April 11, 2026 • 39 mins
Teresa Watkins, host of Better Lawns and Gardens, highlights National Garden Day and April's Water Conservation Month, discussing gardening benefits and the importance of water conservation in Florida with Nickie Munroe, UF/IFAS Indian River County Florida-friendly Landscaping Agent. Teresa responds to callers’ Spring garden questions.
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Speaker 1 (00:09):
Good morning, Welcome to Better Lawns and Gardens from the
Summit Responsible Solution Studios. I'm Teresa Watkins and this is
your gardening show. We do appreciate you listening. We hope
you are having a great week. We have had a
wonderful week. We got some rain which was very very
(00:29):
very needed, and we're gonna have a beautiful garden week
coming up. So it is going to be Chamber of
commerce weather. Good morning, Lizzie, how are you?
Speaker 2 (00:40):
Good morning. We really need to get videotapeing here so
they can see what's going on. I'm literally running around
in here trying to get my headphones plunged. Well you're
all set there, yes, But definitely beautiful gardening weather. I'm
so excited for this in the weather today, So.
Speaker 1 (00:55):
It is, it's going to be beautiful. It is also
National Gardening Day on April fourteenth, which is very exciting. Well,
it's gardening Day every day, you know when you come
to Florida, and so but we're gonna be talking a
little bit about National Gardening Day and the benefits of gardening.
(01:15):
And then also it's April is Water Conservation Month, so
I have Nicki Monroe coming in from the University of
Florida Indian River County Extension Office. She is the Florida
Friendly Landscaping Agent there and the master Gardener coordinator. And
then we also in our second hour have Ryl Harris
(01:35):
coming in. She's the executive director of the Florida Irrigation
Society and I'm very, very very honored to have her
on today. So I love that it's going to be
a great show. We're going to be taking your gardening questions.
Hopefully you have the phone number in your phone that's
one triple eight five five five.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
No, I'm sorry, thank you, winter bla four five five
two nine six seven.
Speaker 1 (02:03):
I'm not awake this morning. I haven't had my delicious
cup of tea here yet, right, so yeah, I'm sorry.
Two nine sixty seven four FIY five two ninety sixty seven.
And then you can text us two three six eighth
zero and we will be uh taking your gardening questions
later on in the program. Weather Wise, just a beautiful week.
(02:24):
It was cool this morning out there, uh some in
the high fifties, low sixties throughout central Florida. And this
this this week North Florida, you are gonna have sunny
or partly sunny all week long. No chance of rain.
Hies in the seventies to mid eighties. One day possible
at the end of the week for ninety uh, but
(02:45):
loads in the sixties. Gainesville you're going to be a
bit warmer, mid eighties and a few days of ninety
but load's in the fifties and sixties, so great sleeping weather.
After you've worked all day in the garden, you'll be
able to rest really well. Central Florida, Popco, calor Orlanda,
Tampa you are going to have again just a sunnyweek.
No chance of rain this week, but the temperatures are
(03:08):
going to be really lovely, sunny, departly sunny, seventies and eighties,
lows in the sixties in South Florida. Just a beautiful
sunshine state weather. Just a great day or a great
week for the beach. Tempts in the low eighties and
seventies and seventies at night, so the weather is going
to be perfect nice. The April newsletter is out. If
(03:31):
you did not receive it, you can email me better
Launs dot com. You can text us and let me
know your email address. I will input you just need
a name and a zip code, and or you can
go to my website which is www dot g s
H E Dash Consulting dot com. S H E Dash
(03:55):
Consulting dot com. Or you can just google Teresa Watkins
and I come up with gardening and I'm everywhere.
Speaker 3 (04:01):
Thanks.
Speaker 1 (04:02):
You can get the next newsletter and I will send
you April's newsletter too as well. You can also see
what to do in your garden on Better Lawns dot
com and it will take you to what to do
in your landscape. And then also too, we want to
make sure that you are getting through again one triple
(04:22):
eight four fifty five two nine sixty seven. Put it
into your phone. So we what to do this month
in your landscape. It's a beautiful week. Beautiful week. You
can be planting great vegetables this time of the year.
Calabasa cantalopes and cassabas, chyotes and cherry and everglades, Tomato,
(04:46):
cucumber and dashen eggplant, Jerusalem artichoke, yakamas and Lima beans,
malabar and Korean spinach malanga New Zealand spinach. These are
all spinaches that can take the warm because we usually
need to plant spinaches in the fall, okra and pepper
and roselle, seminole, pumpkins and snap beans, squash and southern peas,
(05:10):
sweet potatoes, temurillos, and yard long beans. So these are
all greate vegetables that you could be planting. The hides
are usually low eighties and the loads are in the sixties. Rainfall,
we've already received all the rainfall that we're supposed to
get in April already this month achievers, I know. So
(05:31):
we're only supposed to get averaging. This is our dry
time of the year, two and a half inches of rain,
and we saw that in one day here in some
of the counties throughout Florida. So it is a great,
great opportunity. It's a National Gardening month too as well.
It's a wonderful time to work a green thumb. You
(05:53):
can plant a small garden, adopt a houseplant at a
piece of art to your garden. I love that. Yes,
adding art to the garden works very very very well,
and so uh it just it just personalizes it and
it can be a little bit of signage, you know,
welcome to Patty's, you know Paradise or you know, uh
(06:16):
Patty Patty, I know Patty in the garden and uh
and so you know, uh, I just I just love
this month. This is just a great month. We're going
to be back. Nicky Monroe is up with us and
she is going to be talking about Florida Friendly landscaping.
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.
(07:03):
Welcome back to Better Lawns and Gardens. I'm Teresa Watkins.
Nicky Monroe is the en Agent and Master Gardener Volunteer
coordinator with the University of Florida IFIs Extension Office in
Indian River County. She specializes in Florida Friendly Landscaping, at
subject that is close to my heart, and she helps
(07:23):
residents create beautiful, sustainable landscapes that protect Florida's water resources.
Through her work, she connects the community with research based
practices very important that make gardening easier, more efficient, and
environmentally responsible. Good morning, Niki, Welcome to Better Lawns and Gardens.
Speaker 4 (07:43):
Good morning, Teresa. Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (07:45):
Oh, I'm so glad you're here. So just to catch
up with Indian River, did you get a lot of
rain this last week. What kind of impact did it
make with the drought.
Speaker 4 (07:57):
Yes, we've had a unusually high amount of rain all
over the past week here in Indian River County. Some
areas saw several inches, including a couple of days that
even broke local rainfall records. It hasn't been enough to
like fully take us out of our drought conditions, but
it's a good start.
Speaker 1 (08:16):
It is take what we can get right.
Speaker 4 (08:19):
Yeah, And you know the plants and the and and
our soil are just like yes, thank you please.
Speaker 1 (08:25):
I could appreciate that too. So the University of Florida
if AS Florida Friendly Landscaping program offers valuable resources for
sustainable gardening. And so what are the nine principles? Refresh everyone?
Speaker 4 (08:38):
The nine Florida Friendly principles are right plant, right place.
That's my favorite. And if you get that one right,
you're a winner all the way. Through water efficiently, fertilize appropriately, mulch,
attract wildlife, manage yard past responsibly, recycle yard ways, reduce
(09:01):
stormwater run off, and protect the waterfront. These are just
going to make your decision processes for managing your landscape.
So much easier.
Speaker 1 (09:11):
That is so true that those are great principles. So
the second principle of Florida fronting landscaping is efficient watering.
What does this mean?
Speaker 4 (09:23):
Watering efficiently means giving water, giving the plants of water
they need to be established, and then encouraging them to
develop deep, strong root systems so that they can really
support themselves without a lot of help from you. So
instead of frequent shallow watering, you're going to water deeply
and less often over time, and that also helps your
(09:47):
plants to be more resilient. That way, you can go
on vacations when you need to and you don't have
to be like, oh, what is my landscape going to
look like if my irrigation system crapped out.
Speaker 1 (09:57):
That's going to be great exactly. Oh that's such a
good good idea and less stress. That's important. So Florida
has designated April as water conservation month. And so why
did we select April.
Speaker 4 (10:13):
You know, it's gonna seem counterintuitive, I know, because it
is the you know, it's our dry season starts in
the fall, and by April we're usually at the peak
of our dry period, so soil moisture as well, the
temperature is arising and plants are under the most stress.
We're already being water conscious. We just need to transfer
(10:35):
that water consciousness into not emergency watering, but to say
how we can manage our water more intentionally. So we're
going to check our irrigation systems, We're gonna adjust the
season of watering restrictions and to make sure that we're
not overwatering. You know, our plants are just coming awake again.
They don't really need to be guzzling a lot of
(10:56):
water right now. So that's why April is important for
water consert It's right before the summer rain returns, and
we need to really really double down on efficient watering practices.
Speaker 1 (11:09):
I think everyone has a bad feeling or they have
a bad image of water restrictions, you know that twice
a week during the summertime and once a week during
the fall and winter. But it's really only what the
plants need anyway. It's not really a restriction that they're enforcing.
It's all the plants need right.
Speaker 4 (11:29):
Absolutely, because our dry season also coincides is when most
of our landscape plants in Florida go. If they're not
fully asleep, if they're not fully dormant. They're dozing, right,
so they're not using a lot of water right now anyway.
Speaker 1 (11:47):
So how much water does a landscape and I'm going
to emphasize an establish landscape. We're not talking about new
turf or new landscapes that have been installed. How much
water do landscapes really need? Nikki?
Speaker 4 (12:00):
For established landscapes, most shrub and tree, most shrubs and
trees should lead little or no supplemental irrigation once they
are established. Betting plants and turf grass they tend to
need more like about one each weekly. But the delivery
for both of those are different, right, So turf grass
(12:20):
receive their irrigation through overhead watering and betting plants often
benefit more from micro irrigation or drip irrigation lines. But
as long as you're giving them just about half an
inch to three quarters of an inch of water during
those weeks, during those twice a week irrigations in the summertime,
you're going to be fine.
Speaker 1 (12:41):
That is so true, And I mean really, you know,
honestly and in reality, most people give their lawns and landscapes,
you know, two to three inches if not more a week,
and that doesn't help them does it.
Speaker 4 (12:54):
It does not watering deeply but less often really helps
to make those roots system search for water. It stresses
them out and it makes them stronger, and that is
going to help your plants to actually be more beautiful,
more efficient, and you get to sit on your back
(13:15):
deck and enjoy yourself a little bit more with your
landscape than to be out there saying, oh, no, what
happened over here?
Speaker 1 (13:22):
Exactly? That is so true. And so the drought that
we've had this last two years, homeowners have really they
don't realize that they haven't gotten the water that they
need or the new homeowners, I should say new residents
to Florida. So how does a homeowner know if they've
gotten enough rain so that they don't have to turn
their irrigation system on.
Speaker 4 (13:43):
So this is a twofold problem at least, right most
homeowners don't know that they've had enough rain because they
try to look at how their landscape looks, and most
of the things that we have in our landscapes are
either fairly drought tolerant or they just don't look as
awful as they should appear. And then we also have
(14:05):
the compounding of that issue with most landscapes have irrigation systems.
So that's looking at your landscape and saying, yeah, I'm
sure I've gotten enough rain is not a reliable indicator.
But if you put a rain gauge out into an
open part of your landscape that you pass by frequently, right,
not like the back corner near the pool box or whatever,
(14:29):
but somewhere in the front yard that you have to
walk past when you're going to your car, then you'll
be able to see. You'll be able to track rainfall
and know whether you're getting enough.
Speaker 1 (14:41):
That's true. Now, what about if you have an automatic
irrigation system? How can we determine if those are working correctly?
Speaker 4 (14:50):
This past week would have let you know, right, we've
gotten more than enough rain in most parts of Florida,
and if your irrigation system still went off, it needs
to be checked. It definitely has there's something wrong because
your landscape should have received as much water as it
should have needed for for two weeks.
Speaker 1 (15:13):
Wonderful. Okay, that again, I try and look and see.
You know, sometimes after a rain fall you see irrigation
systems going on, and it could mean that they haven't
had enough water to tr shut the system. Down, or
it could mean that it's just not set properly, so
that's something to be concerned about. What are the symptoms, Nikki,
(15:33):
of overwatering?
Speaker 4 (15:35):
Common signs of water overwatering include increased statch, which is
just when you mow the lawn, the little pieces that
fall down back into the turf, So there's increased statch
in turf grass. We've got dollar reed are starting to
take over. So dollar reed is what we normally call it,
but it's caught. It's its name is penny wart. And
(15:56):
almost anything that has that wort ending is telling you
there's too much water. And even plants wilting because they've
become too dependent on you to give them too much water.
Those are indications of overwatering. And I'm not talking about
(16:17):
like what you said, I'm not talking about a new
plant needing your care. I'm talking about plants that are
old and they should be independent by now.
Speaker 1 (16:26):
So a landscape needs to be established. I would say
probably six months for shrubs, at about a year to
two years for trees and larger shrubs.
Speaker 4 (16:36):
Absolutely yes, if you're establishing them for proper health and
proper vigor. This is a real going concern that you
need to be engaged in to make sure that you're
giving them all of the cobbling at the beginning so
that they're relaxed and they feel free to expand their roots.
And then afterwards you gently wean them off of the
(16:58):
extra water. But now they're nice and strong because you
took a lot of time to manage them carefully.
Speaker 1 (17:04):
That's great. That's a wonderful answer. So how can homeowners
encourage their landscapes to be needing less water?
Speaker 4 (17:12):
You're going to start by gradually weaning your landscape off
of the frequent watering. Right. This is going to be
easier to do now that we're heading into the summer
rainy season, so that nature can do most of the
work for you. If rain is expected within a day
or two, it is okay to let your plants suffer
a little bit, not a lot, and that's going to
(17:35):
actually encourage them to stretch out their roots and become
more self sufficient. And then over time, watering less often
but more deeply will become your new normal for your landscape,
and you will find that your plants are going to
be more resilient and you are also going to see
(17:56):
less weed and disease. Issues that you don't even have
to rest with chemical processes or extra work on your part.
I'm not fond of going outside to pick bugs off
of plant.
Speaker 1 (18:08):
No, I'm not either, So great information, Nikki. How can
our listeners find out more about taking care of their
landscape when coming up on a hard break?
Speaker 4 (18:19):
Any search engine just type in FFL for Home Landscapes.
Speaker 1 (18:24):
Excellent. So what is that again?
Speaker 4 (18:27):
FFL for Home Landscapes.
Speaker 1 (18:29):
FFL for Home Landscapes. Just put that in and it
will all the websites and resources will pop up. And
if they want to contact your extension office, how do
they do that?
Speaker 4 (18:39):
They can contact us on Facebook IRC Master Gardeners.
Speaker 1 (18:43):
Thank you so much, Nikki. You've been so great to
have on this morning. I can hear your passion for
your gardening in your voice, and I really appreciate you
coming on this morning.
Speaker 4 (18:54):
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (18:55):
All right. That's Nickie Munroe with the Indian River County.
She's the specializes in Florida friendly landscaping and she is
with University of Florida. So great office down there in
the Indian River and they really know their stuff.
Speaker 2 (19:10):
I love the fact that she about the sprinklers like legit,
like if your sprinklers went off this last week, there's
something wrong.
Speaker 1 (19:17):
That is so true. 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. Welcome back to the
(19:55):
second half of Better Lawns and Gardens. We would love
your phone calls gardening quest we can take and answer.
There is no silly questions. Somebody else is interested in
what you're asking. I'm sure of it. You can give
us a call one triple eight four five five, two
nine six seven, or you can text two three six
(20:16):
eight zero. And so we did have a question from Patricia.
And Patricia says Herbermuda grass is turning brown in patches
and dying. She has about an acre of lawn and
no irrigation other than what nature provides. And the lawn
used to be luck lush, but it's slowly getting more
and more brown patches and dying. Could it be fungus?
(20:38):
And if so, what should I do? The lawn has
been established for at least twenty years. And so, good morning, Patricia,
Thank you so much for your question. I don't know
where you're living, but it's fungus is caused by water,
and so that your grass is not irrigating, it is
not irrigated. That just means that that's probably not the issue. One,
(20:58):
the severe drought that Florida has gone through over the
last two years is probably a major factor. And then two,
the severe winter we went through in late December, January,
and February has caused the bermuda grass to go dormant.
Bermuda grass goes dormant when the temperatures go below fifty
(21:19):
five degrees. So I think that it's going to recover fine,
and it'll look much much better in June and July
and August once our rainy season starts and the warmer
temperatures cause it to grow back. And then if you
mow it, the brown will probably come off and the
new green grass, the new grass will be there, so
it'll look lusher. So what I would do is I
(21:39):
would wait until the next rainy period and then after
the rainfall, go ahead and fertilizer grass with a fifteen
zero fifteen if you have not already done so, and
it should return back to normal. So let us know
how your grass does. Patty that's a Patricia. That is
a wonderful question. And I know that more and more
(22:01):
people have still are facing trauma and stress with not
getting your uh their their plants are not coming back.
John and Lakeland, good morning. How can I help you?
Speaker 5 (22:14):
Yes, ma'am, I would like to know, Mike Walbs, I'm
only about a mile from Peterson. Mike Wavas survived the freeze. Excellent,
they were burned and they're coming back. I've got them
trimmed back already. What fertilizer should I add to them
to help them come on back up?
Speaker 1 (22:36):
Okay? So you can just use a regular uh, you know,
one one one analysis, So you can use a you
know six sixty six eight eight eight, ten, ten ten
fertilizer because you want it to not only grow the
root system, you know, enhance the root system, but also
to grow leaves and to grow flowers and fruit. So
just a balance fertilizer will be just fine. And then
(22:58):
you want to do that on a regular base, so
like every three months or so. O.
Speaker 5 (23:03):
Great, Thank you, Mariam, You're welcome.
Speaker 1 (23:05):
Thank you for calling in. I appreciate it. And yes, sir,
thank you. Have a great weekend. John, I appreciate it.
Let's go to Polly in Ovido. Good morning, Polly, how
can I help you?
Speaker 3 (23:16):
Good morning? Thank you. So I need to put in
some grass plugs. I've got Saint Augustine and it went
real kind of crummy over the with the freeze.
Speaker 1 (23:25):
Yes, and it's.
Speaker 3 (23:26):
Come back a lot, but I have some pretty big
little patches where it just looks like super dry Saint
Augustine roots. I did I have some. I have like
some weeds kind of all over. So I did put
down with a hose inspray or some actressine two weeks ago.
It'll be this Sunday. I know that takes a while,
so I don't know if that's going to factor in.
(23:47):
I really have it. I think it takes a while,
so I haven't seen a whole lot of results. However,
I'm gonna instead of doing the sod because it's going
to be too much to prep the grass. Can you
maybe give me like a couple of quick tips on
you know, how to prep those areas and then what
to put in the plug and what to put on
the plug. I've been given so many I don't know,
(24:08):
so many advice advice.
Speaker 1 (24:11):
Okay, So the areas where you have sprayed atressine is
going to start to decline, and so I would probably
wait probably two and a half to three weeks before
you replug it or put new sawed down to give
the to give the addressine time to work and then
to to dissipate.
Speaker 3 (24:30):
And so I sprayed it, Yes, two weeks, because it'll
be two weeks tomorrow, so two more.
Speaker 1 (24:35):
Weeks, I know, I would just wait another week. Okay, Okay,
so just wait another week. We got warm temperatures coming,
so you can do it. And then you just kind
of scrape the grass so you can get good contact
between the roots that you're putting in, whether it's plugs
or sod, and and make sure that the roots contact
with the soil, and then water it in. You don't
(24:57):
necessarily want to overwater right now. Once a day or
twice a day for the first week is all you need.
And then you can go to every two days the
second week, and then every three days the third week
on those new areas, and by the time by the
end of the month or four weeks later, your plants
will be able to just go to twice a week
(25:19):
watering with no issue. Okay, if you water every day,
it's going to create that short root system and the
roots aren't going to grow.
Speaker 3 (25:27):
Okay, So every other day, and then every third day
and then okay.
Speaker 1 (25:31):
So this is how I remember it. This is how
I remember it, Polly, once a week for the first week,
once a day for the first week, once every two days,
the second week, once every three days. The third week,
and by the fourth week, you're on a schedule of
twice a week watering.
Speaker 3 (25:49):
Okay, gotcha. Anything to go in the holes before I put.
Speaker 1 (25:52):
Them in, you don't necessarily need to do that. You
can put down a rooting hormone. You can put down
a grass enhancer, fertilizer enhancer, you can do use that.
And then also I would wait till after you mow
it three times before you put fertilizer down on it.
Speaker 3 (26:11):
Okay. So I was told to put fun to side
and bug blaster and fertilizer. Don't do that, Well.
Speaker 1 (26:16):
You can, but I wouldn't necessarily do the bug blaster.
And and then you can put down a h What
was the the other two top ones that you said
you told.
Speaker 3 (26:28):
Me to put out, Well, this was just my local nursery,
and they just said, oh, fund just sidey bluster and
then the iron fertilizer.
Speaker 1 (26:37):
Yeah, no, don't do that. You don't necessarily need to
do the fertilizer right now, okay, because it's already what
the plugs that you have and and the grass and
the sad that you have are coming from the nursery.
They have already been fertilized for the for the from
the growers. And you want to wait and then put
it on. You have until the beginning of June to
put fertilizer down on it. And so I would wait
(26:59):
until you start to see new growth after you you
voted it three times, then you can put the fertilizer down, okay.
But also the fund de side. If we were going
to be going into the rainy season, I would say, yes,
so you don't need to put it down now because
we're going to be dry. Even if we get rain
a couple of times, it's not going to be the
to cause fungus. I would put the fungicide down in
(27:22):
the end of May, mid May to end of May,
before our rainy season starts. If you get a fungus issue,
do you normally get a fungus in your grass?
Speaker 4 (27:32):
Oh?
Speaker 3 (27:33):
Sometimes we do you know? And I notice it's the
yellow kind of the yellow. I mean fungus looks like you.
We are between my neighbor and mine, there's a little
bit of a I don't want to say a goalie,
but we've been getting a lot of mushrooms. Yes, so
that's when I thought.
Speaker 1 (27:47):
Oh, how often are you water?
Speaker 3 (27:50):
Is my irregation is turned off because we've had so
much rain.
Speaker 1 (27:53):
Okay, so you have a wet area there. So if
that's the case and you get rain, you can put
the fun a side down when you put the plugs in.
If you're apt to get fungus, that would be but
also to if you're using too much water, you'll get
the fungus. Great question, Polly, Thank you so much. 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.
(28:38):
Welcome back up Better Lawns and Gardens and now Teresa's
top five. My top five this week is my top
five flowers that thrive with rainfall or once a week watering.
And I'm talking only about established plants. Number five African irises,
Zones eight to eleven full sun blooms spring through fall.
(29:01):
Gets to be three feet high by about three feet wide,
very salt tolerant. Number four black eyed Susan's zones three
to nine. They're perennial here in Florida and they recede
full sun blooms summer to early fall. It goes to
be one to two feet tall and one to two
(29:22):
feet wide, very salt tolerant. Number three are periwinkles or
vincas Cantharanthus rosia zones nine to eleven, zone eight as
an annual full sun, high salt tolerance, two feet by
two feet And what's interesting about it is that periwinkles
(29:43):
have chemical compounds called alkaloids that are used in treatment
for Hodgkins la foma and also leukemias, different types of leukemias.
So that's nice thought. It's not edible. Number two the
Lantana zones nine to eleven perennial, full sun blooms year round,
hides and spread is two to six feet tall and wide,
(30:07):
highly salt tolerant. And my number one plant that I
love by on number one flower that is very very
drought tolerant, only needs rainfall whirling butterflies gar LINDEHEIMERI zones
five to nine full sun blooms spring through fall, one
to two feet tall plus one to two feet wide.
(30:28):
It is moderately salt tolerant. So those are my five
favorite flowers. I will post them on our Facebook page
later today, and I like that. Let me just talk
to Polly real quick, and so I just want to
make sure that if she's in a low lying area
where her she has poor drainage and she gets a
(30:49):
lot of soil or watery that ponds, go ahead and
use the funge just side when you are putting down
your turf. If you're in a dry high area that's
sandy and you don't get that you have good drainage,
not necessary to put the fun de side down now,
but you could put it down right before the rain
(31:09):
starts in the beginning of June rainy season, and at
the end of May you can put down the fun
just side. So also I would recommend Polly that you
get the Agritech, the University of Florida Soil test Kit
to determine how much fertilizer and what kind of fertilizer
you need to put on your turf. The kits are
(31:30):
very inexpensive. They're thirty five dollars. You can get them
online Agritech Soil Kit for the University of Florida, and
you can also find them at your extension office. You
can mail it in and it will come back to
you within a week to ten days and it will
tell you exactly what you need to fertilize. Let's go
(31:50):
to Carol in Lakeland. Good morning, Carol, How can I
help you?
Speaker 6 (31:55):
Good morning?
Speaker 1 (31:56):
Are you I'm great? How are you good?
Speaker 4 (32:00):
Hey?
Speaker 6 (32:01):
So we've got this like thirty foot avocado tree that's,
you know, still all brown. It's got sprouts in many
of the areas. But are we supposed to cut off
the ends of them or something?
Speaker 1 (32:15):
The tips don't necessarily need to. I would just check
the scrape, the cambian layer, the outer bark area to
see what is green and if it is not green
or moist. Sometimes it can still look brown and still
be moist and it's still alive. I think it's still
too early to be cutting down trees that have been frozen.
(32:37):
You're avocado. Do you know what variety it was?
Speaker 6 (32:41):
That's a Florida avocado, the big one.
Speaker 1 (32:42):
Yeah, the big one. Okay. So it may be, you know,
winter hardy. It may not be, but I would just
I would just wait. I would not I would cut
off the suckers at the bottom of the tree and
see if it comes back from the top. I don't
want you to cut the tree down. If you do,
get an arborist to check it out off. I don't know,
(33:04):
there's I would hope soon. I still got a beautiful
I have a beautiful mango on our street that is
still brown and not one leaf has dropped, and so
I'm hoping it survives. It's about thirty feet tall, too,
so it's just gonna be a wait and see. You
might want to contact an arborist to check it out
(33:25):
and look at it, because that's kind of a big
tree to cut, you know, just by yourself. So I
would wait a couple more weeks. Check back with me.
But you can check it. Just scrape the cambium. See
if the highest branch that you can reach has is
still green underneath.
Speaker 4 (33:42):
Okay, we moved.
Speaker 6 (33:44):
Our bottle brush and oh Phil, it is in shock.
Speaker 1 (33:49):
Okay, so it's coming back. Well, keep watering it, so
water it every day. Soak that root ball. The water
will help it to reduce the stress. Thank you, Carol.
Let's go to John in Lakeland. Good morning, John. How
can I help you?
Speaker 5 (34:04):
Yes, ma'am, I have a hybrid elderberry, which in Florida,
elderberries grow wild and we harvest them to make wine
and pies.
Speaker 1 (34:16):
Oh my goodness, that's delicious.
Speaker 5 (34:18):
Yeah, but this one is a hybrid. It has a
larger head of berries. The berries are bigger and they're sleeverers.
What can I fertilize that with? Or do I need
to fertilize it?
Speaker 1 (34:34):
Well, everything that has flowers and fruit need to be
needs to be fertilized, okay, because it needs extra energy
to produce a good harvest. So you're going to want
to fertilize on a consistent basis. I would just use
a regular balanced fertilizer uh six sixty six eight eight eight,
ten to ten according to the label, and depending on
(34:56):
the size, how tall is your elderberry?
Speaker 2 (35:00):
Me?
Speaker 1 (35:00):
Hi, right, me hi? Oh, I'm not gonna worry about it,
So just go ahead and follow the label. And you're
probably gonna want to put about a cup not close
to the tree, but a little bit further away so
they can go into the root system and develop a
good root system.
Speaker 5 (35:16):
Okay, okay, ma'am.
Speaker 1 (35:17):
You're welcome. Thank you for calling a hybrid elderberry. I'm
gonna look that up right.
Speaker 2 (35:22):
Yeah, very interesting.
Speaker 1 (35:24):
I love the big berries. Oh my goodness, that would
be lovely. So that's great. So I do want to
say National Gardening Day is on Tuesday, and you do
want to You know, gardening can take the place of exercising.
Thirty minutes of gardening can burn as many calories as
badminton or yoga, and so the Mayo Clinic, according to them,
(35:47):
like gardening burns one hundred and seventy five to three
hundred calories per hour for the average person. Moderate gardening,
which is what you do Lizzie, digging and weeding, burns
three hundred four hundred calories per hour. And heavy gardening,
which is tilling and heavy lifting and planting and moving
plants and shrubs, burns four hundred to five hundred calories.
(36:11):
And vigorous gardening tasks like cutting down trees. Me, yes,
cutting down trees can use up five hundred to six
hundred calories per hour. So it is wonderful. Gardening connects
us with nature and moving around outdoors, getting sunlight and
working with plants and wildlife can boost your brain health,
(36:33):
ease anxiety, and contribute to lasting well being. I call
it weeding the worries of the world away. Yes, and
it's all good for you. So Eric, I want to
thank Eric for the painted buntings photographed. That's gorgeous. I'm
going to post that on Facebook so everybody can see
the painted buntings before they go home. I want one
(36:53):
in my yard so bad.
Speaker 2 (36:55):
Well, you know, we don't always get what we want doing.
I want one to my They're gorgeously I've only believe
or not. I've only seen one maybe two in the
last couple of years where we are in Serrento.
Speaker 1 (37:08):
So he is very lucky. He had what three or four?
Speaker 2 (37:11):
Half a dozen?
Speaker 1 (37:12):
Half a dozen? Oh my goodness. I can't wait to
show everybody. So I will be posting that. And I
do thank everyone for calling in. And I want to
thank Nicki Monroe from Indian River County. She is the
Florida Friendly Landscaping Agent Environmental hourt horticultural agent for Indian River.
She was very good about what we should be doing
(37:34):
about an efficient irrigation system. The number two principle on
Florida Friendly landscaping and so if you missed it, you
can go back and where can they hear it.
Speaker 2 (37:43):
At Better Lawns dot Com. That's Better Lawns dot Com. Also,
who do we have coming up next tree?
Speaker 1 (37:48):
So we have Cheryl Harris, who is the executive director
for the Florida Irrigation Society. I'm very excited to have
her on and she is going to be talking about
out irrigation and the future of legislation in Florida for irrigation.
So that's good. Yeah, it's gonna be very important. So
I'm pleased to have her on and we're just gonna
(38:12):
take more gardening phone calls. It is National Gardening Month
National Gardening Day on Tuesday, April fourteenth, and it is
also Water Conservation Month. This is the month that you can,
like Nicki says, wean your turf and your plants off
of high irrigation. This is the month to do it
(38:33):
when we're getting rainfall and it's still cool. If it's
Saturday morning. You're listening to Better Lawns and Gardens from
the Summit Responsible Solution Studios. I'm Teresa Watkins and this
is Florida's talk and entertainment network.
Speaker 2 (38:48):
If you miss any of the show, or any other
shows that you'd like to go back and catch or
recap your two Better Lawns dot com. That's better Lawns
dot com. You can also find us on social media's
look at Better Lawns and Gardens. You can look up
Teresa Watkins or you can look up Lizzie said what
Good morning, Welcome to Better Lawns and Gardens from the
Summit Responsible Solution Studios. I'm Teresa Watkins and this is
your gardening show. We do appreciate you listening. We hope
you are having a great week. We have had a
wonderful week. We got some rain which was very very
(00:29):
very needed, and we're gonna have a beautiful garden week
coming up. So it is going to be Chamber of
commerce weather. Good morning, Lizzie, how are you?
Speaker 2 (00:40):
Good morning. We really need to get videotapeing here so
they can see what's going on. I'm literally running around
in here trying to get my headphones plunged. Well you're
all set there, yes, But definitely beautiful gardening weather. I'm
so excited for this in the weather today, So.
Speaker 1 (00:55):
It is, it's going to be beautiful. It is also
National Gardening Day on April fourteenth, which is very exciting. Well,
it's gardening Day every day, you know when you come
to Florida, and so but we're gonna be talking a
little bit about National Gardening Day and the benefits of gardening.
(01:15):
And then also it's April is Water Conservation Month, so
I have Nicki Monroe coming in from the University of
Florida Indian River County Extension Office. She is the Florida
Friendly Landscaping Agent there and the master Gardener coordinator. And
then we also in our second hour have Ryl Harris
(01:35):
coming in. She's the executive director of the Florida Irrigation
Society and I'm very, very very honored to have her
on today. So I love that it's going to be
a great show. We're going to be taking your gardening questions.
Hopefully you have the phone number in your phone that's
one triple eight five five five.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
No, I'm sorry, thank you, winter bla four five five
two nine six seven.
Speaker 1 (02:03):
I'm not awake this morning. I haven't had my delicious
cup of tea here yet, right, so yeah, I'm sorry.
Two nine sixty seven four FIY five two ninety sixty seven.
And then you can text us two three six eighth
zero and we will be uh taking your gardening questions
later on in the program. Weather Wise, just a beautiful week.
(02:24):
It was cool this morning out there, uh some in
the high fifties, low sixties throughout central Florida. And this
this this week North Florida, you are gonna have sunny
or partly sunny all week long. No chance of rain.
Hies in the seventies to mid eighties. One day possible
at the end of the week for ninety uh, but
(02:45):
loads in the sixties. Gainesville you're going to be a
bit warmer, mid eighties and a few days of ninety
but load's in the fifties and sixties, so great sleeping weather.
After you've worked all day in the garden, you'll be
able to rest really well. Central Florida, Popco, calor Orlanda,
Tampa you are going to have again just a sunnyweek.
No chance of rain this week, but the temperatures are
(03:08):
going to be really lovely, sunny, departly sunny, seventies and eighties,
lows in the sixties in South Florida. Just a beautiful
sunshine state weather. Just a great day or a great
week for the beach. Tempts in the low eighties and
seventies and seventies at night, so the weather is going
to be perfect nice. The April newsletter is out. If
(03:31):
you did not receive it, you can email me better
Launs dot com. You can text us and let me
know your email address. I will input you just need
a name and a zip code, and or you can
go to my website which is www dot g s
H E Dash Consulting dot com. S H E Dash
(03:55):
Consulting dot com. Or you can just google Teresa Watkins
and I come up with gardening and I'm everywhere.
Speaker 3 (04:01):
Thanks.
Speaker 1 (04:02):
You can get the next newsletter and I will send
you April's newsletter too as well. You can also see
what to do in your garden on Better Lawns dot
com and it will take you to what to do
in your landscape. And then also too, we want to
make sure that you are getting through again one triple
(04:22):
eight four fifty five two nine sixty seven. Put it
into your phone. So we what to do this month
in your landscape. It's a beautiful week. Beautiful week. You
can be planting great vegetables this time of the year.
Calabasa cantalopes and cassabas, chyotes and cherry and everglades, Tomato,
(04:46):
cucumber and dashen eggplant, Jerusalem artichoke, yakamas and Lima beans,
malabar and Korean spinach malanga New Zealand spinach. These are
all spinaches that can take the warm because we usually
need to plant spinaches in the fall, okra and pepper
and roselle, seminole, pumpkins and snap beans, squash and southern peas,
(05:10):
sweet potatoes, temurillos, and yard long beans. So these are
all greate vegetables that you could be planting. The hides
are usually low eighties and the loads are in the sixties. Rainfall,
we've already received all the rainfall that we're supposed to
get in April already this month achievers, I know. So
(05:31):
we're only supposed to get averaging. This is our dry
time of the year, two and a half inches of rain,
and we saw that in one day here in some
of the counties throughout Florida. So it is a great,
great opportunity. It's a National Gardening month too as well.
It's a wonderful time to work a green thumb. You
(05:53):
can plant a small garden, adopt a houseplant at a
piece of art to your garden. I love that. Yes,
adding art to the garden works very very very well,
and so uh it just it just personalizes it and
it can be a little bit of signage, you know,
welcome to Patty's, you know Paradise or you know, uh
(06:16):
Patty Patty, I know Patty in the garden and uh
and so you know, uh, I just I just love
this month. This is just a great month. We're going
to be back. Nicky Monroe is up with us and
she is going to be talking about Florida Friendly landscaping.
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.
(07:03):
Welcome back to Better Lawns and Gardens. I'm Teresa Watkins.
Nicky Monroe is the en Agent and Master Gardener Volunteer
coordinator with the University of Florida IFIs Extension Office in
Indian River County. She specializes in Florida Friendly Landscaping, at
subject that is close to my heart, and she helps
(07:23):
residents create beautiful, sustainable landscapes that protect Florida's water resources.
Through her work, she connects the community with research based
practices very important that make gardening easier, more efficient, and
environmentally responsible. Good morning, Niki, Welcome to Better Lawns and Gardens.
Speaker 4 (07:43):
Good morning, Teresa. Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (07:45):
Oh, I'm so glad you're here. So just to catch
up with Indian River, did you get a lot of
rain this last week. What kind of impact did it
make with the drought.
Speaker 4 (07:57):
Yes, we've had a unusually high amount of rain all
over the past week here in Indian River County. Some
areas saw several inches, including a couple of days that
even broke local rainfall records. It hasn't been enough to
like fully take us out of our drought conditions, but
it's a good start.
Speaker 1 (08:16):
It is take what we can get right.
Speaker 4 (08:19):
Yeah, And you know the plants and the and and
our soil are just like yes, thank you please.
Speaker 1 (08:25):
I could appreciate that too. So the University of Florida
if AS Florida Friendly Landscaping program offers valuable resources for
sustainable gardening. And so what are the nine principles? Refresh everyone?
Speaker 4 (08:38):
The nine Florida Friendly principles are right plant, right place.
That's my favorite. And if you get that one right,
you're a winner all the way. Through water efficiently, fertilize appropriately, mulch,
attract wildlife, manage yard past responsibly, recycle yard ways, reduce
(09:01):
stormwater run off, and protect the waterfront. These are just
going to make your decision processes for managing your landscape.
So much easier.
Speaker 1 (09:11):
That is so true that those are great principles. So
the second principle of Florida fronting landscaping is efficient watering.
What does this mean?
Speaker 4 (09:23):
Watering efficiently means giving water, giving the plants of water
they need to be established, and then encouraging them to
develop deep, strong root systems so that they can really
support themselves without a lot of help from you. So
instead of frequent shallow watering, you're going to water deeply
and less often over time, and that also helps your
(09:47):
plants to be more resilient. That way, you can go
on vacations when you need to and you don't have
to be like, oh, what is my landscape going to
look like if my irrigation system crapped out.
Speaker 1 (09:57):
That's going to be great exactly. Oh that's such a
good good idea and less stress. That's important. So Florida
has designated April as water conservation month. And so why
did we select April.
Speaker 4 (10:13):
You know, it's gonna seem counterintuitive, I know, because it
is the you know, it's our dry season starts in
the fall, and by April we're usually at the peak
of our dry period, so soil moisture as well, the
temperature is arising and plants are under the most stress.
We're already being water conscious. We just need to transfer
(10:35):
that water consciousness into not emergency watering, but to say
how we can manage our water more intentionally. So we're
going to check our irrigation systems, We're gonna adjust the
season of watering restrictions and to make sure that we're
not overwatering. You know, our plants are just coming awake again.
They don't really need to be guzzling a lot of
(10:56):
water right now. So that's why April is important for
water consert It's right before the summer rain returns, and
we need to really really double down on efficient watering practices.
Speaker 1 (11:09):
I think everyone has a bad feeling or they have
a bad image of water restrictions, you know that twice
a week during the summertime and once a week during
the fall and winter. But it's really only what the
plants need anyway. It's not really a restriction that they're enforcing.
It's all the plants need right.
Speaker 4 (11:29):
Absolutely, because our dry season also coincides is when most
of our landscape plants in Florida go. If they're not
fully asleep, if they're not fully dormant. They're dozing, right,
so they're not using a lot of water right now anyway.
Speaker 1 (11:47):
So how much water does a landscape and I'm going
to emphasize an establish landscape. We're not talking about new
turf or new landscapes that have been installed. How much
water do landscapes really need? Nikki?
Speaker 4 (12:00):
For established landscapes, most shrub and tree, most shrubs and
trees should lead little or no supplemental irrigation once they
are established. Betting plants and turf grass they tend to
need more like about one each weekly. But the delivery
for both of those are different, right, So turf grass
(12:20):
receive their irrigation through overhead watering and betting plants often
benefit more from micro irrigation or drip irrigation lines. But
as long as you're giving them just about half an
inch to three quarters of an inch of water during
those weeks, during those twice a week irrigations in the summertime,
you're going to be fine.
Speaker 1 (12:41):
That is so true, And I mean really, you know,
honestly and in reality, most people give their lawns and landscapes,
you know, two to three inches if not more a week,
and that doesn't help them does it.
Speaker 4 (12:54):
It does not watering deeply but less often really helps
to make those roots system search for water. It stresses
them out and it makes them stronger, and that is
going to help your plants to actually be more beautiful,
more efficient, and you get to sit on your back
(13:15):
deck and enjoy yourself a little bit more with your
landscape than to be out there saying, oh, no, what
happened over here?
Speaker 1 (13:22):
Exactly? That is so true. And so the drought that
we've had this last two years, homeowners have really they
don't realize that they haven't gotten the water that they
need or the new homeowners, I should say new residents
to Florida. So how does a homeowner know if they've
gotten enough rain so that they don't have to turn
their irrigation system on.
Speaker 4 (13:43):
So this is a twofold problem at least, right most
homeowners don't know that they've had enough rain because they
try to look at how their landscape looks, and most
of the things that we have in our landscapes are
either fairly drought tolerant or they just don't look as
awful as they should appear. And then we also have
(14:05):
the compounding of that issue with most landscapes have irrigation systems.
So that's looking at your landscape and saying, yeah, I'm
sure I've gotten enough rain is not a reliable indicator.
But if you put a rain gauge out into an
open part of your landscape that you pass by frequently, right,
not like the back corner near the pool box or whatever,
(14:29):
but somewhere in the front yard that you have to
walk past when you're going to your car, then you'll
be able to see. You'll be able to track rainfall
and know whether you're getting enough.
Speaker 1 (14:41):
That's true. Now, what about if you have an automatic
irrigation system? How can we determine if those are working correctly?
Speaker 4 (14:50):
This past week would have let you know, right, we've
gotten more than enough rain in most parts of Florida,
and if your irrigation system still went off, it needs
to be checked. It definitely has there's something wrong because
your landscape should have received as much water as it
should have needed for for two weeks.
Speaker 1 (15:13):
Wonderful. Okay, that again, I try and look and see.
You know, sometimes after a rain fall you see irrigation
systems going on, and it could mean that they haven't
had enough water to tr shut the system. Down, or
it could mean that it's just not set properly, so
that's something to be concerned about. What are the symptoms, Nikki,
(15:33):
of overwatering?
Speaker 4 (15:35):
Common signs of water overwatering include increased statch, which is
just when you mow the lawn, the little pieces that
fall down back into the turf, So there's increased statch
in turf grass. We've got dollar reed are starting to
take over. So dollar reed is what we normally call it,
but it's caught. It's its name is penny wart. And
(15:56):
almost anything that has that wort ending is telling you
there's too much water. And even plants wilting because they've
become too dependent on you to give them too much water.
Those are indications of overwatering. And I'm not talking about
(16:17):
like what you said, I'm not talking about a new
plant needing your care. I'm talking about plants that are
old and they should be independent by now.
Speaker 1 (16:26):
So a landscape needs to be established. I would say
probably six months for shrubs, at about a year to
two years for trees and larger shrubs.
Speaker 4 (16:36):
Absolutely yes, if you're establishing them for proper health and
proper vigor. This is a real going concern that you
need to be engaged in to make sure that you're
giving them all of the cobbling at the beginning so
that they're relaxed and they feel free to expand their roots.
And then afterwards you gently wean them off of the
(16:58):
extra water. But now they're nice and strong because you
took a lot of time to manage them carefully.
Speaker 1 (17:04):
That's great. That's a wonderful answer. So how can homeowners
encourage their landscapes to be needing less water?
Speaker 4 (17:12):
You're going to start by gradually weaning your landscape off
of the frequent watering. Right. This is going to be
easier to do now that we're heading into the summer
rainy season, so that nature can do most of the
work for you. If rain is expected within a day
or two, it is okay to let your plants suffer
a little bit, not a lot, and that's going to
(17:35):
actually encourage them to stretch out their roots and become
more self sufficient. And then over time, watering less often
but more deeply will become your new normal for your landscape,
and you will find that your plants are going to
be more resilient and you are also going to see
(17:56):
less weed and disease. Issues that you don't even have
to rest with chemical processes or extra work on your part.
I'm not fond of going outside to pick bugs off
of plant.
Speaker 1 (18:08):
No, I'm not either, So great information, Nikki. How can
our listeners find out more about taking care of their
landscape when coming up on a hard break?
Speaker 4 (18:19):
Any search engine just type in FFL for Home Landscapes.
Speaker 1 (18:24):
Excellent. So what is that again?
Speaker 4 (18:27):
FFL for Home Landscapes.
Speaker 1 (18:29):
FFL for Home Landscapes. Just put that in and it
will all the websites and resources will pop up. And
if they want to contact your extension office, how do
they do that?
Speaker 4 (18:39):
They can contact us on Facebook IRC Master Gardeners.
Speaker 1 (18:43):
Thank you so much, Nikki. You've been so great to
have on this morning. I can hear your passion for
your gardening in your voice, and I really appreciate you
coming on this morning.
Speaker 4 (18:54):
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (18:55):
All right. That's Nickie Munroe with the Indian River County.
She's the specializes in Florida friendly landscaping and she is
with University of Florida. So great office down there in
the Indian River and they really know their stuff.
Speaker 2 (19:10):
I love the fact that she about the sprinklers like legit,
like if your sprinklers went off this last week, there's
something wrong.
Speaker 1 (19:17):
That is so true. 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. Welcome back to the
(19:55):
second half of Better Lawns and Gardens. We would love
your phone calls gardening quest we can take and answer.
There is no silly questions. Somebody else is interested in
what you're asking. I'm sure of it. You can give
us a call one triple eight four five five, two
nine six seven, or you can text two three six
(20:16):
eight zero. And so we did have a question from Patricia.
And Patricia says Herbermuda grass is turning brown in patches
and dying. She has about an acre of lawn and
no irrigation other than what nature provides. And the lawn
used to be luck lush, but it's slowly getting more
and more brown patches and dying. Could it be fungus?
(20:38):
And if so, what should I do? The lawn has
been established for at least twenty years. And so, good morning, Patricia,
Thank you so much for your question. I don't know
where you're living, but it's fungus is caused by water,
and so that your grass is not irrigating, it is
not irrigated. That just means that that's probably not the issue. One,
(20:58):
the severe drought that Florida has gone through over the
last two years is probably a major factor. And then two,
the severe winter we went through in late December, January,
and February has caused the bermuda grass to go dormant.
Bermuda grass goes dormant when the temperatures go below fifty
(21:19):
five degrees. So I think that it's going to recover fine,
and it'll look much much better in June and July
and August once our rainy season starts and the warmer
temperatures cause it to grow back. And then if you
mow it, the brown will probably come off and the
new green grass, the new grass will be there, so
it'll look lusher. So what I would do is I
(21:39):
would wait until the next rainy period and then after
the rainfall, go ahead and fertilizer grass with a fifteen
zero fifteen if you have not already done so, and
it should return back to normal. So let us know
how your grass does. Patty that's a Patricia. That is
a wonderful question. And I know that more and more
(22:01):
people have still are facing trauma and stress with not
getting your uh their their plants are not coming back.
John and Lakeland, good morning. How can I help you?
Speaker 5 (22:14):
Yes, ma'am, I would like to know, Mike Walbs, I'm
only about a mile from Peterson. Mike Wavas survived the freeze. Excellent,
they were burned and they're coming back. I've got them
trimmed back already. What fertilizer should I add to them
to help them come on back up?
Speaker 1 (22:36):
Okay? So you can just use a regular uh, you know,
one one one analysis, So you can use a you
know six sixty six eight eight eight, ten, ten ten
fertilizer because you want it to not only grow the
root system, you know, enhance the root system, but also
to grow leaves and to grow flowers and fruit. So
just a balance fertilizer will be just fine. And then
(22:58):
you want to do that on a regular base, so
like every three months or so. O.
Speaker 5 (23:03):
Great, Thank you, Mariam, You're welcome.
Speaker 1 (23:05):
Thank you for calling in. I appreciate it. And yes, sir,
thank you. Have a great weekend. John, I appreciate it.
Let's go to Polly in Ovido. Good morning, Polly, how
can I help you?
Speaker 3 (23:16):
Good morning? Thank you. So I need to put in
some grass plugs. I've got Saint Augustine and it went
real kind of crummy over the with the freeze.
Speaker 1 (23:25):
Yes, and it's.
Speaker 3 (23:26):
Come back a lot, but I have some pretty big
little patches where it just looks like super dry Saint
Augustine roots. I did I have some. I have like
some weeds kind of all over. So I did put
down with a hose inspray or some actressine two weeks ago.
It'll be this Sunday. I know that takes a while,
so I don't know if that's going to factor in.
(23:47):
I really have it. I think it takes a while,
so I haven't seen a whole lot of results. However,
I'm gonna instead of doing the sod because it's going
to be too much to prep the grass. Can you
maybe give me like a couple of quick tips on
you know, how to prep those areas and then what
to put in the plug and what to put on
the plug. I've been given so many I don't know,
(24:08):
so many advice advice.
Speaker 1 (24:11):
Okay, So the areas where you have sprayed atressine is
going to start to decline, and so I would probably
wait probably two and a half to three weeks before
you replug it or put new sawed down to give
the to give the addressine time to work and then
to to dissipate.
Speaker 3 (24:30):
And so I sprayed it, Yes, two weeks, because it'll
be two weeks tomorrow, so two more.
Speaker 1 (24:35):
Weeks, I know, I would just wait another week. Okay, Okay,
so just wait another week. We got warm temperatures coming,
so you can do it. And then you just kind
of scrape the grass so you can get good contact
between the roots that you're putting in, whether it's plugs
or sod, and and make sure that the roots contact
with the soil, and then water it in. You don't
(24:57):
necessarily want to overwater right now. Once a day or
twice a day for the first week is all you need.
And then you can go to every two days the
second week, and then every three days the third week
on those new areas, and by the time by the
end of the month or four weeks later, your plants
will be able to just go to twice a week
(25:19):
watering with no issue. Okay, if you water every day,
it's going to create that short root system and the
roots aren't going to grow.
Speaker 3 (25:27):
Okay, So every other day, and then every third day
and then okay.
Speaker 1 (25:31):
So this is how I remember it. This is how
I remember it, Polly, once a week for the first week,
once a day for the first week, once every two days,
the second week, once every three days. The third week,
and by the fourth week, you're on a schedule of
twice a week watering.
Speaker 3 (25:49):
Okay, gotcha. Anything to go in the holes before I put.
Speaker 1 (25:52):
Them in, you don't necessarily need to do that. You
can put down a rooting hormone. You can put down
a grass enhancer, fertilizer enhancer, you can do use that.
And then also I would wait till after you mow
it three times before you put fertilizer down on it.
Speaker 3 (26:11):
Okay. So I was told to put fun to side
and bug blaster and fertilizer. Don't do that, Well.
Speaker 1 (26:16):
You can, but I wouldn't necessarily do the bug blaster.
And and then you can put down a h What
was the the other two top ones that you said
you told.
Speaker 3 (26:28):
Me to put out, Well, this was just my local nursery,
and they just said, oh, fund just sidey bluster and
then the iron fertilizer.
Speaker 1 (26:37):
Yeah, no, don't do that. You don't necessarily need to
do the fertilizer right now, okay, because it's already what
the plugs that you have and and the grass and
the sad that you have are coming from the nursery.
They have already been fertilized for the for the from
the growers. And you want to wait and then put
it on. You have until the beginning of June to
put fertilizer down on it. And so I would wait
(26:59):
until you start to see new growth after you you
voted it three times, then you can put the fertilizer down, okay.
But also the fund de side. If we were going
to be going into the rainy season, I would say, yes,
so you don't need to put it down now because
we're going to be dry. Even if we get rain
a couple of times, it's not going to be the
to cause fungus. I would put the fungicide down in
(27:22):
the end of May, mid May to end of May,
before our rainy season starts. If you get a fungus issue,
do you normally get a fungus in your grass?
Speaker 4 (27:32):
Oh?
Speaker 3 (27:33):
Sometimes we do you know? And I notice it's the
yellow kind of the yellow. I mean fungus looks like you.
We are between my neighbor and mine, there's a little
bit of a I don't want to say a goalie,
but we've been getting a lot of mushrooms. Yes, so
that's when I thought.
Speaker 1 (27:47):
Oh, how often are you water?
Speaker 3 (27:50):
Is my irregation is turned off because we've had so
much rain.
Speaker 1 (27:53):
Okay, so you have a wet area there. So if
that's the case and you get rain, you can put
the fun a side down when you put the plugs in.
If you're apt to get fungus, that would be but
also to if you're using too much water, you'll get
the fungus. Great question, Polly, Thank you so much. 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.
(28:38):
Welcome back up Better Lawns and Gardens and now Teresa's
top five. My top five this week is my top
five flowers that thrive with rainfall or once a week watering.
And I'm talking only about established plants. Number five African irises,
Zones eight to eleven full sun blooms spring through fall.
(29:01):
Gets to be three feet high by about three feet wide,
very salt tolerant. Number four black eyed Susan's zones three
to nine. They're perennial here in Florida and they recede
full sun blooms summer to early fall. It goes to
be one to two feet tall and one to two
(29:22):
feet wide, very salt tolerant. Number three are periwinkles or
vincas Cantharanthus rosia zones nine to eleven, zone eight as
an annual full sun, high salt tolerance, two feet by
two feet And what's interesting about it is that periwinkles
(29:43):
have chemical compounds called alkaloids that are used in treatment
for Hodgkins la foma and also leukemias, different types of leukemias.
So that's nice thought. It's not edible. Number two the
Lantana zones nine to eleven perennial, full sun blooms year round,
hides and spread is two to six feet tall and wide,
(30:07):
highly salt tolerant. And my number one plant that I
love by on number one flower that is very very
drought tolerant, only needs rainfall whirling butterflies gar LINDEHEIMERI zones
five to nine full sun blooms spring through fall, one
to two feet tall plus one to two feet wide.
(30:28):
It is moderately salt tolerant. So those are my five
favorite flowers. I will post them on our Facebook page
later today, and I like that. Let me just talk
to Polly real quick, and so I just want to
make sure that if she's in a low lying area
where her she has poor drainage and she gets a
(30:49):
lot of soil or watery that ponds, go ahead and
use the funge just side when you are putting down
your turf. If you're in a dry high area that's
sandy and you don't get that you have good drainage,
not necessary to put the fun de side down now,
but you could put it down right before the rain
(31:09):
starts in the beginning of June rainy season, and at
the end of May you can put down the fun
just side. So also I would recommend Polly that you
get the Agritech, the University of Florida Soil test Kit
to determine how much fertilizer and what kind of fertilizer
you need to put on your turf. The kits are
(31:30):
very inexpensive. They're thirty five dollars. You can get them
online Agritech Soil Kit for the University of Florida, and
you can also find them at your extension office. You
can mail it in and it will come back to
you within a week to ten days and it will
tell you exactly what you need to fertilize. Let's go
(31:50):
to Carol in Lakeland. Good morning, Carol, How can I
help you?
Speaker 6 (31:55):
Good morning?
Speaker 1 (31:56):
Are you I'm great? How are you good?
Speaker 4 (32:00):
Hey?
Speaker 6 (32:01):
So we've got this like thirty foot avocado tree that's,
you know, still all brown. It's got sprouts in many
of the areas. But are we supposed to cut off
the ends of them or something?
Speaker 1 (32:15):
The tips don't necessarily need to. I would just check
the scrape, the cambian layer, the outer bark area to
see what is green and if it is not green
or moist. Sometimes it can still look brown and still
be moist and it's still alive. I think it's still
too early to be cutting down trees that have been frozen.
(32:37):
You're avocado. Do you know what variety it was?
Speaker 6 (32:41):
That's a Florida avocado, the big one.
Speaker 1 (32:42):
Yeah, the big one. Okay. So it may be, you know,
winter hardy. It may not be, but I would just
I would just wait. I would not I would cut
off the suckers at the bottom of the tree and
see if it comes back from the top. I don't
want you to cut the tree down. If you do,
get an arborist to check it out off. I don't know,
(33:04):
there's I would hope soon. I still got a beautiful
I have a beautiful mango on our street that is
still brown and not one leaf has dropped, and so
I'm hoping it survives. It's about thirty feet tall, too,
so it's just gonna be a wait and see. You
might want to contact an arborist to check it out
(33:25):
and look at it, because that's kind of a big
tree to cut, you know, just by yourself. So I
would wait a couple more weeks. Check back with me.
But you can check it. Just scrape the cambium. See
if the highest branch that you can reach has is
still green underneath.
Speaker 4 (33:42):
Okay, we moved.
Speaker 6 (33:44):
Our bottle brush and oh Phil, it is in shock.
Speaker 1 (33:49):
Okay, so it's coming back. Well, keep watering it, so
water it every day. Soak that root ball. The water
will help it to reduce the stress. Thank you, Carol.
Let's go to John in Lakeland. Good morning, John. How
can I help you?
Speaker 5 (34:04):
Yes, ma'am, I have a hybrid elderberry, which in Florida,
elderberries grow wild and we harvest them to make wine
and pies.
Speaker 1 (34:16):
Oh my goodness, that's delicious.
Speaker 5 (34:18):
Yeah, but this one is a hybrid. It has a
larger head of berries. The berries are bigger and they're sleeverers.
What can I fertilize that with? Or do I need
to fertilize it?
Speaker 1 (34:34):
Well, everything that has flowers and fruit need to be
needs to be fertilized, okay, because it needs extra energy
to produce a good harvest. So you're going to want
to fertilize on a consistent basis. I would just use
a regular balanced fertilizer uh six sixty six eight eight eight,
ten to ten according to the label, and depending on
(34:56):
the size, how tall is your elderberry?
Speaker 2 (35:00):
Me?
Speaker 1 (35:00):
Hi, right, me hi? Oh, I'm not gonna worry about it,
So just go ahead and follow the label. And you're
probably gonna want to put about a cup not close
to the tree, but a little bit further away so
they can go into the root system and develop a
good root system.
Speaker 5 (35:16):
Okay, okay, ma'am.
Speaker 1 (35:17):
You're welcome. Thank you for calling a hybrid elderberry. I'm
gonna look that up right.
Speaker 2 (35:22):
Yeah, very interesting.
Speaker 1 (35:24):
I love the big berries. Oh my goodness, that would
be lovely. So that's great. So I do want to
say National Gardening Day is on Tuesday, and you do
want to You know, gardening can take the place of exercising.
Thirty minutes of gardening can burn as many calories as
badminton or yoga, and so the Mayo Clinic, according to them,
(35:47):
like gardening burns one hundred and seventy five to three
hundred calories per hour for the average person. Moderate gardening,
which is what you do Lizzie, digging and weeding, burns
three hundred four hundred calories per hour. And heavy gardening,
which is tilling and heavy lifting and planting and moving
plants and shrubs, burns four hundred to five hundred calories.
(36:11):
And vigorous gardening tasks like cutting down trees. Me, yes,
cutting down trees can use up five hundred to six
hundred calories per hour. So it is wonderful. Gardening connects
us with nature and moving around outdoors, getting sunlight and
working with plants and wildlife can boost your brain health,
(36:33):
ease anxiety, and contribute to lasting well being. I call
it weeding the worries of the world away. Yes, and
it's all good for you. So Eric, I want to
thank Eric for the painted buntings photographed. That's gorgeous. I'm
going to post that on Facebook so everybody can see
the painted buntings before they go home. I want one
(36:53):
in my yard so bad.
Speaker 2 (36:55):
Well, you know, we don't always get what we want doing.
I want one to my They're gorgeously I've only believe
or not. I've only seen one maybe two in the
last couple of years where we are in Serrento.
Speaker 1 (37:08):
So he is very lucky. He had what three or four?
Speaker 2 (37:11):
Half a dozen?
Speaker 1 (37:12):
Half a dozen? Oh my goodness. I can't wait to
show everybody. So I will be posting that. And I
do thank everyone for calling in. And I want to
thank Nicki Monroe from Indian River County. She is the
Florida Friendly Landscaping Agent Environmental hourt horticultural agent for Indian River.
She was very good about what we should be doing
(37:34):
about an efficient irrigation system. The number two principle on
Florida Friendly landscaping and so if you missed it, you
can go back and where can they hear it.
Speaker 2 (37:43):
At Better Lawns dot Com. That's Better Lawns dot Com. Also,
who do we have coming up next tree?
Speaker 1 (37:48):
So we have Cheryl Harris, who is the executive director
for the Florida Irrigation Society. I'm very excited to have
her on and she is going to be talking about
out irrigation and the future of legislation in Florida for irrigation.
So that's good. Yeah, it's gonna be very important. So
I'm pleased to have her on and we're just gonna
(38:12):
take more gardening phone calls. It is National Gardening Month
National Gardening Day on Tuesday, April fourteenth, and it is
also Water Conservation Month. This is the month that you can,
like Nicki says, wean your turf and your plants off
of high irrigation. This is the month to do it
(38:33):
when we're getting rainfall and it's still cool. If it's
Saturday morning. You're listening to Better Lawns and Gardens from
the Summit Responsible Solution Studios. I'm Teresa Watkins and this
is Florida's talk and entertainment network.
Speaker 2 (38:48):
If you miss any of the show, or any other
shows that you'd like to go back and catch or
recap your two Better Lawns dot com. That's better Lawns
dot com. You can also find us on social media's
look at Better Lawns and Gardens. You can look up
Teresa Watkins or you can look up Lizzie said what
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