Ron Wilson 5/4/2024 Hour 2

Ron chats with Rita. Then your calls.

Episode Transcript

(00:37):
Eight hundred and eight two three eighttwo five five. Good morning, that
is our number. I am RonWilson, your personal yard boy, talking
about yarding on this run for theRoses Saturday, Kentucky Derby today. And
what do you say You're looking fora recipe? Maybe a little Kentucky Derby
chocolate walnut pie? How about themince you want to make mint julips?
Well, I've got the person totell us all about it, because it's

(00:59):
time for Are you herbally experienced withour CCP? Cmh Appalachian herbal scholar,
maker of strange potions, a parttime witch doctor doctor. She's an author,
local TV cooking and herbal expert.She's the original barefoot gardner, Ladies
and gentlemen, the one, theonly Rita Nator Hike and feld. Wow,

(01:23):
big crowd this morning waiting for you. Oh boy, it's it's it's
settle down, Settle down. Youhave a lady a big head. Oh
my, you know, think aboutthis mint julep with a slice of Kentucky
Derby chocolate walnut pie. Doesn't thatsound good for breakfast? I think so

(01:46):
myself. It's five o'clock somewhere,yep. I'm in so hey. All
right, So let's get started becausewe've got a lot of to talk about
today. Rita Hikenfeld course website abouteating dot com that is about eating dot
com. First of all, takea look at your recipe, Kentucky Derby
Chocolate Walnut Pie. A question cameup with Joe and I were talking this
morning. Does it matter if youuse black walnuts or English walnuts or is

(02:12):
there a particular walnut that you preferin this recipe? Oh? Definitely the
English, you know, the blackand you and Joe when you and Joe
were talking, You're right, sucha distinctive flavor, and it's more of
a wild I always say a wildwalnut. The English would be my choice.
I don't know how about you.I mean that black walnut is a

(02:34):
totally different flavor, So I think, you know, it would be like
eating Skyline or gold Starry. Ithink both as their own distinct flavoring.
Both could be good. Yep,that's a good way to put it.
But the English walnuts would be whatI would use. And it's interesting because
if you notice the name Kentucky DerbyChocolate walnut Pie, you're not allowed even

(02:57):
to use the name quote unquote DerbyPie, because that has been trademarked,
really yeah, by the kent family. Who's I think theirs is the original
Kentucky or the Derby Pie. Soyou'll see lots of variations, but only
one Derby pie called Derby Pie.So this is pretty close though, and
I think it's a winner and deliciousand easy to make. You know,

(03:21):
you can excuse me, easy tomake, you wrote on her servant while
you're watching the most exciting two minutesof sports, I don't think so.
I might have that ben jewelip myhand, but I'm not gonna have a
piece of chocolate walnut pie in myhand the ceiling because I'd be jumping up
and down and screaming. That's verytrue, very true. Day. It

(03:44):
gives you goosebumps when you hear thosehorses just a little pounding around there.
Very exciting, all right. Soyou also have a recipe for the Kentucky
Derby style mint, Julip, Ido. And you and I have talked
over the years as far as whatmeant to use, and I have come
into the fold because I, asyou know, I grew up with peppermint,

(04:06):
so spearmint was pretty much unknown inmy repertoire, so peppermint was used
for everything. But you are absolutelyright. The Derby style mint julip should
have Kentucky Colonel Spearman in it.And you know what I think of all
those, that's still a Kentucky Colonelis a really good looking mint, oh

(04:30):
I think so. And it's gota wonderful sweet spearmint flavor, and it's
a beautiful green. So yeah,any of the Spearman's work, but the
Kentucky Colonel would be my choice.And if you were recommending someone to actually
grow mint on their property, whatwould you recommend they do? I know
what you're going to say? Ina container of course. Of course,

(04:53):
of course, all those mints areinvasive. And you know what I've always
told folks everywhere that stem touches,if it finds soil, it will definitely
root, so and you can cutit back. It's a cut and come
again herb. In fact, itdoes better. And as far as spearmint
versus peppermint, we always put apot of peppermint outside our doors, especially

(05:15):
the kitchen door, and that keepsaway ants. So they all have wonderful
uses medicinally in the kitchen as well, but the spearmint is just perfect for
derbys. And I heard you sayice or not ice? What was all
that about? Well, you knowif you use ice or just take it
without the ice neat or you know, or with ice? I mean,
is that still a bit Julip,whether you use ice or not. I

(05:39):
would say definitely with the crushed ice, because as you put the crusted ice
in the glass and then you haveyour simple syrup that you've made, and
then the bourbon, the mint simplesyrup and the bourbon, and then it
all tastes really good. And somepeople use silver goblets. Isn't that interesting?
Well, see something you know somefolks don't like their urban on ice.

(06:01):
Oh yeah, so that was thatwas the point. You know,
do we want to you know,so, I don't think it matters,
but we'll try it both ways.What do you say? I think that
sounds good and we'll toast whichever horsewe like there there by the way,
do you have a pick? Well, I have to tell you. When
I was listening to you and Joethis morning, I didn't, But now
you know which one I've picked.Well, that's why I said that this

(06:21):
morning case because I didn't know ifyou'd look at the the names. And
by the way, we're gonna getwith a horse breeders, see you,
we can get the Durango Kid asa name for one of the horses coming
up from Kentucky Derby. But Isaw Forever Young on there, and I
said, I'll bet Reda is goingto bet on that horse. Yeah,
my friend friend listen to me,my friend Rod, Yes, I would.

(06:44):
That would be my choice, andonly because I like the name and
what it signifies. So yeah,Forever Young would be mine. But I
looked at all the rest of thelist. I just looked at it this
morning while a lot of horses runningand a boy so much. Yikes.
It's very exciting, the fashion andthe horses and the whole thing. Like
you said, it's just just wonderfulto watch every year. It's one of

(07:06):
those experiences. If you've never experiencedit before, you should do it at
least once in your life, nodoubt about it. Talking with Rita Hikenfeld.
Of course, our website is abouteating dot com great recipes and you'll
always find those every Saturday on ourwebsite at Ron Wilson online dot com as
well and They're always easy and veryvery tasty, so be sure and check
this out. So let's kind ofcruise out into the vegetable and herb garden.

(07:29):
First of all, give us alittle update on that swarm of bees
that you found. Oh that wasa few weeks ago when we had some
fellas here cleaning our windows and oneof the fellows said, I can't clean
the middle basement window outside because youhave a nest out there. And I
said a nest. I thought,oh my gosh, wasps already? And
it was a swarm of bees thatfound my beehid that I had cleaned out

(07:54):
because as you know, last yearI lost all my bees from mites and
yellowjackets. So I had the excuseme the hives all cleaned out and stacked
under the deck, and that theswarm found the hive and when I moved
it, I put my bee suiton and moved it so that, you
know, because they were everywhere,it seemed like they were already in the
hives. So it was pretty exciting. So I don't know if they came

(08:18):
from my neighbor Errand's across the road. That's what we think, because she
has really abundant hives and very healthyhives. So anyway, I got my
own swarm. I was very excitedabout it. And now they're nestled across
the road. We have like alittle bee compound of hives over there.
So my first experience catching a swarm, and really I can't say I caught

(08:41):
it. They did all the workthe bees did and I was just,
you know, hanging around getting themall settled. You got to send us
a picture of you and your beesuit. Hey, I got new boots
because everybody was making fun. Idid see. I remember that. That's
the only thing you mentioned were myboots. So now I have boots with
chickens on them, and they're notso like you know, that's not the

(09:03):
first thing you see in the picture. But I love my be suit.
It's just you can't go around themwithout it, that's for sure. I
will send you a photo. Yes, we want to post that so everybody
can see you in your b suit. Talking with Rita Hiken found her website
is about eating dot com. BillKnox said something yesterday about wanting to know
if you were going to be workingthe herbs in our herb area at the

(09:24):
natorch Nurciatla, and I said,I think she'll be back. Are you
there that this today? Yes Iam. I'm going to be there this
morning, and I'll probably be thereat least every Saturday and some Sundays through
what I call the herbal Experience Week. So yes, I'll be there.
I love you know, it's aromatherapyfor me, and I love helping people,
and we have so many different herbs. It's just so much fun.

(09:46):
And folks get to meet and theyget to meet you, and that's a
Natornercada out of Mason. But hiscomment was, h you know, she
never changes. She looks exactly thesame. And I've known her for all
these years. And I said,Bill, think about it. Oh do
we even need to go into that? And the only thing there it was
like, I said, you said, what are you talking about? I
said, just Bill, just thinkabout it, all right. She still

(10:07):
looks the same from forty fifty yearsago, about two hundred, right,
I don't know. I don't rememberwhich one I threw out there, I'm
sure, but you know when peoplesay that I either looked old back then,
or you know, I take itas a compliment. Let's just let's
just say that. Yeah, Ilove it. Hey, we're going to

(10:28):
take a break, we come back. I got to learn more about this
married man pork basil. Yeah,you got my attention there, the rude
beer planting a whole lot more.Talking with Rita Heikefeld. Are you urbally
experienced? Here in the garden withRon Wilson? How is your garden growing?
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hundred, Get roto or visit rogroutersdot com talking yardening and of course herbal

(13:58):
yarding. Here on the on ourshow this morning at eight hundred eight two
three eight two five five. RitaNator Hikenfeld with us this morning. She
is our herbal expert. Her websiteabout Eating dot com. So I when
I saw this the other day,I said, what married man pork basil?
I know, I know, it'sdifferent, isn't it. Where did

(14:18):
you find that? Well? Thestory is like this from my friend Peter
Borcher of Companions Plants. He hasa greenhouse in Athens outside of Athens,
and he and I have been friendsfor years and years, and he grows
sort of weird things, and youknow how I love those. Anyway,
he said. One of his customersfrom was from Guyana, and that's in

(14:43):
South America, and he brought himthese they call the married man pork basil
seeds, so he grows those andit looks like it's a very pretty basil.
It sort of reminds me of lemonbasil as far as the shape and
the color sort of light medium shadeof green. But when you squish the
leaves and taste it, it tastesa little You taste a little bit of

(15:05):
clothes and licorice, but sort ofa citrusy taste too. But anyway,
as I mentioned to you, I'mtrialing it out and I'll let everybody know.
But it's it's the strangest name,married man pork basil. I don't
know how it got that. Ithought you're going to say it, you
know, it actually had a porkflavor or something. Well, yeah,
when you think yeah, or themarried man thing, I mean, what

(15:28):
what is that? Maybe it's likeyou keep your married man happy with basil
makeup, basil pork dish. Idon't know. I guess figure it out.
Well. I can't wait to hearthe report and what mister Hikenfeld thinks
of it as well. Yeah,it'll be in something he won't recognize,
so it'll all be good obviously,just like you always do with the potions

(15:50):
and everything else that he doesn't recognizeeither. Let's see here true Bible meant
Yes, such a big debate aboutthat. Which mint is is the Bible
mint? You know, the tithingmint? And I have one called hobek
h a b e k and that'ssupposed to be the true Bible mint.

(16:10):
And it's it's invasive, just likethe other ones, but the leaves are
sort of lance like and thinner,and it has a beautiful like almost like
a lavender flower. And it's moremedicinally used because the flavor isn't real minty.
It's very strong, like with alot of mint and menthol and campher
But it's supposed to be good andit is good for like upset tummies and

(16:33):
such. So I have that inthe Bible portion of my herb garden just
because it's a lovely specimen. It'scalled haboc h a b e k mint.
All right, got it? Whatabout Hoya Santa? Oh my gosh,
this is so fun. It it'scalled the root beer plant and it's
a member of the pepper family.The leaves look like if you grow pepper,

(16:55):
and I've done that, you know, the black pepper, it doesn't
do so well. But dark greenleave he's really pretty. This has sort
of softer green leaves around the edges. But if you squish the leaves they
smell just like root beer and alittle bit of sassafrass. And the leaves
are used in Southwestern cooking a lotTex Mex and that chopped up in stews
or used as wraps. Really awonderful plant. So I'll be making some

(17:19):
think with that as well. Doesmister Hikenfeld like root beer? He does.
He loves root beer. I dotoo, so he'll like this one
then. Yeah, okay, I'mjust counting on it. Talking about sage,
my favorite, of course is theBeer Garden, absolutely outstanding. And
you know what, every time somebody'slooking at those, I always say,
have you ever tried those fryingos?Up a little bit? And it's a

(17:41):
little olive oil, a little seasalt on top, and like, what
are you talking about? Yeah?Try it sometime you'll be the hit of
the party. They think I'm crazy. Well, they're called sage potato chips,
and that's exactly what you do.The beer garden stage is nice because
it has those nice, big fleshyleaves and you just pop those in a
little olive oil, sprinkles them withsome good sea salt and you're good to

(18:03):
go. And I'm growing a whitesage this year. Now. When I
say white sage, there's a Dalmatianstage that's very good, really good flavor,
sort of a whitish green. Butthis is the one that's got a
real strong scent. It's used inincense if you buy one of those incense
packets or those Indian little those littlepackets of Indian cleansing rituals. It's really

(18:26):
a pretty stage. It's sort ofa white gray. So it's gonna trill
that out as well. And I'lllet you know. And you you mistakenly
on take it till down, thetiled up the lovees. But it came
back anyway. Yes, yes,I use my manthis in the irb garden,
dag on it. I till reallypretty deep and there she came back

(18:47):
up. Lovage is a wonderful celerysubstitute and you just can't kill it.
So I'm happy about that. Andlast but not least, your cronst I
thought they went away. The saysthey're up and growing again. Oh my
crones. No, you remember yougave me those little too from Yeah,
oh that's right. Yeah, theycome up every year and they look like,

(19:10):
I don't know, like little Iwouldn't say worms, like yeah,
yeah, like a grub. Yeah, like a grub. And they're delicious,
they're tuber and you can use themraw or saute them really pretty.
So I just love having those.And those are quite invasive, so I
have those in a big planter bythe deck. So just tastes like a
water chestnut. And by the way, it's spelled c r O sn e

(19:33):
s any s, but it's calledpronounced crones. I remember when she first
brought that bag into the studio.I ate half of them. She said,
you know, you're not supposed tobe eating those, You're supposed to
be planting those. Oh really youdid? I ate half of them?
So what can I say? That'sjust the way it goes. And in
this last one, not at leastyou got about a half a minute here.
What's the deal with a black kale? Everybody's asking for black kale?

(19:56):
Yeah, I think it's a trendingname for the Lachinado kale. I used
to call it while I steel dodinosaur kale, dark dark green, sort
of bumpy leaves, and the flavorisn't so strong to my palate as regular
kale. But it's a beautiful specimenand people are mixing it in in their
flower gardens or container gardens. Andof course it's a cut and come again

(20:18):
green. But as you and I, you know, talk a little bit
about that earlier, it's a bigthing to have black kale. Now,
dinner and a show. Rita Hikenfeldsays, are you eberly experience? Go
to a website about eating dot com? Rita hike and felt always a pleasure.
I hope to see you later.Mister will tell mister Hikenfeld we said
hello. I will all right,take care Rita Hikenfeld again about eating dot

(20:41):
com. After the break, thephone lines are open for you. Eight
hundred eight two three, eight twofive five Here in the garden with Ron
Wilson, Green tom or not.Ron can help at one eight hundred eight
two three talk. This is inthe garden with Ron Wilson. If your

(21:18):
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(22:00):
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Pick some up today. We're talkingto your rdening at eight hundred eight

(22:59):
two three two five. I amRon Wilson, your personal yard boy,
trying to help you out to beas successful as you can and all your
yardning endeavors. And if you've gota question or a tip you'd like to
share, our phone lines are openfor you at eight hundred eight two three
A two five five. Okay,can we talk? Let me ask you
to be honest with me. Allright, last weekend this week, did

(23:22):
you do anything special? Did youplant anything special in your yard or church,
or school or park or whatever.Do you remember what last Friday was
a week from yesterday. It wasthe Rodney danger Field of all of these
special days, these awareness days.It was Arbor Day. I still can't

(23:48):
get over after last Friday and lastweekend. How many folks didn't even realize
that last Friday was Arbor Day.It's been around for years and years and
year and I call it the RodneyDangerfield of these awareness days because it gets
no respect. And I'm telling you, and this is my soapbox for you

(24:08):
this morning, is that if youwant to have one thing that really affect
this earth, this planet, tomake it better, to help make it
better, that you can have thebiggest impact is to plant a tree or
two or three. I don't knowwhat else to say, but you've got
to do it. And if you'vegot a group like the Rotary Club or

(24:30):
the Kowanas or whatever may be,and you're looking to do things in your
community, plant a tree or twoor three every year, planted by the
Kowanas, planted by the Rotary plantedby the Allions Club, whatever it made
by the Moose or whatever who happenedthe Elks or whatever happened to be,
your Boy Scout Troops, the GirlScouts, whatever it may be. And
I'm seeing more and more of thesegroups actually like the Girl Scouts, Boy

(24:51):
Scouts and not putting together pollinator gardensnow at their schools and all outstanding,
absolutely outstanding. But I'm telling youadd to that, planting a tree or
two or three somewhere in your community, it's the biggest And you know,
again I told you that, Iread that article said, you know,
people that plant trees are heroes,heroes of the future because you know you're

(25:15):
planting it forward. You plant atree, and you're planning it for the
future. You're planning it for yourgrandchildren because that's what it takes for these
trees to get up in some sizeand really become beneficial. Best time to
plant a tree twenty five years ago, twenty twenty five years ago. Second
best time is right now. Soplease, this spring, this fall,
whatever may be. I'm begging youto get out there and again, make

(25:37):
sure it's the right tree for theright place. Figure out where you're going
to plant the tree, and thenpick the tree to match the spot overall
size height with keep it away fromthose power lines, underground utilities, drain
lines, et cetera, et cetera. All right, to keep it away
from all that stuff. But righttree, right location, pick the location,

(25:57):
pick the tree. Secondly, allright, and then go down and
plant. Please, and again,I don't know what else to tell you,
but here it was Arbor Day andit is the Rodney Dangerfield of all
these special days. So you know, keep that in mind. A lot
of folks out there getting ready toplant up those annual planters, the containers,

(26:18):
both with flowers, perennials, vegetables, et cetera, et cetera.
A couple things real quick for you. Make sure the pot is the size
that you need to support what you'retrying to grow in it. You know,
you can grow about anything in acontainer, all right, but you've
got to make sure that the potis big enough to handle what you're trying
to grow. And in many cases, the larger the pot usually the better
off you are, especially with mixedplanters, tomatoes, things like that.

(26:41):
So make sure the pot size isthe right size, and make sure that
pot has excellent drainage. Excellent drainagenot just a single hole in the bottom
of the pot, but excellent drainage, maybe multiple holes. And look at
pots that are when you go tobuy a plant at a nursery, your
local independent garden center, and thegrowing of those black plastic pots, look
at where the holes are. Notonly are they on the bottom, but

(27:04):
they're on the sides, so thatwhen you sit it down the pot and
sometimes those can get covered over thosedrain holes, the side holes do not,
and it drains out the side.So again, a lot of times
if I buy a plastic container,decorative container, I'll still take a drill
bit and put some a couple threeholes on the sides of the pot,
just to make sure that it drainswell. So make sure you do that.

(27:27):
So again right size pot, gooddrainage. Do not put Do not
put chips, gravel whatever in thebottom of the pot to make it drain
better. Doesn't work, actually slowsit down. The only time you would
do that, and research has proventhis now is if you need it because
the wind's blowing and it's gonna blowthe pot over and it needs to be

(27:48):
heavier. Otherwise, don't do thegravel in the bottom of the pot doesn't
work. Don't do it all right. If you're concerned about soil coming out
of the bottom of those holes,lay some coffee filters over top of those
before you fill. Put it intopotting soil. That'll helps slow it down.
But once it all kind of comestogether, it stops really coming out
of those holes. Grete potting soil. You get what you pay for when

(28:11):
you buy potting soil. Buy abrand at your local independent garden center,
check with them, see which onethey highly recommend. But you know,
you get your money. It's worthwhat you get what you pay for.
And when it comes to potting soil, and there are a lot of great
potting soils out there that are availablefor you buy a top grade potting soil,
it's going to cost you a littlebit more, but you reuse it

(28:32):
every year. You're freshening it up, but you reuse it every year.
Top grade potting soil, and don'tforget most of the time they don't have
nutrients in there, so you addthe fertilizer. You add the nutrients to
the soil osma coat. Slow releasefeeding kind of gives you a slow release
of nutrients throughout the entire growing season, and then you add to it depending

(28:53):
on what you're growing in that pot. If you're doing tomatoes or peppers and
containers, and a lot of folksdo. Sometimes we get involved what's called
blossom in rot. The bottom ofthe pepper, the bottom of the tomato
turns black. They turn black fortwo reasons. One is the main reason.
It's a lack of calcium within thefruits. Not a disease. It's

(29:14):
lack of calcium and they don't haveenough calcium. The bottom turns black.
Called blossom and rot. And howdo you take care of that. You
make sure you have calcium in thesoil so it's available. Regular potty salt
doesn't have calcium. Espomas tomato toneall right. Espomas tomato tone has added
calcium in that fertilizer, so youcan if you add that, that really

(29:36):
does help out. And secondly,is good even moisture. You have to
have good even moisture to get thecalcium to carry through the plant and into
the fruit. So a combination ofmaking sure calcium is available and secondly making
sure you keep good even moisture inthat soil to get the calcium to move
will help to eliminate blossom in rot. You could even still get a little
bit of it at the very beginningas the tomatoes and peppers are starting to

(30:00):
root in and not fully rooted inyet, but it will go away over
time with future fruit. And bythe way, it's not a disease.
So if the tomato or pepper wouldstill ripen, you can slice that off
and still eat it if you wantto. Looks kind of bad on the
bottom, but you can't slice thatoff. But again, supplement with that
if needed, especially tomatoes and peppers. And then watering very very important.

(30:22):
Dram dr a MM watering ones area cool thing to have if you have
to individually water all your containers.Some folks will actually set up a drip
irrigation system that's outstanding. But ifyou don't have that dram watering wand and
it just makes it such a nicesoft filtery watering that pushes a lot of
water out, but it's soft atthe same time. It's a great way

(30:45):
to rinse off your plants, towater your plants as well. But again,
some keys there to being successful inyour container gardening endeavors, and container
gardening affords all of us, includingkids from two to ninety two. It
doesn't matter, the opportunity to dosome type of gardening, and that's what's
one of the things is so coolabout container gardening. Before we take a

(31:06):
break, our good friend Avlin iswith us this morning. Avelin, good
morning, Oh good morning, Ron, thank you for taking me. It's
lime disease Awareness month, and Ialways say it's l y me when you're
looking it up. You need toknow it's from lime. Connecticut is where

(31:26):
it was identified, and everybody shouldbe taught how to protect themselves and check
themselves for this tiny, tiny tick. It's like a speck of dirt sometimes
and they carry a bacteria which canmake you very sick. I had it

(31:47):
and I recognized my symptoms which werea bulls eye rash and I actually was
very fortunate to get very sick immediatelyso I could go on the docsor cycle
and for I think it was fourweeks. But if you see lime a
Global Lime Alliance g LA Global LimeAlliance is a very good website. But

(32:12):
if you put l Yme disease inthe computer, you'll come up with so
much information. And you have toprotect yourself and your children. I mean,
nature is wonderful, but it alsois very powerful, and these tiny
little ticks can really cause a lotof damage to your heartier neurological systems,

(32:38):
very many different types of damage,joint damage, and I know you protect
yourself and it's a matter of probablylearning how to use the least well.

(33:00):
Don't go in the shade. Ifyou're in the cemetery and you're coming across
some lovely weeds or plants, you'relikely to have the ticks sitting there waiting
to crawl up you. It usedto be rare because we had open farms

(33:21):
and fields, but now it's thesuburbs, which are wonderful and have lots
of great shade trees. The suburbsattract the deer and all the rodents,
and they can thrive so well.And you know, it's very very important

(33:44):
when you love nature to also knowwhat is going to be dangerous for you
exactly. You know, we alwaysappreciate you calling and bringing us up because
it is one of those things thatyou know, you know, you can
protect yourself. You know, obviously, inspections very very important. Learning more
about the disease and the tics,and like you said, spec a dirt.

(34:06):
I always say, like a poppyseed. They're so small. But
inspection of yourself, using repellents,trying to stay out of those areas where
they happen to be all very veryimportant. Recognizing the symptoms as well.
And again you know, just likeshe said, google just google lime disease.
L y, m me learn moreabout it, learn more about the
symptoms and how do you can stayout of the habitats where ticks are.

(34:28):
They're out there, they're everywhere,Evelyn. We always count on you letting
us note about this and bringing theawareness forward, and we always appreciate hearing
from you. Oh well, thankyou, Rod. And you know I
said, to people who think theymight have it, tell your doctor.
Don't ask your doctor for lime diseasetests. It's simple but that say I

(34:50):
want I had that happen. Somebodysaid, I tell you doctor, yep,
you want the test. Don't askfor it because I have enough things
on their mind. But if yousay I want that test, the test
is fairly reliable and you want toget it in the earliest stage so it

(35:10):
doesn't really do damage. Absolutely,Ione, thank you, I appreciate it.
We got to take a break.Coming back, Kathleen, you're coming
up next. Phone lines are overfor you. Eight hundred and eight two
three eight two five five. Herein the Garden with Ron Wilson. Landscaping
made easier with your personal yard boy. He's in the garden and he's Ron
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fish, birds, or wildlife.Mosquito dunks are available at garden centers,
hardware stores, and online. Visitsome Responsible Solutions dot com. Eight hundred

(37:29):
eight two three eight two five fiveTalking yardening, and I was talking about
container gardening, and I just realizedas I'm sitting here that I forgot to
mention two very important things. Talkabout all the important elements that you go
through. One thing that will reallyhelp you out if it's when it comes
to watering. And obviously the plantsand those containers are counting on you for
the nutrients because potting soil basically hasno nutrients. And number two, watering

(37:52):
and the dram watering one is agem to use for handwatering containers, no
doubt about it. But you canhelp cut down on your water by using
products that help to hold moisture inthat soil. And remember when you do
use those, that you use themso you don't over water. But soil
moist is one of those products.These small polymers that look like large grains

(38:13):
of sand and when they get wet, they swell up to about twenty thirty
times their size. They hang ontothat soil the moisture, so when the
soil dries out, they re releasethat back into the soil and it really
does help cut down on your watering. The other thing that's good about it
is as a swell and then shrinkand swell and shrink, they actually errate
the soil, which is very interestingtoo as those containers become more root bound

(38:37):
as the season goes along. Sosoil moist is a great thing to add
to help cut down on your watering. Core Coir is another product that's a
coconut husk byproduct that you can addkind of like spagnum peat, but it's
out of coconut husks and also helpsto retain moisture but keeps it very light

(38:58):
and airy, so keep those thosetwo in mind as well. And as
a matter of fact, if youbuy a hanging basket or a pre planted
container or whatever, and you wantto add soil moist to those, but
they're already planted because you want toadd it before you would plant anything.
All you have to do is takea wooden dowl and poke some you know,
four or five holes down through thatsoil and just sprinkle three or four

(39:20):
five little crystals of the soil moistdown in each of those holes and just
create these chambers of soil moist andthat'll help you out as well. So
you can add it to you're alreadyplanted planters, just by poking some holes
and dropping it down into the middlepart of the potting soil, not to
top, but down about midway orlower to help hold the moisture there.
And window boxes. Man, thatstuff really does help you out. All

(39:45):
right, Back to the gardening funtlines we go. Kathleen and Kentucky,
Good morning, Good morning, Ron. I've talked to you before, and
I hope you can help me withthis. Okay, it's a tree.
It is a lace spark elms eighteenyears old and over the last summer,
it failed in color and leaf production, and very production. This year,

(40:09):
it failed to leaf until just thislast week or two weeks ago, and
its color is pale and it justlooks terrible. The landscaper consulted said this.
Unfortunately, this tree is girdled atits base by a nylon rope that
was left on the tree during installation. The phlam, which is under the

(40:32):
bark and is the pipeline system forthe tree's nourishment, is severely compromised.
Wow, we'll see it's flying inthe tree until it dies. Okay,
given that, what are your thoughts? Unfortunately that does happen, and you

(40:52):
know we don't we forget to removethe twine around the base of those trees.
Does somebody plant it for you?It isn't actually mine. I live
in a condo complex. I'm onthe board, got it. But I'm
in the condo where that tree isprominent right at the beginning and highly visible

(41:12):
at the entrance to the condo section. Sometimes if they catch that early enough,
they can actually go in and pullthat thing out, and sometimes they
recover, sometimes they don't. Butit sounds to me like it's at a
point now where it's gotten to whereit's not going to recover. And you
know, I have seen them growover that and continue on. I've seen
them also that thing just actually stranglesit over time. And it sounds like

(41:35):
that's what's happening to yours. Andby the way, I love lace park
ELM's absolutely gorgeous tree. But ifyou're seeing a decline over the last couple
of years, the color starting tolighten up on there, what happens is
you get a combination of now youknow it's making its own food up there
and sending it back down. Itcan't send it back down. We can't
send things back up to the top. Now, all of a sudden,
the roots start to decline a littlebit and they start to work together,

(41:58):
and the next thing you know,he's right or she is right. Whoever
have to come out. You know, you lose the tree. So I
would go back and say, okay, so how long you know, structurally
wise, how much longer do youthink we have? It could only be
a couple years. The question wouldbe to me now is if I can't
correct it, should we just goahead and get it out of there?

(42:20):
Maybe this summer take it down,grind it out, and then this fall
look to replace it so we getsomething regrowing in that spot as quickly as
possible. But unfortunately that does happenevery now and then, either that or
a girdling root where you've got thoseroots circling around and the next thing,
you know, that tree grows overtop of that girdling root and it does
exactly the same thing. It justbasically strangles the tree above. And again

(42:45):
as it top declines, the rootstarts to decline. They work together,
they both decline and boom it's done. So if a certified arbist looked at
it and then diagnose it, theyknow that's what's happening. And I've given
it basically the last rite. I'dlook at it and say, cut your
growing time loss by getting rid ofit, kate, taking it out,

(43:07):
grinding it out, and be readyto plant. You can do it yet
this year if you wanted to,or this springer summer, but be ready
to go in the fall to getsomething new growing there as well. And
I wouldn't hesitate to go back withthat lay spark GLM because it is absolutely
a perfect wonderful tree. Gotta go. Good question, Well, I'll take
a break. We come back.We'll jump back into the garden. Phone
lines eight hundred eight two three eighttwo five five. Don't forget our website,

(43:29):
Ron Wilson Online dot Com. Plantsof the Week this week, just
in time for today, Petite knockoutrose, absolutely gorgeous, my favorite easy
does It Rose for the run forthe roses, and of course Kentucky Colonel
Spearman perfect for your mint julips.That said, Ron Wilson Online dot Com.
You're in the garden with Ron WilsonLandscaping made easier with your personal yard

(44:07):
boy. He's in the garden andhe's Ron Wilson