March 14, 2026 • 39 mins
This week, the Spring equinox arrives March 20 at 10:46 am EDT in the Northern Hemisphere and the Autumn season in the Southern Hemisphere. Better Lawns and Gardens host, Teresa Watkins answers Spring garden questions and explains the three-leaf Dirty Word of the Day.
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Speaker 1 (00:10):
Welcome back to the second hour of Better Lawns and Gardens.
I'm Teresa Watkins and this is Florida's talk and entertainment network,
Better Lawns and Gardens. We love talking to you about
your gardening and we want to wish everyone a happy
Saint Patrick's Day this week and the spring equinox, the
vernal equinox is starting on Friday, so spring will be here.
(00:34):
Just want to just give a shout out to Buffalo.
We have a lot of listeners in Buffalo, and Niagara
Falls is frozen right now. No way, It's incredible, incredible
how cold it is up there. So we do appreciate
you listening anywhere in the world. We have listeners from China, Singapore, Australia,
even in Norway and Spain, just a bunch of different places.
(00:57):
So we we just wish everybody a good day and
thank you for listening. And it's time for the dirty
Word of the Day. And now it's time for the
dirty Word of the Day on Better Lawns and Gardens
with Teresa Watkins. And I usually talk about three leaved
plants around Saint Patrick's date, but I've never talked in
(01:20):
my whole career. About this plant. You've probably never heard
of a trifoliate orange. Trifoliate orange otherwise known as a
Poncirus trifoliata. It's an evolutionary cousin of the Citrus genus,
which gives us lemons, conquots, limes, famellos, mandarins, sweet oranges,
(01:40):
and more. Unlike citrus, trifoliate orange ripens only bitter, intensely
sour fruit. Yet this plant native to China and now
disseminated around the globe, often as a rootstock for citrus appeals.
In other ways, it better tolerates cold, It stands pests,
(02:01):
and especially tantalizing resists a disease ravaging citrus growth, citrus greening.
The trifoliate orange is deciduous, thorny, and I want to
just really really just stress the thorny shrub or small
tree within the citrus family. The species epithet is derived
(02:23):
from Latin, indicates having three leaflets, highlighting the compound trifoliate leaves.
Initially cultivated as a resilient rootstock for grafted citrus varieties,
its s gained recognition for its qualities as an ornamental specimen.
Zoned for five to eight to nine b. This specie
thrives in well drained, acidic soils under full sunlight and
(02:46):
contain a height approaching twenty feet and fifteen feet wide.
The species is unusual amongst citrus for having deciduous, compound
leaves and downy fruits similar to a peach. Foliot orange
features prominent abundant doors, making it inappropriate for high traffic
(03:06):
locations but highly effective as a security hedge. The plant
produces sizable, fragrant blosses typical of citrus, and its lemon
like fruit is notably sour and contains numerous seeds, but
is delicious in making jams and marmalade. Trifoliate orange is
recognized for its resistance to citrus greening, and researchers have
(03:28):
sequenced its genome, identifying specific genes that contribute to this resistance.
The genetic information is crucial for breeding programs aimed at
developed new citrus varieties that withstand citrus greening. There's a warning.
Besides the sleeping beauty thorns and bitterfruit taste, Trifolia orange
tends to spread rapidly, often receding itself in areas like woodlands.
(03:52):
The edges of forests, fence rows, and urban green spaces.
Its officially listed as an invasive species in Alabama, Georgia,
and South Carolina, but you can buy Trifoliot oranges at
specialty nurseries, Amazon, at C and eBay. So the dirty
word of the day, fitting for Saint Patrick's Day is
(04:13):
trifoliot orange. Very interesting it is. It's really it's deciduous.
Can you imagine a deciduous citrus tree. It loses all
its leaves every winter, so that's pretty pretty cool. So
we are going to be taking your phone calls this
morning one triple eight four five five two nine sixty seven,
or you can text two three six eighth zero and
(04:37):
I will take your text messages and phone calls this morning.
I want to, uh, you know, just give a shout
out to if you missed any to the people who
have been texting us.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
And I need I need more tea listen, just laugh
I've laughing because our list. I'm telling you when I
tell you that we have the best listeners, we do
because collecte from winter Havens. Is it still byoc at
Peterson's Nursery today? And what that means is yes, b
Yoc bring your own chair. So thank you for reminding us.
(05:12):
And that's that'll be. What time will you be there today?
Speaker 1 (05:14):
Eleven thirty today, okay, and I will have handouts and
I will help you select plants for your yard. So
I'm looking forward to it. So what can you be
doing in your landscape this morning? You can be trimming
and dividing ornamental grasses. Please cut your fountain grasses back.
Your pompous grasses, you can cut back and go ahead
(05:36):
and get rid of the winter damage so that they
look good in the next couple of months. If you
don't cut them back, they're going to have all those
brown stems for the rest of the year and it
just looks very messy. You can trim your point settiist
within twelve to eighteen inches from the ground and you
can begin fertilizing it. You want to apply fertilizer to
(05:57):
your palms, shrubs, and perennials. You want to divide and
replant your perennials also too. You want to divide your
terrestrial orchids. Mine, just my terrestrial ground orchids. They did
not do well in the freeze, but they're coming back.
But I kept to cut them all the way down
to the ground. And then you also want to sprinkle
(06:17):
summer mosquito bits in your mosquito prone areas like bird bath, gutters,
and bromeliads. For March, this is a time for tomato
and pepper and eggplant planting times, so you want to
set your transplants in the ground. Garden pests include aphis,
white flights, and mites. You want to use that new
(06:38):
Summit Responsible Solutions product NIM eighty five and that will
help you get out. 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 Better
(07:13):
Lawns and Gardens. Let your friends and family know about
Better Lawns and Gardens and they can listen any time,
even on our podcast. Just listen to iHeartRadio. You can
search for Teresa Watkins or Better Lawns and Gardens and
you'll find it, and then go to our Facebook page
and like us. Please, we would love for you to
do that so we can let everybody know about Better
(07:34):
Lawns and Gardens. Let's go to Jackie and Melbourne. Good morning, Jackie,
how can I help you?
Speaker 3 (07:39):
Hey, good morning, hoping he can help me'am my poor
royal point Piana is met was past tense, magnificent.
Speaker 2 (07:49):
He's not looking too good these days.
Speaker 4 (07:51):
Is there any chance you think she'll come back?
Speaker 3 (07:53):
And so what can I do?
Speaker 1 (07:54):
Okay? So how tall is she?
Speaker 4 (07:57):
You know, big enough to make I've built she shed
around her as a centerpiece. I mean she's big.
Speaker 1 (08:04):
She's big, Okay, I'm gonna tell you she's gonna be fine, okay,
And just there's just probably gonna be of some pruning
you're gonna do with the branches that are dead. So
as she's.
Speaker 4 (08:14):
Dunk, there's not one bit of green on her.
Speaker 1 (08:16):
It's still well, it's still going to come back, I think.
So here's what you need to do. Get on a ladder,
and I want you to go to the branch about
the size of your pinky, and just start going back
and scraping that cambium, uh, the outer layer of the bark,
with your fingernail or keys or a little jackknife, and see,
very very carefully scrape it and see if it still
(08:40):
has moisture underneath that cambian labor layer. I usually say,
see if you find green. But you know, over the
last few weeks of testing everybody's trees when I go
to visit their their houses, some of the some of
the trees have a bark underneath it that is tan,
but it's still moist and so oh it is still alive.
(09:01):
So see where you can find Yeah, so see if
you can find some some live or spots on the branches.
And that's going to tell you whether it's going to
survive or not. I'm going to tell you one that
big will probably be damaged and get knocked back, but
it's probably gonna survive. Now with that, go ahead, go ahead.
Speaker 4 (09:20):
No, I was going to say, I have the same
thing with the powder puff tree. All the red ones
in my area are beautiful. My pink one is the
exact same way.
Speaker 1 (09:26):
Yes, yes, so the exact same way. So pink is
a different variety than the red ones, and so it's
probably a little bit more tender. Okay, So do the
same thing to that as well. Now, if we're supposed
to have a El Nino winter, which means warm and
wet this coming up December, January and February, and so
that's good news because we're not going to have really
(09:48):
two major too much of a major freeze to do
any damage hopefully. Okay, and that's just technically right now,
that's what they're saying. So forecast, weather, forecast, you know,
all that kind of good stuff. We're going to keep
our fingers.
Speaker 4 (10:01):
Saying anything for for helping her, giving her anything. You
don't want me to do.
Speaker 1 (10:04):
Anything, fertilized, Go ahead and fertilized I can. Okay, yeah,
go ahead and fertilizer and give her some nutrition to
push those leaves out.
Speaker 5 (10:12):
Okay, Okay, thanks, Let us.
Speaker 1 (10:13):
Know how you do.
Speaker 3 (10:17):
Show.
Speaker 1 (10:18):
Thank you, Jackie, appreciate it. Let's go to Diane and
because simm good morning Diane. How can I.
Speaker 4 (10:22):
Help you my good morning? Well, I wanted to know
if you wanted to join my pity party. I'm feeling
sorry for myself. I know it was dead, was going
to have fruit for the first time. My mango tree,
which was just glorious, is dead, but you said there
might be hope for the mango tree and my my
nine foot tall exora you know cover the front of
(10:43):
my house, you or yes, up shade on the pad
of everything is brown? Brown is in?
Speaker 1 (10:49):
Brown is in? Cut it back? Your exora may be dead.
But again I would just keep checking and seeing if
it comes back. There's a lot of the trees and
everything will start to come back the base. So your
exora may come back from the base of the shrub,
but your avacutas and mangoes. Again, I would just keep checking,
go to the branches and just scrape it. See if
(11:11):
you find that green or that moisture area underneath the cambium.
And if it is, it's going to recover. It may
take some time, but go ahead and leave it alone
and fertilize it and it'll be recovering.
Speaker 4 (11:24):
I found some green at the very bottom of the avocado.
It's about one inch some of the dirt. I'll be
dead before that thing.
Speaker 1 (11:32):
No, no, no, You'll be surprised at how quickly it
will recover. So if it's if it's you see some
green down at the bottom, I would check about how
tall is it?
Speaker 4 (11:41):
It was really it was really short, because I'm short
and that's what I wanted. It's less than five feet tops, okay.
Speaker 1 (11:47):
So check at the top and see if you can
find some Just go ahead and just just scrape it
just a wee bit. See if you can find some
moist areas and it should recover. Cut them, you know,
if you want to cut back the branches, do so
cut them die, don't cut them straight across.
Speaker 4 (12:02):
Ah okay, okay, let.
Speaker 1 (12:04):
Us know how you do.
Speaker 4 (12:06):
I will thank you. Oh how far is Peterson from Kossemi?
Speaker 1 (12:10):
That's not too far. I would say probably about a
half an hour.
Speaker 4 (12:15):
Oh okay, thank you. Well, I would love love to
try to get there, but usually I have looked at
these places in more than an hour away.
Speaker 1 (12:20):
No, no, he's not gonna be too far.
Speaker 3 (12:23):
What the heck?
Speaker 1 (12:24):
No, no, no, I'm going to be there at eleven thirty,
so you're gonna look. I'll look it up and I'll
let you know.
Speaker 4 (12:29):
Okay, okay, all right, thank you so very much.
Speaker 3 (12:32):
Love your show.
Speaker 4 (12:33):
Love it, love it, love it.
Speaker 1 (12:34):
Thank you. I appreciate it. So let's go to our
our text messages. Okay, so Laurie from saying I'm sorry,
let me go to Richard in Tallahassee. Good morning, I'm
heading to the nursery for spring things. Is there an
advantage to or reasons to plant in containers rather than
in the ground besides esthetics, Yes, your plans that you
(12:57):
plant in the ground will be able to stay to
use the water more efficiently. The water's not going to
evaporate from the containers, so in containers you have to
water more often and then also to the root system.
Depending on the size of the plants, you're gonna have
more room for the plants to grow in the ground.
So if you don't have a large area or can't
(13:20):
plant in the ground, then I would do it in containers.
But you want to make sure, Richard, that you just
lift it out of the pot every couple of years,
cut off a third of the root system and put
it back in the pot. That way it's still going
to have enough soil in it, and then fertilize it
on a regular basis. Okay, that's a great question. And
then Lori from sink Cloud says, how does milorgan I
(13:42):
figure infertilizing for Behalons says it needs to be watered
in after the application that it doesn't burn. It's six
four zero, thank you. Well, it's not everything the plant
your turf needs. So you could put it down and
it's and it's going to help, but that's six percent
nitrogen is not enough nitrogen for your turf, So you
(14:04):
need at least fifteen percent nitrogen. That's a University of
Florida recommendation. And then the four percent phosphorus isn't needed
for the turf, so that's kind of a waste. But
then there's zero percent potassium, and turf definitely needs that
zero percent needs at least you know, fifteen percent potassium.
(14:25):
So fifteen zero fifteen is a recommended fertilizer. You can
do sixteen four eight, But the milorganize is only a supplement.
It's not everything that turf needs. Okay, I hope I
answered that correctly, Colette. I can't wait to see you
at Peterson's nursery today. Yes, byoc so Brad and Gainesville says,
(14:48):
I have a bag of granular fertilizer which has changed
color over the course of the year. Do you think
it's still good to use? Yes, you can go ahead
and use it. It's not gonna be harmful. It just
may not be as potent as a was a year
ago if it's been open, so it may not last
as long. It may release more quicker, so you know,
(15:10):
you just may have to fertilize again in a few months. Okay,
but I would use it. I wouldn't throw it away.
I would use it and see what happens. Brad hr
And Jacksonville says, I'm seeing lots of ads on social
media for evergreen grass seed to give you a great
yard anywhere. It does not tell you the variety of
grass that is that it is your thoughts. Yeah, I
(15:32):
wouldn't purchase any turf seed on the I wouldn't do it.
There's a lot of miracle grass advertisement out there, and
they are you know, cool season grasses for like Kentucky,
the midwest Ohio, and they do well. It gets too
hot here. We have so much rain that it'll rot.
But it's the heat generally and the humidity that causes
(15:53):
disease issues. It's why we don't grow fescue grass or
Kentucky bluegrass down here. So yes, it will come up.
It will be green for about a week to ten days,
maybe even three weeks, but those eighty degree temperatures are
going to do a number on it, so I would
not use them. So thanks, great question.
Speaker 3 (16:13):
Hr.
Speaker 1 (16:14):
Where can I find information on the planting seasons for
mid Florida Melbourne area and what vegetables work well for
these seasons? Well, I will tell you if you would
like to email me at Teresa dot Watkins at live
dot com. I will send it to you. But you
can also then go online to your extension office and
(16:34):
I'll tell you really how you can get it. That's
really easy. Just go up to your browser and put
in vegetables and then put in edis vegetables eds as
in sam and that's the University of Florida and they
have a great publication on seasonally what to plant vegetables. Okay,
(16:57):
you're also going to want to make sure that you
do so tolerant too as well, depending on where you
live in Melbourne. Okay, great question. Let's go to Jerry
in Citrus County. Good morning, Jerry, how are you this morning?
Speaker 5 (17:10):
I mean, thank you, Teresa. I have a question on
the Queen palm. I'm there. They seem all right to
some degree, but what what should I do to them?
Speaker 1 (17:23):
I'm sorry, say your queen palm?
Speaker 5 (17:25):
There?
Speaker 1 (17:25):
They're green? How brown are they?
Speaker 6 (17:28):
Oh?
Speaker 5 (17:28):
The tips are brown on the fronts, and then there's
some I don't know, some questionable things which I don't understand.
So I'm just wondering how to if I need to
do anything care for them or maybe they're done for too.
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (17:42):
Well, let's let's explore the questionable things. You don't know
what to do? What is a questionable thing? If the
fronds are the tips are brown, not a problem. Leaves
the fronds alone. If there's any green on it at all,
you don't want to take them off. What are the
other questionable things on it?
Speaker 5 (18:00):
The trunk seems to have like a little bulge on
it on there, but maybe it isn't something I, you know, had,
it's new. I didn't recall it before that.
Speaker 1 (18:10):
All, okay, Well, you know, palm trees will will grow
and expand in the width of the trunk depending on
the nutrients and and also the water it receives. So
it just may just it just may be that that
year that it that it grew that layer, that it
(18:31):
got more nutrients and more water that year.
Speaker 5 (18:34):
Yeah, is there a good chance it will survive?
Speaker 1 (18:36):
Yes, Yes, there's a good chance. If the fronds are green,
it's a good chance. I would spray it with a fungicide.
Can you get to the top of it? Can you
can you see the top of the tree.
Speaker 5 (18:51):
Yeah, I can get to the top.
Speaker 1 (18:52):
Okay, I would spray it with a copper fungicide, Okay,
and then that's gonna copper fungicide that's going to help
the tip. And and then you want to fertilize it.
Pardon me, fertilizer.
Speaker 5 (19:04):
I'm sorry? Did you just pray with the copper once?
Speaker 1 (19:07):
Follow the instructions so if it says to fall, you
can usually spray a second application a few weeks later,
but follow the instructions then also to you just want
to fertilize, fertilize with a palm fertilizer that has the
micro nutrients in it. Jerry, thank you so much for listening. Han,
we appreciated. Happy Saint Patrick's say to you, We're going
(19:28):
to be back with more of Better Lawns and Gardens
and your gardening questions from the Summit Responsible Solutions Studios
this Saturday morning. You're listening to Better Lawns and Gardens.
I'm Teresa Watkins and this is Florida's Talk and Entertainment Network.
(20:01):
Welcome back to Better Lawns and Gardens. I'm Teresa Watkins.
I'm your garden host. I'm an expert, let's keep designer, horticulturist,
garden author, garden tour guide.
Speaker 2 (20:12):
If you're just all around superhero.
Speaker 1 (20:14):
I will not necessarily a superhero, but I love what
I do, and I love education, and I love showing
people beautiful gardens and how to how to how to
create them.
Speaker 2 (20:26):
And you get a little bit of that education too,
because you guys offer garden tours, right.
Speaker 1 (20:30):
Yes, we do art and bloom garden tours. If you'd
like to travel with me, I would love for you
to come with me, and we are going to some
wonderful places this year. You can go to Art and
bloomgardenours dot com. So I have a great text message.
Uh so it is says is it safe to use
pre emergence weed killer on a brick driveway when you
(20:53):
are using well water for your house water. I've been
concerned about getting down into our water fly one. I'd
really like to know how deep you're well is, But
I don't necessarily think there is a reason to be concerned.
One is that the herbicides that we use on the shelf,
(21:19):
when used according to the label and only when necessary,
will they will they be harmful. And so if you
are using it on a weekly basis, then there may
be some issues because then it's going to leach down.
But if you're using it once a year. I just
(21:39):
don't think there's going to be an issue of it.
But read the label on your weed killer and it
will have more And if it doesn't have anything more
on that, you can look up the label of the
product or call the company. There is an eight hundred
number on the back of every every product on the
(22:00):
market anywhere, no matter what industry, there is an eight
hundred number. You can call and ask your question directly
with the name of the product and they will be
able to give you more exact information, okay, So always
call the eight hundred number. You can look up the
MSDS sheet that's M as in Mary, s as in Sam,
(22:23):
d as in dog and s is and Sam again
MSDS with the name of the product and it will
give you more information on the chemicals that you're using.
And chemicals aren't bad. Chemicals are used when used appropriately
and according to the label, are safe, okay. And we
just have to remember even water is a chemical, you know.
(22:46):
So there you go one triple eight four five five
two nine sixty seven, or you can text me two
three six eight zero John and Haynes said, he said,
I listened to your show every weekend and catch it
on the podcast, he emailed me. So, I've attached to
photos of two boogam villas that now look dead from
freeze damage. I haven't scratched any limbs to see if
(23:06):
I can find any green, but it sure does look dead.
Hoping to hear from you is what I should be
doing with these now or late. And then he said,
I thought I heard you say on the radio that
boogom villas had a good chance of survival. Well, anyway,
I thought I heard it. But I'll let me know
what I find. I'll let you know what I find.
And so I told John to carefully look at the
bottom of the plants, scrape the outer portion of the
(23:28):
stems to see if you can find any green or
moist areas, and if it's totally dead, it should be replaced.
So it's going to freeze. Book and villas do not
take freeze as well, so it's going to But if
you do find green, then you can cut it back
to that level and it may take six months or so,
but it may or it will come back. Here's the thing,
(23:50):
it may take six months and more and you may
not want to wait that long. Okay, So here's some choices, okay,
and he did cover it with a blanket, but when
we had such a hard freeze, the blankets and the
frost blankets don't really help, okay. So thankfully we only
experienced these cold temperatures every time five to ten years. So,
(24:12):
but if you would like to replace it with something
that can handle the cold, then John, you can use
a coral honeysuckle on a trellis and it would look
really nice in the corner. He sent me photos, so
I know I can say that it'll look really nice
in the corner. Or you can use camellias, and you
can find these at your nursery locally online and the
(24:34):
camellias will bloom in the wintertime, so those are a
good choice. So this is who sent me this one.
This is Judith and Orlando. She said, I may have
already asked you this, but want to make certain I
have a mature exora hedge and placed it in the
front of my house, which is planted along with a
mature y Burnham hedge. The exora is completely damaged by
(24:57):
the recent frost, and I heard someone on your p
prom from some responsible solutions recommend spraying it with horticultural
spray oil. Well, horticultural spray oil is not used for
frost damage. There's nothing you can do for frost damage. Okay,
it's dead, it's brown. You just have to cut it off.
(25:17):
It's not going to recover. Spray oil is good for
disease control, insect control, and so it is as used
for fun you know, fungus issues, so it is not
used for frost. There's really nothing we can do for frost,
all right, so please tell me the specifics of what
(25:38):
I need to do. Again. Some websites indicate that the
exhorst should have damage areas trimmed off as as soon
as there's new signs of leaf growth. I would do
it before the new leaf growth, so you don't cut
the leaf growth off, but go ahead and cut back
the dead portion on the exors. Exoras will freeze. Okay,
So thank you very much. Last week I had someone
(25:59):
ask me right after the show was over, and it
was too late, and I did text them, but they
wanted to know the name of the tree company that
I talked about. Yes, and that was word of Mouth
Tree Company, and it's Wordomouthtree Services dot com. They are
a great, great company and they're certified arborists, and that's
(26:19):
the only person you should see about what's going on
with your trees is a certified arborist, so you can
make sure of that.
Speaker 2 (26:28):
Yes, and you also need to go ahead and contact,
you know, an arborist or your tree companies to have
them come out and look at your trees now, because
I'm telling you wait to the last second. It's kind
of like the whole frost blanket thing. If you waited
the last second, you're not gonna have people come out
and check your trees.
Speaker 1 (26:44):
That is so true. Hurricane season starts in June. I
hate to say that. Last year we were very fortunate,
although sadly we needed the water from the tropical storms
of rainfall. But this year is gonna be El Nino.
We are going to probably have a few more storms.
Uh if they, you know, hit the coast, that's up
to the weather patterns. But now is the time to
(27:07):
have your trees assessed because when we have storms coming,
they're so busy and lined up you may not get
them in time and it's gonna cost more. Kind of
like fixing your air conditioning in the summertime, you want
to do it in the winter so you get cheaper
prices and you can get good service. All right, we're
gonna be back with more of your gardening questions. One
triple eight four five five two nine six seven Frank
(27:31):
from Melbourne. Hang on, we're gonna get to you right now.
If you'd like to text me two three six eight
zero from the Summit Responsible Solution Studios. If it's Saturday morning,
you're listening to Better Lawns and Gardens, I'm Teresa Watkins
and this is Florida's Talk and Entertainment Network. Welcome back
(28:05):
to Better Lawns and Gardens. It's time for your gardening questions.
One triple eight four five five two nine sixty seven.
Or you can text me two three six eight zero
and I'll answer your questions and if you do send
it in. Sometimes people listen to the show on Sundays
and they send in their gardening question Lizzie. So what
happens then? I'm sorry when somebody text us after the
(28:32):
show's over with oh okay, yes, yes you can.
Speaker 2 (28:34):
You can text. So it's one of those if you
have like a like short term member of the loss
like I do, and I forget to what I need
to say, I just I don't care if it's midnight,
just texts a two three six eight zero. I come
in on Monday mornings and I go through our text
line and then I screenshot him and I send them
to Teresa's. You can answer them the next day, or
sometimes she'll personally text you. So yeah, two three six
(28:55):
eight zero.
Speaker 1 (28:55):
Yeah, thank you so much. Let's go to Frank and Melbourne.
Good morning, Frank. Thank you for hold on and being
so patient.
Speaker 6 (29:02):
Well, it's a beautiful data. Lord has made Teresa. My
lawnmower guy about four years ago put in hedges.
Speaker 5 (29:13):
U huh, about one hundred.
Speaker 6 (29:14):
And twenty feet in my yard. And I saw Chick
fil A here expand their driveways and they were putting
in new hedges, and I asked the guy what it was,
and this and that. Anyway, the last name was Plumb.
It leaves about the size of oak leaves. Anyway, it's
(29:37):
got that terrible saddle brown tint from the frost. And
they're well established there about four years now on the ground.
And over that time I've been ground watering them about
once a week. But I was hoping you could tell
me a fertilizer or something that might revive that.
Speaker 1 (29:56):
Okay, So this is the time of the year to fertilize.
Spring is the time to put fertilizer. So you can
do that. Just a regular six sixty six eight eight, eight, ten, ten, ten,
A balanced fertilizer is all you need to put down.
Just follow the label.
Speaker 6 (30:12):
Okay, okay, and we'll keep and we'll keep on ground
watering in the meantime.
Speaker 1 (30:18):
Well, right, if you're only watering once a week, does it?
Is it not on in irrigation. If it's a commercial property,
it should be on irrigation.
Speaker 6 (30:25):
No, I'm it's my miss my backyard. Now, I got
a lonely sand soil that they're in. So we do
it about once a week.
Speaker 1 (30:33):
That sounds great and they should be just fine. Then
good for you, Frank, Thank you so much for calling
and listening to better lungs and guards. I love that
when they call. And so let's go to Diane in Tallahassee.
Good morning, Diane, How are you?
Speaker 3 (30:47):
Good morning? I'm great. Yes, I just wanted to tell
you that the delphidium I asked you about, Yes, that
I planted through the winter. A couple of them are
booming already, and I had no idea it was they
would go that quickly.
Speaker 1 (31:02):
Isn't that wonderful? I'm so glad. Is it a pretty blue?
Is it a dark blue? Is there a light blue?
Speaker 3 (31:08):
The two that are blooming, one is actually white and
one it's light blue. Oh, I think they'll all be
different colors.
Speaker 1 (31:15):
How lovely. I'm so proud of you.
Speaker 3 (31:17):
Good for you, thank you. I have another question, so
I also planted some lizzianthwas yes. I don't even know
if that's the right way to say it. It is, okay,
and they're now outside in the garden. Do they survive
in Florida?
Speaker 1 (31:32):
They do, but you treat them as annuals. Okay. So
they will go through probably May and June, possibly even
July up there in Tallahassee because you're kind of zone eight.
So they will be fine, but they will be treated
as anniels. They won't come back every year.
Speaker 3 (31:48):
Okay, But aren't they? Can I ask you one other question?
Speaker 1 (31:53):
Sure?
Speaker 3 (31:53):
Sure, I was spraying my orange trees and I have
one of these orthodial and spraying, but it doesn't spray
high enough. And I buy a lot of products that
have sprayers on them. They spray beautifully, But is there
a way to figure out what you know, how to
figure out how many ounces of actual spray goes with
(32:18):
the water like per gallon on those.
Speaker 1 (32:21):
Okay, so here's what you do is that again with
every product you use, your fertilizers that you use one,
you can email me and tell me what you have
and I can help you. That's Teresa dot Watkins at
live dot com. Or on the fertilizer label you can
you can find the eight hundred number and it's on
(32:42):
the back of the label. They all have them, and
you can call them. Usually it's like Monday through Friday,
eight to five, that kind of thing, and just call
them on Monday and they will give you the exact
you know, uh, measurements that you need to put in
to spray at a certain you know level, certain percent right, okay, right.
Speaker 3 (33:03):
Right, okay. I appreciate it. Thank you. I learned lots
of good little things on your program.
Speaker 1 (33:09):
Thank you so much. I appreciate you listening. Diana, appreciate
it so much. Enjoy your Delfidians. I'm so proud of
you for doing that.
Speaker 2 (33:16):
You know, Snowberry ever calls and goes hey, I learned
something from Lizzie except for mint. Do not plant mint
in the ground or in your garden unless you want
groundcover for the rest of the next center generation's lives.
Speaker 1 (33:32):
I see, I disagree with you. I think they have
learned so much about your turkeys, and I have learned
about your turkeys. So I learned so much from you,
you know, so that sometimes it's what not to do,
but that's always good experience, right right, somebody, So thanks,
we are going to be I am okay, not Lizzie.
Lizzie has got plans for today.
Speaker 2 (33:54):
Yes, yes, Brooks being baptized, and if you're you're not
able to go see Teresa. But you're in the Daytona area,
the Hill and that is a cross from the Ocean Center,
the Hilton across from the Ocean Center. They're having a
free baptism on the beach at one pm today. So yeah,
so she's going to be baptized.
Speaker 1 (34:10):
I think that's wonderful.
Speaker 2 (34:11):
But I'm very sad because there's a lot of our
listeners that I really really like to see. So I
am very sorry.
Speaker 1 (34:16):
Well, you possibly may be going there in a few weeks,
so whenever you go there, you'll let people know so
they can come and see you, and that would be fun.
But I'm going to be at Peterson's Nursery today at
eleven thirty and my talk is going to be Color
your World, and it's going to be about adding color
into your landscape. And I hope everybody comes. Bring your
(34:38):
own chair, yes, And possibility of a little bit of
a sprinkle today won't. No, we won't, So bring an
umbrella and we'll get to have a good time. I
can't wait to see it at the nursery I know
is just going to be beautiful with lots of great plant.
Speaker 2 (34:54):
Oh, one hundred percent, definitely. And also, if you have
some questions for Teresa about your landscape or your yard,
or even a problem with one of your plans and
you're gonna come see her today, take a far back picture,
especially if it's landscape, and then make sure it's clear,
and then get an up close of the problem that
you're talking about. So take about two or three pictures,
(35:15):
but one make sure that they're focused in, and then two.
But she needs to be able to see what's around
something that may be creating the problem.
Speaker 1 (35:23):
So I can get the whole the whole picture. Yes,
that would be great. No, I also too if you'd
like to get my free monthly newsletter in your backyard,
you can go to my website she dash consulting dot com.
That's s H E. Hyphen Consulting dot com. And on
the very page that you land on, it says a
(35:44):
subscribe to a free newsletter. I do not spam, I
don't sell your emails. You're all mind mind mine, and
you will receive my free newsletter. So I would love
to do that. Also, to go to our Facebook page.
We like that, and like our page and share it.
No matter where you are in the world, you can
(36:05):
like the Facebook page. Yes, definitely, so I love that.
So what else can you be doing this month? Again?
I said this during the first hour. Ornamental grasses need
to be cut today and so if you know this
weekend is a good good time to do it. You know,
during the rain before after the rain. Do not fertilize
before a rainstorm. That's going to contribute to stormwater runoff.
(36:30):
Your lakes are going to get algae blooms. So all
of these homes around the lakes and these hoas, these
retention ponds. When you fertilize, you stay away from your
shoreline fifteen to twenty feet. What's going to happen is
that that fertilizer is going to go down the shoreline
and it's going to go down to the bottom, but
(36:51):
it's not going to go into the lake in the
amounts that would if you fertilize all the way down
to the lake. So always stop your fertilizing. Tell your
land escape maintenance companies we have a big issue with
algae blooms and fertilizer, and one of the ways to
stop it is to do not fertilize your shoreline. Come
down about twenty feet away from the shoreline and stop fertilizing.
(37:16):
The grass is going to be just fine down there.
Your plants are going to be just fined. You do
not want to fertilize down at the shoreline, and never
fertilized before a rainstorm. You always want to do it afterwards.
One you know, fertilizer at its base is a salt,
So if you have not had rain and you have
not irrigated, your plants are going to be very dry.
(37:36):
Your turf is going to be dry, and when you
put that salt on your turf, it's going to have
a better chance of burning it. So you always want
to fertilize after a rainfall. That way, your plants are hydrated,
your turf is hydrated, and the fertilizer can work properly.
If you put the fertilizer down through it before the rain,
(38:00):
it's gonna wash off. It's gonna go down the drain,
it's gonna go into the lakes, it's gonna go into
the retention pause and ponds, and it's gonna cause algae blue.
So we don't want to do that. And I know
that there's lakes in Lake County that are having this issue.
Orange County. It's so amazing to me to fly over
as I'm landing or as I'm taking off, and you
(38:21):
look down at these hoas and these subdivisions and the
lakes are solid green in the summertime. And it's because
of the fertilizer that is used on these properties. And
so just be very careful with it. More is not better, Okay,
So that's the important part. More is not better fertilized
(38:42):
according to the label only as necessary. If it's Saturday morning,
you're listening to Better Lawns and Gardens from the Summit
Responsible Solution Studios. I'm Teresa Watkins Come see me at
Peterson's Nursery today at eleven thirty in Lakeland. Since Florida's
Talk and Entertainment Network.
Speaker 2 (39:02):
If you miss any of the show or you'd like
to recap any of the older shows, you can go
to Better Lawns dot com. That's Better Lawns dot com
and check out the Facebook page which is Better Lawns
and Gardens
Welcome back to the second hour of Better Lawns and Gardens.
I'm Teresa Watkins and this is Florida's talk and entertainment network,
Better Lawns and Gardens. We love talking to you about
your gardening and we want to wish everyone a happy
Saint Patrick's Day this week and the spring equinox, the
vernal equinox is starting on Friday, so spring will be here.
(00:34):
Just want to just give a shout out to Buffalo.
We have a lot of listeners in Buffalo, and Niagara
Falls is frozen right now. No way, It's incredible, incredible
how cold it is up there. So we do appreciate
you listening anywhere in the world. We have listeners from China, Singapore, Australia,
even in Norway and Spain, just a bunch of different places.
(00:57):
So we we just wish everybody a good day and
thank you for listening. And it's time for the dirty
Word of the Day. And now it's time for the
dirty Word of the Day on Better Lawns and Gardens
with Teresa Watkins. And I usually talk about three leaved
plants around Saint Patrick's date, but I've never talked in
(01:20):
my whole career. About this plant. You've probably never heard
of a trifoliate orange. Trifoliate orange otherwise known as a
Poncirus trifoliata. It's an evolutionary cousin of the Citrus genus,
which gives us lemons, conquots, limes, famellos, mandarins, sweet oranges,
(01:40):
and more. Unlike citrus, trifoliate orange ripens only bitter, intensely
sour fruit. Yet this plant native to China and now
disseminated around the globe, often as a rootstock for citrus appeals.
In other ways, it better tolerates cold, It stands pests,
(02:01):
and especially tantalizing resists a disease ravaging citrus growth, citrus greening.
The trifoliate orange is deciduous, thorny, and I want to
just really really just stress the thorny shrub or small
tree within the citrus family. The species epithet is derived
(02:23):
from Latin, indicates having three leaflets, highlighting the compound trifoliate leaves.
Initially cultivated as a resilient rootstock for grafted citrus varieties,
its s gained recognition for its qualities as an ornamental specimen.
Zoned for five to eight to nine b. This specie
thrives in well drained, acidic soils under full sunlight and
(02:46):
contain a height approaching twenty feet and fifteen feet wide.
The species is unusual amongst citrus for having deciduous, compound
leaves and downy fruits similar to a peach. Foliot orange
features prominent abundant doors, making it inappropriate for high traffic
(03:06):
locations but highly effective as a security hedge. The plant
produces sizable, fragrant blosses typical of citrus, and its lemon
like fruit is notably sour and contains numerous seeds, but
is delicious in making jams and marmalade. Trifoliate orange is
recognized for its resistance to citrus greening, and researchers have
(03:28):
sequenced its genome, identifying specific genes that contribute to this resistance.
The genetic information is crucial for breeding programs aimed at
developed new citrus varieties that withstand citrus greening. There's a warning.
Besides the sleeping beauty thorns and bitterfruit taste, Trifolia orange
tends to spread rapidly, often receding itself in areas like woodlands.
(03:52):
The edges of forests, fence rows, and urban green spaces.
Its officially listed as an invasive species in Alabama, Georgia,
and South Carolina, but you can buy Trifoliot oranges at
specialty nurseries, Amazon, at C and eBay. So the dirty
word of the day, fitting for Saint Patrick's Day is
(04:13):
trifoliot orange. Very interesting it is. It's really it's deciduous.
Can you imagine a deciduous citrus tree. It loses all
its leaves every winter, so that's pretty pretty cool. So
we are going to be taking your phone calls this
morning one triple eight four five five two nine sixty seven,
or you can text two three six eighth zero and
(04:37):
I will take your text messages and phone calls this morning.
I want to, uh, you know, just give a shout
out to if you missed any to the people who
have been texting us.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
And I need I need more tea listen, just laugh
I've laughing because our list. I'm telling you when I
tell you that we have the best listeners, we do
because collecte from winter Havens. Is it still byoc at
Peterson's Nursery today? And what that means is yes, b
Yoc bring your own chair. So thank you for reminding us.
(05:12):
And that's that'll be. What time will you be there today?
Speaker 1 (05:14):
Eleven thirty today, okay, and I will have handouts and
I will help you select plants for your yard. So
I'm looking forward to it. So what can you be
doing in your landscape this morning? You can be trimming
and dividing ornamental grasses. Please cut your fountain grasses back.
Your pompous grasses, you can cut back and go ahead
(05:36):
and get rid of the winter damage so that they
look good in the next couple of months. If you
don't cut them back, they're going to have all those
brown stems for the rest of the year and it
just looks very messy. You can trim your point settiist
within twelve to eighteen inches from the ground and you
can begin fertilizing it. You want to apply fertilizer to
(05:57):
your palms, shrubs, and perennials. You want to divide and
replant your perennials also too. You want to divide your
terrestrial orchids. Mine, just my terrestrial ground orchids. They did
not do well in the freeze, but they're coming back.
But I kept to cut them all the way down
to the ground. And then you also want to sprinkle
(06:17):
summer mosquito bits in your mosquito prone areas like bird bath, gutters,
and bromeliads. For March, this is a time for tomato
and pepper and eggplant planting times, so you want to
set your transplants in the ground. Garden pests include aphis,
white flights, and mites. You want to use that new
(06:38):
Summit Responsible Solutions product NIM eighty five and that will
help you get out. 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 Better
(07:13):
Lawns and Gardens. Let your friends and family know about
Better Lawns and Gardens and they can listen any time,
even on our podcast. Just listen to iHeartRadio. You can
search for Teresa Watkins or Better Lawns and Gardens and
you'll find it, and then go to our Facebook page
and like us. Please, we would love for you to
do that so we can let everybody know about Better
(07:34):
Lawns and Gardens. Let's go to Jackie and Melbourne. Good morning, Jackie,
how can I help you?
Speaker 3 (07:39):
Hey, good morning, hoping he can help me'am my poor
royal point Piana is met was past tense, magnificent.
Speaker 2 (07:49):
He's not looking too good these days.
Speaker 4 (07:51):
Is there any chance you think she'll come back?
Speaker 3 (07:53):
And so what can I do?
Speaker 1 (07:54):
Okay? So how tall is she?
Speaker 4 (07:57):
You know, big enough to make I've built she shed
around her as a centerpiece. I mean she's big.
Speaker 1 (08:04):
She's big, Okay, I'm gonna tell you she's gonna be fine, okay,
And just there's just probably gonna be of some pruning
you're gonna do with the branches that are dead. So
as she's.
Speaker 4 (08:14):
Dunk, there's not one bit of green on her.
Speaker 1 (08:16):
It's still well, it's still going to come back, I think.
So here's what you need to do. Get on a ladder,
and I want you to go to the branch about
the size of your pinky, and just start going back
and scraping that cambium, uh, the outer layer of the bark,
with your fingernail or keys or a little jackknife, and see,
very very carefully scrape it and see if it still
(08:40):
has moisture underneath that cambian labor layer. I usually say,
see if you find green. But you know, over the
last few weeks of testing everybody's trees when I go
to visit their their houses, some of the some of
the trees have a bark underneath it that is tan,
but it's still moist and so oh it is still alive.
(09:01):
So see where you can find Yeah, so see if
you can find some some live or spots on the branches.
And that's going to tell you whether it's going to
survive or not. I'm going to tell you one that
big will probably be damaged and get knocked back, but
it's probably gonna survive. Now with that, go ahead, go ahead.
Speaker 4 (09:20):
No, I was going to say, I have the same
thing with the powder puff tree. All the red ones
in my area are beautiful. My pink one is the
exact same way.
Speaker 1 (09:26):
Yes, yes, so the exact same way. So pink is
a different variety than the red ones, and so it's
probably a little bit more tender. Okay, So do the
same thing to that as well. Now, if we're supposed
to have a El Nino winter, which means warm and
wet this coming up December, January and February, and so
that's good news because we're not going to have really
(09:48):
two major too much of a major freeze to do
any damage hopefully. Okay, and that's just technically right now,
that's what they're saying. So forecast, weather, forecast, you know,
all that kind of good stuff. We're going to keep
our fingers.
Speaker 4 (10:01):
Saying anything for for helping her, giving her anything. You
don't want me to do.
Speaker 1 (10:04):
Anything, fertilized, Go ahead and fertilized I can. Okay, yeah,
go ahead and fertilizer and give her some nutrition to
push those leaves out.
Speaker 5 (10:12):
Okay, Okay, thanks, Let us.
Speaker 1 (10:13):
Know how you do.
Speaker 3 (10:17):
Show.
Speaker 1 (10:18):
Thank you, Jackie, appreciate it. Let's go to Diane and
because simm good morning Diane. How can I.
Speaker 4 (10:22):
Help you my good morning? Well, I wanted to know
if you wanted to join my pity party. I'm feeling
sorry for myself. I know it was dead, was going
to have fruit for the first time. My mango tree,
which was just glorious, is dead, but you said there
might be hope for the mango tree and my my
nine foot tall exora you know cover the front of
(10:43):
my house, you or yes, up shade on the pad
of everything is brown? Brown is in?
Speaker 1 (10:49):
Brown is in? Cut it back? Your exora may be dead.
But again I would just keep checking and seeing if
it comes back. There's a lot of the trees and
everything will start to come back the base. So your
exora may come back from the base of the shrub,
but your avacutas and mangoes. Again, I would just keep checking,
go to the branches and just scrape it. See if
(11:11):
you find that green or that moisture area underneath the cambium.
And if it is, it's going to recover. It may
take some time, but go ahead and leave it alone
and fertilize it and it'll be recovering.
Speaker 4 (11:24):
I found some green at the very bottom of the avocado.
It's about one inch some of the dirt. I'll be
dead before that thing.
Speaker 1 (11:32):
No, no, no, You'll be surprised at how quickly it
will recover. So if it's if it's you see some
green down at the bottom, I would check about how
tall is it?
Speaker 4 (11:41):
It was really it was really short, because I'm short
and that's what I wanted. It's less than five feet tops, okay.
Speaker 1 (11:47):
So check at the top and see if you can
find some Just go ahead and just just scrape it
just a wee bit. See if you can find some
moist areas and it should recover. Cut them, you know,
if you want to cut back the branches, do so
cut them die, don't cut them straight across.
Speaker 4 (12:02):
Ah okay, okay, let.
Speaker 1 (12:04):
Us know how you do.
Speaker 4 (12:06):
I will thank you. Oh how far is Peterson from Kossemi?
Speaker 1 (12:10):
That's not too far. I would say probably about a
half an hour.
Speaker 4 (12:15):
Oh okay, thank you. Well, I would love love to
try to get there, but usually I have looked at
these places in more than an hour away.
Speaker 1 (12:20):
No, no, he's not gonna be too far.
Speaker 3 (12:23):
What the heck?
Speaker 1 (12:24):
No, no, no, I'm going to be there at eleven thirty,
so you're gonna look. I'll look it up and I'll
let you know.
Speaker 4 (12:29):
Okay, okay, all right, thank you so very much.
Speaker 3 (12:32):
Love your show.
Speaker 4 (12:33):
Love it, love it, love it.
Speaker 1 (12:34):
Thank you. I appreciate it. So let's go to our
our text messages. Okay, so Laurie from saying I'm sorry,
let me go to Richard in Tallahassee. Good morning, I'm
heading to the nursery for spring things. Is there an
advantage to or reasons to plant in containers rather than
in the ground besides esthetics, Yes, your plans that you
(12:57):
plant in the ground will be able to stay to
use the water more efficiently. The water's not going to
evaporate from the containers, so in containers you have to
water more often and then also to the root system.
Depending on the size of the plants, you're gonna have
more room for the plants to grow in the ground.
So if you don't have a large area or can't
(13:20):
plant in the ground, then I would do it in containers.
But you want to make sure, Richard, that you just
lift it out of the pot every couple of years,
cut off a third of the root system and put
it back in the pot. That way it's still going
to have enough soil in it, and then fertilize it
on a regular basis. Okay, that's a great question. And
then Lori from sink Cloud says, how does milorgan I
(13:42):
figure infertilizing for Behalons says it needs to be watered
in after the application that it doesn't burn. It's six
four zero, thank you. Well, it's not everything the plant
your turf needs. So you could put it down and
it's and it's going to help, but that's six percent
nitrogen is not enough nitrogen for your turf, So you
(14:04):
need at least fifteen percent nitrogen. That's a University of
Florida recommendation. And then the four percent phosphorus isn't needed
for the turf, so that's kind of a waste. But
then there's zero percent potassium, and turf definitely needs that
zero percent needs at least you know, fifteen percent potassium.
(14:25):
So fifteen zero fifteen is a recommended fertilizer. You can
do sixteen four eight, But the milorganize is only a supplement.
It's not everything that turf needs. Okay, I hope I
answered that correctly, Colette. I can't wait to see you
at Peterson's nursery today. Yes, byoc so Brad and Gainesville says,
(14:48):
I have a bag of granular fertilizer which has changed
color over the course of the year. Do you think
it's still good to use? Yes, you can go ahead
and use it. It's not gonna be harmful. It just
may not be as potent as a was a year
ago if it's been open, so it may not last
as long. It may release more quicker, so you know,
(15:10):
you just may have to fertilize again in a few months. Okay,
but I would use it. I wouldn't throw it away.
I would use it and see what happens. Brad hr
And Jacksonville says, I'm seeing lots of ads on social
media for evergreen grass seed to give you a great
yard anywhere. It does not tell you the variety of
grass that is that it is your thoughts. Yeah, I
(15:32):
wouldn't purchase any turf seed on the I wouldn't do it.
There's a lot of miracle grass advertisement out there, and
they are you know, cool season grasses for like Kentucky,
the midwest Ohio, and they do well. It gets too
hot here. We have so much rain that it'll rot.
But it's the heat generally and the humidity that causes
(15:53):
disease issues. It's why we don't grow fescue grass or
Kentucky bluegrass down here. So yes, it will come up.
It will be green for about a week to ten days,
maybe even three weeks, but those eighty degree temperatures are
going to do a number on it, so I would
not use them. So thanks, great question.
Speaker 3 (16:13):
Hr.
Speaker 1 (16:14):
Where can I find information on the planting seasons for
mid Florida Melbourne area and what vegetables work well for
these seasons? Well, I will tell you if you would
like to email me at Teresa dot Watkins at live
dot com. I will send it to you. But you
can also then go online to your extension office and
(16:34):
I'll tell you really how you can get it. That's
really easy. Just go up to your browser and put
in vegetables and then put in edis vegetables eds as
in sam and that's the University of Florida and they
have a great publication on seasonally what to plant vegetables. Okay,
(16:57):
you're also going to want to make sure that you
do so tolerant too as well, depending on where you
live in Melbourne. Okay, great question. Let's go to Jerry
in Citrus County. Good morning, Jerry, how are you this morning?
Speaker 5 (17:10):
I mean, thank you, Teresa. I have a question on
the Queen palm. I'm there. They seem all right to
some degree, but what what should I do to them?
Speaker 1 (17:23):
I'm sorry, say your queen palm?
Speaker 5 (17:25):
There?
Speaker 1 (17:25):
They're green? How brown are they?
Speaker 6 (17:28):
Oh?
Speaker 5 (17:28):
The tips are brown on the fronts, and then there's
some I don't know, some questionable things which I don't understand.
So I'm just wondering how to if I need to
do anything care for them or maybe they're done for too.
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (17:42):
Well, let's let's explore the questionable things. You don't know
what to do? What is a questionable thing? If the
fronds are the tips are brown, not a problem. Leaves
the fronds alone. If there's any green on it at all,
you don't want to take them off. What are the
other questionable things on it?
Speaker 5 (18:00):
The trunk seems to have like a little bulge on
it on there, but maybe it isn't something I, you know, had,
it's new. I didn't recall it before that.
Speaker 1 (18:10):
All, okay, Well, you know, palm trees will will grow
and expand in the width of the trunk depending on
the nutrients and and also the water it receives. So
it just may just it just may be that that
year that it that it grew that layer, that it
(18:31):
got more nutrients and more water that year.
Speaker 5 (18:34):
Yeah, is there a good chance it will survive?
Speaker 1 (18:36):
Yes, Yes, there's a good chance. If the fronds are green,
it's a good chance. I would spray it with a fungicide.
Can you get to the top of it? Can you
can you see the top of the tree.
Speaker 5 (18:51):
Yeah, I can get to the top.
Speaker 1 (18:52):
Okay, I would spray it with a copper fungicide, Okay,
and then that's gonna copper fungicide that's going to help
the tip. And and then you want to fertilize it.
Pardon me, fertilizer.
Speaker 5 (19:04):
I'm sorry? Did you just pray with the copper once?
Speaker 1 (19:07):
Follow the instructions so if it says to fall, you
can usually spray a second application a few weeks later,
but follow the instructions then also to you just want
to fertilize, fertilize with a palm fertilizer that has the
micro nutrients in it. Jerry, thank you so much for listening. Han,
we appreciated. Happy Saint Patrick's say to you, We're going
(19:28):
to be back with more of Better Lawns and Gardens
and your gardening questions from the Summit Responsible Solutions Studios
this Saturday morning. You're listening to Better Lawns and Gardens.
I'm Teresa Watkins and this is Florida's Talk and Entertainment Network.
(20:01):
Welcome back to Better Lawns and Gardens. I'm Teresa Watkins.
I'm your garden host. I'm an expert, let's keep designer, horticulturist,
garden author, garden tour guide.
Speaker 2 (20:12):
If you're just all around superhero.
Speaker 1 (20:14):
I will not necessarily a superhero, but I love what
I do, and I love education, and I love showing
people beautiful gardens and how to how to how to
create them.
Speaker 2 (20:26):
And you get a little bit of that education too,
because you guys offer garden tours, right.
Speaker 1 (20:30):
Yes, we do art and bloom garden tours. If you'd
like to travel with me, I would love for you
to come with me, and we are going to some
wonderful places this year. You can go to Art and
bloomgardenours dot com. So I have a great text message.
Uh so it is says is it safe to use
pre emergence weed killer on a brick driveway when you
(20:53):
are using well water for your house water. I've been
concerned about getting down into our water fly one. I'd
really like to know how deep you're well is, But
I don't necessarily think there is a reason to be concerned.
One is that the herbicides that we use on the shelf,
(21:19):
when used according to the label and only when necessary,
will they will they be harmful. And so if you
are using it on a weekly basis, then there may
be some issues because then it's going to leach down.
But if you're using it once a year. I just
(21:39):
don't think there's going to be an issue of it.
But read the label on your weed killer and it
will have more And if it doesn't have anything more
on that, you can look up the label of the
product or call the company. There is an eight hundred
number on the back of every every product on the
(22:00):
market anywhere, no matter what industry, there is an eight
hundred number. You can call and ask your question directly
with the name of the product and they will be
able to give you more exact information, okay, So always
call the eight hundred number. You can look up the
MSDS sheet that's M as in Mary, s as in Sam,
(22:23):
d as in dog and s is and Sam again
MSDS with the name of the product and it will
give you more information on the chemicals that you're using.
And chemicals aren't bad. Chemicals are used when used appropriately
and according to the label, are safe, okay. And we
just have to remember even water is a chemical, you know.
(22:46):
So there you go one triple eight four five five
two nine sixty seven, or you can text me two
three six eight zero John and Haynes said, he said,
I listened to your show every weekend and catch it
on the podcast, he emailed me. So, I've attached to
photos of two boogam villas that now look dead from
freeze damage. I haven't scratched any limbs to see if
(23:06):
I can find any green, but it sure does look dead.
Hoping to hear from you is what I should be
doing with these now or late. And then he said,
I thought I heard you say on the radio that
boogom villas had a good chance of survival. Well, anyway,
I thought I heard it. But I'll let me know
what I find. I'll let you know what I find.
And so I told John to carefully look at the
bottom of the plants, scrape the outer portion of the
(23:28):
stems to see if you can find any green or
moist areas, and if it's totally dead, it should be replaced.
So it's going to freeze. Book and villas do not
take freeze as well, so it's going to But if
you do find green, then you can cut it back
to that level and it may take six months or so,
but it may or it will come back. Here's the thing,
(23:50):
it may take six months and more and you may
not want to wait that long. Okay, So here's some choices, okay,
and he did cover it with a blanket, but when
we had such a hard freeze, the blankets and the
frost blankets don't really help, okay. So thankfully we only
experienced these cold temperatures every time five to ten years. So,
(24:12):
but if you would like to replace it with something
that can handle the cold, then John, you can use
a coral honeysuckle on a trellis and it would look
really nice in the corner. He sent me photos, so
I know I can say that it'll look really nice
in the corner. Or you can use camellias, and you
can find these at your nursery locally online and the
(24:34):
camellias will bloom in the wintertime, so those are a
good choice. So this is who sent me this one.
This is Judith and Orlando. She said, I may have
already asked you this, but want to make certain I
have a mature exora hedge and placed it in the
front of my house, which is planted along with a
mature y Burnham hedge. The exora is completely damaged by
(24:57):
the recent frost, and I heard someone on your p
prom from some responsible solutions recommend spraying it with horticultural
spray oil. Well, horticultural spray oil is not used for
frost damage. There's nothing you can do for frost damage. Okay,
it's dead, it's brown. You just have to cut it off.
(25:17):
It's not going to recover. Spray oil is good for
disease control, insect control, and so it is as used
for fun you know, fungus issues, so it is not
used for frost. There's really nothing we can do for frost,
all right, so please tell me the specifics of what
(25:38):
I need to do. Again. Some websites indicate that the
exhorst should have damage areas trimmed off as as soon
as there's new signs of leaf growth. I would do
it before the new leaf growth, so you don't cut
the leaf growth off, but go ahead and cut back
the dead portion on the exors. Exoras will freeze. Okay,
So thank you very much. Last week I had someone
(25:59):
ask me right after the show was over, and it
was too late, and I did text them, but they
wanted to know the name of the tree company that
I talked about. Yes, and that was word of Mouth
Tree Company, and it's Wordomouthtree Services dot com. They are
a great, great company and they're certified arborists, and that's
(26:19):
the only person you should see about what's going on
with your trees is a certified arborist, so you can
make sure of that.
Speaker 2 (26:28):
Yes, and you also need to go ahead and contact,
you know, an arborist or your tree companies to have
them come out and look at your trees now, because
I'm telling you wait to the last second. It's kind
of like the whole frost blanket thing. If you waited
the last second, you're not gonna have people come out
and check your trees.
Speaker 1 (26:44):
That is so true. Hurricane season starts in June. I
hate to say that. Last year we were very fortunate,
although sadly we needed the water from the tropical storms
of rainfall. But this year is gonna be El Nino.
We are going to probably have a few more storms.
Uh if they, you know, hit the coast, that's up
to the weather patterns. But now is the time to
(27:07):
have your trees assessed because when we have storms coming,
they're so busy and lined up you may not get
them in time and it's gonna cost more. Kind of
like fixing your air conditioning in the summertime, you want
to do it in the winter so you get cheaper
prices and you can get good service. All right, we're
gonna be back with more of your gardening questions. One
triple eight four five five two nine six seven Frank
(27:31):
from Melbourne. Hang on, we're gonna get to you right now.
If you'd like to text me two three six eight
zero from the Summit Responsible Solution Studios. If it's Saturday morning,
you're listening to Better Lawns and Gardens, I'm Teresa Watkins
and this is Florida's Talk and Entertainment Network. Welcome back
(28:05):
to Better Lawns and Gardens. It's time for your gardening questions.
One triple eight four five five two nine sixty seven.
Or you can text me two three six eight zero
and I'll answer your questions and if you do send
it in. Sometimes people listen to the show on Sundays
and they send in their gardening question Lizzie. So what
happens then? I'm sorry when somebody text us after the
(28:32):
show's over with oh okay, yes, yes you can.
Speaker 2 (28:34):
You can text. So it's one of those if you
have like a like short term member of the loss
like I do, and I forget to what I need
to say, I just I don't care if it's midnight,
just texts a two three six eight zero. I come
in on Monday mornings and I go through our text
line and then I screenshot him and I send them
to Teresa's. You can answer them the next day, or
sometimes she'll personally text you. So yeah, two three six
(28:55):
eight zero.
Speaker 1 (28:55):
Yeah, thank you so much. Let's go to Frank and Melbourne.
Good morning, Frank. Thank you for hold on and being
so patient.
Speaker 6 (29:02):
Well, it's a beautiful data. Lord has made Teresa. My
lawnmower guy about four years ago put in hedges.
Speaker 5 (29:13):
U huh, about one hundred.
Speaker 6 (29:14):
And twenty feet in my yard. And I saw Chick
fil A here expand their driveways and they were putting
in new hedges, and I asked the guy what it was,
and this and that. Anyway, the last name was Plumb.
It leaves about the size of oak leaves. Anyway, it's
(29:37):
got that terrible saddle brown tint from the frost. And
they're well established there about four years now on the ground.
And over that time I've been ground watering them about
once a week. But I was hoping you could tell
me a fertilizer or something that might revive that.
Speaker 1 (29:56):
Okay, So this is the time of the year to fertilize.
Spring is the time to put fertilizer. So you can
do that. Just a regular six sixty six eight eight, eight, ten, ten, ten,
A balanced fertilizer is all you need to put down.
Just follow the label.
Speaker 6 (30:12):
Okay, okay, and we'll keep and we'll keep on ground
watering in the meantime.
Speaker 1 (30:18):
Well, right, if you're only watering once a week, does it?
Is it not on in irrigation. If it's a commercial property,
it should be on irrigation.
Speaker 6 (30:25):
No, I'm it's my miss my backyard. Now, I got
a lonely sand soil that they're in. So we do
it about once a week.
Speaker 1 (30:33):
That sounds great and they should be just fine. Then
good for you, Frank, Thank you so much for calling
and listening to better lungs and guards. I love that
when they call. And so let's go to Diane in Tallahassee.
Good morning, Diane, How are you?
Speaker 3 (30:47):
Good morning? I'm great. Yes, I just wanted to tell
you that the delphidium I asked you about, Yes, that
I planted through the winter. A couple of them are
booming already, and I had no idea it was they
would go that quickly.
Speaker 1 (31:02):
Isn't that wonderful? I'm so glad. Is it a pretty blue?
Is it a dark blue? Is there a light blue?
Speaker 3 (31:08):
The two that are blooming, one is actually white and
one it's light blue. Oh, I think they'll all be
different colors.
Speaker 1 (31:15):
How lovely. I'm so proud of you.
Speaker 3 (31:17):
Good for you, thank you. I have another question, so
I also planted some lizzianthwas yes. I don't even know
if that's the right way to say it. It is, okay,
and they're now outside in the garden. Do they survive
in Florida?
Speaker 1 (31:32):
They do, but you treat them as annuals. Okay. So
they will go through probably May and June, possibly even
July up there in Tallahassee because you're kind of zone eight.
So they will be fine, but they will be treated
as anniels. They won't come back every year.
Speaker 3 (31:48):
Okay, But aren't they? Can I ask you one other question?
Speaker 1 (31:53):
Sure?
Speaker 3 (31:53):
Sure, I was spraying my orange trees and I have
one of these orthodial and spraying, but it doesn't spray
high enough. And I buy a lot of products that
have sprayers on them. They spray beautifully, But is there
a way to figure out what you know, how to
figure out how many ounces of actual spray goes with
(32:18):
the water like per gallon on those.
Speaker 1 (32:21):
Okay, so here's what you do is that again with
every product you use, your fertilizers that you use one,
you can email me and tell me what you have
and I can help you. That's Teresa dot Watkins at
live dot com. Or on the fertilizer label you can
you can find the eight hundred number and it's on
(32:42):
the back of the label. They all have them, and
you can call them. Usually it's like Monday through Friday,
eight to five, that kind of thing, and just call
them on Monday and they will give you the exact
you know, uh, measurements that you need to put in
to spray at a certain you know level, certain percent right, okay, right.
Speaker 3 (33:03):
Right, okay. I appreciate it. Thank you. I learned lots
of good little things on your program.
Speaker 1 (33:09):
Thank you so much. I appreciate you listening. Diana, appreciate
it so much. Enjoy your Delfidians. I'm so proud of
you for doing that.
Speaker 2 (33:16):
You know, Snowberry ever calls and goes hey, I learned
something from Lizzie except for mint. Do not plant mint
in the ground or in your garden unless you want
groundcover for the rest of the next center generation's lives.
Speaker 1 (33:32):
I see, I disagree with you. I think they have
learned so much about your turkeys, and I have learned
about your turkeys. So I learned so much from you,
you know, so that sometimes it's what not to do,
but that's always good experience, right right, somebody, So thanks,
we are going to be I am okay, not Lizzie.
Lizzie has got plans for today.
Speaker 2 (33:54):
Yes, yes, Brooks being baptized, and if you're you're not
able to go see Teresa. But you're in the Daytona area,
the Hill and that is a cross from the Ocean Center,
the Hilton across from the Ocean Center. They're having a
free baptism on the beach at one pm today. So yeah,
so she's going to be baptized.
Speaker 1 (34:10):
I think that's wonderful.
Speaker 2 (34:11):
But I'm very sad because there's a lot of our
listeners that I really really like to see. So I
am very sorry.
Speaker 1 (34:16):
Well, you possibly may be going there in a few weeks,
so whenever you go there, you'll let people know so
they can come and see you, and that would be fun.
But I'm going to be at Peterson's Nursery today at
eleven thirty and my talk is going to be Color
your World, and it's going to be about adding color
into your landscape. And I hope everybody comes. Bring your
(34:38):
own chair, yes, And possibility of a little bit of
a sprinkle today won't. No, we won't, So bring an
umbrella and we'll get to have a good time. I
can't wait to see it at the nursery I know
is just going to be beautiful with lots of great plant.
Speaker 2 (34:54):
Oh, one hundred percent, definitely. And also, if you have
some questions for Teresa about your landscape or your yard,
or even a problem with one of your plans and
you're gonna come see her today, take a far back picture,
especially if it's landscape, and then make sure it's clear,
and then get an up close of the problem that
you're talking about. So take about two or three pictures,
(35:15):
but one make sure that they're focused in, and then two.
But she needs to be able to see what's around
something that may be creating the problem.
Speaker 1 (35:23):
So I can get the whole the whole picture. Yes,
that would be great. No, I also too if you'd
like to get my free monthly newsletter in your backyard,
you can go to my website she dash consulting dot com.
That's s H E. Hyphen Consulting dot com. And on
the very page that you land on, it says a
(35:44):
subscribe to a free newsletter. I do not spam, I
don't sell your emails. You're all mind mind mine, and
you will receive my free newsletter. So I would love
to do that. Also, to go to our Facebook page.
We like that, and like our page and share it.
No matter where you are in the world, you can
(36:05):
like the Facebook page. Yes, definitely, so I love that.
So what else can you be doing this month? Again?
I said this during the first hour. Ornamental grasses need
to be cut today and so if you know this
weekend is a good good time to do it. You know,
during the rain before after the rain. Do not fertilize
before a rainstorm. That's going to contribute to stormwater runoff.
(36:30):
Your lakes are going to get algae blooms. So all
of these homes around the lakes and these hoas, these
retention ponds. When you fertilize, you stay away from your
shoreline fifteen to twenty feet. What's going to happen is
that that fertilizer is going to go down the shoreline
and it's going to go down to the bottom, but
(36:51):
it's not going to go into the lake in the
amounts that would if you fertilize all the way down
to the lake. So always stop your fertilizing. Tell your
land escape maintenance companies we have a big issue with
algae blooms and fertilizer, and one of the ways to
stop it is to do not fertilize your shoreline. Come
down about twenty feet away from the shoreline and stop fertilizing.
(37:16):
The grass is going to be just fine down there.
Your plants are going to be just fined. You do
not want to fertilize down at the shoreline, and never
fertilized before a rainstorm. You always want to do it afterwards.
One you know, fertilizer at its base is a salt,
So if you have not had rain and you have
not irrigated, your plants are going to be very dry.
(37:36):
Your turf is going to be dry, and when you
put that salt on your turf, it's going to have
a better chance of burning it. So you always want
to fertilize after a rainfall. That way, your plants are hydrated,
your turf is hydrated, and the fertilizer can work properly.
If you put the fertilizer down through it before the rain,
(38:00):
it's gonna wash off. It's gonna go down the drain,
it's gonna go into the lakes, it's gonna go into
the retention pause and ponds, and it's gonna cause algae blue.
So we don't want to do that. And I know
that there's lakes in Lake County that are having this issue.
Orange County. It's so amazing to me to fly over
as I'm landing or as I'm taking off, and you
(38:21):
look down at these hoas and these subdivisions and the
lakes are solid green in the summertime. And it's because
of the fertilizer that is used on these properties. And
so just be very careful with it. More is not better, Okay,
So that's the important part. More is not better fertilized
(38:42):
according to the label only as necessary. If it's Saturday morning,
you're listening to Better Lawns and Gardens from the Summit
Responsible Solution Studios. I'm Teresa Watkins Come see me at
Peterson's Nursery today at eleven thirty in Lakeland. Since Florida's
Talk and Entertainment Network.
Speaker 2 (39:02):
If you miss any of the show or you'd like
to recap any of the older shows, you can go
to Better Lawns dot com. That's Better Lawns dot com
and check out the Facebook page which is Better Lawns
and Gardens
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