Presidential Garden Trivia.

Dirty Word of the Day: NOID.
What to do with the plant Mother-in-law Tongues, Boxwoods and Foxtails. Presidential Garden Trivia.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:09):
Good morning, Welcome back to the second hour of Better
Lawns and Gardens from the Summit Responsible Solution Studios. I'm
Teresa Watkins. I'm a landscape designer, author, horticulturist. I love
digging in the dirt and helping people with their gardens,
and we can help you this morning too as well.
Want to say a happy Valentine's Day to everyone, and

(00:32):
then we're also celebrating President's Day on Monday. So this
is a very very historic year, two hundred and fiftieth
years of the United States. If you would like to
experience it in a way you've never experienced it before.
The Art and Bloom Garden Tours. We are doing a tour,
a Revolutionary garden tour, and we are going to the

(00:55):
most iconic founding fathers and also American history, the Revolutionary
period of gardens and estates that are just beautiful. We
are spending many days in beautiful, beautiful gardens. It's going
to be a fun trip that starts in April. You
can go to Art in bloomgardentours dot com to check

(01:20):
all of our tours out. We are going to so
many wonderful places this year and I love to have
you go with me, because we just have a great time.
We go out and geek out at gardens and we
love it. So I think it is time for the
dirty word of the day. And now it's time for
the dirty word of the Day on the Better Lawns

(01:41):
and Gardens with Teresa Watkins, and the dirty word of
the day is node. Node. And I selected this word
because we're doing a lot of pruning now and with roses,
it's important to understand what a node is. So a
node is a vascular plant stem that is divided into
nodes and inner noodes. Okay, so the stem all up

(02:03):
and down has these little bumps and little outshoots that
are called nodes and inner noodes. They are slightly swollen
spots where leaves, branches, or flowers grow. They contain tissue
with dividing cells that form new plant parts. Each node
also has a dormant bud just above the leaf attachment.

(02:29):
So the inner node is part of the stem between
two nodes and it's responsible for plant elongation the heights.
Unlike nodes, it lacks tissue, so pruning here results in
a non productive stub and little regrowth. The effective growth
promotion involves making pruning cuts just above a node, which

(02:51):
triggers lateral bud development out to the sides and directs
energy to new branches. This technique efficiently courage is desired regrowth.
Cutting a plant node disrupts apical dominance by removing the
stem tip without oxen, which is the causes it to grow.

(03:13):
Lateral buds beneath the cut are no longer suppressed and
they begin to grow in de side shoots. Improper placement
of the cuts can be detrimental. A cut made excessively
above the node leaves the stubs that eventually turns brown,
dies back, and provides an entry point for pathogens and
delays bud activation. Conversely, cutting too close to or below

(03:37):
the node risks damaging essential tissue, potentially causing the bud
to dry out and impair its capacity to spread. So
proper pruning cuts are vital for plant recovery and growth.
Use clean, sharp bypass pruners for smooth cuts, as ragged
edges can and ragged surfaces can slow healing and increase

(03:59):
disease risk. Okay, so it's very very important when we
do these notes. So so many times when we are
cutting and This is part of the issue with crape
myrtles and pruning them straight across is that we are
cutting off those points where the buds could out grow
or could grow out. And so you want to make

(04:20):
sure that you're cutting it properly at the right location
and cut it usually at a forty five degree angle
is fine. It's not necessary for some plants, some ornamentals,
but for your trees and for your larger shrubs, cutting
the points diagonally, very trim and sharp is going to

(04:40):
have a healthier plant. So the dirty word of the
day is node.

Speaker 2 (04:44):
Nice.

Speaker 1 (04:45):
There you go. And so I wanted to So the
President's Day is Monday, So I wanted to give you
these little tidbits so that you can discuss this weekend
as you're touring the Greater Orlando Orchid Society's Orchid Sale
and Hearts and Bluomot the Orlando Garden Club. So at
Mount Vernon, George Washington's Virginia home, the President planted so

(05:09):
many roses that it took twelve days each June to
pick the pedals, which his wife Martha distilled into rose water.
And despite his reputation as an impassioned horticulturists Thomas Jefferson.
Jefferson actually scaled back the presidential gardens, an act he
felt would reinforce his ideas about small government. He cut

(05:30):
off more than seventy acres that were part of the
Presidential palace, designating the area as a more democratic public
common James Madison, on the other hand, he planted the
first documented presidential vegetable garden. At the time, presidents paid
the expenses of feeding guests out of their own pockets,

(05:51):
and Madison's list of seeds to purchase included several varieties
of cabbages and radishes, as well as carrots, beats, parsnips,
brought and more. John Quincy Adams he had a thing
for trees. In Baltimore. He picked up acorns from a
white oak on the battleground at North Point Fought just

(06:12):
after the White House had been burned, and he brought
them back to the plant In his nursery, he collected
chestnuts and elm samsaras Samaras, planted them and monitored their growth.
Irvin Williams he was the head gardener during the first
Bush administration. He created inventive ways of keeping pests from
entering the garden. He used fertilizer laced with Louisiana hot

(06:35):
sauce that discouraged moles and voles, and baskets of Georgia
peanuts were strapped to tree trunks to distract marauding squirrels
from their precisely planted tulip bulbs. Squirrels, however, had long
been welcome on the grounds. In the nineteen twenties, one
was so tame that the members of the Press Corps
nicknamed him Pete. Sixty years later, Ronald Reagan brought acorns

(06:59):
from Camp David on a regular basis to feed the
squirrels in the Rose garden. So this hour is all
about you one triple eight four five five two nine
sixty seven, or you can text two three six eight zero.
I want to wish everyone a happy Valentine's Day. We're
gonna be back with more of Better Lawns and Gardens
from the Summit Responsible Solution Studios. I'm Teresa Watkins, and

(07:23):
this is Florida's talk and Entertainment network, and welcome back

(07:44):
to Better Lawns and Gardens. If you have a gardening question,
you're welcome to give me a call. One triple eight
four five five two nine sixty seven, or you can
text two three six eight zero. Happy Valentine's Day to
everyone out there. Is going to be a lovely weekend.
We're gonna get a little bit of me did rain
and it's going to be dry through the week, so

(08:04):
you can water once a week and then next weekend Tallahassee,
you know, Central Florida, We're gonna get a little bit
more rain than too, so just keep praying for rain.
Let's go to David in Polk County. Good morning, David,
How can I help you?

Speaker 3 (08:18):
Hey, good morning Teresa. Can you help me?

Speaker 1 (08:20):
I can't?

Speaker 4 (08:21):
Can you hear me?

Speaker 1 (08:22):
I can hear you? Just fine, Okay.

Speaker 3 (08:25):
My neighbor has a large area of I'm sure it
wasn't that large when she started, but because they creep
but mother in law tongues.

Speaker 1 (08:34):
Yes.

Speaker 3 (08:35):
I don't know what the actual name for them is,
but that's what I've always heard them called. Yes, And
they got hit pretty hard by the freeze. They look horrible.
What do I need to do to help her with those?
Cut them down or.

Speaker 5 (08:52):
What?

Speaker 1 (08:52):
Okay, so one they didn't get hit hard enough because
they're still surviving. They are very invasive. They are on
our invasive lists, and hopefully they're not near a conservation
area or something. But all you need to do, David,
is cut them down to the ground and they will
reappear there. They will be back. Okay, Okay, go ahead.

Speaker 3 (09:15):
I was afraid I might kill them if I did that.

Speaker 1 (09:17):
No, no, no, Actually they're there. That's why they're quite
invasive that you people think they die from the weather,
and then they throw them out in the compost pilo
or throw them out in the woods, and then they
take over and push out our native plants. So they're
not considered a good plan. I would only use them
for containers and for indoor plants. They're nice that way,
but never out in the yard. But you know, she's

(09:39):
got them. They're they're going to come back, and they're
going to keep spreading and spreading and spreading. So you
may want to kind of reduce it every year, just
pull out the outside ones and just keep a set
size there that you you maintain.

Speaker 3 (09:52):
Okay, Okay, so much, Terice, appreciate it.

Speaker 1 (09:54):
You're welcome. Thank you for being so nice to your neighbor.
That's wonderful. I appreciate it.

Speaker 2 (09:58):
I mean we all need to be made.

Speaker 1 (10:00):
It's reg nice. I need to give him my address. Okay,
So let's let's go here one triple eight four five five,
two nine sixty seven, or you can text two three
six eight zero and I am just pulling down. We've
got a lot of text messages, which is really good. Okay,
So here we go, Darryl. I'm not saying Daryl Coleman

(10:23):
the earth box lady. Can I cut back my hibiscus?
That is all twigs? Should I fertilize?

Speaker 3 (10:28):
Yes?

Speaker 5 (10:29):
Or no?

Speaker 1 (10:29):
So cut back? Go ahead and scrape the cambium layer,
that outer layer of a light bark, and see where
you can find green. Where you find green, then cut
above that, and yes, you can go ahead and fertilize
right now. Do not okay, so I'm gonna be talking
about Saint Augustine law here too. Just a second, do
not fertilizer lawns. Okay, not yet, not yet. It's not

(10:51):
a good time, all right, So let's go to I
did the lilacs? I have a roser anyway, winged elm.
Saint Augustine grass is showing green sprouts. Is there a
specific care for our lawns throughout the neighborhood. No, I
would just go ahead and cut it normally, water it
normally one time a week. It only needs about an
inch and a half of water a week. That's all

(11:13):
you need to do. We are going to fertilize our
Saint Augustine lawns in the end of March, first part
of April, and there's good reasons for that. So you
want to make sure that you're not overfertilizing. But March,
end of March is a good time for your to
fertilize your turf area. Not right now, Susan in Tallahassee says,

(11:35):
just wondering if I can remove frozen leaves from agapanthus
crime and giant walking iris and they will still bloom
this year. Yes you can, so go ahead and you
can cut those back. They will. They may be a
little bit later blooming, but yes, they'll be blooming. Excuse me, okay,
So Linda says, do any of your tours go to

(11:56):
the Asimir flower Market? Not this year, but it is beautiful.
She thought when she visited it she had died and
gone to heaven, So we are glad you didn't. And
it is a lovely, lovely tour oh so, uh, I
have a couple. I don't know where you live or name.
I have an absolutely beautiful monster up plant. I was
going up. It's going up my oak tree and all

(12:18):
around the oak tree, and now it's brown and black?
So do I have to have it all pulled down
or all pulled up and just keep trimming on it?
Thank you so much. My husband and I sit and
enjoy your show every Saturday morning. Well, this is great. No,
you don't have to pull it out. What I would
do is cut off all the brown leaves, leave the
stems the vines attached to the trunk of the oak tree.

(12:41):
Not a problem. Go ahead and leave it attached. It
will sprout new leaves. Not a problem. Okay, one triple
eight four five five, two nine sixty seven, or you
can text two three six eight zero. Let's see. I
think I have all of the text messages. We can
take phone calls. Harold in West Melbourne. Two questions what

(13:03):
about box and foxtails that got hit by the freeze?
And two had I planned on laying down a pre
emergent the first weekend of February but did non since
that was the weekend of the freeze. The Saint Augustine
is mostly brown, but soft, not crunchy. Should I use
it pre emergent this spring or wait till fall?

Speaker 5 (13:19):
Thank you.

Speaker 1 (13:19):
I'd go ahead and put your pre emergent down now, Okay,
that's not a problem your box withs and foxtails. I
would cut back the brown, the dead portions. Cut the
fronds are the spears of the foxtail ferns. Cut them
down to the base and let them still keep the green,
the nice green ones still going. It'll recover, not a problem,

(13:41):
And I think that that's it. Okay one triple eight
four five five, two nine sixty seven, or you can
text two three six eight zero. So you want to
roses can be trimmed back right now, you can go ahead.
This is the perfect month to be growing roses. January
February are the perfect months to do that. You want

(14:03):
to make sure your roses are on Fortuniana rootstock fortunian
or rootstock or doctor huey. Okay, those are the ones
that are the most nematod resistant and do the best
here in Florida. So the roses in England and in
France and Europe, they're four hundred years old, and how

(14:25):
do they get them to live so long. In here,
roses usually last between five and twelve years five to twelve,
ten years or so, and then they have to be
they start to succumb to disease and insects and nematoads.
And that's because of our dry sandy soils. Okay, we
have the heat, we have the dry sandy soils, and
that's what nematodes love. So when you're planting your roses,

(14:48):
what you want to do is really amend the soil
very nicely with good organic good organic material, rich and
well drained, two to four inches of organic soil. Gonna
use peak composts, manure, mushrooms, black cow, and you want
the pH to be between five point five and six

(15:08):
point five Okay, always full sun. They do better in
full sun and morning sun. If you only have some sun,
morning sun is preferred. And then you want to make
sure that you're fertilizing on a regular basis, but also
to pruning your uh, pruning your plants is important. And

(15:28):
the pruning is important because that's going to stimulate new growth.
The more new leaves you have on a rose bush,
the more buds you're going to get. Now my favorites are,
and if you'll send me an email, I will send
you this afternoon. My my favorite, my favorite rose bushes.

(15:49):
I've got handouts for them, and I will send this
to you. But drifts are lovely. Heirloom roses are lovely.
These are the older ones and the David Austin roses
all just take breast away. They're just lovely. Let's go
to Bill in Lake Placid.

Speaker 6 (16:03):
Good morning, Bill, Good morning. Uh yeah, I'm in south
central Florida. I have very sandy.

Speaker 7 (16:10):
Soil, very sandy, and I'm growing pineapples, which I do
get pineapples, I don't know, eighteen months or so, but
and they get nice and golden on the vine. They're
super sweet.

Speaker 6 (16:23):
Everything's great except their size of a grapefruit. I just
use a regular basic general organic fertilizer. How can I
get bigger pineapples?

Speaker 1 (16:33):
I would go ahead? And so do you amendo soil
at all?

Speaker 6 (16:39):
Not really? I mean I I just keep it clean
and wheat free and used to use the regular fertilizer.

Speaker 1 (16:44):
Okay.

Speaker 8 (16:44):
And are they in full sun fertilizer?

Speaker 1 (16:46):
Okay? Are they in full sun?

Speaker 6 (16:48):
About ninety eight five ninety percent?

Speaker 4 (16:50):
Son?

Speaker 1 (16:51):
Okay? Because that would that would help. Full sun, you know,
eight to ten hours a day would be great because
they'll they'll grow more that way. But make sure you're
just what are you for lights with?

Speaker 6 (17:01):
And the plants are huge. The plants are some of
them are very big four feet but no, the pineapples
are some always small. They get golden and you know
ripe being on the vine. I gotta pick them when
they're small.

Speaker 1 (17:12):
Yeah, you have you say you have to pick them
when they're small.

Speaker 6 (17:17):
Well, how long can I leave them on the vine
once they care in golden?

Speaker 1 (17:21):
Yeah, that's true. I mean it's between you and the squirrels, right,
And so that I understand that. What I would suggest
is what type of pineapple is it? And there's certain
and there are varieties of pineapples that you can plant there,
maybe larger than some of the ones you get in
the store. So I would have to see what you do.

(17:42):
But keep on fertilizing and you that would that would
be my main thing is make sure that you're fertilizing
on a regular basis every month.

Speaker 7 (17:51):
Most of them, most of the pineapple plants. I have
already cut tops off of the supermarket pineapples.

Speaker 1 (17:57):
Okay, so that so, uh, I appreciate.

Speaker 6 (17:59):
That start it out big.

Speaker 1 (18:01):
Yeah, no, they did, but see that the next generation
doesn't always do what the first one did. But I
would want to say, again, what do you fertilize with
and how often?

Speaker 6 (18:11):
Yeah, I'm not sure. Just an organic fertilizer, that may
be it.

Speaker 1 (18:15):
So you want to make sure you're giving them the
micronutrients too, because they not only need nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium,
but they need the boron, They need the zinc, they
need the magnesium, they need the sulfur, uh, molybdium, and boron.
So I would start using a fertilizer that has the
micronutrients in it. Follow the label. You may not be
putting down enough for that size of a plant, so

(18:37):
make sure you're going with the right proper size and
amount and frequency.

Speaker 2 (18:41):
Okay, Now should he like if you look, he's like
looking at a box store and he's looking at like
a bag. Should they have like the pineapples and the
tropicals on it?

Speaker 1 (18:49):
Is that the time? Okay? So yeah, so no want
you want to go buy the name, but you also
want to look at the fertilizer ingredients. That's the important part.
We don't buy fertilizer by names only because plants can't read. Okay, yeah,
so you know you want to make sure that what
you're putting down is the nutrients they need, and they
need the micro and the macro nutrients, so you just

(19:11):
definitely want I would just say that you probably are
just missing that that extra boost of boron and zinc
and uh, you know all the micro nutrients that are
that would add so much more vigor to the plan.
There you go. We're gonna be right back. Thank you
so much.

Speaker 3 (19:27):
Bill.

Speaker 1 (19:27):
For colleague Jerry. We're gonna get to you, Julie because
simm hang on there. 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, Spener Lawns

(20:05):
and Gardens. I'm Teresa Watkins. We'd love to have your
phone calls one triple eight four five five, two nine
six seven, where you can text two three six eight zero.
We want to wish everyone a happy Valentine's Day. Hope
you get out and enjoy this beautiful weekend. They have
a little bit of rain, but that's not gonna be
washed anything away. That's gonna be wonderful. But it's going
to be a great week to get out in the

(20:27):
garden and just redo everything. It's a great opportunity for us.
So let's go to Jerry in Citrus County. Happy Valentine's Day, Jerry.

Speaker 5 (20:37):
Happy Valentine's Day to you, Teresa. I good questions for
you on the if these plants will SURVIVEE they're sort
of tender, okay, the Red Lady papaya.

Speaker 1 (20:47):
Yes it should, that's good. It should. Okay, it may,
it may lose its sleeves. It may not get back,
but it should come back. I'll tall is it?

Speaker 5 (20:58):
Oh it's about ten fee?

Speaker 1 (21:00):
Yeah, it may get knocked back a couple of feet.
But go ahead and just take the brown off of it,
the dead leaves off of it, and let it and
give it some fertilizer.

Speaker 5 (21:10):
Oh it will and the mallow.

Speaker 1 (21:12):
The mallow will definitely come back. Yes.

Speaker 9 (21:16):
Oh.

Speaker 1 (21:16):
And the Brazil, the Brazil, Yes, it should come back.

Speaker 2 (21:21):
Yes.

Speaker 1 (21:21):
How tall is it?

Speaker 5 (21:22):
Okay? Oh it was a couple of feet.

Speaker 1 (21:26):
You know, that's a little iffy. It just depends on
how damaged it got. But I would just scrape back
the trunk, or just to see what if you can
find any green. If you can find green, then it
should recover.

Speaker 5 (21:38):
Okay. In the Norfolk Island pine, it's very small, it
was new.

Speaker 1 (21:42):
It was new. It's but about two feet tall.

Speaker 5 (21:45):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (21:45):
Is it pretty brown? Is it pretty brown?

Speaker 9 (21:49):
Yeah?

Speaker 5 (21:50):
And half of it for some reason, it's half of
it's real brown.

Speaker 1 (21:53):
Yeah, it could be wood and burn. I would say.
Norfolk Island pines do not like to be frozen at all.
Usually that's when we lose them. It's when we get
our very you know, harsh freezes. I would just baby
it and see what's gonna happen. You may have another
stock come from the bottom, so start looking for that,
and if it does, then I would cut off the

(22:14):
brown portion and let the two grow together.

Speaker 5 (22:17):
Okay. And the last one is pepper mint. The mint.

Speaker 1 (22:21):
Yeah, yeah, you're mint. Your men's gonna be with you forever.

Speaker 2 (22:26):
It's not going anywhere, trust me, all right, Jerry, thank
you so much.

Speaker 1 (22:32):
Let's go to Julie and Kase sim Me. Good morning, Julie.
How are you hi? How can I help you? I
have a.

Speaker 8 (22:41):
Problem with colocasia elephants. I live near the creek and
they grow along there. Somehow they blew into my pasture. Yeah,
and oh it's it's horrible. And they say that you
can't get anything. Uh, I'm and you can't get them
out without a nuclear blast.

Speaker 5 (23:02):
I don't know.

Speaker 1 (23:03):
Yeah, I mean I would. I would use brushbegd, but
i'd be careful near the creek. I wouldn't use any
kind of herbicide near the creek. You're just gonna have
to hand remove them. But if you remove that root system,
then it's going I mean, that's one way to do it.
So I would just spend probably just a really good
effort trying to get rid as many of them as possible.

(23:23):
They are invasive though, Okay.

Speaker 8 (23:26):
I have one other one that the foxtail you mentioned before.

Speaker 1 (23:29):
Uh huh.

Speaker 8 (23:30):
I have foxhil palms okay, and they're beautiful and they're
all brown.

Speaker 5 (23:35):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (23:35):
The foxtails may not survive. So they don't like cold
weather at all.

Speaker 8 (23:39):
So oh, I shouldn't cutting the thing off.

Speaker 1 (23:42):
No, I mean I would, but I would go ahead
and use a fungicide on it, liquid copper fund to side.
How tall is it?

Speaker 6 (23:50):
They're tall?

Speaker 1 (23:51):
Yeah, I don't know. Twenty Yeah, if you can get
your landscaper to spray the top of it with your fungicide.
I would do that, but you may you may have
lost them. I would just keep I would cut the
brown off and see what comes up.

Speaker 8 (24:06):
Okay, okay, very much, you're.

Speaker 1 (24:08):
Welcome, Hunt, thank you, bye bye. Let's go to John
in Melbourne. Good morning, John, how are you?

Speaker 4 (24:14):
Good morning Teresa. A happy Valentine's Day and thanks for
taking all.

Speaker 1 (24:17):
You're welcome.

Speaker 4 (24:18):
I have a bogan via that's about seven foot high,
and I trained it to grow around a trellis. Okay,
it looks like it's all brown and gone. I'm just
wonder what you think.

Speaker 1 (24:30):
I think it's going to be just fine. Go ahead
and scrape it. In certain areas. You may have some
dead portions of the of the of the stem, okay,
the vine, but I would just go ahead and scrape
it back. See if you can find some green. It
should recover. I will tell you I was in Saint
Augustine yesterday and they got down into the low twenties,
if not teens, and those booga and villas looked really bad.

(24:54):
They have no leaves left, but they're the stems are
still green, so I think it should be Okay.

Speaker 5 (25:00):
That's too bad.

Speaker 4 (25:01):
I was hoping you were saying that thing, it's dead, gone,
tear out.

Speaker 1 (25:07):
You can get rid of it if you want to twist.

Speaker 4 (25:10):
Thank you, you're welcome.

Speaker 1 (25:12):
You're welcome.

Speaker 2 (25:12):
And he's like, no, no, no, no, no no, you want
to get rid on.

Speaker 1 (25:18):
Yeah, no, you know, we'll bookom Villas have such long thorns,
not prickles, they have thorns, and so they're they're really
kind of brutal. Uh to have you know, So one
triple eight four five five two nine sixty seven, or
you can text two three six eight zero Gene from
Palm Bay. She said, Teresa, I'm enjoying your Saturday morning
radio show. And she said, with the freeze and terrible

(25:41):
weather we've had in Palm Bay, the top section of
many bushes and even trees all have brown dead leaves.
The color is a lovely burnt orange. But even so,
I'm wondering when the best time would be to trim
them back and get rid of the dead branches and leaves.
So Jean, go ahead, prune your little heart out. You
can go ahead and cut them back, cut it back
down to where it is green, and they will just

(26:02):
find and go ahead and fertilize it with a slower leave.
Fertilizer will be just fine. And then Maureen in Merritt Island,
she says, how long do we need to wait to
prone our plants that appeared to have been damaged by
three nights of freezing temperatures? And she says, she's got
copper leaf hibiscus palms. Go ahead and cut them back,
all right. If you are cutting your palms, so make

(26:24):
sure you are sterilizing your tools before you go to
another palm tree. Please do that, Okay, be very clean
with your tools when you are trimming. Think of surgery
and think of how doctors have to sterilize their tools
before they go from one surgery to the next, one
patient to the next. You gotta do the same thing

(26:45):
with palm trees. Very very important. And so then Robert says,
I have two Hawaiian plumerias. They were about seven to
eight years old. After the last freeze, I kept cutting
them back to find milky blood. Eh got nothing but
clear all the way down to the ground. Will they
come back, Sadly, if they've melted like that, Robert, they
are probably not going to survive. What I would do

(27:06):
is see how much of it you can find that
has sturdy tissue, strong tissue that you can cut a
portion of it and try and replant it. So I
would definitely do that. All right, we're going to be
right back with the last fifteen minutes of the show.
You're welcome to call one triple eight four five five
two nine sixty seven. You can text two three six

(27:27):
eight zero. Newsletters going out this weekend. I promise 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.

(27:56):
Welcome back to Better Lawns and Gardens. If you have
a gardening question one triple eight four five two nine
sixty seven, or you can text two three six eight zero.
And you can always listen to the iHeart podcast later on.
Just google Teresa Watkins, iHeartRadio and Better Lawns and Gardens
and I come right up. Let's go to Rob in Christmas.

(28:17):
Good morning, Rob, How are you well?

Speaker 10 (28:20):
How are you doing today?

Speaker 1 (28:21):
I'm doing great? Are you the Rob that we've been
talking in emails?

Speaker 10 (28:25):
Yeah? Well no I haven't emailed you. I talked to
you a couple of weeks ago. Okay, about my plumbia
ten foot tall and ten foot wide. Yes, and my
heart was breaked if it just died. So I did
a bad thing. Oh put I put the sprinkler on
it overnight for two nights, and I had beautiful, beautiful

(28:47):
ice sculptures my yard. People stop and take pictures. But
it looks like it survived except for a few little
like six or eight inch pieces. Didn't get the water there.
Saw with the rest of it is good and sturdy.
Do I cut those off?

Speaker 1 (29:03):
Yeah? Cut those off pieces off? That would be fine.
I would never recommend putting the irrigation on. But you
you got through thereby the grace of God and angels.
Your guardian angels were watching over you.

Speaker 11 (29:14):
Yeah.

Speaker 10 (29:15):
I know it was so increase my water bill by
twenty bucks, but it was worth it, I guess. But
thank you.

Speaker 1 (29:23):
All right, yeah, yeah, just go ahead and cut off
the mushy parts and let me know how it goes.

Speaker 10 (29:30):
Okay, So I don't do anything after I cut them
off to the living part.

Speaker 1 (29:34):
All right, it'll be fine. Let's just let it heel over.
It'll be fine. Thank you, You're welcome home. Thank you.
One triple eight four five five two nine sixty seven,
or you can text two three six eight zero. So
we recommend that you should fertilize with roses mid February
to mid November every month, Okay, fertilized with a slower

(29:55):
lease fertilizer, follow the label instructions. But if you're using
just regular fertilizer once a month between mid February to
mid November, South Florida, you can fertilize year round on
your roses and that will be fine. You can apply
one cup of fertilizer per plant or one cup or
one half cup bi monthly and then you go ahead

(30:18):
and your larger bushes you can, you know, fertilize a
little bit more, your smaller bushes a little bit less.
So you just kind of take it into consideration the size.
Let's go to Thompson in Orlando. Good morning, Thompson, good morning.

Speaker 9 (30:32):
Good morning tree. So I'm calling in regard to my
chacopa tree. Yes, got a lovely tree. Oh, I had
a lovely tree almost full maturity. It's about twelve feet
tat high and twelve feet in diameter and it's.

Speaker 6 (30:46):
Taking a big hit.

Speaker 1 (30:47):
Yes, okay, so is how all the leaves, are they droopy?

Speaker 9 (30:53):
Yeah? All droopy? Yeah?

Speaker 1 (30:55):
Okay, so kind of describe the tree. Is it just
a tree all the way up? Or do you have
of leaves all the way down and it's a shrubbed
all shrup Now I've.

Speaker 9 (31:02):
Got a trunk. It goes up about three feet and
then the branches out got a lovely shape to it.

Speaker 1 (31:08):
Wonderful. I would just wait until the brown leaves fall off,
see what you have, and then go ahead and just
trim it back so it'll be just fine.

Speaker 5 (31:17):
I would.

Speaker 1 (31:18):
You can trim anything by a third without stressing it
out too much. Okay. So and you're in Orlando, so
we're not going to get any more cold weather. So
I would just trim it back by a third, and
then if you need to trim it again or let
it flesh out, and trim it again in midsummer early August,
and then that way it'll be hardened off before the

(31:38):
next winter. Okay, it should be fine.

Speaker 9 (31:41):
Thank you so very much.

Speaker 1 (31:42):
You're welcome. Thank you for asking that. It's so nice,
and so let's go to or we'll just wait here
just for a second. Let me tell you this pruning.
Here's what you should do. The major pruning for roses
consists of shortening the main canes and lad old branches
in early spring. That's end of February, first part of March.

(32:04):
You can do that right now. You want to remove
the twigs and canes that are dead disease injury, or spindlee.
And then you want to cut the main canes that
are one to three years old by at least half
their length. So look at your pinky and so the
size of the canes determine the age of the cane.

(32:25):
Determined the size, and usually they're pretty thicket one to
three years old. You can cut those by at least
half the width. Go ahead and take it down. Then
after you prune it, you can expect flowers between eight
and nine weeks. So if you're having parties or anything
like that, you can kind of estimate when you need
to cut your roses back so that they're all in

(32:46):
flu full bloom for your event. If needed, you can
prone it again in August, but then in August you
only want to cut it back by a half to
one third of the growth. And then certain rows you
don't need to trim at all. You know, they do
just fine, just every time they bloom. After every flush,
dead head them back and they will just pop out again.

(33:09):
Now the drift roses are the nice, lovely ones. They're small,
they only get to be about two feet high two
feet wide. They do not need to be deadheaded to
re bloom. I just think they look better because rather
than seeing all the spent buds, I just like to
peddle around in the garden and just trim those back
and let them flush back out again. They do not

(33:29):
need it, though, to read bloom, so they're really low care,
easy maintenance, beautiful colors. Let's go to Carol in Ovito.
Good morning, Carol. How can I help you?

Speaker 8 (33:39):
Oh?

Speaker 11 (33:39):
Thank you. I've been listening to you for years, but
I've never called it. You're amazing, Thank you.

Speaker 1 (33:43):
Thank you.

Speaker 8 (33:44):
I've got It's so sad.

Speaker 11 (33:46):
My Saint Augustine. I live in a zero lot line
neighborhoods zero, you know, not a lot of grass, but
grass it's Saint Augustine and it looks honestly.

Speaker 8 (33:55):
It looks like rawmen noodles.

Speaker 11 (33:57):
It's just crunchy and weird and brown. And I didn't
hear the whole show, but I heard you say pre
emergent and organic material, and we should mow and water
and I don't know if there's anything else I can
do any iron night or anything. And then if we
have time, I have a quick second question.

Speaker 1 (34:17):
Yeah, no, that's that one. I'm okay, so real quick.
Just go ahead and mow it and water it like
normal once a week, watering, mow it when you start
to see new growth on it next time. So you know,
once every couple of weeks right now during the winter
time is all that most. Let it recover. You're just
going to take off this dead grass over the next
month or so, and so then you can go ahead.

(34:37):
You want to fertilize your Saint Augustine in late March,
first part of April, not before then. You don't want
to encourage fungus growth.

Speaker 11 (34:46):
You did say, we can put down a pre emergent now.

Speaker 1 (34:48):
And if you have weeds, yeah sure. If you have weeds, yeah,
If you have weeds right now, you can go ahead
and put down a or if you're going to get weeds,
you know you're going to get spring weeds, go ahead
and put a pre emergent down now, yes, and then.

Speaker 11 (35:01):
Some black cow. You said organic material.

Speaker 1 (35:03):
Organic material you can add it on to it. What
you have really well, if you's got really good soil,
so you know, do you have a yes? So yeah,
I mean really rich soils in o Vito. But if
you if you want to add the putting the black
cow on top of it, yes, spreading it out, that
would be fine.

Speaker 11 (35:21):
Okay, and then real quick if you have it. I'm
moving to Tallahassee. My daughter lives here. I lived in
my house twenty nine years. That's why I need my
lawn to get good because I'm trying to sell it. Yeah,
but I want to bring all my potted plants. Well,
they have trouble up there. I've got plume areas.

Speaker 1 (35:35):
If you plant them outside, yes, if you're planting them inside,
you definitely want to make sure that you take them
into that. That's what I'm saying. You want to make
sure that you take them in. Even if I'm there
on the patio in Tallahassee, it could get cold enough
on your patio, uh, if it's suscreened.

Speaker 11 (35:50):
But they'll be fine up there the transition and everything.

Speaker 1 (35:53):
Sure, they'll be fine. Just make sure you cover them
in the winter time, make sure you move them to
the garage or depending on how cold it gets.

Speaker 11 (36:00):
It's mighty compared to here.

Speaker 5 (36:02):
It is.

Speaker 1 (36:03):
It's a big, big world of difference. Thank you so much, Carol.

Speaker 11 (36:06):
For everything you do. And I told Ludy I love
to hear about her turkey.

Speaker 1 (36:10):
All right, you too, Carol, Thank you so much.

Speaker 2 (36:12):
And just as she knows she can take us with
her when she goes to Tallahassee. You can go to
Better Lawns dot comedy they listen to the recap, or
you can search on all your your devices. If you
search Better Lawns and Gardens with Teresa Watkins, you'll be
able to find us there.

Speaker 1 (36:27):
That's it. And so I wanted to give a couple
of more information or some little tidbits about roses. So
black spot is very prevalent here in Florida. Black spot
circus flora leaf spot is the disease issues. It comes
from overhead watering and the humidity here in Florida. It's
just we're just the state that we have diseases because humidity,

(36:48):
the heat, and the plants that are susceptible to these diseases.
And so the best way not to get black spot
is to make sure you're not getting overhead irrigation. It's
one thing of the rainfall. We can't help the rainfall,
but you if you're irrigating over your roses and those
leaves stay wet in the middle of the night, they're

(37:08):
going to get black spot. And that is really a
really sad thing because then the leaves drop and those
spores go into the ground, and then the next time
it rains or the next time it irrigates, it splatters
back up onto the new leaves. So it's kind of
like a vicious cycle. So One, you can use a
three and one bioadvanced where it keeps the disease issues

(37:30):
from happening and insect issues from happening. And I find
that works very effectively here in Florida for your roses,
and it fertilizes at the same time. But you also
then to make sure your roses are spaced far enough
apart that they don't splatter on each other. Okay, when
they're really close together and there's lack of air circulation,

(37:52):
those roses are going to be more susceptible to diseases. Two,
you want to make sure you clean up all of
the diseased leaves. You want to pick them up off
the ground. You want to be very healthy, very clean
in your garden when you have disease issues, you don't
want it spreading or being there for the next plant.
And it'll be helpful if you make sure that you

(38:15):
clean up and pick up after when the leaves fall
off to the have the spores, because those spores still
carry the diseasings and spread very easily.

Speaker 2 (38:22):
Lizzie, thank you so much. We've had a busy day. Yes,
we have our listeners. You guys are the best and
you make our job fun, so thank you for that.

Speaker 1 (38:31):
If you would like to have my list of roses
and some rosecare tips and my list of fragrant roses
that I love, you can go ahead and email me
at Teresa dot Watkins at live dot com. Thank you
so much to all of our callers. Happy Valentine's Day.
Check out the twenty ninth Orlando Orchid and flower plant
sale today at the Orlando Garden Club on Rollin Street

(38:53):
here in Orlando. 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. If you miss any of
the show.

Speaker 2 (39:03):
You can go back and recap it at better Lawns
dot com. That's better Lawns dot com. And you can
send your emails to Teresa without an age Teresa dot
Watkins at live dot com