Coming to you from Studio a Ho Ho Ho. It's time for the Gardening Simplified Show with Stacy Hervella me Rick Weisten, our engineer and producer Adrianna Robinson Today. Well, to celebrate the holidays Christmas time, we'll talk garden tainment. It's just a word I made up. But do you listen to music while gardening? Well, if you do, it's likely that at some point
over the past year, you've listened to Fleetwood Mac's song Dreams. Now I say that because Stacey I looked at some research here and it analyzed one hundred and sixteen thousand, twenty one songs added to one thousand Spotify playlists with gardening in the title, and Fleetwood Mac's Dreams came out on top, with Van Morrison's Brown Eyed Girl following a close second. Well, Adriana approves. Adriana is a Fleetwood Mac fan, so she is very excited. Now I do
have to say this is interesting. I do have a gardening playlist, but it's not called gardening isn't in the title, so I think no, it's called plants Songs to plant plants to, So you know, flutwood Max Dreams is not on sid playlist. But I'm also just saying they are excluding a lot of other potential gardening playlists by limiting it just to those with Garden in the time. I agree, and on today's Gardeningtainment Show, we're going to help you with a few additional songs to add to your list. Now.
Of course, Dreams is a great song. I was released the year I graduated from high school nineteen seventy seven. Was that so? Yeah? And Stevie next, of course, her voice just perfect for that song. I guess, just like any other great song I was reading that she sat down at a keyboard or piano and wrote it in ten minutes, so that's kind of how it usually worked. There are a number of those. There's also a number of great songs that were much more laborious, but those don't make
such a good story. Yeah, like some of Beethoven's works. But we're going We're not going down that road today. Now. One of my favorite Garden songs. I love the beginning of this song for me, it has a great history, and that's Lynn Anderson's I Never Promised You a Rose Garden. I love that song. Now there are people who claim that I loved the song because I got a chance to meet Lynn Anderson and I was just a youngster and she autographed a black and white picture for me and handed it
to me. And the impact that it made on me, which is a great reminder for me to this day as adults, the things we say, the things we do, or when we help out a kid, it's amazing the impact that it can have on them years and years later, even though you didn't think it was any big deal. It's you know, it's one of those things that if you think about too much, you start to get a little freaked out. Exactly exactly, Well, there's got to be a
little rain sometime. I could promise you a thing like diamond rings, but you don't find roses growing on stalks of clover. Now. Another song that I have my playlist is Jerry Reid. I love Jerry Reid, and he had a song called stop and Smell the Flowers. I had a friend who suddenly passed away one week before. This friend gave me a Jerry Reid CD with this song on the CD, Smell the flowers while the roses bloom, Take the time my friend and sing a happy tune. Oh how precious every
mile. So take a minute, learn to smile, my friend. Let's stop a while and smell the flowers. That stuck with me obviously because of what happened. So that's on my list. That's a good one. Yeah, I love Jerry. I kind of wish you would have brought your guitar and we could have had a little bit of live demo for these, for these, that's true. Maybe sometime we'll do that. Carol King, Carol
King, I Feel the Earth Move. Now, if you're out in your garden or your landscape, wouldn't that be a great song to listen to, that one't you? Yeah? Very good? I Feel the Earth Move. And Jimmy Buffett, of course, I like any Jimmy Buffett song. And a number of people may not know when you take a look at Jimmy Buffett's albums in the credits, there are a number of songs where he credits Marvin Gardens not the location on your Monopoly board game, but he and a lot
of people feel it's a pseudonym. He just an alter ego of Jimmy Muffett, and he would put Marvin Gardens on his album. And let me give you another quick one. A minute here Elvis Presley poke Salad Annie the first time it came up on the show, actually because I love the song and I really like Elvis. So what's other songs that you'd have on your well? So, like I said, I do you have a gardening playlist? And I don't, you know, add stuff to it all the time.
And I have to say, I don't usually listen to music when I garden. And the reason for that is because I'm kind of all over the place, you know, and so we have speakers in our garage, and we can put a little speaker on our back patio, So for in those areas, we'll definitely be listening to music. But like when I'm out in the garden, you know, I don't want to just bug the neighbors when I'm not sitting there. Not that I listened to it that loud, but you
know, I'll listen to whatever. I usually just play whatever that well so it won't stop and I don't have to go back up and change it. But in my gardening playlist some expected tunes. But I was looking at your list and I have some that you did not have. So there is a Mountain by Donovan Okay, you know. First there is about uh oh, sorry, I forget how it goes, but oh no, no, no, look upon my garden. It's a snail, that's what it is.
So sixties jam Dead Flowers by the Rolling Stones always one of my favorites for especially for driving to the nursery in January. Love It My Blue Heaven by Fats Domino, So just a beautiful song done by so many people. One of my all time favorite American songbook songs because it's about, you know,
sort of having the perfect domestic bliss area. You're driving up to it or walking up to it at the end of a long day and you just have this feeling like there's roses, there's a cozy fire, like this is why I do everything that I do. And it's just a beautiful tune. And his is particularly peppy for a good gardening playlist. Now you know you're gonna appreciate this one. The Bug Song by Stomping Tom Conyers. Oh you know
that one? Yeah, oh yes, yugs, bugs bugs. If I had them all in jugs, I dig the whole frod world's dug and I could see someone like you really liking that song. Yeah, it's a comic song, but you know, appreciating insects. Yes, and then I do have some newer songs on there, but I didn't want to come off to be like, oh, I'm too cool to for anyone to know this music. So I'm not getting into like the deep cuts on the list. But I did want to mention one called avant Gardner by Courtney Barnett, so a
very it's actually a very troubling story. She wakes up in the morning and decides she's going to clean up yard. It's a very hot day. She has an asthma attack that the ambulance comes. You can tell it's very autobiographical, but in the end she's like, I probably have stayed in bed and not tried to garden. But it's still a good story. And it's called avant Gardner. So I also have a very lengthy, much more in depth
birding playlist. Oh I'll bet you do. I'll bet you do. And I thought, you know, I would mention that since Birdman is joining us late. Yes, in our fourth segment today, Branching News is mocking bird on that list because it is Yeah, okay, there's you know, there's always some unexpected ones, but it's the ones that you don't expect that make a playlist really interesting in my opinion. Well, with mine, I think it's expected because my list basically dates me. You know, I throw additional
ones in there. You remember Neil Diamond, you don't bring me flowers? Oh yeah, right? Well was that was that Neil Diamond? That's Neil Diamond saying a duet with oh yeah, Barber Straissan. I don't know, I could have been. I don't know. I remember hearing it like in the vackseat of my mom's car when I was like four. I'm sure if I'm wrong, we'll be corrected on this. So Scott mackenzie, San Francisco, be sure to wear flowers in your hair. See Eels and Cross Summer
Breeze. Of course, Simon and Garfuncle did a whole album Parsley Sage, Rosemary in Time, Classic Right and Again to date Myself, Ricky Nelson Garden Party, Tony Orlando and Dawn tie a yellow ribbon round the Old Oak Tree, and Tom Jones Green Green Grass of Home. I mean, great title, but that's a very depressing song, so veryferos so maybe not the best for a gardening playlist. When you're out there in a beautiful day and you know this song about a guy in prison comes on in all of his regret
exactly. Well, then let's talk about gifts just for a moment. Here best garden gifts. I still think number one is a gift card. It may sound boring, but, like we've talked about on this show, potting soil is expensive, well, you know, and also I think when you know someone who's a gardener, you might think, oh, I want to get them X y Z, but I don't know what they have, I
don't know what they like. And the gift card kind of says I want you to get what you like most and know that it's from me exactly exactly. Gloves, pruner's comfortable clothing, kneelers or seats, a tumbler with a lid. O, Hey, you want to take an adult beverage out there while you're weeding, you know, to make to wile the time away. Attack ning is thirsty work. It's thirsty work. Turtle box or any type of weather proof Wi Fi speakers so you can listen to those songs, right,
Pottery, a lantern, tools to cut ornamental grasses. You can never get enough tools to cut ornamental grasses, watering wands, sun hats, sunglasses, and a great stocking stuffer is seed packets. Oh yeah, very good. You know what a hat? Gardeners can never have too many hats. They just have to have good sun protection and then you're golden. Well. On next week's show, we're going to talk about resolutions, and I'm going to bemoan the state of my garden shed and the resolution that I have in
the coming year. And we'll be talking about that next week, but even this week too. We're interested as we head towards New Year's we celebrate Christmas and the holidays. We're interested in your resolutions. Please send them to us however you wish, Instagram, YouTube, or email us, visit our website. We want to hear what your resolutions are and Stacy, for that matter, share with us what your favorite garden song. Yeah, help us fill
out our gardening playlists. It sounds great. Plants on trial coming up next here on the Gardening Simplified Show. Proven Winners. Colored Choice Shrubs cares about your success in the garden. That's why we trial and test all of our shrubs for eight to ten years, making sure they outperform everything else on the market. Look for them and the distinctive white container at your local garden center. Greeting's gardening friends, and welcome back to the Gardening Simplified Show. It's
the time of the show where we put a plant on trial. That is to say, we're going to tell you about one of the proven winner's color choice shrubs. We're going to tell you all about it, and it's up to you to decide if it's going to earn a spot in your garden. Let's do it so you know, I always like to tie it to the feet of the show, and you know, over time, you got a
plant that sings if the wind hits it right. Okay. We have often been asked why so many of our plants have been named after classic rock tunes, and the answer is that Tim Wood, our marketing director, is a big fan of classic rock, and you know, he's came up similar hu in the seventies, and so he's had a lot of those. Some of our songs with or some of our plants with really seventies classic rock song titles have been dropped or changed. So I was kind of spoiled for choice.
But the one that I went with because it's also appropriate for this time of year. Is White Album Winter Creeper interesting? And I'm looking forward to this because I'm not familiar with the plant. Okay, yeah, well, so winter creeper is definitely not one of those plants where people get super excited. I mean, if you're not getting excited, Rick, that doesn't vode well for the rest of of our audience. But I have to say it's it's a good it's a workaday plant. Now, it's very durable, and it's
a broad leaf evergreen. So we just talked last week about broad leaf evergreens. So these are evergreen plants that aren't conifers. They have literally broad leaves, but they keep their foliage. Now, this is one that in very cold weather, the foliage doesn't look great. So it's not going to be those one of those ones where you look out in your backyard in say the end of January, and you go, whoa, that looks amazing. But
it's got glossy foliage. And White Album has got its name because it's variegated and it's a very nice crisp white with a deep green color, So like a crisp white edge with a green section in the middle. And what I really like about it is that it brings a lot of light to the shaded areas. It's also got a very versatile habit, so people who have grown winter creeper might have noticed this. They bought it in the garden center and it was growing like a nice, tidy little shrub. They get it,
they put it in the backyard. A couple years later, they see it starting to kind of climb up a tree and they're like, what just happened? And that is what they do. So they grow shrubby until they reach something that they can climb. Now, they're not going to climb up into the heights of the tree. It's really they're only going to climb you know. White album reaches one and a half to two feet tall, so it's
really only going to go up about two feet. But used correctly, I have seen that be a very effective visual thing in a garden because it kind of brings the ground up onto a tree and so really adds a lot of color. I have that experience in my landscape. I have just a typical green, broad leaved yuanis and it grew up the side of a pine tree pretty significantly, and the birds use it for cover all the time. And so at this time of the year when we long for anything living, anything
green, that uanimous is fantastic. And the birds hang out in it. And you take that green euanimous and have a few red cardinals in there. Ooh, it's eye popping. That sounds beautiful. And you know, speaking of its beauty, it's a really nice plant. At this point in the season, the cold has not gotten to it enough where its foliage is kind of started to degrade in quality. So it would be a perfect plant to just take a little snip to put on, you know, napkin place settings,
just to accent whatever holiday decor you're doing. Now again, as the season goes on and it gets really cold and the plant's been through a bunch of freezing and thawing kind of cycles, it's foliage. It doesn't look bad. It just doesn't have that like beautiful, glossy look anymore. And that's and that's totally normal. A lot of other broad leaf evergreens do that because, as we talked about last week, most broad leaf evergreens tend not to
be from cold climates. They can just sort of tolerate it. Here, they definitely prefer the warmer climates because they got those big broad leaves losing water all winter, like your rhododendrons in the way they mope this time of the exactly moping rhododendrons. That's a good name for a song, by the way, right now. So White Album Winter Creeper you want to miss? Fortunii is the botanical name is different. There's a lot of you want to miss
for Tuni eyes out there, and Ricky mentioned one. You mentioned a plain green one that's very common. There's also a golden one. We have gold Splash you want to miss, which is another version. And then White Album. So White Album is an improvement over a classic variety that I know, you know, Emerald Gaiety. Sure, so that thing has been around for my word the Garden Center. We sold thousands. Yeah, I mean it's
you want to talk about a landscape staples, it's right up there. So it's foliage is bigger, and so it's going to have more of a bold look. It's the color. The white part of it is much whiter and brighter, so emerald gaiety can kind of go creamy, and the difference between the white and the green is much more distinctive. So some variegation things get
a little bit like swirly and kind of muddy. And in this one, you're going to see like that really strong distinction between the white portion in the green portion, almost like a hosta. You know, typically there's a very noticeable difference between there. It's also less susceptible to leaf spot. Oh and a lot of euonymous do get leaf spots, so they're going to have like a you know, black yucky spot on them. Because they are an evergreen,
it's very easy for that to spread. You know, a lot of times when something gets leaf spot, what we recommend is that the person clean up all the foliage when it drops to prevent the leaf of the fungal leaf spot from overwintering on that fallen foliage and reinfecting. When it's a broad leaf evergreen, what are you going to do because it's got its foliage. So it's important to have this leaf spot resistance to keep your plant looking really clean
and nice all season. I don't want to put you on the spot, but it is plants on trial, So I have to ask this question when I think about euanymous. Sometimes I think, eh, scale, scale, Yeah, so scale. Now, I will try not to go off about scale because I ass but I knew it. Scale is actually kind of a dis gusting past. But it's fascinating, and we talked about this. We had a it is fascinating. We had a guard a mailbag question from someone
who had scale very badly on their tropical hibiscus. I think it was as I recall, So, yes, euantymis does get scale, and it's really one of those things that's just like, it's just what it does. Sure, so there's really not much that can be done as long as the plant is, you know, kept really healthy and vigorous, so you're not trying
to grow it in conditions where it would be further struggling. Most of the scale is going to remain at a pretty tolerable level, and like a lot of scales, just because it's on the euanomis doesn't mean it's gonna spread to anything else. You Know, a lot of times people see a pest or a disease in the landscape and they start freaking out, thinking it's gonna spread to everything. But the reality is that a number of things like scale and
leaf spot are actually very specific. They only infect a certain genus of plants or group of plants. They're not like a generalist where they're just gonna it's gonna spread through your garden like wildfire. Because I mean, if that we're going to happen, it would probably have already happened for most people. So
not much you can do about scale. As we told that listener who had it on her hibiscus scale can be managed with something non toxic, like a soap or an oil, but the timing is really crucial because the scale, the adult insects just kind of settles in there. The babies come out and they're under the protection of the little mother scale. Then they have become crawlers and they crawl and it's only in that crawler stage that you can actively manage
it. Why because the scale is sitting there with this kind of protective armor on it that makes it impervious. So but you know, like I said, all you want to miss will get it. Most people might not even notice that theirs has it because it will it's you know, down under the leaves, and because it is an evergreen, it's not really visible. But I would say on a scale of one to ten. You nailed it,
and I would agree. I think it's important to note what you said, Stacey, because I've seen this through the years and that as a uanimis that is under stress is generally the type that you have a scale problem. Yeah, and it's going to really explode. Like it can have a small population and you won't really notice it. But if it does get stressed, you know, that's when it's really going to proliferate. So important to have those
good conditions. The mythical moist but well drained soil always a good idea. It is shade tolerant, you want good air circulation for it. So that's another really important part of scale, good air circulation because if it's exposed, natural enemies can come get the crawlers when they are out from under the protection of the mother. So you know, there's so many plants that people think are you know, hard to grow or susceptible, but really it's just a
matter of keeping plants healthy and vigorous. And a number of plants will have pests on them and we won't even know because as long as the plant is healthy and growing vigorously, they kind of stay under control. We see this a lot with something like a plant that we grow outdoors in the summer and then bring in in the winter, and everyone says, oh my gosh, all these bugs came. No, the bugs were there all along. It's just that now the plant is stressed, trying to readapt to your house,
and the bugs are like party time plants stressed time to shine. Hey, Stacy, what I love about this Yuanimus too is for me at least sun two shade. I mean it's quite flexible as far as light ist, Yes, it's very flexible. And you know, like I said, I love it in the shade because it adds so much color and lightness, and I think anytime you get that white in a deep shade situation, it just really livens it up and makes you want to go there. And it's a great
plant to pair with bulbs. Plant bulbs up under there and them get the color intermixing. So it is hardy from USA zones five through eight, so pretty okay range there full departs son and about one and a half to two feet tall. And you can see pictures of white album uanymous at gardenings simplified on air dot com and also on our Instagram page, so just look for the Gardening Simplified Show and see it and then you can decide if you will
put it in your garden this spring. We're going to take a little break. When we come back, we're answering your garden questions, so please stay tuned. At proven winner's color choice, we've got a shrub for every taste and every space. Whether you're looking for an easy care rose and unforgettable hydrangea, or something new and unique, you can be confident that the shrubs and the white containers have been trialed and tested for your success. Look for them
at your local garden center. Greetings gardeners, and welcome back to the Gardening Simplified Show. It's one of my favorite parts of the show where we help you with your gardening questions. And now you know, things are slowing down a little bit. A lot of people their concentration has gone elsewhere, to the interior of their homes. But that doesn't mean you don't recall things that happened to you over the season, or you know that you're curious about something
that you're planning for the spring. So we're still accepting your questions. You can send them in to us at help HLP a Gardening Simplified on aired, or just visit Gardening Simplified on air dot com. We got a contact form there and you can reach us that way. You can even attach a photo, which is always so helpful to help people when they're saying, what is this or how do I deal with this? It's helpful to know what this is? Well, not grease Stacy. I consider gardening a three hundred and
sixty five day out of the year activity. Yes, we don't take a day off, not even Christmas or Newties. The plants are still there, there's still So what are we got in the mail bag this week? Great? All right, Keith. Keith asked us down south they use evergreen needles for a mulch or groundcover. I was wondering about using them and was wondering how it interfered with the perennials. Great question, Keith, and you are correct. Down south, you see a lot of pine mulch, and it's
something you just do not see much of here in the North. No, we don't have as many pines, first of all, So pines are much more abundant in the South, and they have a greater diversity of pines than we have usually here in the But you know, certainly if you go up north in Michigan, you're going to see those white pine forests and they'll have their own, you know, beautiful soft mulch of needles. But yeah,
we're just not harvesting it. Whereas in the South, you could go to any home improvement store and buy a bale of what they call pine straw. So whether it's pine needle, malt or pine straw, they use those terms interchangeably. You can buy a bale of it and put it in your arden. We tried it in our garden center up north here, and people were like, what the heck I'm buying? You want me to pay for pine needles? And I did some reading and saw that pine maultch is the thing
Southerners love to hate. They hate it, love to hate. It's crazy because the needles are everywhere. It's like, what am I going to do with this? Well, I guess I'll use it as a mulch. And you know, the the upside is it's less expensive than some of these fancy bags of bart mult Well, sure, if you're in the South. Now, if you're in the North and you want to use it. It's definitely not less expensive exactly. I was when I was looking at and researching this
question. There were so many places that were selling like a box to cover like ten square feet for like eighty dollars, because everybody wants what they don't have, right, you know, that's true. The grass is greener on the other side of the fence. And the other problem with it, and I've tried straw mulch, is that you have to refresh it to keep it
looking. Yeah, so it does get kind of matted down, but when it is freshly down, and I've visited a lot of gardens in the South where I think it's just really beautiful and evocative of what it's like to garden there. So yes, it's common down there. It's less common up here. You can get it, but you're usually gonna have to pay for it, and it's not really going to interfere with perennials or other plants in your
garden any more than any other mulch wood. You know, if you are mulching, and especially before your plants come out in the spring, you're not going to want to heap any kind of mulch onto those crowns, a little bit of sprinkle is oh, is okay. You don't have to go crazy trying to avoid it. But it's the same rules are going to apply in terms of mu ching with pine straw pine needles as they would with shredded mark
or anything else that you're using. Thank you very mulch for bringing that up, because you're so right sta see the same rules applying matting or overpiling it. It's going to create problems for plants, so you know, in moderation, just like you would with any other type of mok Now, one thing I do want to add is that a lot of people when they think about pine straw or pine needle mulch, they say, oh, no, that's dangerous. It's going to make your soil acidic. And that is a myth
that is not true. It's kind of assumed because typically pines grow in more acidic soils, but they themselves are not the agent of acidification. They aren't the ones who made the soil acidic. It just happens to be that the soil is like that. So there's really no effect on the pH of your soil, So you don't have to worry about that. You know. This is just to me a question of using what you have, and usually you're going to want a softer needle, not one of those really prickly, which
brings up a point. Email us look us up gardening simplified on air dot com. Tell us what mult you pine for to spruce the place up. I'd love to do. That's good? Yeah, thanks, all right, Melissa's writing to us Stacy, Melissa says, I have a question about espalire plants. This is great. I would really like to have an espailure on a fifteen foot by eight foot blank wall of my walkout basement that's covered by a deck. What I am needing to figure out is what is best for
this? What is the best plant for this location? Zone five B, Southwest Nebraska. I have kind of documented the amount of sun it gets about four to five hours. So what kind of recommendations would you have? So an espalier is something that people have seen but might not know the name for it. It's when you take a tree or a shrub and you grow it against a wall so that it's almost flat and almost looks like it becomes a part of the wall. Now, espalier are generally much more popular in your
europe pace than they are here, but you do see them. I mean, garden centers usually will sell an Espalier apple, and in this case, of course, it hasn't been trained on your wall, but the grower has trained it to take on a specific shape. But what people don't know about Espalier, and I commend Melissa for asking this, is that really you can Espalier almost any shrub or tree to fit your space. It's really just a
matter of pruning the plant with a specific intent. And so what you want to do is just make sure there's no growth on the back growing towards the wall, because you want it to be as flat up against the wall as you can, and then you just cut off everything you don't want. Is that oversimplifying No, I don't think it's oversimplifying at all. I do believe that you're best off going with plants that have many spurs along the branch.
You can be more successful that way. It's similar to a grapevine in how we support them on wire. So, Stacy, I would guess that that's the reason why we often see apples or pairs used for that purpose, right, And also because in that case you're able to produce a crop in very little space and something that you would not normally be able to use. Now, for Melissa, I don't think her site is really quite sunny enough to do a classic apple or pear espalier. But that's why I wanted to say
that you can use a number of different plants. Now, like you said, there are some plants that aren't suitable, So I would avoid plants that have like triple branching. So if you think about like a panicle Hydrangea where sometimes it can do kind of like a whorl of branches, same with smoke bush. But one plant that I have seen that would work really well for Melissa that the espalier is very well is elderberry. Oh and it's a nice
big plant, very forgiving of the pruning, very decorative. So if you did something like our beautiful black lace elderberry where you have that nice lacy black foliage, just while you're shopping and you're finding the plant for that, you're just going to want to look for something that's going to be able to be shaped into the habit that you want, So looking for branches for one side that's like more or less flatter, you can easily take branches off and then
good branching to the side, and then also our lemony lace elderberry would be just as nice. Now, I was going to bring that up yesterday. I was looking at it bear in the landscape and a lot of spurs, a lot of bud spurs along the stems, so I could see why that would work. Well, yeah, we used to have one in our old office here and it was really cool. So you inspired me. I like
that another project for the resolution today. That's great. All right, Pat is wondering will a red twig or yellow twig dog would tree grow near black walnut trees? If not, how far away would the dogwood tree need to
be from the black walnut trees? Thank you so much in advance. Well, this is a question that I think kind of leads us into you maybe we need to do a show about growing around black walnuts, because it's a concern that a lot of people have, and if you're not familiar with this, just briefly, black walnuts have a quality known as a lollopathy, where they emit some chemicals that can actually hamper the growth of other plants. Certain
susceptible plants. Not all plants are susceptible to it, and it's just a natural, you know, sort of defense to prevent weeds from growing around them. Now, by and large, the effects of black walnut on most plants are overstated. People think that they are much more dramatic than they actually are. Now when it comes to susceptible plants like tomatoes, forget it that things is going to die, But a lot of plants can easily tolerate it.
Because what people don't realize is that the issue is not so much from the roots. It's from the fallen leaves, twigs and fruits. And they make a mess. So if you say, wow, my tree is going to behave and not make a mess with branches and walnuts and lea, No, they make a mess. Like I said, I wouldn't park a rented car underneath a walnut. They make a mess, but the squirrels do a good
job of cleaning it up. Yeah, I got a black walnut across this street and the s girls are taking the walnuts over into my yard and having a field day over there. But there are plants that are more tolerant of jugg low and this chemical that walnut's emit, and the good news is that
redder, yellow twig dogwood is among them. Now, that said, even if a plant is not known to be susceptible, you're still going to want to make sure it has ample water, and you are going to want to make sure that the area around it is clear of the fallen foliage, fruits, and especially branches, because those are the ones. It's not just so much the roots. It's that falling debris that what can really cause issues for surrounding plants. So I think you're good. I'm going to put some links
into the show notes where you can do some research yourself. They're not exhaustive, but it's a good starting point if you have a black walnut in your yard to learn some things that you can grow. Now we're going to take a little break. When we come back, we got a fan favorite. It's the Birdman. Please stay tuned. The Gardening Simplified Show is brought to
you by proven winners Color Choice Shrubs. Our award winning flowering shrubs and evergreens have been trialed and tested for your success so you enjoy more beauty and less work. Look for proven winners Color Choice Shrubs and the distinctive white container at your local garden center. Welcome back to the Gardening Simplified Show, and today for Branching News, we get to interview a favorite here on the program, the Birdman, who swoops in here during the holidays. He's busy working here
during the holidays. And by the way, for those of you watching on YouTube, the set today is decorated. It's all lit up evergreen branches. I hired a design firm that I know of called Trillium, Sage, gall and Fungus, and they came in and did a nice job. I thought, so there you go. All right, birdman. Great to have you on the show. And I guess right off the top, we got to ask you. Well, let's ask first of all, how you doing. How are things doing? Fantasy say, hey, thanks for having me on.
You bet to talk with you. It's great to have you on the show. So El Nino winter, strange weather, little snow, just kind of odd here in Michigan, but also in the Midwest, warmer than usual winter. And there are some people who would debate whether or not it well it affects migratory habits of birds or habits of birds in general. What say you to that topic. I believe it does. It has a good deal to do with it. It has marked less to do with light and mart
to do with food. And as long as they can get food easily, then they don't have to move as far. Birds are pretty mobile, so they can go to wherever they need to get food. And when the weather starts to clamp in, and then they go down farther south where they don't have the snow and ice to fight with, and that's the whole whole premise
of it. Then there's a habit pattern that comes aboard too, with some the larger birds that it's just the way that they've preserved themselves over the centuries is to be in the north in the summer, in the south in the winter. You know, you make a really good point there that is basic and understood, and yet we don't think about it often. You're right,
birds are mobile, so they can move to where the food is. I was reading the other day about robins and how robins have a tendency to stick around a line that stays around thirty eight degrees as a minimum low in winter. If you wanted to use a general rule of thumb, some will stay up north all winter long. They just kind of migrate, so to speak,
based on available water and food. And it could be as far north as Michigan or further north or down south right right, and there it's warmer in the swamps where the cricks are flowing and where the water is open, and that's where you're likely to find them. If it's really cold and the snow is high. You look down along with the creeks and the bubbling along
there, you'll find the robins and the bluebirds both. So this applies primarily to insectivorous birds, correct, because a lot of people say, oh, don't feed the birds, it's going to disrupt their migration. But the seed eating birds are going to be able to stay in their range anyway because there's usually seeds around. Correct. Seed eating birds stay here right because they don't
care. I mean, they can go into your garden and pick the seeds that are left from this if you'r's blooming, and they can pick in the trees and you know the crab apples and the hawthorne that's that are like that. They have plenty of food around and they eat plenty of insects. Also, same with the woodpeckers. They can find insects in the bark and underneath the bark all seas along, so those will be here the whole time. It's the ones that are mostly the insect of the orioles and things like that.
Orioles go into South America even to get the similar kind of habitat that they're accustomed to here during the summer. Yeah, of course, Robin's we think of them digging out the earthworms in spring, but at this time of the year picking off that fruit off the trees. I was on the Cornell University site the other day and I was reading they said that Robin's don't sing until it's time for mating, and they can be pulling earthworms out of the
ground. Otherwise they don't sing. And I know both Stacy and Bill are fabulous birders. I don't know if you buy into that or not. But now that I sit here and I think about it, I really only hear them in the spring. The rest of the year, I'm not so sure I hear robin singing. What do you think, Bill? It's pretty hard to judge something when you can't hear it. You nailed it. This is
one of those philosophical questions. If a robin sings in a forest and no one's are absolutely well, you know, in general birds sing less in the winter because you know, of course it takes energy, and you know, they still have a need to communicate. But a lot of the singing is about mating and territory, and right now they're all like, hey, can we just get through this winter and get to the good part of the year. You're right. The territory is that they're in is where they are.
If you've got birds there now, they're going to be within five miles and they're going to stay there. There are your birds. So when you're feeding them, you're feeding your birds and they're the ones that are eating your insects. Yeah, that's great. That's great. Now along the lines of migration, Bill, let's get an update on the sand Hill cranes. What's going
on. Well, we're right on the place outside Marshall where and sixty years ago we were down to seven pairs of Sanduel cranes, and so this is their base of operation and they keep coming back to this region every fall, and at this point in time, we probably have twenty thousand Sandual cranes. Wow, in groups of one hundred, two hundred and five hundred sitting in
a field picking over the crops and things like that. But normally they'd be going south by now, but they haven't left yet because of the weather. The you know, the food is available and they don't feel the pressure, so they just and they're waiting for the right wind to take them down. But they haven't haven't made that decision. And I think it is a lot to do with the weather. Yeah, so what are they eating right now? Oh, they're out in the fields where the corn was and the uh,
you know, all all the things that are out there. Also, they spread a lot of manure now and there's always a lot of good stuff in that. I know that if you're a bird like that stuff. I didn't question that. You're speaking from a bird's point of view. Birds can't smell smells. For those turkey vultures, Oh yeah, I love them. Put it on the bill. Yeah, well that's interesting. That's and again that reinforces the fact that they're not following a calendar. They're not checking their
smartphones, they're not maintaining a calendar. They are they're going where the food is. They're they're basically doing what's natural to them, and if the weather's a little unusual, they're going to do what is natural. Bill, I I had mentioned to you that I'm looking forward this holiday season to seeing the movie Migration. Migration is a animated film, and it's about a Mallard family that's kind of in a rut. And so Dad Mac is content to keep
his family just safe paddling around their New England pond forever. But Mom, her name is Pam, she wants to shake things up a little bit, take the kids and show them the big wide world. And so they migrate south through New York City to Jamaica. And of course the advent ures are amazing. So this is a movie i'd suggest seeing. I'm certainly going to see it this holiday season. Migration. I'm in the right age group for
that too. I love animation right on fell Now, these Mallards are ducks, right, and I was reading they call them dabbling ducks, as opposed to let's say, the cormorants that I see I live on Lake Michigan. The cormorants which can dive I was reading as deep as one hundred and fifty feet, which is unreal to me. But I'll stand there on the pier and I'll watch them dive into the water and a bird will disappear and he doesn't come back up, and I'm like, he drowned, and then a
minute later he pops back up to the surface. It's amazing to watch. But ducks are dabblers, right, They're just kind of dabbling for the food at the surface. Well, there are a couple kinds of duck they're puddle ducks, and those are the dabblers, and then there's the the divers and uh uh, and that's we can categories a lot of the waterfowl is are they are they puddle ducks or or you know, dabbling along or are they
divers? And you know, we've got the loons out here that can go down a couple hundred feet and have red eyes so they can see better under dark water. So it's it's just amazing. Prmarants are pretty closely related to them, And cormorants were actually endangered and they came roaring back. And now I understand that a lot of fishermen are are taking issue with the cormorant population,
have a problem with them. Yes, well, you talk to fishermen on island area there there are very few little baths left just because of the cormorant population. You know. But nature swings one way and then swings the other. It's just their cycles. And I don't know but how to how to reverse it. Uh, maybe it's not our business to do that.
Well, certainly, if they eat all the fish there, they'll just kind of have a natural population decline and kind of a boom bus cycle like the economy and everything else that we deal with in life, and go someplace else. Yep, yep. So we're chatting with the birdman Bill Stove stoveoll wood products and Bill. Christmas time's a busy time of the year for you. Christmas is good for birders. It's a great opportunity to have a gift in
the stocking or under the tree. And I was curious, I'm thinking about getting a new pair of binoculars. Do you think that's a good gift at Christmas time? It's a fabulous gift that brings the world in closer. You can see things more clearly, and it's always a centerpiece of conversation if you're
in a group to see something on past. The binoculars around and you have birding in particular is good in the winter time because you're inside with a small group people and you've got a lot of color and activity just outside the window to talk about and watch. It's actually they're a really good thing. So it's a just a living commercial. Good bird feeder is a good idea too,
sure, absolutely, you know. I was online. I saw a pair of binoculars for nineteen ninety nine, and then they'd throw in a pair of steak knives with it too. If you placed your order, I'm probably going to be disappointed, aren't I What pair did you go to? I think exactly, No. You need you need to get in a several hundred dollars range. We talked earlier about three four five hundred dollars category for a quality binoculars with good lenses and good good operation. But you can't get anything
for twenty bucks anymore. And you know it's so important too. I think a lot of people don't realize when they are searching for a pair of binoculars
that it's kind of depends on what birds you're watching as well. You know, eight by forty two is sort of the gold standard for birders for the binocular range, and it's good, but like for us here, if you're by the on large bodies of water, you might actually want something that goes further, like a ten by forty two, because a lot of the birds that you're seeing are further away and some of that resolution that you give up might be worth it if you're trying to watch you know, buffaleads way out
in the water like I often them. Well, I've done a little different way. I have that kind of a bird watcher's binocular. But then we get a spotting scope which really helps, and they're not that expensive, and get a tripod with it and you can do all kinds of things. That's a bird and nests in the woods where they're moving in and out and you don't have to hold that there, or you can do across the water a
long distances. So that's a spotting scope. You don't have to hold it steady because you've got it down a tripod and it has as an axillary thing. Maybe they already have binoculars, but a good spotting scope would be a good idea surprise them is something they don't even know they want. I love that we're chatting with the birdman. We're chatting with the birdman, Bill Stovell Bill again, getting back to the al Nino issue. Then beyond the holidays
here, there are a number of birds that migrate. You know, when we think migration, we think to warmer southern climates. But one of the birds that I love to capture with my camera along the lake shore is the snowy owl. But I'm hearing rumor I have not seen a snowy owl yet this year. But I'm hearing rumor that there are some birds from the northern parts, let's say, up in Canada that we're not seeing this year either because of El Nino. Is that correct? Absolutely? Snowy owl is one.
But the little finch that's that way there, there's a uh, several feederbirds that come down. Red sided nuthatch is not here. I haven't seen them at all, and usually they're here by now. Fine systems are not here yet, and they're a little brown bird with stripes on them. Red pole is a little finish that's got a red dot on the top of his head, and they're not here yet. And the list goes on of birds
that come. They come to here because it's warmer there's a winter rim that likes it here during the during the winter, but they like it better up north during the summer. So it has a cascading event. Right again, if they're mobile, so they come to where it's comfortable for them. Yeah. So, Bill, before we let you go, we are going to be talking over the next few weeks about resolutions and resolutions that each of us has has personally as far as gardening is, as far as birding is concerned.
Any resolutions on your list or a resolution you think somebody should have. Maybe it's subscribing to a magazine or an app or whatever it may be. What do you think is a good birding resolution for somebody that you know enjoys birding. Well, there are a couple national birding magazines that are just excellent, and if you're a member of the Michigan Audubon Society, they put out a a pamphlet every quarter that's just stunning about the bird studies that are around.
So that kind of literature might be a possibility. I'm trying to think what else. No, that's fine. My mom always had birds in Blooms magazine. That's a classic, that's a standard. Yet, what do you think is a resolution Stacey that somebody could make as a birder for the coming year, maybe to to plant more shrubs or plants that produce berries or cover or Yeah, and that's an obvious one. I mean absolutely, But I think the best thing that a birder can resolve to do is bird more.
I mean, honestly, like, because that's how you build your skills, and that's how you build the joy that you find in it is by spending more time and deepening your knowledge and you know, expanding your observations and you get to spend more time doing something really amazing. Yeah, that's true. It's an easy resolution. Exactly. Walk in the wood and when you see something you don't recognize, look it up in your book and figure out what
it is. Curiosity is another thing to keep sharp on your making the resolution. I agree completely. Yeah, and you know, uh, that's so true. I remember my dad is ninety four years old, and I remember taking walks with him as a kid, and my dad loved birds. I mean, he was totally into birds. But of course he was from the Netherlands, and there's a lot of water in the Netherlands and a lot of greats and so he was completely into it. So he was constantly talking to
me about bird calls or do you hear that? Or do you see that? And once again, these are the things that stick with you as as a kid. They say, as a kid, once you stick your face in a lilac and you take a really good sniff, that that aroma sticks with you the rest of your life. So if there's kids around, Bill, exposing them to birding is a great thing to do. It certainly is. And putting up a birdhouse and watching the little ones come out of it
that they'll stick them forever. Yeah, you bet. I'm looking forward to that season in spring too. Birdman. I hope you have a wonderful Christmas, wonderful holiday. Thank you for your enthusiasm and your interest in birds and what you do for the birding community. And we really appreciate you here on the Gardening Simplified Show. Well, thank you for the opportunity and back at you. You got really wonderful shows going on and a great staff right there.
Those three of you just make make me laugh, love it, love it a lot. Thanks for doing it. Thank you very much. Take care of Bill. Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas. Well, that's our gift to you because it's always such a pleasure to have Birdman on the show. We love it as much as you do, so thank you so so much for tuning in. We all wish you a very very merry Christmas and we'll see you next week.