June 27, 2026 • 39 mins
Garden expert and host Teresa Watkins discusses upcoming rain relief for extremely dry landscape conditions. Teresa shares how much rain Florida will need to replenish the Aquifer. She covers June’s second full moon, known as the Full Gator Moon; shares July backyard gardening tips; highlights her Top Five Patriotic Gardeners; and answers summer gardening questions.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
Good morning from the Summit Responsible Solutions Studios. Welcome to
Better Lawns and Gardens. I'm your host, Teresa Watkins. I'm
a landscape designer, garden author, what a culturist. I just
love gardening, and I know it's what everybody needs to
do to feel good in this world. It would make
a big difference if everybody would just garden just a
(00:30):
little bit. Get those hands in the dirt. Good morning, Lizzie.
How are you get them?
Speaker 2 (00:34):
A little piggy toes in the dirt too?
Speaker 1 (00:37):
I'm thinking of weeds, and so everybody just needs to
pull their weeds right now. So you but how are you?
I'm doing good.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
I'm not really happy with all these weeds. I mean,
I appreciate the rain that we're getting, but that gumment.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
Doesn't it pop them right up? You know what's especially
coming up in my yard is that Florida point setia.
It's the weed that looks like a point but it
doesn't get the really red leaves, only the red centers
on the leaves. And it's it's called Florida point SETI.
I don't know the name of it, but it's all
over my yard and it comes up and it gets
to be about six inches tall. But it's easy to
(01:12):
pull out. It just boom boom boom. It's easy. I
say that being the Royal wee at c Eazy. And so,
how is Shrek's Father's Day? It was good?
Speaker 2 (01:23):
How was Tony's?
Speaker 1 (01:24):
It was great? If he had a wonderful time. We
had dinner at his daughter's Jenevieve, she's so good. We
had good sick and so steak. It was steak, you know,
Oh yeah, you have to do that. Well yeah, And
so I just have to tell you, though, Lizzie, I
loved the show last week with you and Tom and Lance.
It was so much fun. Lance Wallheims the author of
(01:47):
the Citrus Complete Guide to Selecting and Growing more than
one hundred varieties of citrus. And it was a great,
great interview, and I certainly enjoyed it. Your story about
the turkeys was You had me rolling with the turkeys
and I was laughing so hard. So big thank you
(02:08):
to Tom mccoven for hosting while I was gone. And
I miss Lance, you know, talking with him. But he's
promised to come on again in the fall, so he's
going to be back on, so that makes me happy.
I want to give a big good morning out there
to Peterson's Nursery and Quality Green Specialists. Peterson's Nursery does
have a repotting class this morning and it's going to
(02:29):
be at ten am. Bring two orchids six inches or
less and they will help you repot them. So big
thanks to Howie and Karen for doing that. Also, good
morning to Tom and Diane and Maitland, Vicky, Shelley, Maynard,
Gilbert and everyone who liked our Facebook page. We got
a lot of likes this week, so I'm so happy
(02:50):
about that, thank you very much. And rain, you know,
it's been hit and miss with us. We haven't gotten
a lot of rain in Orlando, but you said you
got a lot this week.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
We got quite a bit and we had a huge thunderstorm.
Maybe it was Wednesday night or Thursday night. Maybe it
was Wednesday night.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
So yeah, that's good because the rainfall and water is
very important to the landscapes. That's why you talk about
it is just we have to be very very cognizant
that if you get rain, there's no need to water,
and especially if you know the amounts of rain we're getting.
So the weatherman this week has promised four to ten
inches this week for Central Florida, especially on the West
(03:33):
Coast and Central Florida. So that four to ten inches, wow,
that's going to be a lot. And this is a
great time to go ahead and make sure your irrigation
has a rain shut off device on it, which is
a state low since nineteen eighty one, and it will
turn your system off. There's no need to pay Mother
Nature or pay a utility bill when mother Nature provides
(03:56):
it free. So let's see Central Florida rain. I'm sorry,
North Florida. It's the same this week as it was
last week. Low nineties and mid seventies at night, and
a good chance of rain nearly every day after Tuesday.
I'm going to talk about the rain totals in just
a minute. West Coast Tampa and Naples, Dennis, Cape Coral,
(04:16):
you're gonna be the fortunate one with thirty to seventy
percent chance of rain every day. And then also to
South Florida, Fort Lauderdale, Miami, you're gonna be blessed with
rain every day this week too as well. Key West,
not so much. Ormand Beach. A big thank you out
there in a shout out to Ormond Beach. We got
a lot of listeners there, yes, and I'm really pleased
(04:39):
about that. In Melbourne, Ormand Beach and Melbourne you got
a good chance of rain every day. So again turn
your irrigation sprinkler systems off and then if it does
come on, what you need to do is check your
rain shut off device. It's what there's some reasons why
it will go off. It's not set at one and
a half inches. That be what it should be set at.
(05:01):
The batteries are dead or it's so old, it's not working,
the wiring's not working, and it should be checked every
year at least and if it needs replaced on every
three to five years. They only cost between forty and
I say only I know that sounds like a lot.
Only forty to fifty dollars to get a good one,
(05:22):
but that's going to save you hundreds of dollars of
water bills. Yes, so it's definitely a good trade off
and it is a state law to have them working.
So check it. If it comes on this week, then
you know you need to replace it or get it fixed.
If you see irrigation going on. And I'm gonna be
(05:44):
talking about that in just a few minutes because I
wanted to talk about the totals in the aquifer and
that the irrigation amounts and stuff has changed. We're on
an emergency crisis, water shortage crisis, so I'll be talking
about that. So today we're going to be just talking
with you. Guys. You get your gardening questions answered. I'd
(06:06):
love to hear from you. I've got a lot of
great questions sent to me over this week. That was important.
I did installations. I do about one installation a week
if it's a big one, and if it's a small one,
you know, two a week. And I have the best
landscape crew doing it. They work so hard. But I
nearly had one who was nearly passed out because of
(06:30):
the heat. So I'll talk a little bit about that.
This Monday, June twenty ninth, full Gator Moon. It's the
second blood moon of this month, time of the year
when alligators are most active as they enjoy the summer heat.
That's this Sunday's second full moon. If it's Saturday morning,
you're listening to Better Lands and Gardens. I'm Teresa Watkins
and this is Florida's Talk and Entertainment effort. Welcome back
(07:10):
to better lawns and gardens. If you have a gardening question,
you can get me a call one triple eight four
or five five two nine sixty seven, or you can
text two three six eight zero. We've already got some
great text messages, so we'll be getting to those. I
just wanted to say the full moon. This is the
Florida full moon. It is a full gator moon, and
it's the time of the year when alligators are most
(07:31):
active as they enjoy the summer heat and summer boating
stirs up fish and birds for more food supply, so
they are out there waiting. So if you're new to Florida,
be careful around dusk and sunrise. And if you see
baby alligators, get the heck out of there, you know,
because the mama's around. There's a hollway somewhere, there's a
(07:51):
mama somewhere, so they're mating right now. Egg season is
going to be coming up. And so then also two,
it's the fourth of July next week, so we will
have a best of and it's going to be great.
But I'm going to give you what to do in
your garden in July today and I have Independence Day
trivia questions you can plant on your family and friends
(08:12):
during your Fourth of July barbecue, so that will be good.
So you know, give us a call and we would
enjoy hearing from you. So we have one of our
favorite callers, Jerry. Good morning, Jerry. How are you.
Speaker 3 (08:26):
Good morning, Teresa. And you've got rain so that's great. Yes,
we only got about a half inch yesterday for the
first time in two weeks. I guess well, I.
Speaker 1 (08:36):
Think you have more coming up this week, so that'll
be good for you.
Speaker 3 (08:39):
Great. I'm glad to hear that. Thank you. The question
I have is how do you use the red volcanic
rocks in the landscape? Okay, are they beneficial or no?
Speaker 1 (08:52):
They're just no, they're not beneficial. It's not organic, so
it doesn't help you with your line down. Do you
put a fat mesh fabric underneath them so they don't
make their way to China?
Speaker 3 (09:06):
Yeah, there was some plastic under them.
Speaker 4 (09:08):
See.
Speaker 3 (09:08):
I was given them to a by the neighbor. They
had them in their yard. I thought I could get
some and make a use of them. I also have
a fire pit I built and maybe I could use
them in there. But I'm looking for the landscape for
some of your.
Speaker 1 (09:22):
Right, Well, it's better, it's better for you know, organic mulch,
would you know, it's better for that. But you know,
if you've got them, you know, see, here's how I
would use them. I would use them in a landscape
design with a Southwestern Mexican or you know, Mediterranean theme
with the red tile roof, so it would look good
(09:43):
in a type of themed landscape. You're welcome to use them.
They're free, so I wouldn't have a problem. But they're
not gonna They're not going to help your plants or
your landscape, so they're not beneficial. Okay, but is there
free I would use.
Speaker 3 (09:59):
Them now I will because they were expensive, and so
maybe the fire pit then there's a better choice because
there were one thousand dollars a ton.
Speaker 1 (10:07):
Uh yeah, they are expensive, Mark, Yeah, they are, and
so your firepit would be a really good place to
use that.
Speaker 3 (10:15):
Oh great, Thank you very much to Reisa.
Speaker 1 (10:17):
You're welcome. Jerry, you too, Hunt, thank you for calling in.
You know, I so appreciate it. You know, when something's free,
you got to balance out what you want to do.
And love of rocks are expensive. Oh yeah, and so
that's good one triple eight four five five two nine
sixty seven, or you can text two three six eight
zero like HR in Jacksonville did, and so he says,
(10:38):
good morning. I have several old garden shop plastic containers
that had soil that have become full of weeds. I
pull the weeds, but they are coming back. I am
trying to save the soil. Should I just toss the
whole thing out the container? Weeds and all? And I'm
going to tell you, yes, okay, weeds. You don't see
(11:01):
those seeds of weeds in your soil, okay? So they
could they come in through the air, They come in
through little critters, they come in through birds, and so
that's soil. If you've already pulled the weeds out and
they've got more coming more weeds are growing, HR, then yeah,
go ahead, put them in. Put the soil in a
(11:22):
compost bin where it can heat and destroy those seeds,
you know, break them down, or just throw them away.
But I would just not use soil that had a
lot of weeds in it because you can't see the seeds.
So that's one thing. So yeah, great text message. You know, I,
like I said, I have a lot of weeds coming
up in my yard with the rain and everything this week,
(11:44):
So rain totals to come up this time of the year.
It's important to know we do have a crisis irrigation
it we're only allowed to be watering once a week
right now in the Saint John's River Water Management District
only once a week. That's residential, commercial and institutional properties.
(12:06):
You only landscape irrigation is prohibited between eight am and
six pm daily. Now you know, before this crisis management,
you could water up to ten o'clock. Now you have
to stop at eight am. Commercial, industrial and institutional users
(12:27):
must suspend certain non essential water uses. Golf course fairways
is only limited to one day a week. And then
aesthetic water use. You're not allowed to run decorative fountains
right now, and so it's actually prohibited, and street and
pressure washing activities have more additional restrictions. And then irrigation
(12:49):
for new plantings including sowd have been tightened so you're
not allowed to water. So if you're getting new sawd,
if you're getting a new yard put in, you want
to make sure that you don't overwater it so that
it can become established. So right now you can only
(13:10):
water for thirty days on a new yard. You don't
want to water every day, okay. What you need to
do is you want to put the sawed down water
once a day for the first week, okay, and that
would be thirty to forty minutes okay, depending on your
water pressure. You need to calibrate your irrigation system to
(13:30):
make sure you're putting it down the right amount. You
don't want to be watering it for hours, okay, and
so water once a day for the first week. You
want to water every two days the second week, and
then water every three days the third week, and by
the end of the month you are on that twice
a week watering, or really right now, once a week watering. Okay.
(13:53):
So if you water every for thirty days, every day,
then what's going to happen is those root systems going
to stay right close to the surface and it's never
going to become established. It's kind of like you're watering hydroponically.
It's growing hydroponically, and so when you don't water, mother
nature kicks in and she pushes those roots down deeper,
(14:17):
and then that way it will not need as much water. Okay.
So new lawns are very important. But also you can
do this right now when we're getting all this rain.
To know, wean your sawd off of irrigation. Your lawn
if you get an inch of water a week, can
go seven to ten days without watering. So when we're
(14:40):
watering twice a week like we could normally, or once
a week like we can now, then you are creating
that need for water. Now, if you're fertilizing, which you're
not allowed to be fertilizing right now, but when you're
putting fertilizer down, you want to make sure your sawd
is hydrated, your landscapes are hydrated, and then all so
(15:00):
chemical use for insects is going to increase the need
for water. So right now I wouldn't be putting any
chemicals down in your yard at all. Do not use
preventative insecticide. You know, we have these companies coming around
and they just say, Okay, we're just gonna spray for
(15:21):
insects right now. You know, you only should spray for
insects and spot treat only when you see them. There's
really no bug preventative out there, no insecticide out there
that's going to prevent insects if they're not there, so
you know, if they're coming along and you spray, then
(15:42):
you get them. But if you go ahead and just
put an insecticide down and nothing comes along by two
to three weeks, four weeks, you're just going to leach
that insecticide out. There's no really reason to put it down. Okay.
Now I'm not talking about turmitoside treatments and really severe. Now,
(16:02):
if you have an insect problem, go ahead and take
care of it, but make sure you see those bucks. Okay.
So the irrigation is very important. How much do we
need this year to bring up the totals bring up
the aquifer to normal. Well, the Panhandle you need at
least twenty two more inches this year, So count down,
(16:23):
you know, just put that twenty two inches and see
how much you get over the next six months. North Florida,
which is the Jacksonville Tallahassee area, you need thirty three
inches the remaining rest of the year to bring the
aquifa up to normal. Central Florida you need thirty seven
inches to bring it up to normal. And then the
(16:44):
lower central part of Florida right above Lake Okachobee west
or east of Tampa thirty five and a half inches,
and then the Miami Everglades area Key West, you guys
need thirty six point seven five so it's thirty six
and three quarters of an inch. You need to bring
(17:05):
everything up to normal. Now, when we're in a drought
like this, or we've been experienced a drought, your landscape
is going to be fine. You can hand water, But
what I need you to do is before you water,
see if the plants need it. Stick your finger in
the ground. And if the ground is cool, moist or damp,
(17:25):
you don't need to water all right, And so the water,
if you're you want to make sure you're mulching correctly.
Three to four inches will help keep that moisture in
the ground, and then you don't necessarily need to The
plant may wilt. There's some plants that have been planted
and they really weren't fully established in this landscape. I
(17:45):
looked at but she says they're wilting. And I said, well,
feel the ground, Touch the ground, you know, put your
finger in the ground. If the ground is moist, that
just means they're just getting established. They don't have a
very fully funnctional roots system yet. And that's going to
be normal for them to wilt a little bit, okay,
(18:06):
But as they get acclimated, as those roots grow, then
you're going to it's not good to water as much,
all right, So one triple eight four five five two
nine sixty seven, or you can text two three six
eight zero Mark. I don't know what city you are from,
but he texted me and he wanted to have some
(18:28):
some plant choices for hiding the house. So the so
in between him and his neighbor, the plants, the palm
trees all froze and he can see this house. And
I have to tell you I don't blame him wanting
to cover it up. It did not look good. He said,
good morning trees that prior to the freeze, the two
story house behind us had lush tropical trees and we
(18:50):
could not see their house for the most part. I'm
sending you a picture, which he did, great picture. What
are some planting choices to block or greatly hinder the view?
I thought potocarpus, but I know they're slow growers, and
he said, my wife thought of sweet by Burnham. What
are your thoughts? And so the photograph really helps me.
You don't have a lot of space, Mark, in between
your patio, your paver patio and the fence. It looks
(19:14):
like it's about I would say, four to five feet,
and that doesn't give you a lot of choices, all right,
So hang in there. I'm going to give you those
choices right now, after a word from our sponsors. This
Saturday morning, you're listening to Better Lawns and Gardens. I'm
Teresa Watkins, and this is Florida's Talk and Entertainment Network,
(19:57):
and welcome back to Better Lawns and Gardens. You have
a gardening question, you can give me a call one
triple eight four five five two nine sixty seven. That's
one triple eight eight eight eight four five five two
nine six seven, or you can text two three six
eight zero. And so Mark, he gave sent a letter
(20:18):
with a great picture of his backyard view of a
two story house overlooking his patio area, and he wanted
to know some choices that he could that would be
fast growing and fit in this area. And it's about
a four to five foot area between him and his
patio paper patio and the fence. And so that's kind
(20:39):
of a little bit of an issue, okay. And so
My choice is for you Mark one is the golden
hedge Bamboosa multiplex Alphonse car so the golden hedge bamboo.
It gets to be about fifteen to twenty feet tall
and it will fit. It's a clumping bamboo and it
will fit in that area and it will withstand winter,
(21:03):
it will withstand summer heat. But I would suggest that
it's not invasive, but it's going to grow to fifteen
feet wide. So I would take and put it bamboo
barrier in a trench right there where you're going to
plant it. And what that's going to do is it's
just going to keep it controlled. It's not invasive, it's
(21:24):
not aggressive. It's a clumping bamboo, but that area is
so small. Now, your other choice is Potocarpus I think
is a really good one, but that's going to be
a little bit of maintenance because you're going to have
to trim it. Simpson Stopper is a wonderful native columnar
shrub that will provide red and yellow berries for the birds.
(21:46):
It's native. It will look good right there and it
can get to be fifteen to eighteen twenty feet tall
as well. It will need to be trimmed, but not
as often as the potocarpus. You could also do guardenas.
You can do a tall high guardenus. They can get
to be twelve ten to twelve feet tall and it
(22:09):
would go over that fence, grow above that fence so
you couldn't see them, and it would need to be
pruned a little bit, but it would fit in that
space and that would give you some wonderful fragrance right there.
My other thoughts are, then you can use a crape myrtle.
You can use a single trunk so that it just
has one trunk. It's not going to tear up your patio.
(22:31):
But a tuscarora orite muskigee will be tall enough. It
will give you some shade right there and also color
and it will block that house. My other one is
at your tropha. It is a tropical plant that has
beautiful red flowers. Butterflies love it and also hummingbirds love it.
(22:53):
They get to be ten to twelve feet tall, and
that would look good too there and it would not
get out of control right there. So Mark, let me
know if you like any of those, and what you do,
send me a new picture with your your trees or
whatever you decided to select that I'd be very interested
in seeing how you do. So thank you for the
email one triple eight four five five two nine sixty seven,
(23:17):
or you can text two three six eight zero. Genie.
She sent a picture of her tomatoes, her Everglades tomatoes,
and she said, is this bugs or a water problem?
I don't know? Tell me what to do. So Genie,
know what you have on your tomatoes are spider mites.
(23:37):
You can actually see the webbing in the photograph you sent.
But you've also got a fungal disease called blight, a
tomato blight, and so what you need to do is
basically throw You can either cut all the parts off
that are infected and cut off the disease leaves and
discard them in the trash. Do not compost them because
(23:58):
of the disease is shoes with them too as well.
So improve your airflow by staking up your tomatoes and
spacing them correctly, and then avoid overhead watering water in
the morning before eight o'clock between five and eight o'clock,
so you can't stop rainfall at night, but you can
spray neam oil every two weeks one to two weeks
(24:20):
to keep the spider mites down and your disease issues down.
So that's a name eighty five, which is a Summit
Responsible Solutions product. Excellent, excellent. I'm gonna be talking about
that more later on today. Let's go to Elaine in
Polk City. Good morning, Elaine? How can I help you?
How are you doing?
Speaker 2 (24:38):
It's Eileen?
Speaker 1 (24:39):
I sell it wrong? Oh did you? I'm okay, Eileen, Hian?
How are you?
Speaker 5 (24:45):
That's okay? I get called dogs the kind to names anyway.
Bob spread grass in my little drift throw Oh no,
okay when he was mowing.
Speaker 1 (25:03):
Okay, So.
Speaker 5 (25:07):
I broke two toes. Oh no, oh no, I dropped
a canumb showing them. Oh no, yeah, but I got
to get out there and do something with them.
Speaker 1 (25:20):
Okay. So the so the hold on, yeah, somebody needs
to talk to you.
Speaker 5 (25:30):
You have to wait, okay.
Speaker 1 (25:32):
So, so tell me what kind of grass you have?
That that he spread in the in the bed.
Speaker 5 (25:38):
It was from the lawnmower, right, We got all different
kinds of.
Speaker 1 (25:43):
Grass, okay. So the only one I'm concerned about is
probably behaya grass. If there's any behavior grass seeds, that
might be an issue. If you've got zoisia the rhizomes.
You just want to just take them out.
Speaker 5 (25:59):
You have to take it out with the hoe.
Speaker 1 (26:02):
No, he just sprayed them on top, right.
Speaker 5 (26:06):
He sprayed him through the whole bed.
Speaker 1 (26:08):
Oh okay, Well yeah that's gonna be. I think you're
gonna be just fine. It might just with the with
the heat and everything, that might just decompose. So I
would just wait to see all right. Thanks, okay, bye bye,
Happy fourth at July, Eileen, If you've got a garden
question one triple eight four five five two nine sixty seven,
(26:28):
or you can text two three six eight zero what
should you be planting this month? Well, vegetables are really
pretty gone right now, okay, so you can use the
tropical and Caribbean and African and some Asian plants. Right now.
You could be planting boninito calabasa cherry tomatoes. You will
(26:50):
still continue to get cherry tomatoes all summer long. Along
with Everglades tomatoes. You could be planting okra, southern peas,
seminole pumpkins, sweet cause roselle, and then sweet potato and
yard long means, now is the time get your seeds
for eggplant, peppers and tomatoes and you can plant the
(27:12):
seeds now in your little trays, in your little pots,
and that way they will be able to be transplanted
in August to your garden bed. So vegetables is a
good time to do it. Herbs and espasil, be, laurel, chives, dill, ginger, lemon, balm, tarragon, mint, oregulo, sage,
sweet marjoram, and thyme. We're going to be back with
(27:35):
more of better Lawns and Gardens, and your phone call
one triple eight four five five, two ninety sixty seven
this Saturday morning. You're listening to Better Lawns and Gardens.
I'm Teresa Watkins, and this is Florida's Talk and Entertainment Network.
(28:02):
Welcome back up better Lawns in garden. Say now Teresa's
top five and my top five this week is in
honor of the fourth of July in the two hundred
and fiftieth anniversary of the United States. My top five
patriotic gardeners, not in any order particular order. Number five
John Bartram. He was a Philadelphia naturalist and botanist. John
(28:26):
Bartram was regarded as the leading American naturalists of his time.
In seventeen twenty eight, he established what is now the
oldest surviving botanical garden in North America and exchange seeds
and plants with European botanists. Through his work, Bartram introduced
one hundred and fifty North American plants species to Europe.
Martha Washington. You thought I was going to say, George Washington. Well,
(28:50):
Martha Washington. In the eighteenth century, her kitchen garden was
one of the most important parts of the estate of
Mount Vernon. Created in seventeen sixty Mount Vernon, his garden
has remained largely unchanged and produced fruits, vegetables, and berries.
Marsa played a central role in its success, overseeing the
evening meal, which was expected to be plentiful and elegant.
(29:11):
She was a skilled plants woman who understood the quality
of the table reflected directly on her household. Thomas Jefferson,
often called America's first gardener, Thomas Jefferson created a thousand
foot terrace vegetable and herb garden at Monticello. He cultivated
more than three hundred and thirty varieties from ninety nine species,
including asparagus, beans, cabbage, cucumbers, kale okra peas, and herbs
(29:35):
such as thyme, rosemary, and lavender. His detailed garden records
and seat exchanges reflected a scientific approach to horticulture, while
his use of native plants expressed as patriotic ideas. Number
two Eliza Lucas Pinkney. She was a South Carolina planter
and botanists, and she tested new cash crops and introduced
(29:56):
important plants to the American colonies. She helped popularize India
go cultivation, which became a major export crop and contributed
to the growth of agricultural science in the Southern colonies.
And Number one Robert Prince. He is credited with founding
the first major commercial nursery in the United States in
seventeen thirty seven Flushing, New York. Working with his son William,
(30:19):
he established an eight acre nursery that later became known
as the Linean Botanic Garden and Nursery. It grew into
the largest and most influential horticultural enterprise in the colonies.
They specialized in fruit trees including apples, pears, cherries, plums, peaches,
and apricots, grapes and ornamental plants, and international plant trade.
(30:43):
Rose breeding and cultivation, with more than six hundred varieties
recorded by eighteen twenty seven. His horticultural innovation included pecan
cultivation beginning in seventeen seventy two, and he trained the
early American nursery. The nursery also drew presidential attention. George
(31:03):
Washington visited in seventeen eighty eight, and Thomas Jefferson and
James Madison visited in seventeen ninety one. When Jefferson placed
a large order for Monticello, Lizzie, can you see can
you see? You have a nursery, one of the first
nurseries in the United States. And somebody comes up to
he goes, uh, sir, mister prince, can you come tell
(31:24):
George Washington how to get rid of the weeds in
his garden?
Speaker 2 (31:28):
That would have been amazing.
Speaker 1 (31:30):
Isn't that cool to have Thomas Jefferson and James Madison
come by your nursery? So a little bit more on
that in the future. But one triple eight four, five, five,
two nine sixty seven, or you can text two three
six eight zero. So I loved the fighting that out,
and I would have thought George Washington, but no, it
(31:50):
was Martha who was taking care of me. Matha, Matha,
Let's go to Tom in Polk County. Good morning, Tom.
How are you very good?
Speaker 4 (31:58):
But I appreciate you take my call. Thank you of
what I have. I have two things I want to
ask you.
Speaker 3 (32:04):
That.
Speaker 6 (32:05):
First, I have a grafted potted avocada. Okay, that the
coal the frieze.
Speaker 4 (32:13):
It's so big.
Speaker 6 (32:14):
I couldn't bring it in right, but I covered it,
but the frieze knocked it back to about six inches
above the graph. It's coming back, but it's the veins
and the leaves are showing rock light green instead of
dark green. And I fertilize it with bat wano.
Speaker 1 (32:37):
Okay. Well, so when you fertilize it with back guano,
you're giving it a lot of nitrogen, not a lot
of anything else, okay. And so you need to use
a fertilizer that has all of the macro and micronutrients.
So I would fertilize it with a fruit fertilizer, fruit
tree fertilizer. Sunnayland has a good for fruit trees and
(33:02):
avocados and and your azaleas and things like that. So
you Sunnyland has a really good fertilizer for avocados that
includes all of the micronutrients. So now if it's okay, Now,
if it's got four or five how many how is
it branching out four to five branches?
Speaker 4 (33:23):
Oh yeah?
Speaker 1 (33:24):
Okay? So what I need you to do is not
necessarily right now, but as we get through the summertime,
after next spring, you're gonna want to thin those those
branches to you that you have two or three leaders
coming up, okay, and get rid of the other ones,
and then that way you can get a single leader
in next year. You know, you can then start to
(33:46):
make it grow back up into a tree.
Speaker 4 (33:49):
Yes man, Okay. Also, I have a second question.
Speaker 6 (33:54):
Sure, I have a hybrid elderberry which needed a pollinator.
I have both the pollinator and the pollinated. I have
big balloons. They're starting to lose their bloom, but I
don't see any berries developing. Do you have any idea
(34:17):
on that? And I realized elderberries grow all over the
state of Florida. Right, I'm a Navy so I'm eating
Columbia elderberry.
Speaker 1 (34:27):
Okay? And do you use back guano on that?
Speaker 4 (34:31):
No?
Speaker 1 (34:31):
Okay, So what do you use on it to fertilize it?
Speaker 4 (34:35):
I can't.
Speaker 6 (34:37):
It's an organic fertilized Okay.
Speaker 1 (34:40):
Well, again. You want to make sure that you're just
fertilizing on a regular basis, and you're going to get fruit.
I said, flowers are just now falling off, and I was.
I had an elderberry this week. I saw, and the
berries should be coming out pretty soon. But if it
got damaged by the freeze, did it get knocked down
by the freeze? No, man, no it did not. It
(35:01):
was fine. Okay, So you still should get some elderberries
this year. I would keep looking for them as the
flowers just fell off.
Speaker 4 (35:08):
Okay, thank you, ma'am. It might get for your time,
and I enjoy your program Saturday morning.
Speaker 1 (35:14):
Thank you.
Speaker 6 (35:14):
You told me about a mile from Peterson's nursery.
Speaker 1 (35:18):
Oh there you go. Well, next time you go in
and say hi to Howie for us. Okay, all right,
all right, you're welcome.
Speaker 3 (35:24):
You know.
Speaker 1 (35:25):
It's just elderberries or once the flowers they flower the
springtime and the fruit should start to come out. But
I just think he needs to maybe fertilize it just
to weave it. I just okay, think that one triple
eight four five, five two nine sixty seven, or you
can text two three six eight zero and I'd like
to thank everyone who has liked our Facebook page. We'd
(35:47):
like everyone to go on you're listening, you can go
on to Better Lawns and Gardens and give us five
stars review it. I was talking to someone this week
and he said, Teresa, is there a way to review
your radio show? And I said, you go on to
Facebook and like it and you know, give us five stars.
That would be great. And you know, if you're not
(36:09):
getting all two hours, Lizzie, what do they what should
they do?
Speaker 2 (36:13):
They should contact their local station and let them know
that you want to have two hours, because some maybe
even sometimes a program director may not even know that
there's two hours to the show. So to say, hey
there are two hours, we're missing an hour. We want
to know what we can do.
Speaker 1 (36:28):
That's that's exactly right. And so so if you share
a passion for gardening and love to visit gardens, I
tell you I was just going over all the photographs
that we've been taking over this last year, and I
posted on my Facebook page, my personal Facebook page, Teresa
Watkins fl of the Courtyard in New York, of the Cloisters,
(36:49):
and we just get to go see beautiful, beautiful gardens.
So if you'd like to do that, and you'd like
to travel with me, I would love to take you
with me. And you want to check out our art
in bloom gardentours dot com art and bloomgardentours dot com.
We take limited size, very intimate groups. And whether you're
(37:11):
single or you're traveling with friends, do you want to
do a group family, We will love to have you
travel with us. We have delicious cuisine. So in October, Lizzie,
we're going to New Orleans, Okay, and it's the Ethereal
Gardens of New Orleans, and I just want to say
it's October and Halloween, little spooky feel. Yes, we're going
(37:33):
to be doing some of that and seeing some kind
of gardens for that, but also the estate mansion gardens
that we're going to. It's going to be wonderful. And
then we got the delicious cuisine of creole and gumbo
and our meals are going to be excellent. And then
we're going to take a cruise on the Mississippi.
Speaker 2 (37:55):
Oh snaps, I've wanted to do that. I've seen the
Shrick and I have seen that on you know, line
and stuff, So that is something that we've potentially been
interested in. If somebody is interested in joining you, where
will they get the cost and how can they get
a deposits right?
Speaker 1 (38:09):
Well, they can go to our website which is artbloomgardentour
dot com. The Ethereal Gardens in New Orleans is October
fourteenth through the nineteenth and we again we're gonna be
visiting southern gardens, mansions, Creole cuisine, and the cruise and
it's just gonna be lovely. But we also just started
posting we have our wait list for twenty twenty seven
(38:31):
and that's going to be amazing. Our Chelsea tour, we
are going to have afternoon tea in King Charles's home.
Oh I love this. 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. Controversial rap
Good morning from the Summit Responsible Solutions Studios. Welcome to
Better Lawns and Gardens. I'm your host, Teresa Watkins. I'm
a landscape designer, garden author, what a culturist. I just
love gardening, and I know it's what everybody needs to
do to feel good in this world. It would make
a big difference if everybody would just garden just a
(00:30):
little bit. Get those hands in the dirt. Good morning, Lizzie.
How are you get them?
Speaker 2 (00:34):
A little piggy toes in the dirt too?
Speaker 1 (00:37):
I'm thinking of weeds, and so everybody just needs to
pull their weeds right now. So you but how are you?
I'm doing good.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
I'm not really happy with all these weeds. I mean,
I appreciate the rain that we're getting, but that gumment.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
Doesn't it pop them right up? You know what's especially
coming up in my yard is that Florida point setia.
It's the weed that looks like a point but it
doesn't get the really red leaves, only the red centers
on the leaves. And it's it's called Florida point SETI.
I don't know the name of it, but it's all
over my yard and it comes up and it gets
to be about six inches tall. But it's easy to
(01:12):
pull out. It just boom boom boom. It's easy. I
say that being the Royal wee at c Eazy. And so,
how is Shrek's Father's Day? It was good?
Speaker 2 (01:23):
How was Tony's?
Speaker 1 (01:24):
It was great? If he had a wonderful time. We
had dinner at his daughter's Jenevieve, she's so good. We
had good sick and so steak. It was steak, you know,
Oh yeah, you have to do that. Well yeah, And
so I just have to tell you, though, Lizzie, I
loved the show last week with you and Tom and Lance.
It was so much fun. Lance Wallheims the author of
(01:47):
the Citrus Complete Guide to Selecting and Growing more than
one hundred varieties of citrus. And it was a great,
great interview, and I certainly enjoyed it. Your story about
the turkeys was You had me rolling with the turkeys
and I was laughing so hard. So big thank you
(02:08):
to Tom mccoven for hosting while I was gone. And
I miss Lance, you know, talking with him. But he's
promised to come on again in the fall, so he's
going to be back on, so that makes me happy.
I want to give a big good morning out there
to Peterson's Nursery and Quality Green Specialists. Peterson's Nursery does
have a repotting class this morning and it's going to
(02:29):
be at ten am. Bring two orchids six inches or
less and they will help you repot them. So big
thanks to Howie and Karen for doing that. Also, good
morning to Tom and Diane and Maitland, Vicky, Shelley, Maynard,
Gilbert and everyone who liked our Facebook page. We got
a lot of likes this week, so I'm so happy
(02:50):
about that, thank you very much. And rain, you know,
it's been hit and miss with us. We haven't gotten
a lot of rain in Orlando, but you said you
got a lot this week.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
We got quite a bit and we had a huge thunderstorm.
Maybe it was Wednesday night or Thursday night. Maybe it
was Wednesday night.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
So yeah, that's good because the rainfall and water is
very important to the landscapes. That's why you talk about
it is just we have to be very very cognizant
that if you get rain, there's no need to water,
and especially if you know the amounts of rain we're getting.
So the weatherman this week has promised four to ten
inches this week for Central Florida, especially on the West
(03:33):
Coast and Central Florida. So that four to ten inches, wow,
that's going to be a lot. And this is a
great time to go ahead and make sure your irrigation
has a rain shut off device on it, which is
a state low since nineteen eighty one, and it will
turn your system off. There's no need to pay Mother
Nature or pay a utility bill when mother Nature provides
(03:56):
it free. So let's see Central Florida rain. I'm sorry,
North Florida. It's the same this week as it was
last week. Low nineties and mid seventies at night, and
a good chance of rain nearly every day after Tuesday.
I'm going to talk about the rain totals in just
a minute. West Coast Tampa and Naples, Dennis, Cape Coral,
(04:16):
you're gonna be the fortunate one with thirty to seventy
percent chance of rain every day. And then also to
South Florida, Fort Lauderdale, Miami, you're gonna be blessed with
rain every day this week too as well. Key West,
not so much. Ormand Beach. A big thank you out
there in a shout out to Ormond Beach. We got
a lot of listeners there, yes, and I'm really pleased
(04:39):
about that. In Melbourne, Ormand Beach and Melbourne you got
a good chance of rain every day. So again turn
your irrigation sprinkler systems off and then if it does
come on, what you need to do is check your
rain shut off device. It's what there's some reasons why
it will go off. It's not set at one and
a half inches. That be what it should be set at.
(05:01):
The batteries are dead or it's so old, it's not working,
the wiring's not working, and it should be checked every
year at least and if it needs replaced on every
three to five years. They only cost between forty and
I say only I know that sounds like a lot.
Only forty to fifty dollars to get a good one,
(05:22):
but that's going to save you hundreds of dollars of
water bills. Yes, so it's definitely a good trade off
and it is a state law to have them working.
So check it. If it comes on this week, then
you know you need to replace it or get it fixed.
If you see irrigation going on. And I'm gonna be
(05:44):
talking about that in just a few minutes because I
wanted to talk about the totals in the aquifer and
that the irrigation amounts and stuff has changed. We're on
an emergency crisis, water shortage crisis, so I'll be talking
about that. So today we're going to be just talking
with you. Guys. You get your gardening questions answered. I'd
(06:06):
love to hear from you. I've got a lot of
great questions sent to me over this week. That was important.
I did installations. I do about one installation a week
if it's a big one, and if it's a small one,
you know, two a week. And I have the best
landscape crew doing it. They work so hard. But I
nearly had one who was nearly passed out because of
(06:30):
the heat. So I'll talk a little bit about that.
This Monday, June twenty ninth, full Gator Moon. It's the
second blood moon of this month, time of the year
when alligators are most active as they enjoy the summer heat.
That's this Sunday's second full moon. If it's Saturday morning,
you're listening to Better Lands and Gardens. I'm Teresa Watkins
and this is Florida's Talk and Entertainment effort. Welcome back
(07:10):
to better lawns and gardens. If you have a gardening question,
you can get me a call one triple eight four
or five five two nine sixty seven, or you can
text two three six eight zero. We've already got some
great text messages, so we'll be getting to those. I
just wanted to say the full moon. This is the
Florida full moon. It is a full gator moon, and
it's the time of the year when alligators are most
(07:31):
active as they enjoy the summer heat and summer boating
stirs up fish and birds for more food supply, so
they are out there waiting. So if you're new to Florida,
be careful around dusk and sunrise. And if you see
baby alligators, get the heck out of there, you know,
because the mama's around. There's a hollway somewhere, there's a
(07:51):
mama somewhere, so they're mating right now. Egg season is
going to be coming up. And so then also two,
it's the fourth of July next week, so we will
have a best of and it's going to be great.
But I'm going to give you what to do in
your garden in July today and I have Independence Day
trivia questions you can plant on your family and friends
(08:12):
during your Fourth of July barbecue, so that will be good.
So you know, give us a call and we would
enjoy hearing from you. So we have one of our
favorite callers, Jerry. Good morning, Jerry. How are you.
Speaker 3 (08:26):
Good morning, Teresa. And you've got rain so that's great. Yes,
we only got about a half inch yesterday for the
first time in two weeks. I guess well, I.
Speaker 1 (08:36):
Think you have more coming up this week, so that'll
be good for you.
Speaker 3 (08:39):
Great. I'm glad to hear that. Thank you. The question
I have is how do you use the red volcanic
rocks in the landscape? Okay, are they beneficial or no?
Speaker 1 (08:52):
They're just no, they're not beneficial. It's not organic, so
it doesn't help you with your line down. Do you
put a fat mesh fabric underneath them so they don't
make their way to China?
Speaker 3 (09:06):
Yeah, there was some plastic under them.
Speaker 4 (09:08):
See.
Speaker 3 (09:08):
I was given them to a by the neighbor. They
had them in their yard. I thought I could get
some and make a use of them. I also have
a fire pit I built and maybe I could use
them in there. But I'm looking for the landscape for
some of your.
Speaker 1 (09:22):
Right, Well, it's better, it's better for you know, organic mulch,
would you know, it's better for that. But you know,
if you've got them, you know, see, here's how I
would use them. I would use them in a landscape
design with a Southwestern Mexican or you know, Mediterranean theme
with the red tile roof, so it would look good
(09:43):
in a type of themed landscape. You're welcome to use them.
They're free, so I wouldn't have a problem. But they're
not gonna They're not going to help your plants or
your landscape, so they're not beneficial. Okay, but is there
free I would use.
Speaker 3 (09:59):
Them now I will because they were expensive, and so
maybe the fire pit then there's a better choice because
there were one thousand dollars a ton.
Speaker 1 (10:07):
Uh yeah, they are expensive, Mark, Yeah, they are, and
so your firepit would be a really good place to
use that.
Speaker 3 (10:15):
Oh great, Thank you very much to Reisa.
Speaker 1 (10:17):
You're welcome. Jerry, you too, Hunt, thank you for calling in.
You know, I so appreciate it. You know, when something's free,
you got to balance out what you want to do.
And love of rocks are expensive. Oh yeah, and so
that's good one triple eight four five five two nine
sixty seven, or you can text two three six eight
zero like HR in Jacksonville did, and so he says,
(10:38):
good morning. I have several old garden shop plastic containers
that had soil that have become full of weeds. I
pull the weeds, but they are coming back. I am
trying to save the soil. Should I just toss the
whole thing out the container? Weeds and all? And I'm
going to tell you, yes, okay, weeds. You don't see
(11:01):
those seeds of weeds in your soil, okay? So they
could they come in through the air, They come in
through little critters, they come in through birds, and so
that's soil. If you've already pulled the weeds out and
they've got more coming more weeds are growing, HR, then yeah,
go ahead, put them in. Put the soil in a
(11:22):
compost bin where it can heat and destroy those seeds,
you know, break them down, or just throw them away.
But I would just not use soil that had a
lot of weeds in it because you can't see the seeds.
So that's one thing. So yeah, great text message. You know, I,
like I said, I have a lot of weeds coming
up in my yard with the rain and everything this week,
(11:44):
So rain totals to come up this time of the year.
It's important to know we do have a crisis irrigation
it we're only allowed to be watering once a week
right now in the Saint John's River Water Management District
only once a week. That's residential, commercial and institutional properties.
(12:06):
You only landscape irrigation is prohibited between eight am and
six pm daily. Now you know, before this crisis management,
you could water up to ten o'clock. Now you have
to stop at eight am. Commercial, industrial and institutional users
(12:27):
must suspend certain non essential water uses. Golf course fairways
is only limited to one day a week. And then
aesthetic water use. You're not allowed to run decorative fountains
right now, and so it's actually prohibited, and street and
pressure washing activities have more additional restrictions. And then irrigation
(12:49):
for new plantings including sowd have been tightened so you're
not allowed to water. So if you're getting new sawd,
if you're getting a new yard put in, you want
to make sure that you don't overwater it so that
it can become established. So right now you can only
(13:10):
water for thirty days on a new yard. You don't
want to water every day, okay. What you need to
do is you want to put the sawed down water
once a day for the first week, okay, and that
would be thirty to forty minutes okay, depending on your
water pressure. You need to calibrate your irrigation system to
(13:30):
make sure you're putting it down the right amount. You
don't want to be watering it for hours, okay, and
so water once a day for the first week. You
want to water every two days the second week, and
then water every three days the third week, and by
the end of the month you are on that twice
a week watering, or really right now, once a week watering. Okay.
(13:53):
So if you water every for thirty days, every day,
then what's going to happen is those root systems going
to stay right close to the surface and it's never
going to become established. It's kind of like you're watering hydroponically.
It's growing hydroponically, and so when you don't water, mother
nature kicks in and she pushes those roots down deeper,
(14:17):
and then that way it will not need as much water. Okay.
So new lawns are very important. But also you can
do this right now when we're getting all this rain.
To know, wean your sawd off of irrigation. Your lawn
if you get an inch of water a week, can
go seven to ten days without watering. So when we're
(14:40):
watering twice a week like we could normally, or once
a week like we can now, then you are creating
that need for water. Now, if you're fertilizing, which you're
not allowed to be fertilizing right now, but when you're
putting fertilizer down, you want to make sure your sawd
is hydrated, your landscapes are hydrated, and then all so
(15:00):
chemical use for insects is going to increase the need
for water. So right now I wouldn't be putting any
chemicals down in your yard at all. Do not use
preventative insecticide. You know, we have these companies coming around
and they just say, Okay, we're just gonna spray for
(15:21):
insects right now. You know, you only should spray for
insects and spot treat only when you see them. There's
really no bug preventative out there, no insecticide out there
that's going to prevent insects if they're not there, so
you know, if they're coming along and you spray, then
(15:42):
you get them. But if you go ahead and just
put an insecticide down and nothing comes along by two
to three weeks, four weeks, you're just going to leach
that insecticide out. There's no really reason to put it down. Okay.
Now I'm not talking about turmitoside treatments and really severe. Now,
(16:02):
if you have an insect problem, go ahead and take
care of it, but make sure you see those bucks. Okay.
So the irrigation is very important. How much do we
need this year to bring up the totals bring up
the aquifer to normal. Well, the Panhandle you need at
least twenty two more inches this year, So count down,
(16:23):
you know, just put that twenty two inches and see
how much you get over the next six months. North Florida,
which is the Jacksonville Tallahassee area, you need thirty three
inches the remaining rest of the year to bring the
aquifa up to normal. Central Florida you need thirty seven
inches to bring it up to normal. And then the
(16:44):
lower central part of Florida right above Lake Okachobee west
or east of Tampa thirty five and a half inches,
and then the Miami Everglades area Key West, you guys
need thirty six point seven five so it's thirty six
and three quarters of an inch. You need to bring
(17:05):
everything up to normal. Now, when we're in a drought
like this, or we've been experienced a drought, your landscape
is going to be fine. You can hand water, But
what I need you to do is before you water,
see if the plants need it. Stick your finger in
the ground. And if the ground is cool, moist or damp,
(17:25):
you don't need to water all right, And so the water,
if you're you want to make sure you're mulching correctly.
Three to four inches will help keep that moisture in
the ground, and then you don't necessarily need to The
plant may wilt. There's some plants that have been planted
and they really weren't fully established in this landscape. I
(17:45):
looked at but she says they're wilting. And I said, well,
feel the ground, Touch the ground, you know, put your
finger in the ground. If the ground is moist, that
just means they're just getting established. They don't have a
very fully funnctional roots system yet. And that's going to
be normal for them to wilt a little bit, okay,
(18:06):
But as they get acclimated, as those roots grow, then
you're going to it's not good to water as much,
all right, So one triple eight four five five two
nine sixty seven, or you can text two three six
eight zero Mark. I don't know what city you are from,
but he texted me and he wanted to have some
(18:28):
some plant choices for hiding the house. So the so
in between him and his neighbor, the plants, the palm
trees all froze and he can see this house. And
I have to tell you I don't blame him wanting
to cover it up. It did not look good. He said,
good morning trees that prior to the freeze, the two
story house behind us had lush tropical trees and we
(18:50):
could not see their house for the most part. I'm
sending you a picture, which he did, great picture. What
are some planting choices to block or greatly hinder the view?
I thought potocarpus, but I know they're slow growers, and
he said, my wife thought of sweet by Burnham. What
are your thoughts? And so the photograph really helps me.
You don't have a lot of space, Mark, in between
your patio, your paver patio and the fence. It looks
(19:14):
like it's about I would say, four to five feet,
and that doesn't give you a lot of choices, all right,
So hang in there. I'm going to give you those
choices right now, after a word from our sponsors. This
Saturday morning, you're listening to Better Lawns and Gardens. I'm
Teresa Watkins, and this is Florida's Talk and Entertainment Network,
(19:57):
and welcome back to Better Lawns and Gardens. You have
a gardening question, you can give me a call one
triple eight four five five two nine sixty seven. That's
one triple eight eight eight eight four five five two
nine six seven, or you can text two three six
eight zero. And so Mark, he gave sent a letter
(20:18):
with a great picture of his backyard view of a
two story house overlooking his patio area, and he wanted
to know some choices that he could that would be
fast growing and fit in this area. And it's about
a four to five foot area between him and his
patio paper patio and the fence. And so that's kind
(20:39):
of a little bit of an issue, okay. And so
My choice is for you Mark one is the golden
hedge Bamboosa multiplex Alphonse car so the golden hedge bamboo.
It gets to be about fifteen to twenty feet tall
and it will fit. It's a clumping bamboo and it
will fit in that area and it will withstand winter,
(21:03):
it will withstand summer heat. But I would suggest that
it's not invasive, but it's going to grow to fifteen
feet wide. So I would take and put it bamboo
barrier in a trench right there where you're going to
plant it. And what that's going to do is it's
just going to keep it controlled. It's not invasive, it's
(21:24):
not aggressive. It's a clumping bamboo, but that area is
so small. Now, your other choice is Potocarpus I think
is a really good one, but that's going to be
a little bit of maintenance because you're going to have
to trim it. Simpson Stopper is a wonderful native columnar
shrub that will provide red and yellow berries for the birds.
(21:46):
It's native. It will look good right there and it
can get to be fifteen to eighteen twenty feet tall
as well. It will need to be trimmed, but not
as often as the potocarpus. You could also do guardenas.
You can do a tall high guardenus. They can get
to be twelve ten to twelve feet tall and it
(22:09):
would go over that fence, grow above that fence so
you couldn't see them, and it would need to be
pruned a little bit, but it would fit in that
space and that would give you some wonderful fragrance right there.
My other thoughts are, then you can use a crape myrtle.
You can use a single trunk so that it just
has one trunk. It's not going to tear up your patio.
(22:31):
But a tuscarora orite muskigee will be tall enough. It
will give you some shade right there and also color
and it will block that house. My other one is
at your tropha. It is a tropical plant that has
beautiful red flowers. Butterflies love it and also hummingbirds love it.
(22:53):
They get to be ten to twelve feet tall, and
that would look good too there and it would not
get out of control right there. So Mark, let me
know if you like any of those, and what you do,
send me a new picture with your your trees or
whatever you decided to select that I'd be very interested
in seeing how you do. So thank you for the
email one triple eight four five five two nine sixty seven,
(23:17):
or you can text two three six eight zero. Genie.
She sent a picture of her tomatoes, her Everglades tomatoes,
and she said, is this bugs or a water problem?
I don't know? Tell me what to do. So Genie,
know what you have on your tomatoes are spider mites.
(23:37):
You can actually see the webbing in the photograph you sent.
But you've also got a fungal disease called blight, a
tomato blight, and so what you need to do is
basically throw You can either cut all the parts off
that are infected and cut off the disease leaves and
discard them in the trash. Do not compost them because
(23:58):
of the disease is shoes with them too as well.
So improve your airflow by staking up your tomatoes and
spacing them correctly, and then avoid overhead watering water in
the morning before eight o'clock between five and eight o'clock,
so you can't stop rainfall at night, but you can
spray neam oil every two weeks one to two weeks
(24:20):
to keep the spider mites down and your disease issues down.
So that's a name eighty five, which is a Summit
Responsible Solutions product. Excellent, excellent. I'm gonna be talking about
that more later on today. Let's go to Elaine in
Polk City. Good morning, Elaine? How can I help you?
How are you doing?
Speaker 2 (24:38):
It's Eileen?
Speaker 1 (24:39):
I sell it wrong? Oh did you? I'm okay, Eileen, Hian?
How are you?
Speaker 5 (24:45):
That's okay? I get called dogs the kind to names anyway.
Bob spread grass in my little drift throw Oh no,
okay when he was mowing.
Speaker 1 (25:03):
Okay, So.
Speaker 5 (25:07):
I broke two toes. Oh no, oh no, I dropped
a canumb showing them. Oh no, yeah, but I got
to get out there and do something with them.
Speaker 1 (25:20):
Okay. So the so the hold on, yeah, somebody needs
to talk to you.
Speaker 5 (25:30):
You have to wait, okay.
Speaker 1 (25:32):
So, so tell me what kind of grass you have?
That that he spread in the in the bed.
Speaker 5 (25:38):
It was from the lawnmower, right, We got all different
kinds of.
Speaker 1 (25:43):
Grass, okay. So the only one I'm concerned about is
probably behaya grass. If there's any behavior grass seeds, that
might be an issue. If you've got zoisia the rhizomes.
You just want to just take them out.
Speaker 5 (25:59):
You have to take it out with the hoe.
Speaker 1 (26:02):
No, he just sprayed them on top, right.
Speaker 5 (26:06):
He sprayed him through the whole bed.
Speaker 1 (26:08):
Oh okay, Well yeah that's gonna be. I think you're
gonna be just fine. It might just with the with
the heat and everything, that might just decompose. So I
would just wait to see all right. Thanks, okay, bye bye,
Happy fourth at July, Eileen, If you've got a garden
question one triple eight four five five two nine sixty seven,
(26:28):
or you can text two three six eight zero what
should you be planting this month? Well, vegetables are really
pretty gone right now, okay, so you can use the
tropical and Caribbean and African and some Asian plants. Right now.
You could be planting boninito calabasa cherry tomatoes. You will
(26:50):
still continue to get cherry tomatoes all summer long. Along
with Everglades tomatoes. You could be planting okra, southern peas,
seminole pumpkins, sweet cause roselle, and then sweet potato and
yard long means, now is the time get your seeds
for eggplant, peppers and tomatoes and you can plant the
(27:12):
seeds now in your little trays, in your little pots,
and that way they will be able to be transplanted
in August to your garden bed. So vegetables is a
good time to do it. Herbs and espasil, be, laurel, chives, dill, ginger, lemon, balm, tarragon, mint, oregulo, sage,
sweet marjoram, and thyme. We're going to be back with
(27:35):
more of better Lawns and Gardens, and your phone call
one triple eight four five five, two ninety sixty seven
this Saturday morning. You're listening to Better Lawns and Gardens.
I'm Teresa Watkins, and this is Florida's Talk and Entertainment Network.
(28:02):
Welcome back up better Lawns in garden. Say now Teresa's
top five and my top five this week is in
honor of the fourth of July in the two hundred
and fiftieth anniversary of the United States. My top five
patriotic gardeners, not in any order particular order. Number five
John Bartram. He was a Philadelphia naturalist and botanist. John
(28:26):
Bartram was regarded as the leading American naturalists of his time.
In seventeen twenty eight, he established what is now the
oldest surviving botanical garden in North America and exchange seeds
and plants with European botanists. Through his work, Bartram introduced
one hundred and fifty North American plants species to Europe.
Martha Washington. You thought I was going to say, George Washington. Well,
(28:50):
Martha Washington. In the eighteenth century, her kitchen garden was
one of the most important parts of the estate of
Mount Vernon. Created in seventeen sixty Mount Vernon, his garden
has remained largely unchanged and produced fruits, vegetables, and berries.
Marsa played a central role in its success, overseeing the
evening meal, which was expected to be plentiful and elegant.
(29:11):
She was a skilled plants woman who understood the quality
of the table reflected directly on her household. Thomas Jefferson,
often called America's first gardener, Thomas Jefferson created a thousand
foot terrace vegetable and herb garden at Monticello. He cultivated
more than three hundred and thirty varieties from ninety nine species,
including asparagus, beans, cabbage, cucumbers, kale okra peas, and herbs
(29:35):
such as thyme, rosemary, and lavender. His detailed garden records
and seat exchanges reflected a scientific approach to horticulture, while
his use of native plants expressed as patriotic ideas. Number
two Eliza Lucas Pinkney. She was a South Carolina planter
and botanists, and she tested new cash crops and introduced
(29:56):
important plants to the American colonies. She helped popularize India
go cultivation, which became a major export crop and contributed
to the growth of agricultural science in the Southern colonies.
And Number one Robert Prince. He is credited with founding
the first major commercial nursery in the United States in
seventeen thirty seven Flushing, New York. Working with his son William,
(30:19):
he established an eight acre nursery that later became known
as the Linean Botanic Garden and Nursery. It grew into
the largest and most influential horticultural enterprise in the colonies.
They specialized in fruit trees including apples, pears, cherries, plums, peaches,
and apricots, grapes and ornamental plants, and international plant trade.
(30:43):
Rose breeding and cultivation, with more than six hundred varieties
recorded by eighteen twenty seven. His horticultural innovation included pecan
cultivation beginning in seventeen seventy two, and he trained the
early American nursery. The nursery also drew presidential attention. George
(31:03):
Washington visited in seventeen eighty eight, and Thomas Jefferson and
James Madison visited in seventeen ninety one. When Jefferson placed
a large order for Monticello, Lizzie, can you see can
you see? You have a nursery, one of the first
nurseries in the United States. And somebody comes up to
he goes, uh, sir, mister prince, can you come tell
(31:24):
George Washington how to get rid of the weeds in
his garden?
Speaker 2 (31:28):
That would have been amazing.
Speaker 1 (31:30):
Isn't that cool to have Thomas Jefferson and James Madison
come by your nursery? So a little bit more on
that in the future. But one triple eight four, five, five,
two nine sixty seven, or you can text two three
six eight zero. So I loved the fighting that out,
and I would have thought George Washington, but no, it
(31:50):
was Martha who was taking care of me. Matha, Matha,
Let's go to Tom in Polk County. Good morning, Tom.
How are you very good?
Speaker 4 (31:58):
But I appreciate you take my call. Thank you of
what I have. I have two things I want to
ask you.
Speaker 3 (32:04):
That.
Speaker 6 (32:05):
First, I have a grafted potted avocada. Okay, that the
coal the frieze.
Speaker 4 (32:13):
It's so big.
Speaker 6 (32:14):
I couldn't bring it in right, but I covered it,
but the frieze knocked it back to about six inches
above the graph. It's coming back, but it's the veins
and the leaves are showing rock light green instead of
dark green. And I fertilize it with bat wano.
Speaker 1 (32:37):
Okay. Well, so when you fertilize it with back guano,
you're giving it a lot of nitrogen, not a lot
of anything else, okay. And so you need to use
a fertilizer that has all of the macro and micronutrients.
So I would fertilize it with a fruit fertilizer, fruit
tree fertilizer. Sunnayland has a good for fruit trees and
(33:02):
avocados and and your azaleas and things like that. So
you Sunnyland has a really good fertilizer for avocados that
includes all of the micronutrients. So now if it's okay, Now,
if it's got four or five how many how is
it branching out four to five branches?
Speaker 4 (33:23):
Oh yeah?
Speaker 1 (33:24):
Okay? So what I need you to do is not
necessarily right now, but as we get through the summertime,
after next spring, you're gonna want to thin those those
branches to you that you have two or three leaders
coming up, okay, and get rid of the other ones,
and then that way you can get a single leader
in next year. You know, you can then start to
(33:46):
make it grow back up into a tree.
Speaker 4 (33:49):
Yes man, Okay. Also, I have a second question.
Speaker 6 (33:54):
Sure, I have a hybrid elderberry which needed a pollinator.
I have both the pollinator and the pollinated. I have
big balloons. They're starting to lose their bloom, but I
don't see any berries developing. Do you have any idea
(34:17):
on that? And I realized elderberries grow all over the
state of Florida. Right, I'm a Navy so I'm eating
Columbia elderberry.
Speaker 1 (34:27):
Okay? And do you use back guano on that?
Speaker 4 (34:31):
No?
Speaker 1 (34:31):
Okay, So what do you use on it to fertilize it?
Speaker 4 (34:35):
I can't.
Speaker 6 (34:37):
It's an organic fertilized Okay.
Speaker 1 (34:40):
Well, again. You want to make sure that you're just
fertilizing on a regular basis, and you're going to get fruit.
I said, flowers are just now falling off, and I was.
I had an elderberry this week. I saw, and the
berries should be coming out pretty soon. But if it
got damaged by the freeze, did it get knocked down
by the freeze? No, man, no it did not. It
(35:01):
was fine. Okay, So you still should get some elderberries
this year. I would keep looking for them as the
flowers just fell off.
Speaker 4 (35:08):
Okay, thank you, ma'am. It might get for your time,
and I enjoy your program Saturday morning.
Speaker 1 (35:14):
Thank you.
Speaker 6 (35:14):
You told me about a mile from Peterson's nursery.
Speaker 1 (35:18):
Oh there you go. Well, next time you go in
and say hi to Howie for us. Okay, all right,
all right, you're welcome.
Speaker 3 (35:24):
You know.
Speaker 1 (35:25):
It's just elderberries or once the flowers they flower the
springtime and the fruit should start to come out. But
I just think he needs to maybe fertilize it just
to weave it. I just okay, think that one triple
eight four five, five two nine sixty seven, or you
can text two three six eight zero and I'd like
to thank everyone who has liked our Facebook page. We'd
(35:47):
like everyone to go on you're listening, you can go
on to Better Lawns and Gardens and give us five
stars review it. I was talking to someone this week
and he said, Teresa, is there a way to review
your radio show? And I said, you go on to
Facebook and like it and you know, give us five stars.
That would be great. And you know, if you're not
(36:09):
getting all two hours, Lizzie, what do they what should
they do?
Speaker 2 (36:13):
They should contact their local station and let them know
that you want to have two hours, because some maybe
even sometimes a program director may not even know that
there's two hours to the show. So to say, hey
there are two hours, we're missing an hour. We want
to know what we can do.
Speaker 1 (36:28):
That's that's exactly right. And so so if you share
a passion for gardening and love to visit gardens, I
tell you I was just going over all the photographs
that we've been taking over this last year, and I
posted on my Facebook page, my personal Facebook page, Teresa
Watkins fl of the Courtyard in New York, of the Cloisters,
(36:49):
and we just get to go see beautiful, beautiful gardens.
So if you'd like to do that, and you'd like
to travel with me, I would love to take you
with me. And you want to check out our art
in bloom gardentours dot com art and bloomgardentours dot com.
We take limited size, very intimate groups. And whether you're
(37:11):
single or you're traveling with friends, do you want to
do a group family, We will love to have you
travel with us. We have delicious cuisine. So in October, Lizzie,
we're going to New Orleans, Okay, and it's the Ethereal
Gardens of New Orleans, and I just want to say
it's October and Halloween, little spooky feel. Yes, we're going
(37:33):
to be doing some of that and seeing some kind
of gardens for that, but also the estate mansion gardens
that we're going to. It's going to be wonderful. And
then we got the delicious cuisine of creole and gumbo
and our meals are going to be excellent. And then
we're going to take a cruise on the Mississippi.
Speaker 2 (37:55):
Oh snaps, I've wanted to do that. I've seen the
Shrick and I have seen that on you know, line
and stuff, So that is something that we've potentially been
interested in. If somebody is interested in joining you, where
will they get the cost and how can they get
a deposits right?
Speaker 1 (38:09):
Well, they can go to our website which is artbloomgardentour
dot com. The Ethereal Gardens in New Orleans is October
fourteenth through the nineteenth and we again we're gonna be
visiting southern gardens, mansions, Creole cuisine, and the cruise and
it's just gonna be lovely. But we also just started
posting we have our wait list for twenty twenty seven
(38:31):
and that's going to be amazing. Our Chelsea tour, we
are going to have afternoon tea in King Charles's home.
Oh I love this. 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. Controversial rap
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Betrayal Weekly
Betrayal Weekly is back for a new season. Every Thursday, Betrayal Weekly shares first-hand accounts of broken trust, shocking deceptions, and the trail of destruction they leave behind. Hosted by Andrea Gunning, this weekly ongoing series digs into real-life stories of betrayal and the aftermath. From stories of double lives to dark discoveries, these are cautionary tales and accounts of resilience against all odds. From the producers of the critically acclaimed Betrayal series, Betrayal Weekly drops new episodes every Thursday. If you would like to share your story, you can reach out to the Betrayal Team by emailing them at betrayalpod@gmail.com and follow us on Instagram at @betrayalpod and @glasspodcasts. Please join our Substack for additional exclusive content, curated book recommendations, and community discussions. Sign up FREE by clicking this link Beyond Betrayal Substack. Join our community dedicated to truth, resilience, and healing. Your voice matters! Be a part of our Betrayal journey on Substack.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com