.
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Speaker 1 (00:10):
Good morning, Welcome back to the second hour of Better
Lawns and Gardens. I'm your host, Teresa Watkins, landscape designer,
garden author, horticulturists. I love helping people with their gardens
and answering your questions. And if you would like your
gardening question answered one triple eight four five five two
nine sixty seven, or you can text two three six
(00:33):
eight zero. Lizzie, what are your plans for Fourth of July?
Speaker 2 (00:37):
Ooh, probably just hanging out with the turkeys.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
There you go. Yeah, they're they're they're not in fear
right now, they're not stressing out on this holiday.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
Technically they shouldn't at ever, because they pass that two
year period of eight and now they're just pets.
Speaker 3 (00:52):
Now they're just pets.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
Oh that's great. Oh, I'm sure Gerald's gonna be so happy.
And so let's go for the dirty word of the day.
And now it's time for the dirty word of the
Day on Better Lawns and Gardens with Teresa Watkins. And
the dirty word of the day is solarization and versus
solarization versus a cultation A cultation. Solarization is an organic
(01:17):
gardening technique that uses clear plastic to trap sunlight and
heat the soil, helping you kill weed, seeds, pests, and
plant diseases. How does it work? When you cover moist
soil with clear plastic, it creates a greenhouse effect that
traps the sunlight and heat. Soil temperatures can reach one
hundred and ten to one hundred and forty degrees in
(01:38):
the top six to eighteen inches, which can kill many
soil born born problems, including weed seeds and seedlings, disease
causing nematodes, fungi and bacteria, insects, and other soil pests.
Most soils holes and conducts heat better, making solarization more effective.
(01:58):
For best results, solarized garden beds and turf areas from
late spring through early summer, especially in June and July
when the sun and heat are strongest. So how do
you solarize a launor garden bed. The area to be
solarized must have six to eight hours of sunlight a day.
It does not work in shady areas. Use clear plastic
(02:19):
sheeting two to six mill thick, large enough to cover
the area, and then add six to twelve inches more
to keep it held down. Secure the edges with a
garden hose, steaks, staples, rocks, sand bags, or bricks, and
level the soil before covering. Leave the plastic in place
for six to eight weeks, depending on whether's weather and
(02:39):
soil moisture, and then remove rocks, debris, and plant material
before covering the area you want to have. If you
want to add composts, this is a good time beforehand
to improve fertility, moisture retention, and overall soil quality. Adding
composts to age, manure or cover crop residue before solarizization
(03:00):
can strengthen the process and leave the soil healthier afterwards.
Organic matter helps retain moisture, which supports the greenhouse effect
under the plastic. Although solarization may reduce some beneficial organisms,
comcosts can help rebuild a healthy soil ecosystem. It also
adds slow released nutrients that support plant growth after solarization.
(03:24):
Now Ocultation is a different organic no tail weed controlled method.
It uses opaque materials such as black tarps, landscape fabric, cardboard,
or silage tarps to block sunlight, smother weeds, and prepare
soil first planting. Because ocultation blocks light rather than tramping
intense heat, It usually warms the soil less and is
(03:47):
generally less effective against pests and pathogens than solarization. It
also blocks air flow, so I would not put cardboard
down anywhere and start to put soil and mulch over
thinking that's going to kill the weeds. It's not really
going to be that effective. So that's the dirty word
(04:07):
of the day. Solarization and occultation. Have you ever heard
of old cultation?
Speaker 2 (04:11):
Absolutely not. But I learned something new every time I'm
on this show.
Speaker 1 (04:16):
I'm so happy. That's great.
Speaker 3 (04:18):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
All right one triple eight four five five two nine
sixty seven or you can text two three six eight zero.
Now we had a phone call from Jim.
Speaker 2 (04:28):
Yes, I had Jim from Okoe and he was asking
about when you were talking about the gardening and the presidents,
what about the Washington Carver George Washington.
Speaker 1 (04:40):
Yeah, that was such he was such a great man.
But I was just going back two hundred and fifty years,
so I was doing the eighteenth century, you know, the
beginning of America and the founding fathers and also the
founding agricultural people that gardeners that were at that time.
So George Washington Carver is great, but he's more nineteenth
(05:04):
century twentieth century. Okay, okay, so Jim, thank you for listening,
and I do appreciate it.
Speaker 3 (05:10):
I love I want peanut butter now.
Speaker 2 (05:12):
I had peanut butter crackers yesterday. Well you and Charity
with me, so thanks for bringing it up.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
I do four and that makes it complete sandwich, you know, one, two, three, four,
and you put him in a square. I love that
it has to be salty, saltine and then also crunchy,
crunchy peanut but.
Speaker 3 (05:27):
Oh see, I like crunchy peanut butter.
Speaker 2 (05:29):
I'm like a fifty to fifty so absolutely I'm a
Jiff creamy yeah, butter lover.
Speaker 3 (05:34):
But then I do like the Jiff crunchy too.
Speaker 1 (05:37):
Yes, Tony Tony is a creamy guy. Tony's creamy. I'm crunchy.
You guys makes such a perfect couple. I love you guys.
Tina from Orlando, she texted, she goes my avocado froze back.
It is growing back. And how many years before I
get avocados again? Well, it depends on how badly it
was damaged and how big it was Tina when it
got frozen. So I would say probably two years. Okay,
(06:03):
only because if it's only six to eight inches tall,
or even four to five feet tall, it's going to
go through that process of putting roots down, you know,
you know, becoming healthier again. So I would continue to
floor fertilize it. You might get one or two or
three next year, and then the second year it should
recover completely and rebound and give you lots of avocados.
(06:24):
Great question. Thank you one triple eight four five five,
two nine sixty seven, or you can text two three
six eight zero. We're going to be right back with
my horticultural trivia for Independence Day, so that you can't
entertain everyone next week at the fourth of July festivities.
It's Saturday morning. You're listening to Better Lawns and Gardens.
(06:45):
I'm Teresa Watkins and this is Florida's Talk and Entertainment Network.
(07:12):
Welcome back to Better Lawns and Gardens. I'm Teresa Watkins.
You'd like to know what to do in July. It
is up on our website Better Lawns dot com and
it has all of the list and what to plant.
And I'll be going through that in just a minute.
Let's go to Bill in Georgetown. Good morning Bill, How
can I help you?
Speaker 4 (07:32):
Yeah, I'm growing. Actually, I normally I don't call in
much Nay, Marcus, I'm not doing that much gardening. But
I've got a valid question today about watermelon.
Speaker 3 (07:42):
Yay.
Speaker 4 (07:44):
So I grew them in Mount Dora, and it was
kind of a unique thing because I grew the small
ones and I actually had had a couple of them
hanging on a fence.
Speaker 1 (07:55):
Cool.
Speaker 4 (07:56):
And what I want to know now is how many
runners should I let go on this? It's got two
main runners and it's starting to put out some more runners,
and I don't want that to detract from the overall
nutrition from the vine. So how many should I leave?
Speaker 1 (08:09):
Okay? So how long are the vines now?
Speaker 4 (08:14):
Vines were only about four or five feet long, but
there are starting to get some side vines starting to
come out on it.
Speaker 1 (08:20):
Yeah, you know right now, I don't think. I think
the more photosynsus is you can go through, the better
it's going to grow. So I don't see you trying
to remove any of them right now, because that's just
going to put out more stress. I would wait until
you start to have fruit. Do you have fruit yet?
Speaker 4 (08:36):
Oh? No, no, No, the just the first and mail balloons.
You just started blooming. Now, okay, see the little baby
watermelon coming about three feet down on the vine. But no,
we're not nearly there yet.
Speaker 1 (08:45):
Okay. I would wait until they start growing and then
you can kind of see where to, you know, just
snap a few of the vines off. But I wouldn't
worry about it too much. Watermelons like to grow.
Speaker 4 (08:55):
Yeah, well, it's a nice time year to grow one.
And it was from you know, it's from one of
those seedless ones where they always have one or two
seeds in a minute. So I just as a lark,
I just went ahead and planted it.
Speaker 1 (09:05):
Oh well, good for you. That's wonderful. Well then I
give us an update and let us know what what
how many you get?
Speaker 4 (09:12):
All right, I'll do that. And it was really nice
to have Tom on last week to speak for It
was nice.
Speaker 1 (09:17):
I just love Tom. I am so glad that he
was able to be on. So he's going to be
on when I'm I'm out, then Tom will be here.
So that's I'm looking forward to that.
Speaker 3 (09:28):
All right.
Speaker 4 (09:28):
Nice talking with you.
Speaker 1 (09:29):
Thank you, you're welcome, Bill, Thank you. So my Independence Day, Lizzie,
are you ready I'm ready. Have you been boning up here? Okay? Yes?
So number one, which US president was the first to
host a Fourth of July celebration at the White House?
Speaker 5 (09:45):
Oh?
Speaker 2 (09:45):
Yeah, so you sent me up for failure on this one.
I would say this is bad Lincoln. No, Thomas Jefferson, Oh,
eighteen oh one?
Speaker 1 (10:01):
Okay. And so the number two, the Communia Sentensus provides
traditional tea leaves after the Boston Tea Party. What plant
did Americans grow in a harvest as a tea substitute.
I'm gonna give you a clue. It was called liberty tea.
Speaker 3 (10:17):
Ooh, hibiscus.
Speaker 1 (10:19):
No, that's a good, good choice. But we're talking a
Massachusetts you know that's true. Okay, Okay, okay. So the
answer is Yopon Holly.
Speaker 3 (10:29):
Snap.
Speaker 1 (10:30):
Okay, So you can use the tea leaves or you
can use the leaves from Yopon Holly to make tea. Okay.
So number three, Why are red, white and blue considered
our national colors? Because we do containers and we do
red flowers and white flowers and blue flowers. Why is red,
white and blue considered our national colors? O?
Speaker 3 (10:49):
Is it red for the blood that's shed?
Speaker 1 (10:52):
No?
Speaker 3 (10:52):
No, Well, you know what, I'll let you go ahead
and finish.
Speaker 1 (10:58):
Hey, this is fun. The colors were adopted in seventeen
seventy seven and have been explained as representing white is
purity and innocent, Red is heartiness and valor. You're almost
right there with the blood, and blue is vigilance, perseverance,
and justice.
Speaker 3 (11:16):
That makes sense.
Speaker 1 (11:17):
Okay, isn't it great? What plant symbolizes freedom in American gardens?
Speaker 3 (11:23):
A rose?
Speaker 1 (11:25):
No? Indigenous tribes honored of freedom with a tall, strong flower, sunflower?
I love? Why do I not know this? So it's
you know, it's wonderful. It symbolizes freedom. Okay, here's one.
I think you'll get this one. What plant is featured
on the Seal of the United States.
Speaker 3 (11:46):
I'm just gonna head turn in my citizenship.
Speaker 2 (11:48):
Card because I'm kind of none of these, right, is it?
Speaker 3 (11:51):
Is it a corn?
Speaker 6 (11:53):
No?
Speaker 1 (11:53):
But no, but that's a good. That's good. Keeps that thought.
A bald eagle holds an olive branch and arrows, symbolizing
the power of peace and war. Okay, and so you
mentioned this, so everyone knows. The rose was voted in
nineteen eighty six as a national symbol of the United States.
Speaker 2 (12:12):
What other plants did it beat out? Ooh, let's see
what other plants did it beat out? Huh hmmm.
Speaker 1 (12:26):
Okay, I'm just gonna talk. Okay, we got a lot
of dead air here. The American merrygold. Okay, So the
American marygold was proposed as a national floral emblem in
the mid twentieth century by Senator Everett Dirkson. In nineteen
sixty seven. Dirkson praised the merrygold for being native to
North America, thriving in all fifty states, and symbolizing resilience
(12:51):
and self reliance. The other two plants were dogwood and
corn tassels.
Speaker 2 (12:57):
Okay, I thought that was really cool.
Speaker 1 (13:00):
Cold. What tree is recognized as the national tree of
the United States? Oak? We have a winner oak? Yes, yes,
the oak. All the species Corcus uh Virginiana is the
live oak. Okay, So here's this one's gonna be hard. Okay,
just let you know. What is the origin of the
(13:26):
word yard?
Speaker 3 (13:27):
I'm sorry say that one.
Speaker 1 (13:28):
What is the origin of the word yard? Where does yard?
Where did we get the word yard?
Speaker 3 (13:35):
Like the country?
Speaker 1 (13:36):
The word the word yard, I don't know. It could
be the country, but the word yard and garden share
a common Germanic root, and it means both enclosure or
fence spaced. Old English is geared g e a r d,
which means garden court residence. Then the Germanic guardan g
(13:58):
a r d a n and gear meaning to grasp
and close. And so the Middle English said relatively small
patch of ground around a dwelling. So yard comes from garden.
Speaker 3 (14:11):
Oh, I like gardon guard people called tariet tarje. I
had now own a guardan.
Speaker 1 (14:18):
Exactly. Isn't that cool? I love it? But if the
word yard right, I mean you wouldn't think in that
garden right? No? Okay. In seventeen forty one, Henry Middleton
created what is considered the oldest landscape gardens and first
public gardens in America. What state are they located in.
Speaker 3 (14:38):
Let's go with the Virginia.
Speaker 1 (14:41):
That's a great choice, but it's not correct, Okay, South Carolina.
Middleton Plantation, Middleton Place is one of the gardens, so
most of you were very close. You were right there
in Virginia. And the last one, which I think is
really really cool, what could be the earliest American legislation
to control plant disease?
Speaker 2 (15:02):
Ooh, I'm gonna have to say absolutely, I have no clue.
Speaker 1 (15:07):
There you go. Okay, So, in seventeen forty one, to
protect wheat crops English grain wheat crops from rust, the
Province of Massachusetts enacted an anti barbary legislation. So barbary
is a purplish bush that has thorns on it. Okay, okay,
barbary to prevent damage to English grain arising from barbary
(15:30):
bushes in the vicinity of grain fields. So back in
seventeen forty one, they were enacting plant disease control. So
barbaris are native, but they didn't want the native knick
next to the grain field because it gave them rust.
Speaker 3 (15:43):
Oh wow, that interesting, is very interesting.
Speaker 1 (15:45):
So you can take those you can listen back on
the podcast and write them down if you're interested, and
you can thrill your your family and friends. Yes Saturday.
Speaker 2 (15:54):
And also if the listeners really did learn anything from
all those really cool questions, please don't ever use me
as a phone a friend unless it's useless.
Speaker 3 (16:03):
Knowledge, cause I got plenty of that.
Speaker 1 (16:08):
So that's great and so wonderful. So I what can
we be planting as far as bulbs right now? Acamenes,
I'm really interested in growing acamenes this month, so that's great.
African irises, bulbine and kalladiums are coming up very nicely.
They're starting to look great. Cannas and crimems. Crimems are
blooming right now. They look beautiful. The milk and wine
(16:29):
chrocosmias and day lilies, eucharist lilies and gladiolis. I was
at home this week that had gladiolas and they were
blooming lovely. And the secret to doing gladiolas is you
want to plant them in full sun, give them moisture
once or twice a week, or just rainfall if we're
getting the rain, and then you stagger them. Plant ten
one week, plant ten another week, and ten the following week,
(16:51):
and then you have blooms all through the summer. Gloriosa
lily and peacock, ginger society, garlic and spiderworts. I have
spiderworts growing naturally in my yard, rain lilies and walking irises.
My rain lilies all bust it up and bloom over
the last couple of weeks, and then I know the seeds.
(17:11):
I was going around trying to collect all the seeds.
So they're lovely. So July is a good time to
fill in bear or now woody sweaty spots left by
drought or pest. Do not fertilize. You're not allowed to
fertilize now until October. If you need to green up
your lawn, you can use an iron only product. Okay. Also,
(17:36):
you want to mow, and I've seen this a lot,
especially with the rain, that people are mowing in the
same direction all the time and creating ruts in their yard.
So you want to change it and go in different
directions during a mowing. It's not just I'll mow this
week one week and then this way another week. No
east or west. You want to do it in a
different way during the same mowing. Never mow grass when
(18:00):
it's wet from door rainfall, and avoid mowing when the
lawn is hot and dry to prevent damage from the
mower wheels. Learn how to identify weeds, you know, make
sure that you get those under control. Don't let them
go to flour because that means you're going to get
seeds and then sod web worm moths are very active
(18:20):
right now. When you're walking through your landscape, look down
in the grass and if you see a little white
moth flying up. You need to pay attention. Okay, if
you see one or two and your grass looks fine,
no big whoop. Okay, But if you're walking through and
you see a little cloud coming up of ten, fifteen,
twenty sodware worn moths, then you need to get control.
(18:44):
And you can put a grubb aside down for it
also too, all right, And so then you want to
check for mealy bugs, bill bugs, and nematodes in your yard.
Walk it. If there's an area dead, find out why. Okay.
You do not want to spread a chemical until you
know what the problem is. Is it a disease problem,
(19:05):
you know, take all root rot from overwatering, or is
it an insect issue chinch bugs or sod webworms. You
want to find out the problem first because you want
to make sure that the one that the insect is
still there too. If it's a disease problem, your treatment
of it is not going to help it. You just
(19:26):
want to prevent it. So if you're getting fungus in
your lawn, make sure that you're spraying before you get
the fungus, not afterwards. It won't help him. 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. Welcome back
(20:03):
to Better Logs and Gardens. We had email this week
from Nilsa and she had a mulberry that had all
kinds of speckles and lines going through it, but it
looked very healthy. It was some of some of the
leaves did have some mosaic on it, but the whole
(20:24):
as as a general, it was sprouting out very healthy.
And so mulberry gets a virus, there's several viruses. There's
like five or six different viruses, and there's nothing you
can do for it if it gets it. There are
no species or varieties of mulberry that can be virus free.
(20:46):
So it's just one of the downsides of having virus.
But if you keep it healthy and you know, fertilize it,
make sure it's it's got the proper nutrients and it's
got water, it doesn't it doesn't get stressed. So you know,
adequate water, plenty of sunlight, good air circulation, and fertilizer nutrients,
(21:07):
then it should be just fine. But once a mulberry
gets a virus, there's nothing you can do for it.
It's not. You can't eradicate it from the from the plant.
So she said, well should I take it out? And
I'm going no, I would just enjoy it. It's still
going to get fruit. The fruit's going to be just
fine to eat. And so it's just one of the
(21:29):
downsides of fruit trees. They get it, and there's no
they have not come up with a hybrid that is
that can be virus resistant. Okay, so that was a great,
great learning lesson. I should have gotten pictures. Oh my goodness,
there one triple eight four five five, two nine sixty seven,
or you can text two three six eight zero And
(21:52):
let's see. Jerry had a question. He called back and
he wanted to know what variety of Yopan holly would
be for that would make liberty tea. Yes, And so
the variety is just the native Yopan holly Ilex vomitoria.
Now vomitoria isn't a nice pleasing word, because it will
(22:14):
the species can make you sick. Oh, but because it's
it's medicinal and so but when made correctly and uh,
you know, properly, properly grown, then it's not a trouble
so you know, most plants can be toxic and no
matter you know what they are. What what vegetables can
(22:37):
be toxic? Do you know if you eat a green
potato you can get sick? Have you ever seen green potatoes?
Speaker 3 (22:42):
Yes?
Speaker 1 (22:43):
I have, and don't eat them, okay because they will
make you sick. Wow. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (22:47):
And that's the thing is that even though you know
we may say this and that, and you may trust
other people that you hear or stuff you see on
the internet, please take the time to do not only
just a one re urg but check two to three
different websites and doctor web sites.
Speaker 1 (23:04):
And I appreciate that, and it's so important because with AI,
I was doing research this week and AI was bringing
up stuff that was totally wrong. Yes, and they what
they do is the AI scours the internet and puts
it all together and says here, here you go, here's
the answer to your question. And it can be wrong.
So when you're doing research on anything, you want to
(23:27):
use only academic university researches. So put it EDU. If
you ask your question, how do you grow tomatoes? Put
ed U as a separate word in that in that search,
and it'll bring up the universities that that that will
tell you how to do it correctly.
Speaker 2 (23:45):
Yes, in the University of Florida is an excellent one
to refer to.
Speaker 1 (23:51):
Right things be here in Florida. But I will tell
you I also use research from North Carolina from Penn
State Cornell. You know, so if you put an E
ed U, then you're more likely to get get the
correct information. You cannot trust the internet, no more, no more,
no more.
Speaker 2 (24:09):
Really could before, but at least there for a moment
it seemed to be a lot of information was correct
and then all of a sudden we took no.
Speaker 1 (24:16):
We did we did?
Speaker 5 (24:18):
Did we?
Speaker 1 (24:18):
And so that that's important? Or or Lizzie.
Speaker 3 (24:22):
They can just email me, okay, Teresa, what's your email?
Speaker 1 (24:25):
Teresa? Yeah, Teresa T E R E s A dot
Watkins w A t K I N s at live
dot com. Or you can go to my website she
dash consulting dot com and that stands for Sustainable Horticultural Environments,
which is a lot of words. So I just do
(24:45):
she dash Consulting dot com. Or you can email us
on better loans dot com and better lns to com.
Will send me an email and I will respond. May
take a day or so, but I will respond to
you if it's an emergency. Tell me it's an emergency
in the email, and I will respond right away. Give
(25:06):
me your name and your city because that helps me
give you a correct information so that you know what
I would tell somebody in Pensacola or Tyler Hassee is
different than I would tell somebody in Port Saint Lucie
or Fort Lauderdale or Key West. So the location is
very very important. So what can you be doing in
(25:26):
your vegetable gardening right now? You can be planting lots
of Caribbean and African and South American vegetables. Asian vegetables too,
can take the heat. You want to make sure you're
controlling your weeds. Weeds can bring in disease, it can
bring in, you know, insects that are not good, and
(25:46):
so you want to make sure that you control your
seat your weeds. And then also too, very very important,
I'm going to say this over the next two to
three weeks. Buy your egg plant, tomato and pepper seeds
now so that you have them and you can plant
them now in little pots for transplanting in your garden
in August. If you wait till August to get your seeds.
(26:11):
You might not get a wide selection or variety that
you would get right now. They're going to be sold out,
so right now is the time to do it. Order
from the catalogs right now. Order from companies like Heritage
Cottage with our friend, dear friend Gary Bachmann, Heritage Cottage
(26:31):
and the Urban Nano Farm and so plenty of posts
on our Facebook page on him, and you can just
google Gary Bachmann Heritage Cottage. Hi Gary, you want to
add organic matter to your sandy soils and your old
garden sites to have them ready for planting right now.
You can use black cow manure, also your own compost
(26:57):
piled for good, good organic material. And you want to
use composts and manures ninety days before planting, so get
that in the ground now. You also want to feed
your summer vegetables on a monthly basis and using slow
release fertilizer. You can also use quick release fertilizers, but
(27:17):
I would dilute them with the heat. I would not
I would not use them full strength. Okay, So you
want to dilute them and on a weekly or bi
weekly basis and just give them a little bit at
a time. But your vegetables are going to need fertilizing
for a good harvest too. Also to speaking of applying,
(27:38):
you do not want to use herbicides right now. You
don't use herbicides and temperatures over eighty five degrees now
and the herbicide is not going to be as effective.
The weeds are going to be healthier than the grass,
and whatever you're putting it on the grass, you're risking
damaging it. Okay, let's go to the phone here to
(28:00):
be right back with more of in Better Lawns and Gardens.
I'm Teresa Watkins, Bill and Diane. Hang on, We're gonna
be right back. Welcome back to Better Lawns and Gardens.
(28:40):
If you have a garden, colitch and I would love
to help you one triple eight four five five two
nine sixty seven, or you can text two three six
eight zero. Let's go to Bill in Yankeetown. Good morning, Bill,
how can I help you?
Speaker 5 (28:55):
Yeah, good morning. I've got craig myrtles in my front
uh huh, and they're partly shaded and they have yet
the flower. And I was wondered if you could help
me out and tell me what's going on.
Speaker 1 (29:09):
Okay, Well, if it's partly shaded, that's a big issue. Okay.
So crp myrtles are very much full sun okay, but
it also could be the variety of crape myrtle that
you have. So crape myrtles are like azaleas. Do you
know how we have some azaleas that bloom really early
and sun that bloom mid season. Then we have azaleas
(29:30):
that bloom at the end of spring. The same thing
with crape myrtle. Some bloom very early, some bloom mid season,
and some bloom very late. So crape myrtles won how
much sunlight does it get? It needs at least six
to eight hours of sunlight a day. It's not getting that,
it's not gonna do well. And then also how often
(29:51):
are you fertilizing? Bill?
Speaker 5 (29:54):
I put some fertilizer on about two and a half
months ago. Huh. And that's another question I was going
to ask, is how often should I fertilize them?
Speaker 1 (30:03):
I would say, depending on what you use. Using a
slow release fertilizer's best a granule. Follow the label. It
can either be like one month or three months or
six months. So depending on what you get it just
has to be on a consistent basis. Okay, So do
you know what variety of crape myrtle it is? What
(30:24):
color is it when it blooms?
Speaker 5 (30:26):
I wish I had that answer. I know there are
like four there are four trunks coming up out of
the ground and each one, but I don't know which
one they are.
Speaker 1 (30:35):
Okay, so let me ask you one other thing. Do
you prune them back in January or February? When was
the last time you cut it back?
Speaker 7 (30:44):
Yeah?
Speaker 5 (30:44):
I did. I did this in the spring. We had
such a hard winner up here, it killed a lot
of foliage.
Speaker 1 (30:51):
Uh huh.
Speaker 5 (30:52):
So I did trim it back a little bit where
the leaves had come off. Huh and new growth was
coming out. So I clipped it right for the new bruk.
Speaker 1 (31:01):
Okay, that could Yeah, it doesn't. Crape myrtles don't need
to be pruned back per se exceptance are you know,
air circulation, just a little bit of a pretty and up.
But don't hack them straight across and commit crape murder.
That would also delay the blooming period. Okay.
Speaker 5 (31:17):
So I only put them back probably about three inches.
Speaker 1 (31:19):
Okay, So that's fine. So I would just suggest maybe
trimming back your trees. Is it oaks that are over it?
What's shading it?
Speaker 3 (31:28):
Yeah?
Speaker 5 (31:28):
The live oak.
Speaker 1 (31:29):
Okay, you know, if you can open up your live
oak and get a little bit more sunlight in there,
that might be worth it.
Speaker 5 (31:35):
Okay, I thanks so much. I appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (31:38):
Well, I appreciate you calling. Thank you so much. I
have a great fourth of July. Let's go to Diane
and Kasim. Good morning, Diane. How can I help you.
Speaker 6 (31:48):
I'm a senior, so funds are very limited because I'm
living on Social Security and I love flowers.
Speaker 5 (31:54):
But with this weather and everything, they kept dying on me.
Speaker 6 (31:57):
So what I did is I went to up store
I won't give the name and where they have fake
flowers for two dollars and fifteen cents, and I got
about fifty dollars worth. Put them in my hanging baskets
and everything, and in my planters where I used to
have real flowers. I get more compliments from people driving by, say,
you have these beautiful flowers and they'll.
Speaker 1 (32:15):
Last for a whole year.
Speaker 6 (32:16):
And I don't have to water them, but.
Speaker 1 (32:18):
You have to dust, Diane, they get dusty, and the
color stade, the color shade.
Speaker 6 (32:26):
And you can't. You can't. You can't see that from
the road. But another thing that I do too is
where I don't want, you know, to be growing anything,
maybe alongside the house where I want to put moush
or something like that. If I'm fortunate, I'll see some
roofers coming in and I go over there and get
a bunch of the shingles that they've taken off, and
I put them, you know, and overlapping layers alongside my
(32:49):
house or every one to put the most, and I
put the malt on top of that. And I don't
have to spend a whole lot on most because I
can spread it out and that will keep your weaves
down for years. And if you get weeds, you just
pull it up because its roots are not in the ground.
They're trapped maybe under half an inch or an inch
at the very moment.
Speaker 1 (33:07):
Okay, So Diane, Diane, Diane, please don't do that. It
poisons the soil. Okay, your shingles.
Speaker 6 (33:17):
It's not that much, but nothing's going to be planted there.
Speaker 1 (33:19):
Well yeah, but that's not a good recommendation. I just
want to just make that perfectly clear. I love you,
Diane for calling in and I'm sure you don't get
weeds because it's killing that area.
Speaker 2 (33:32):
Hey, Diane, my thing is as I didn't know that either,
so I probably would have done the same thing. And
this is my thing with the listeners, y'all think that
y'all may have like a dumb experience or a dumb question. No,
because I don't even have a clue. So, Diane, I
am glad that you were asking.
Speaker 1 (33:47):
So, Diane, if you will just put three to four
inches of mulch down, that will keep the weed seeds
from germinating, because it's it's sunlight that causes that. And
of course when you put down those shingles, you're not
you're you're not going to get sunlight. So it works,
but it's not good for the environment. It's not good
for the soil, and so that's I know, it's just
(34:09):
so hard out there. But I want to see a
picture of your flowers in your hand basket exactly, Diane.
Speaker 5 (34:17):
I can do that, gorgeous.
Speaker 1 (34:19):
Thanks you are. Thank you so much, Dian for calling
and listening, and I appreciate it. Let's go to Bill
in Orlando. Good morning Bill. How can I help you?
Speaker 7 (34:27):
In morning? Teresa, here's a question for you. I've always
wondered what these things are that I see in the
pots and the nurseries or the big box stores that
they put on the top pots. It looks like rice almost.
It's a cane color, very thin. You consume it's some
sort of mulish. But what the heck is that stuff?
Speaker 1 (34:47):
I don't know what you're talking I'm trying to trying
to think of what it could be.
Speaker 2 (34:52):
It's kind of like the stuff that's like whenever it's
so whever you buy a pot, yeah, pot of plant
from uh, the like box stores, there's something on top
of I want to say, it's like a fertilizer kind
of situation on top.
Speaker 3 (35:03):
There's like white sprinkling. Sometimes it's brown, right, Bill, is
that what you're asking exactly?
Speaker 1 (35:10):
Okay?
Speaker 7 (35:10):
It's really things looks like you know, it's not the
same thickness of right, Okay, it's about that size.
Speaker 1 (35:19):
Okay. So in pots that you see at the nurseries,
they have a soilless mix that they grow them in. Okay,
And so the soilless mix, it may be an organic
material that they're putting in that will grow in it
a medium, but I'm not really sure what it is.
(35:41):
So I'm going to go look. But I think in
this part of the soilst mix, So it could be
some vermiculi or some some part of the soil that
that they're growing the plants in. That's why when you
put it in the ground, it's good to put them
in the ground right away because there's no soil there,
and putting it in the ground keeps them so that
they're nice and happy and they can hold onto moisture tad.
Speaker 7 (36:03):
In the mix itself. It's just on the top.
Speaker 1 (36:06):
Yeah, I'm gonna go look. I'm gonna go look, and
i'm gonna let you know we have a best stub
next week for fourth of July. Have a great fourth
of July. And then when I come back, i'm gonna
tell you. Okay, so you'll have to listen in Bill,
I'll find out, all right.
Speaker 7 (36:22):
Sneak one in sure. Where can I get some four
inch gold mounds? I lost mine and I need four
inches because I got a drain field that I'm planning
them over.
Speaker 1 (36:32):
Yeah, so you're going to plant a lot? I would
check there's not the professional nurseries. The commercial nurseries that
I go to don't doesn't allow somebody or just homeowners
to buy from them. So there's not really much I
can help you there. But where are you located, Bill Orlando?
(36:54):
I would check at with Lucas's nursery. They won't have
four inches, that's that's the problem. They'll have one gallon ones.
The one gallons may be the only recommendation that I
can give you, but they'll be cheaper than the three gallons. Okay, no,
that's fine. I appreciate that. But maybe just one little
shovel and then that'll be the one gallons. Don't need
(37:16):
a lot of room.
Speaker 7 (37:18):
Thank you, and I wish were both are.
Speaker 1 (37:19):
Happy for us. Thank you so much. We'll be celebrating.
Speaker 3 (37:22):
Yes, thank you so much. Same to you, all right.
See that's sometimes I'm telling you my listeners.
Speaker 2 (37:27):
You guys are the best listeners in the whole white world,
because you guys, if y'all didn't listen to the last
segment and me trying to answer them questions, y'all make
me look smart.
Speaker 3 (37:35):
No, let me tell you so, but thank you.
Speaker 2 (37:37):
These are saying I didn't know, didn't know the thing
about the shingles, didn't know the thing about these stuff
that sprinkled on top and I think Teresa didn't know either,
so I didn't.
Speaker 1 (37:45):
I'm gonna find out. I'll find out. So a big
thank you to everyone who called. We do appreciate it, uh, Lizzy.
We we just love our listeners and callers. We have
callers from around the world, you know, Australia, Asia, Germany.
We got Austria last week. There were people listening in
So wherever you are in the world. Texas, California, there's
(38:05):
their climate is a little bit similar to ours. Texas
doesn't get as much rain, but right now they've gotten
a lot of rain. Mike, We're sending rain your way. Okay.
In Venice there, we want to make sure we really
really appreciate our sponsors, Black Cow Summit, Responsible Solutions, Peterson's Nursery,
Quality Green Specialist. Check out so Dana's I know for
(38:29):
fourth of July. He has some beautiful plants, herbs and
fruit trees and all kinds of great things to plant
in your gardens. So check them out. Let them know
you appreciate their sponsorship. Lizzie, thank you so much. You're
just a genius on the computer.
Speaker 3 (38:44):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (38:45):
Check out the New Orleans, the Ethereal Gardens of New
Orleans on art and bloomgardentours dot Com from the Summit
Responsible Solutions Studios, maker of Mosquito Bits and Dunks and
Summer Green Armor insect repellent and deerband. I'm Teresa. Watch
if it's Saturday morning, you're listening to Better Lawns and
Gardens and this is Florida's talk and entertainment network.
Speaker 3 (39:07):
Go to Better Lawns dot com.
Speaker 2 (39:08):
That is Better Lawns dot com and you can check
out all the podcasts and anything that you may have
missed there
Good morning, Welcome back to the second hour of Better
Lawns and Gardens. I'm your host, Teresa Watkins, landscape designer,
garden author, horticulturists. I love helping people with their gardens
and answering your questions. And if you would like your
gardening question answered one triple eight four five five two
nine sixty seven, or you can text two three six
(00:33):
eight zero. Lizzie, what are your plans for Fourth of July?
Speaker 2 (00:37):
Ooh, probably just hanging out with the turkeys.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
There you go. Yeah, they're they're they're not in fear
right now, they're not stressing out on this holiday.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
Technically they shouldn't at ever, because they pass that two
year period of eight and now they're just pets.
Speaker 3 (00:52):
Now they're just pets.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
Oh that's great. Oh, I'm sure Gerald's gonna be so happy.
And so let's go for the dirty word of the day.
And now it's time for the dirty word of the
Day on Better Lawns and Gardens with Teresa Watkins. And
the dirty word of the day is solarization and versus
solarization versus a cultation A cultation. Solarization is an organic
(01:17):
gardening technique that uses clear plastic to trap sunlight and
heat the soil, helping you kill weed, seeds, pests, and
plant diseases. How does it work? When you cover moist
soil with clear plastic, it creates a greenhouse effect that
traps the sunlight and heat. Soil temperatures can reach one
hundred and ten to one hundred and forty degrees in
(01:38):
the top six to eighteen inches, which can kill many
soil born born problems, including weed seeds and seedlings, disease
causing nematodes, fungi and bacteria, insects, and other soil pests.
Most soils holes and conducts heat better, making solarization more effective.
(01:58):
For best results, solarized garden beds and turf areas from
late spring through early summer, especially in June and July
when the sun and heat are strongest. So how do
you solarize a launor garden bed. The area to be
solarized must have six to eight hours of sunlight a day.
It does not work in shady areas. Use clear plastic
(02:19):
sheeting two to six mill thick, large enough to cover
the area, and then add six to twelve inches more
to keep it held down. Secure the edges with a
garden hose, steaks, staples, rocks, sand bags, or bricks, and
level the soil before covering. Leave the plastic in place
for six to eight weeks, depending on whether's weather and
(02:39):
soil moisture, and then remove rocks, debris, and plant material
before covering the area you want to have. If you
want to add composts, this is a good time beforehand
to improve fertility, moisture retention, and overall soil quality. Adding
composts to age, manure or cover crop residue before solarizization
(03:00):
can strengthen the process and leave the soil healthier afterwards.
Organic matter helps retain moisture, which supports the greenhouse effect
under the plastic. Although solarization may reduce some beneficial organisms,
comcosts can help rebuild a healthy soil ecosystem. It also
adds slow released nutrients that support plant growth after solarization.
(03:24):
Now Ocultation is a different organic no tail weed controlled method.
It uses opaque materials such as black tarps, landscape fabric, cardboard,
or silage tarps to block sunlight, smother weeds, and prepare
soil first planting. Because ocultation blocks light rather than tramping
intense heat, It usually warms the soil less and is
(03:47):
generally less effective against pests and pathogens than solarization. It
also blocks air flow, so I would not put cardboard
down anywhere and start to put soil and mulch over
thinking that's going to kill the weeds. It's not really
going to be that effective. So that's the dirty word
(04:07):
of the day. Solarization and occultation. Have you ever heard
of old cultation?
Speaker 2 (04:11):
Absolutely not. But I learned something new every time I'm
on this show.
Speaker 1 (04:16):
I'm so happy. That's great.
Speaker 3 (04:18):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
All right one triple eight four five five two nine
sixty seven or you can text two three six eight zero.
Now we had a phone call from Jim.
Speaker 2 (04:28):
Yes, I had Jim from Okoe and he was asking
about when you were talking about the gardening and the presidents,
what about the Washington Carver George Washington.
Speaker 1 (04:40):
Yeah, that was such he was such a great man.
But I was just going back two hundred and fifty years,
so I was doing the eighteenth century, you know, the
beginning of America and the founding fathers and also the
founding agricultural people that gardeners that were at that time.
So George Washington Carver is great, but he's more nineteenth
(05:04):
century twentieth century. Okay, okay, so Jim, thank you for listening,
and I do appreciate it.
Speaker 3 (05:10):
I love I want peanut butter now.
Speaker 2 (05:12):
I had peanut butter crackers yesterday. Well you and Charity
with me, so thanks for bringing it up.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
I do four and that makes it complete sandwich, you know, one, two, three, four,
and you put him in a square. I love that
it has to be salty, saltine and then also crunchy,
crunchy peanut but.
Speaker 3 (05:27):
Oh see, I like crunchy peanut butter.
Speaker 2 (05:29):
I'm like a fifty to fifty so absolutely I'm a
Jiff creamy yeah, butter lover.
Speaker 3 (05:34):
But then I do like the Jiff crunchy too.
Speaker 1 (05:37):
Yes, Tony Tony is a creamy guy. Tony's creamy. I'm crunchy.
You guys makes such a perfect couple. I love you guys.
Tina from Orlando, she texted, she goes my avocado froze back.
It is growing back. And how many years before I
get avocados again? Well, it depends on how badly it
was damaged and how big it was Tina when it
got frozen. So I would say probably two years. Okay,
(06:03):
only because if it's only six to eight inches tall,
or even four to five feet tall, it's going to
go through that process of putting roots down, you know,
you know, becoming healthier again. So I would continue to
floor fertilize it. You might get one or two or
three next year, and then the second year it should
recover completely and rebound and give you lots of avocados.
(06:24):
Great question. Thank you one triple eight four five five,
two nine sixty seven, or you can text two three
six eight zero. We're going to be right back with
my horticultural trivia for Independence Day, so that you can't
entertain everyone next week at the fourth of July festivities.
It's Saturday morning. You're listening to Better Lawns and Gardens.
(06:45):
I'm Teresa Watkins and this is Florida's Talk and Entertainment Network.
(07:12):
Welcome back to Better Lawns and Gardens. I'm Teresa Watkins.
You'd like to know what to do in July. It
is up on our website Better Lawns dot com and
it has all of the list and what to plant.
And I'll be going through that in just a minute.
Let's go to Bill in Georgetown. Good morning Bill, How
can I help you?
Speaker 4 (07:32):
Yeah, I'm growing. Actually, I normally I don't call in
much Nay, Marcus, I'm not doing that much gardening. But
I've got a valid question today about watermelon.
Speaker 3 (07:42):
Yay.
Speaker 4 (07:44):
So I grew them in Mount Dora, and it was
kind of a unique thing because I grew the small
ones and I actually had had a couple of them
hanging on a fence.
Speaker 1 (07:55):
Cool.
Speaker 4 (07:56):
And what I want to know now is how many
runners should I let go on this? It's got two
main runners and it's starting to put out some more runners,
and I don't want that to detract from the overall
nutrition from the vine. So how many should I leave?
Speaker 1 (08:09):
Okay? So how long are the vines now?
Speaker 4 (08:14):
Vines were only about four or five feet long, but
there are starting to get some side vines starting to
come out on it.
Speaker 1 (08:20):
Yeah, you know right now, I don't think. I think
the more photosynsus is you can go through, the better
it's going to grow. So I don't see you trying
to remove any of them right now, because that's just
going to put out more stress. I would wait until
you start to have fruit. Do you have fruit yet?
Speaker 4 (08:36):
Oh? No, no, No, the just the first and mail balloons.
You just started blooming. Now, okay, see the little baby
watermelon coming about three feet down on the vine. But no,
we're not nearly there yet.
Speaker 1 (08:45):
Okay. I would wait until they start growing and then
you can kind of see where to, you know, just
snap a few of the vines off. But I wouldn't
worry about it too much. Watermelons like to grow.
Speaker 4 (08:55):
Yeah, well, it's a nice time year to grow one.
And it was from you know, it's from one of
those seedless ones where they always have one or two
seeds in a minute. So I just as a lark,
I just went ahead and planted it.
Speaker 1 (09:05):
Oh well, good for you. That's wonderful. Well then I
give us an update and let us know what what
how many you get?
Speaker 4 (09:12):
All right, I'll do that. And it was really nice
to have Tom on last week to speak for It
was nice.
Speaker 1 (09:17):
I just love Tom. I am so glad that he
was able to be on. So he's going to be
on when I'm I'm out, then Tom will be here.
So that's I'm looking forward to that.
Speaker 3 (09:28):
All right.
Speaker 4 (09:28):
Nice talking with you.
Speaker 1 (09:29):
Thank you, you're welcome, Bill, Thank you. So my Independence Day, Lizzie,
are you ready I'm ready. Have you been boning up here? Okay? Yes?
So number one, which US president was the first to
host a Fourth of July celebration at the White House?
Speaker 5 (09:45):
Oh?
Speaker 2 (09:45):
Yeah, so you sent me up for failure on this one.
I would say this is bad Lincoln. No, Thomas Jefferson, Oh,
eighteen oh one?
Speaker 1 (10:01):
Okay. And so the number two, the Communia Sentensus provides
traditional tea leaves after the Boston Tea Party. What plant
did Americans grow in a harvest as a tea substitute.
I'm gonna give you a clue. It was called liberty tea.
Speaker 3 (10:17):
Ooh, hibiscus.
Speaker 1 (10:19):
No, that's a good, good choice. But we're talking a
Massachusetts you know that's true. Okay, Okay, okay. So the
answer is Yopon Holly.
Speaker 3 (10:29):
Snap.
Speaker 1 (10:30):
Okay, So you can use the tea leaves or you
can use the leaves from Yopon Holly to make tea. Okay.
So number three, Why are red, white and blue considered
our national colors? Because we do containers and we do
red flowers and white flowers and blue flowers. Why is red,
white and blue considered our national colors? O?
Speaker 3 (10:49):
Is it red for the blood that's shed?
Speaker 1 (10:52):
No?
Speaker 3 (10:52):
No, Well, you know what, I'll let you go ahead
and finish.
Speaker 1 (10:58):
Hey, this is fun. The colors were adopted in seventeen
seventy seven and have been explained as representing white is
purity and innocent, Red is heartiness and valor. You're almost
right there with the blood, and blue is vigilance, perseverance,
and justice.
Speaker 3 (11:16):
That makes sense.
Speaker 1 (11:17):
Okay, isn't it great? What plant symbolizes freedom in American gardens?
Speaker 3 (11:23):
A rose?
Speaker 1 (11:25):
No? Indigenous tribes honored of freedom with a tall, strong flower, sunflower?
I love? Why do I not know this? So it's
you know, it's wonderful. It symbolizes freedom. Okay, here's one.
I think you'll get this one. What plant is featured
on the Seal of the United States.
Speaker 3 (11:46):
I'm just gonna head turn in my citizenship.
Speaker 2 (11:48):
Card because I'm kind of none of these, right, is it?
Speaker 3 (11:51):
Is it a corn?
Speaker 6 (11:53):
No?
Speaker 1 (11:53):
But no, but that's a good. That's good. Keeps that thought.
A bald eagle holds an olive branch and arrows, symbolizing
the power of peace and war. Okay, and so you
mentioned this, so everyone knows. The rose was voted in
nineteen eighty six as a national symbol of the United States.
Speaker 2 (12:12):
What other plants did it beat out? Ooh, let's see
what other plants did it beat out? Huh hmmm.
Speaker 1 (12:26):
Okay, I'm just gonna talk. Okay, we got a lot
of dead air here. The American merrygold. Okay, So the
American marygold was proposed as a national floral emblem in
the mid twentieth century by Senator Everett Dirkson. In nineteen
sixty seven. Dirkson praised the merrygold for being native to
North America, thriving in all fifty states, and symbolizing resilience
(12:51):
and self reliance. The other two plants were dogwood and
corn tassels.
Speaker 2 (12:57):
Okay, I thought that was really cool.
Speaker 1 (13:00):
Cold. What tree is recognized as the national tree of
the United States? Oak? We have a winner oak? Yes, yes,
the oak. All the species Corcus uh Virginiana is the
live oak. Okay, So here's this one's gonna be hard. Okay,
just let you know. What is the origin of the
(13:26):
word yard?
Speaker 3 (13:27):
I'm sorry say that one.
Speaker 1 (13:28):
What is the origin of the word yard? Where does yard?
Where did we get the word yard?
Speaker 3 (13:35):
Like the country?
Speaker 1 (13:36):
The word the word yard, I don't know. It could
be the country, but the word yard and garden share
a common Germanic root, and it means both enclosure or
fence spaced. Old English is geared g e a r d,
which means garden court residence. Then the Germanic guardan g
(13:58):
a r d a n and gear meaning to grasp
and close. And so the Middle English said relatively small
patch of ground around a dwelling. So yard comes from garden.
Speaker 3 (14:11):
Oh, I like gardon guard people called tariet tarje. I
had now own a guardan.
Speaker 1 (14:18):
Exactly. Isn't that cool? I love it? But if the
word yard right, I mean you wouldn't think in that
garden right? No? Okay. In seventeen forty one, Henry Middleton
created what is considered the oldest landscape gardens and first
public gardens in America. What state are they located in.
Speaker 3 (14:38):
Let's go with the Virginia.
Speaker 1 (14:41):
That's a great choice, but it's not correct, Okay, South Carolina.
Middleton Plantation, Middleton Place is one of the gardens, so
most of you were very close. You were right there
in Virginia. And the last one, which I think is
really really cool, what could be the earliest American legislation
to control plant disease?
Speaker 2 (15:02):
Ooh, I'm gonna have to say absolutely, I have no clue.
Speaker 1 (15:07):
There you go. Okay, So, in seventeen forty one, to
protect wheat crops English grain wheat crops from rust, the
Province of Massachusetts enacted an anti barbary legislation. So barbary
is a purplish bush that has thorns on it. Okay, okay,
barbary to prevent damage to English grain arising from barbary
(15:30):
bushes in the vicinity of grain fields. So back in
seventeen forty one, they were enacting plant disease control. So
barbaris are native, but they didn't want the native knick
next to the grain field because it gave them rust.
Speaker 3 (15:43):
Oh wow, that interesting, is very interesting.
Speaker 1 (15:45):
So you can take those you can listen back on
the podcast and write them down if you're interested, and
you can thrill your your family and friends. Yes Saturday.
Speaker 2 (15:54):
And also if the listeners really did learn anything from
all those really cool questions, please don't ever use me
as a phone a friend unless it's useless.
Speaker 3 (16:03):
Knowledge, cause I got plenty of that.
Speaker 1 (16:08):
So that's great and so wonderful. So I what can
we be planting as far as bulbs right now? Acamenes,
I'm really interested in growing acamenes this month, so that's great.
African irises, bulbine and kalladiums are coming up very nicely.
They're starting to look great. Cannas and crimems. Crimems are
blooming right now. They look beautiful. The milk and wine
(16:29):
chrocosmias and day lilies, eucharist lilies and gladiolis. I was
at home this week that had gladiolas and they were
blooming lovely. And the secret to doing gladiolas is you
want to plant them in full sun, give them moisture
once or twice a week, or just rainfall if we're
getting the rain, and then you stagger them. Plant ten
one week, plant ten another week, and ten the following week,
(16:51):
and then you have blooms all through the summer. Gloriosa
lily and peacock, ginger society, garlic and spiderworts. I have
spiderworts growing naturally in my yard, rain lilies and walking irises.
My rain lilies all bust it up and bloom over
the last couple of weeks, and then I know the seeds.
(17:11):
I was going around trying to collect all the seeds.
So they're lovely. So July is a good time to
fill in bear or now woody sweaty spots left by
drought or pest. Do not fertilize. You're not allowed to
fertilize now until October. If you need to green up
your lawn, you can use an iron only product. Okay. Also,
(17:36):
you want to mow, and I've seen this a lot,
especially with the rain, that people are mowing in the
same direction all the time and creating ruts in their yard.
So you want to change it and go in different
directions during a mowing. It's not just I'll mow this
week one week and then this way another week. No
east or west. You want to do it in a
different way during the same mowing. Never mow grass when
(18:00):
it's wet from door rainfall, and avoid mowing when the
lawn is hot and dry to prevent damage from the
mower wheels. Learn how to identify weeds, you know, make
sure that you get those under control. Don't let them
go to flour because that means you're going to get
seeds and then sod web worm moths are very active
(18:20):
right now. When you're walking through your landscape, look down
in the grass and if you see a little white
moth flying up. You need to pay attention. Okay, if
you see one or two and your grass looks fine,
no big whoop. Okay, But if you're walking through and
you see a little cloud coming up of ten, fifteen,
twenty sodware worn moths, then you need to get control.
(18:44):
And you can put a grubb aside down for it
also too, all right, And so then you want to
check for mealy bugs, bill bugs, and nematodes in your yard.
Walk it. If there's an area dead, find out why. Okay.
You do not want to spread a chemical until you
know what the problem is. Is it a disease problem,
(19:05):
you know, take all root rot from overwatering, or is
it an insect issue chinch bugs or sod webworms. You
want to find out the problem first because you want
to make sure that the one that the insect is
still there too. If it's a disease problem, your treatment
of it is not going to help it. You just
(19:26):
want to prevent it. So if you're getting fungus in
your lawn, make sure that you're spraying before you get
the fungus, not afterwards. It won't help him. 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. Welcome back
(20:03):
to Better Logs and Gardens. We had email this week
from Nilsa and she had a mulberry that had all
kinds of speckles and lines going through it, but it
looked very healthy. It was some of some of the
leaves did have some mosaic on it, but the whole
(20:24):
as as a general, it was sprouting out very healthy.
And so mulberry gets a virus, there's several viruses. There's
like five or six different viruses, and there's nothing you
can do for it if it gets it. There are
no species or varieties of mulberry that can be virus free.
(20:46):
So it's just one of the downsides of having virus.
But if you keep it healthy and you know, fertilize it,
make sure it's it's got the proper nutrients and it's
got water, it doesn't it doesn't get stressed. So you know,
adequate water, plenty of sunlight, good air circulation, and fertilizer nutrients,
(21:07):
then it should be just fine. But once a mulberry
gets a virus, there's nothing you can do for it.
It's not. You can't eradicate it from the from the plant.
So she said, well should I take it out? And
I'm going no, I would just enjoy it. It's still
going to get fruit. The fruit's going to be just
fine to eat. And so it's just one of the
(21:29):
downsides of fruit trees. They get it, and there's no
they have not come up with a hybrid that is
that can be virus resistant. Okay, so that was a great,
great learning lesson. I should have gotten pictures. Oh my goodness,
there one triple eight four five five, two nine sixty seven,
or you can text two three six eight zero And
(21:52):
let's see. Jerry had a question. He called back and
he wanted to know what variety of Yopan holly would
be for that would make liberty tea. Yes, And so
the variety is just the native Yopan holly Ilex vomitoria.
Now vomitoria isn't a nice pleasing word, because it will
(22:14):
the species can make you sick. Oh, but because it's
it's medicinal and so but when made correctly and uh,
you know, properly, properly grown, then it's not a trouble
so you know, most plants can be toxic and no
matter you know what they are. What what vegetables can
(22:37):
be toxic? Do you know if you eat a green
potato you can get sick? Have you ever seen green potatoes?
Speaker 3 (22:42):
Yes?
Speaker 1 (22:43):
I have, and don't eat them, okay because they will
make you sick. Wow. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (22:47):
And that's the thing is that even though you know
we may say this and that, and you may trust
other people that you hear or stuff you see on
the internet, please take the time to do not only
just a one re urg but check two to three
different websites and doctor web sites.
Speaker 1 (23:04):
And I appreciate that, and it's so important because with AI,
I was doing research this week and AI was bringing
up stuff that was totally wrong. Yes, and they what
they do is the AI scours the internet and puts
it all together and says here, here you go, here's
the answer to your question. And it can be wrong.
So when you're doing research on anything, you want to
(23:27):
use only academic university researches. So put it EDU. If
you ask your question, how do you grow tomatoes? Put
ed U as a separate word in that in that search,
and it'll bring up the universities that that that will
tell you how to do it correctly.
Speaker 2 (23:45):
Yes, in the University of Florida is an excellent one
to refer to.
Speaker 1 (23:51):
Right things be here in Florida. But I will tell
you I also use research from North Carolina from Penn
State Cornell. You know, so if you put an E
ed U, then you're more likely to get get the
correct information. You cannot trust the internet, no more, no more,
no more.
Speaker 2 (24:09):
Really could before, but at least there for a moment
it seemed to be a lot of information was correct
and then all of a sudden we took no.
Speaker 1 (24:16):
We did we did?
Speaker 5 (24:18):
Did we?
Speaker 1 (24:18):
And so that that's important? Or or Lizzie.
Speaker 3 (24:22):
They can just email me, okay, Teresa, what's your email?
Speaker 1 (24:25):
Teresa? Yeah, Teresa T E R E s A dot
Watkins w A t K I N s at live
dot com. Or you can go to my website she
dash consulting dot com and that stands for Sustainable Horticultural Environments,
which is a lot of words. So I just do
(24:45):
she dash Consulting dot com. Or you can email us
on better loans dot com and better lns to com.
Will send me an email and I will respond. May
take a day or so, but I will respond to
you if it's an emergency. Tell me it's an emergency
in the email, and I will respond right away. Give
(25:06):
me your name and your city because that helps me
give you a correct information so that you know what
I would tell somebody in Pensacola or Tyler Hassee is
different than I would tell somebody in Port Saint Lucie
or Fort Lauderdale or Key West. So the location is
very very important. So what can you be doing in
(25:26):
your vegetable gardening right now? You can be planting lots
of Caribbean and African and South American vegetables. Asian vegetables too,
can take the heat. You want to make sure you're
controlling your weeds. Weeds can bring in disease, it can
bring in, you know, insects that are not good, and
(25:46):
so you want to make sure that you control your
seat your weeds. And then also too, very very important,
I'm going to say this over the next two to
three weeks. Buy your egg plant, tomato and pepper seeds
now so that you have them and you can plant
them now in little pots for transplanting in your garden
in August. If you wait till August to get your seeds.
(26:11):
You might not get a wide selection or variety that
you would get right now. They're going to be sold out,
so right now is the time to do it. Order
from the catalogs right now. Order from companies like Heritage
Cottage with our friend, dear friend Gary Bachmann, Heritage Cottage
(26:31):
and the Urban Nano Farm and so plenty of posts
on our Facebook page on him, and you can just
google Gary Bachmann Heritage Cottage. Hi Gary, you want to
add organic matter to your sandy soils and your old
garden sites to have them ready for planting right now.
You can use black cow manure, also your own compost
(26:57):
piled for good, good organic material. And you want to
use composts and manures ninety days before planting, so get
that in the ground now. You also want to feed
your summer vegetables on a monthly basis and using slow
release fertilizer. You can also use quick release fertilizers, but
(27:17):
I would dilute them with the heat. I would not
I would not use them full strength. Okay, So you
want to dilute them and on a weekly or bi
weekly basis and just give them a little bit at
a time. But your vegetables are going to need fertilizing
for a good harvest too. Also to speaking of applying,
(27:38):
you do not want to use herbicides right now. You
don't use herbicides and temperatures over eighty five degrees now
and the herbicide is not going to be as effective.
The weeds are going to be healthier than the grass,
and whatever you're putting it on the grass, you're risking
damaging it. Okay, let's go to the phone here to
(28:00):
be right back with more of in Better Lawns and Gardens.
I'm Teresa Watkins, Bill and Diane. Hang on, We're gonna
be right back. Welcome back to Better Lawns and Gardens.
(28:40):
If you have a garden, colitch and I would love
to help you one triple eight four five five two
nine sixty seven, or you can text two three six
eight zero. Let's go to Bill in Yankeetown. Good morning, Bill,
how can I help you?
Speaker 5 (28:55):
Yeah, good morning. I've got craig myrtles in my front
uh huh, and they're partly shaded and they have yet
the flower. And I was wondered if you could help
me out and tell me what's going on.
Speaker 1 (29:09):
Okay, Well, if it's partly shaded, that's a big issue. Okay.
So crp myrtles are very much full sun okay, but
it also could be the variety of crape myrtle that
you have. So crape myrtles are like azaleas. Do you
know how we have some azaleas that bloom really early
and sun that bloom mid season. Then we have azaleas
(29:30):
that bloom at the end of spring. The same thing
with crape myrtle. Some bloom very early, some bloom mid season,
and some bloom very late. So crape myrtles won how
much sunlight does it get? It needs at least six
to eight hours of sunlight a day. It's not getting that,
it's not gonna do well. And then also how often
(29:51):
are you fertilizing? Bill?
Speaker 5 (29:54):
I put some fertilizer on about two and a half
months ago. Huh. And that's another question I was going
to ask, is how often should I fertilize them?
Speaker 1 (30:03):
I would say, depending on what you use. Using a
slow release fertilizer's best a granule. Follow the label. It
can either be like one month or three months or
six months. So depending on what you get it just
has to be on a consistent basis. Okay, So do
you know what variety of crape myrtle it is? What
(30:24):
color is it when it blooms?
Speaker 5 (30:26):
I wish I had that answer. I know there are
like four there are four trunks coming up out of
the ground and each one, but I don't know which
one they are.
Speaker 1 (30:35):
Okay, so let me ask you one other thing. Do
you prune them back in January or February? When was
the last time you cut it back?
Speaker 7 (30:44):
Yeah?
Speaker 5 (30:44):
I did. I did this in the spring. We had
such a hard winner up here, it killed a lot
of foliage.
Speaker 1 (30:51):
Uh huh.
Speaker 5 (30:52):
So I did trim it back a little bit where
the leaves had come off. Huh and new growth was
coming out. So I clipped it right for the new bruk.
Speaker 1 (31:01):
Okay, that could Yeah, it doesn't. Crape myrtles don't need
to be pruned back per se exceptance are you know,
air circulation, just a little bit of a pretty and up.
But don't hack them straight across and commit crape murder.
That would also delay the blooming period. Okay.
Speaker 5 (31:17):
So I only put them back probably about three inches.
Speaker 1 (31:19):
Okay, So that's fine. So I would just suggest maybe
trimming back your trees. Is it oaks that are over it?
What's shading it?
Speaker 3 (31:28):
Yeah?
Speaker 5 (31:28):
The live oak.
Speaker 1 (31:29):
Okay, you know, if you can open up your live
oak and get a little bit more sunlight in there,
that might be worth it.
Speaker 5 (31:35):
Okay, I thanks so much. I appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (31:38):
Well, I appreciate you calling. Thank you so much. I
have a great fourth of July. Let's go to Diane
and Kasim. Good morning, Diane. How can I help you.
Speaker 6 (31:48):
I'm a senior, so funds are very limited because I'm
living on Social Security and I love flowers.
Speaker 5 (31:54):
But with this weather and everything, they kept dying on me.
Speaker 6 (31:57):
So what I did is I went to up store
I won't give the name and where they have fake
flowers for two dollars and fifteen cents, and I got
about fifty dollars worth. Put them in my hanging baskets
and everything, and in my planters where I used to
have real flowers. I get more compliments from people driving by, say,
you have these beautiful flowers and they'll.
Speaker 1 (32:15):
Last for a whole year.
Speaker 6 (32:16):
And I don't have to water them, but.
Speaker 1 (32:18):
You have to dust, Diane, they get dusty, and the
color stade, the color shade.
Speaker 6 (32:26):
And you can't. You can't. You can't see that from
the road. But another thing that I do too is
where I don't want, you know, to be growing anything,
maybe alongside the house where I want to put moush
or something like that. If I'm fortunate, I'll see some
roofers coming in and I go over there and get
a bunch of the shingles that they've taken off, and
I put them, you know, and overlapping layers alongside my
(32:49):
house or every one to put the most, and I
put the malt on top of that. And I don't
have to spend a whole lot on most because I
can spread it out and that will keep your weaves
down for years. And if you get weeds, you just
pull it up because its roots are not in the ground.
They're trapped maybe under half an inch or an inch
at the very moment.
Speaker 1 (33:07):
Okay, So Diane, Diane, Diane, please don't do that. It
poisons the soil. Okay, your shingles.
Speaker 6 (33:17):
It's not that much, but nothing's going to be planted there.
Speaker 1 (33:19):
Well yeah, but that's not a good recommendation. I just
want to just make that perfectly clear. I love you,
Diane for calling in and I'm sure you don't get
weeds because it's killing that area.
Speaker 2 (33:32):
Hey, Diane, my thing is as I didn't know that either,
so I probably would have done the same thing. And
this is my thing with the listeners, y'all think that
y'all may have like a dumb experience or a dumb question. No,
because I don't even have a clue. So, Diane, I
am glad that you were asking.
Speaker 1 (33:47):
So, Diane, if you will just put three to four
inches of mulch down, that will keep the weed seeds
from germinating, because it's it's sunlight that causes that. And
of course when you put down those shingles, you're not
you're you're not going to get sunlight. So it works,
but it's not good for the environment. It's not good
for the soil, and so that's I know, it's just
(34:09):
so hard out there. But I want to see a
picture of your flowers in your hand basket exactly, Diane.
Speaker 5 (34:17):
I can do that, gorgeous.
Speaker 1 (34:19):
Thanks you are. Thank you so much, Dian for calling
and listening, and I appreciate it. Let's go to Bill
in Orlando. Good morning Bill. How can I help you?
Speaker 7 (34:27):
In morning? Teresa, here's a question for you. I've always
wondered what these things are that I see in the
pots and the nurseries or the big box stores that
they put on the top pots. It looks like rice almost.
It's a cane color, very thin. You consume it's some
sort of mulish. But what the heck is that stuff?
Speaker 1 (34:47):
I don't know what you're talking I'm trying to trying
to think of what it could be.
Speaker 2 (34:52):
It's kind of like the stuff that's like whenever it's
so whever you buy a pot, yeah, pot of plant
from uh, the like box stores, there's something on top
of I want to say, it's like a fertilizer kind
of situation on top.
Speaker 3 (35:03):
There's like white sprinkling. Sometimes it's brown, right, Bill, is
that what you're asking exactly?
Speaker 1 (35:10):
Okay?
Speaker 7 (35:10):
It's really things looks like you know, it's not the
same thickness of right, Okay, it's about that size.
Speaker 1 (35:19):
Okay. So in pots that you see at the nurseries,
they have a soilless mix that they grow them in. Okay,
And so the soilless mix, it may be an organic
material that they're putting in that will grow in it
a medium, but I'm not really sure what it is.
(35:41):
So I'm going to go look. But I think in
this part of the soilst mix, So it could be
some vermiculi or some some part of the soil that
that they're growing the plants in. That's why when you
put it in the ground, it's good to put them
in the ground right away because there's no soil there,
and putting it in the ground keeps them so that
they're nice and happy and they can hold onto moisture tad.
Speaker 7 (36:03):
In the mix itself. It's just on the top.
Speaker 1 (36:06):
Yeah, I'm gonna go look. I'm gonna go look, and
i'm gonna let you know we have a best stub
next week for fourth of July. Have a great fourth
of July. And then when I come back, i'm gonna
tell you. Okay, so you'll have to listen in Bill,
I'll find out, all right.
Speaker 7 (36:22):
Sneak one in sure. Where can I get some four
inch gold mounds? I lost mine and I need four
inches because I got a drain field that I'm planning
them over.
Speaker 1 (36:32):
Yeah, so you're going to plant a lot? I would
check there's not the professional nurseries. The commercial nurseries that
I go to don't doesn't allow somebody or just homeowners
to buy from them. So there's not really much I
can help you there. But where are you located, Bill Orlando?
(36:54):
I would check at with Lucas's nursery. They won't have
four inches, that's that's the problem. They'll have one gallon ones.
The one gallons may be the only recommendation that I
can give you, but they'll be cheaper than the three gallons. Okay, no,
that's fine. I appreciate that. But maybe just one little
shovel and then that'll be the one gallons. Don't need
(37:16):
a lot of room.
Speaker 7 (37:18):
Thank you, and I wish were both are.
Speaker 1 (37:19):
Happy for us. Thank you so much. We'll be celebrating.
Speaker 3 (37:22):
Yes, thank you so much. Same to you, all right.
See that's sometimes I'm telling you my listeners.
Speaker 2 (37:27):
You guys are the best listeners in the whole white world,
because you guys, if y'all didn't listen to the last
segment and me trying to answer them questions, y'all make
me look smart.
Speaker 3 (37:35):
No, let me tell you so, but thank you.
Speaker 2 (37:37):
These are saying I didn't know, didn't know the thing
about the shingles, didn't know the thing about these stuff
that sprinkled on top and I think Teresa didn't know either,
so I didn't.
Speaker 1 (37:45):
I'm gonna find out. I'll find out. So a big
thank you to everyone who called. We do appreciate it, uh, Lizzy.
We we just love our listeners and callers. We have
callers from around the world, you know, Australia, Asia, Germany.
We got Austria last week. There were people listening in
So wherever you are in the world. Texas, California, there's
(38:05):
their climate is a little bit similar to ours. Texas
doesn't get as much rain, but right now they've gotten
a lot of rain. Mike, We're sending rain your way. Okay.
In Venice there, we want to make sure we really
really appreciate our sponsors, Black Cow Summit, Responsible Solutions, Peterson's Nursery,
Quality Green Specialist. Check out so Dana's I know for
(38:29):
fourth of July. He has some beautiful plants, herbs and
fruit trees and all kinds of great things to plant
in your gardens. So check them out. Let them know
you appreciate their sponsorship. Lizzie, thank you so much. You're
just a genius on the computer.
Speaker 3 (38:44):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (38:45):
Check out the New Orleans, the Ethereal Gardens of New
Orleans on art and bloomgardentours dot Com from the Summit
Responsible Solutions Studios, maker of Mosquito Bits and Dunks and
Summer Green Armor insect repellent and deerband. I'm Teresa. Watch
if it's Saturday morning, you're listening to Better Lawns and
Gardens and this is Florida's talk and entertainment network.
Speaker 3 (39:07):
Go to Better Lawns dot com.
Speaker 2 (39:08):
That is Better Lawns dot com and you can check
out all the podcasts and anything that you may have
missed there
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