Coming to you from Iconic Studio a here at proven Winners Color Choice Shrubs. It's time for the Gardening Simplified radio podcast and YouTube show with Stacy Hervella, me Rick Weist, and our engineer and producer Adrianna Robinson. Well, we're getting into a key time of the year in the whole gardening cycle. Fall an opportunity to make changes in your landscape.
So today would be a good day to talk about some things that you can do now to ensure the fact that you're going to have a better landscape next spring. And I'll tell you what, Stacey. You inspired me with your video of your yard and your project, because I got to thinking about supply and demand. Many gardeners and landscape landscapers highly recommend adding mulch to your soil in
the fall for a plethora of reasons. Now, often in spring you'll see people after a long winter, they're fired up about the gardening season, and they'll order some huge ten or twenty yard load of mulch that's dropped in a driveway and now you're spreading multch every night after work for weeks to come. But fall actually is a smart time of the year. I think to apply mulch, because if you think about it, you're going to protect the soil and the roots of these plants as winter
comes along and next spring. Instead of spreading mults, you're going to be able to do the things that you want to do, like planting, pruning, and spreading seeds.
You know, that's a great point. I think a lot of people, including myself, often think of spring as kind of prime mulching time because the plants are dormant, so you don't have to worry about fussing around things and lifting up leaves and trying to get stuff under there. But fall, especially if you wait till the plants are dormant,
are nearly so has very much the same benefits. Sure, and you know you don't have to worry so much about the plants then trying to make their way through the mulch, because by the time spring rolls around, you know, the wind and the rain and everything will have worked on the mulch. It'll be flattened out and ready to go. But it is too late for me, because yes, I did spread twenty eight yards of mulch on Memorial Day weekend, but I will remember that for the future.
Well, they call it fall for a reason. I mean, think about what the trees are doing in the woods. They're dropping the leaves and mulching the soil. And I'm still one that is very much for shredding leaves and using them as a mulch. But that's something that you could do this fall. I'd like to throw into the mix too. I recommend that you invest. I was looking at money market rates at five percent on a six
month certificate of deposit. That means that if you were to invest now next spring, you could use that money to buy plants and use the interest for all the accessories like pots, fertilizer, and soil that can get rather expensive. If you don't have that kind of liquidity, then what you could do is invest in plants at your local
garden center or greenhouse this fall. Stacy, You're going to get those plants at a bargain and they're going to be off to the races next spring if you put them in the ground this fall.
It's so true.
I mean, people really need to understand how much garden centers and nurseries do not want to have to overwinter that material. And so yeah, you can get some amazing bargains, and you might go to the garden center and find that the plants don't look quite as prime as you have in your mind, and that is normal. They are going dormant. And it's not uncommon for plants in a nursery situation to go dormant a little bit earlier for
a couple of reasons. Number one, they started much earlier because they spent winter in a greenhouse, so they had an earlier start. So they're getting pretty tired. And you know, for two, there's a chance of uneven watering. And here in Michigan, man, has it been a fall or what? It has been so hot, it has been so dry, and yeah, so a lot of those plants will look as though they're struggling, but really they're just like, you know what, I'm done. I'm out conserving my resources, go
in to bed for the fall. But that doesn't mean it's not still going to be a great plant for you. So take that risk, especially if it is a great price. The risk is very very low. Don't judge it by what it looks like when you're standing there at the end of September in the garden center.
Don't judge a book by its cover. You're exactly right, and by next spring it'll be beautiful. As a matter of fact, I'm one to do this and buy bargain plants in fall. It's fun for me. I'm Dutch. That's okay, I don't mind. I'll admit it. As a matter of fact, I wrote you a little limb of Eric Stacey in regards to this subject. A penny saved is a penny earned. At least, that's what I've learned in the world of
horticultural jargon. Who doesn't love a distressed bargain nothing to lose, I won't get burned, right.
Yeah, absolutely, It's very low stakes, and chances are the plants are going to be totally Fu'm better than fine. You know. It's like people go to the garden center. They go, you know, mom's a little bit of haystack, a little bit of cornstock, pumpkin maybe then out like.
And whoa, whoa, whoa.
There's just this whole part of the garden center that you are missing out, Hans. So don't just make that that you turn to the pumpkin section and leave just saying, you know.
It's been known as spring since the fourteenth century. There's an old English word. I have no idea how to pronounce it. I think it's springing. It's spring with an an on the end, but it translates into springing time or to leap or to burst forth. The point is, now is the time to acquire bulbs that you could put in the ground that will spring forth next spring. And garlic, whether it's garlic narcissus iris, fritillarias aliums, Crocus, tulips, highacince,
et cetera, et cetera. I really think that that's a great investment in fall. And again, when you think about bulbs like garlic, alien Fritillaria narciss iris, deer and pests will generally leave them alone. And something you can do if you're going to invest in these bulbs I do it all the time is I'll dig the trench or the hole and I'll just have some inexpensive chicken wire around, drop that down in the hole, put the bulbs in, wrap them, and then put the rest of the soil
over top. And it seems to work. Well.
You know, no one ever regrets planting bulbs. You can quote me on this if you would like. And I am such a proponent of bulbs. I mean, oh my gosh, the work you put into planting bulbs, it just pays off four years usually. And that's what We're going to have a whole show on bulbs coming up, so we'll get way deep into it because we are some of bulbs's biggest fans.
And I'm not even touch.
If you have some turf area in your landscape, and if you don't fertilize all year long, that's fine, just make sure you're fertilizing in fall. The turf is not putting energy into top growth. You fertilize, you're going to have a denser, thicker, weed free lawn. I think fall is the perfect time if you have some turf areas that you want to improve, apply some fertilizer to the lawn. It will make a big difference.
Now, are you a fall thatcher or a spring thatcher?
On the low? Ooh I am I'm not a thatcher. I'm a core air r.
I meant that's what I meant, cororation, not thatching, de thatching.
Yeah, core air rating. I personally believe anytime is a good time to core air rate if the soil needs it. Now, some people won't do it in the heat of summer, and I can understand why. So spring and fall probably best. In fall, yeah, a great time.
Yeah. The great thing about core aeration in the fall is that all of those plugs that come out that look like gooseboop will decompose over winter for the most part, kind of flatten out, and you won't have to look at them for weeks on end.
Good fort sign from experience.
Good point. And I love core air rating. It shakes the fillings in the back of your teeth and it's just fun. It's lots and lots of fun. And you do it during halftime of the football game. So that's a great thing to do. Learn the difference between annual and perennial weeds. I still believe fall is the time to control weeds because they're going to translate locate herbicide into the root system if you use an herbicide better in fall than they will in spring, where you'll get
top kill. But again, a thicker, denser lawn, or just general control of weeds. Falls a great time to identify those annual weed rosettes that are going to become a problem next spring, and also the perennial weeds in your landscape, so Stacey, throughout the years, I have always done my weed control in fall. Yeah.
People think about weeds as just a pest, but they actually are individual plants, and it pays so much to just learn what they are a little bit about their life cycle. And I don't know, maybe it's just me, but I think that buy and large, you resent them a little bit less when you know them a little better.
There you go.
We're just trying to they're just trying to live.
Now, let me go to the Dutch side again. Here a minutte real quick, and that is I like to pick up potting soil in fall. Many times you can get a bargain on potting soil and fall. And just think about this. If you refresh your containers or put potting soil in your containers in fall next spring when you're anxious or you've gone to the greenhouse and you've picked up your little babies and you can't wait to plant them, you don't have to mess around with that step.
You've got it done in fall. I think falls a great time to refresh the soil in your container.
Oh that's an interesting idea. I guess if you have the storage space very often it is also on sale because much like the plants, garden center owners and box stores do not want to haul that around or shrink wrap it and move it to the back forty or whatever they're going to do about it. And yeah, just you should take advantage of that. Scoop up that bargain.
You've got it well. Coming up in segment four, we have additional items to share with you, things that you could do now to have a better landscape next spring. You know. The lawn and short of it, Stacey is that I love the fall season and I think it's the perfect time of the year to be out there gardener.
It is you got to take advantage of the good weather, will you.
Again, Let's see what Stacey has for us today in Plants on Trial that's 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 where the order of the day is what you can do now to save yourself a little bit of time and effort in Remember that old fable about the grasshopper and the ants where the ants were busy stockpiling for fall, and the grasshopper was playing his fiddle and yes, not doing anything, and then he left at the ants. He's like,
why are you all working so hard? I'm having a grand old time here in the fall. And then he almost froze to death in the winter.
Yeah, kind of like that. Good lesson, Yeah, good lesson, You're better off being antsy.
I think that's like an Esop's fable or something. I just have a vague memory of having it in a book when I was kidding, but it just reminded me of the same kind of thing. You have to, you know, put a little effort in and it will pay off. And that is very much what today's plant on Trial
is about. So, you know, we have talked many times about how fault is a great time for planting because you know, the temperatures are cooler, the days are shortening, so the plant is going dormant on top, and that means that all of the energy that it has can go into root growth rather than trying to support all that foliage, all that flower photosynthesizing all the time, drying out from the sun, drying out from the wind. So it's just like, you know what, I've got one thing
to do, and it's grow roots. And that is a real benefits lutely for plants. But that's said, there are a couple of things that you should avoid planting in fall, and we have talked about those as well, But just as a reminder, if you live in a colder climate like us here in Michigan, are really anywhere where it gets snowy frozen, you generally want to avoid planting evergreens in fall, and especially broad leaf evergreen. So a broad leaf evergreen is basically not a conifer. It's going to
be something like a holly or a rhododendron. You want to avoid planting those generally in fall, although of course, if you get one of those great bargains that we talked about, you might find yourself doing that. In that case, different situation.
Plant away, but I would agree with you, Stacy, unless you're planting it in a really well protected area, then you can probably get away with it.
And you're definitely going to want to mult those if you do try that. But so that's something I don't recommend. And I also don't recommend that you plant in fall anything where you're pushing the plant's heartiness zonne. And you know, as gardeners, a lot of us do this, like we like to say, oh, hey, you know, this is not quite hardy here, but I've seen it survive some places and I want to try it. So I am fully
in support of those types of experiments. But really, if you're pushing the hardiness own on something, or it's a plant that typically gets winter damage in your climate, and I think butterfly bush is a great example, you don't want to plant those in full because then there's not necessarily enough time for them to develop a good root system to withstand any of the challenges winter is going
to throw at it. You really want to give those the benefit of having the spring to fall window to grow and.
Put en route.
So those are really my primary you know, sort of caveats with fall planting, but you know, you also want to take this time to invest in things that are going to really make your landscape look good sooner than later, because you know, even when you plant bulbs. I mean this happens to me. I don't know if it happens to other people, but you plant those bulbs and you're just like, all right.
Yeah, let's go.
You know, you're so excited to see them, and you know it's going to be months, but you start looking forward to that. So it's important, I think, too, to use the time to plant something that you can really look forward to seeing and doing something well in spring. Now, overall, plants are not going to perform their best until they're established, which is to say they have a good root system in place that they can use all those resources to
growing and flowering and all of that. But that doesn't mean you don't want to see some great results the following spring. So I have got the perfect plant for you. Today's plant on trial is double plate red Spyria. Now, are you a spyria snob?
I am not a Spyria snob.
I don't know if you're really a snob about much of anything in the garden. Rick, Thank you, I think that's a nice thing.
I happen to like Spyrea. I just find them to be easy to grow and beautiful.
Yeah, they kind of just like to sit around looking pretty great without asking a whole lot.
I mean to me, it's it's not a plant that is just planted in front of at Okay, yeah you said it.
And the other place, famously where they are often planted is new subdivisions, new developments, are you know, commercial buildings, that kind of thing. It's kind of like a con you know, like if you have a house, it's like the contractor grade cabinets. It's sort of like the contractor grade plant. Shrub is very often spirea, and so a lot of people have a very snobby attitude about Spyria and kind of turn their noses up at it, especially horticulturists, gardeners.
Yeah, and the same category as potentilla. Yeah, same kind of thing.
But anytime you have one of those plants that is, you know, used in those very challenging conditions like a gas station. No it's not beautiful, but they've got to deal with some very harsh conditions. Crazy drivers potentially driving over those areas, died mulch, you know, trash, who even knows if they have irrigation. So the reason that contractors and so forth are choosing to put Spiria in these conditions is because it is tough enough to withstand them,
and the flowers are are pretty. Now for most people they would say, yeah, the flowers are pretty, but they're just not around long enough to justify the space that
a spirea takes. But really, with the double Play series of Spyrea that we developed here at proven Winter's Color Choice Shrubs, these were selected specifically to kind of bring the beauty and shape into the plant that made it worth growing, that made it worth choosing rather than just ending up with, you know, because it does a little bit more, and so the name double Play kind of
says it all. It does two things. Of course, it has great flowers a spyria ought to, but it also has really colorful foliage, especially in spring.
My favorite thing about Spyria's early spring vibrant foliage.
Right, and it's not something that people generally think about as a major factor or a major reason to plant it. But all of the Double Play series has been selected for Superior folio color when it emerges in spring and superior flower color. Now double Play Red Spyria. It does get its name because it is an almost true red flower.
It still got some pink in it. But interestingly, the anthers and pollen the male parts of the flower are purple, and the sort of combination of that purple in there with the deep pinky red flowers does really make it come off as looking red. So that's where double play Red Spyria gets its name. But it also just so happens that the new growth on double play Red Spyria
is this beautiful burgundy color. And this is a great thing about if you were using the opportunity to plant and fall to plant double Play Red or any of the other double play spyrias, is you are going to get that amazing foliage color this spring. So you know, a lot of things that plants do you may not be able to enjoy for a couple years down the line until again they've established that root system. But play Spyria, you are gonna get that amazing foliage color immediately following
in this spring. So it's a great opportunity to plant something. It's gonna look good and you don't ever have to worry with spyreea of whether or not it's gonna be able to withstand the winter. They are very hardy plants. Double Play Red Spiria is actually hardy down to USDA's own three heat tolerant through USDA's oone eight. So it's it's one of these kind of like no risk plants. It's gonna look great immediately, it's gonna give you something
to look forward to in spring. I love pairing these double play spyrias with bulbs because they just have sort of the right amount of color to set off like the yellow of a daffodil with a nice burgundy of the double play red spyria. So it's just another way
to get color in your landscape. And I really like we've talked a lot about mulch, which was not necessarily intentional, but this is a plant that I would recommend that you mulch because having that lighter color mulch really helps to set off that color of the foliage as it starts to develop in spring. And you know, of course, like we said, spiria are very easy to grow. They're tolerant of both sun and part shade, and that I think it makes them very suitable for those difficult conditions
where it's like the front of my house. I'm sure other people have the situation too. One side sunny, one side is like part shade to shade, so it's very hard if you're trying to go for that symmetrical look. Something like a spyria can actually do that for you because it can take both conditions and so you can kind of attain that symmetry. So it's very, very versatile. It is quite shade tolerant. It is drought tolerant, especially
once it's established. Although you do want to say if you are drought, you're not going to drought struss or spiria in its first year. I know you're not going to do that because you already know the plant should not do. A new shrub should not dry out during its entire first season if you can help it. But you don't really want to let them dry out during the flowering time because that will shorten the life of the flowers. They're also pretty deer resistant, Oh good, which is important.
I know they've munched on mine to a degree in my landscape. But I was going to mention, you know, coming up next week we've got to show on rhythm and repetition. I think it's a great plant for that also in a landscape because it can stand alone or you can plant it in drifts and rows.
Which is edging. Yeah, it's a very versatile plant.
Now, I will say it could be now spires are generally fairly small, double Play Red is about two to three feet tall and wide. I believe I don't have it in my notes here, so it can also be rabbits that munch on the emerging stems. But honestly, that's okay. Even if that does happen, they will just branch out and continue to grow.
So they're really versatile.
They're pretty, and I think that especially the Double Play series does not deserve the snobbery's.
Usually I agree, and I am not us now I like it.
So you can check us out at Gardeningsimplified on air dot com to see photos of double playredspiria and read all the reasons why it deserves a place in your gardener. Of course, if you're checking out us on YouTube, you'll already see that. So we're gonna take a little break. When we come back, we're opening up the garden mail bags, 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 easycare 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.
Greeting's gardening friends, and welcome back to the Gardening Simplified Show where we're talking about things that you can do now for spring to prepare you take this time to save you time in spring, and you know, follows definitely a time where people don't know what to do if they should cut everything back. People, you know, they have this instinct that like the landscape should just be barren before fall, you know, finishes, and that is not the case.
So if you have questions about what to prune, what you should do, you can always reach us at Gardening Simplified on air dot com. We have a contact form there can send us your question Nick Niemas, send us a photo there and we'll be happy to help.
But as always, when in.
Doubt, don't if you don't know what to do, You're out there, you're pruning, you're scraping, you're cleaning, you're raking, you're doing all the stuff and you don't know if you should do something, especially when it comes to pruning in fall.
When in doubt don't coming up.
In the next segment, will continue with more advice on what you could do this fall, Stacy, including my top two, my two favorites. Maybe a little controversial, ooh, but we're going to share that in the next sevenment.
So you're not a snob, but you are not afraid of a little controversy and a tease.
All right, So what do we got in the mail bag?
All right, here we go, Christy writes, I purchased this spring two of the Sweet and Low Sweet Box from your mail order. That's a plant that you got me interested in, Stacy.
Yes, it's very new.
I have had them all summer planted in containers on my shaded patio zone six B seven. One's doing really well. The other developed brown or dark purplish color on a few of the leaves. Can you tell me is that from overwatering? Thank you love watching your podcast every weekend.
And Christy did send photos, so we'll have those in the YouTube video as well. Is at Gardening Simplified on air dot Com in the show notes.
So if you're not.
Familiar with Sweet and Low, Sweetbox or Sweetbox in general, it is a ground covering broad leaf evergreen, so not necessarily one you would want to plant in fall. If you live in a cold climate, if you are in zone seven, you're probably good to go. And it's called sweetbox because it is related to boxwood. But when it blooms in late winter, oh my gosh, the fragrance is just astounding. And that's where the sweetbox comes from. So it blooms at a different time. It's a ground cover.
When it's happy, it just looks lovely. Because it is a broadling evergreen, it kind of wants that acidic, moist but well drained soil. And it sounds like and looks like from Christie's photos that they are doing very well. But what she writes about is she has some concern about some purplish or dark foliage that has developed at the base of one of the plants. Now, I don't see anything that is a cause for concern in these plants.
And I do want to tell people, you know, plants can have foliage churned yellow, they can have foliage churn brown for any number of reasons, and sometimes the reason is not always clear. But generally speaking, as long as the plant continues to grow and the new growth continues
to emerge healthy and green and happy looking. It's not necessarily a cause for concern if that lower foliage is turning brown or shedding for whatever reason, especially if it's just a little bit, and it tends to be you know, con find to the middle of the plant now, because these are so new it could be that that foliage just can't be supported by the plant anymore. It could be that the plant is just shedding those leaves, because when Christy wrote this it was already towards the end
of the growing season. Here. Even evergreens do lose their leaves sometimes the evergreen is a little bit of a misnomer. It's not quite literally forever. They drop some leaves. So it could be that the plant is just taking in the chlorophyll. As a result, that leaf is turning brown, storing the chlorophyll and will continue to grow. But again, the key if to know, if you have to worry about a plant that is showing some limited browning or yellowing of the foliage, look at the new growth, not
necessarily that old growth. And as long as the new growth is still looking happy and healthy, then chances are you don't have any you know, real cause for concern or anything to really worry about.
Do you use sweet and low in your coffee? I do not, No it neither.
I like coffee, you know, so I drink it black.
I'm trying to kick the cream and sugar bit.
Oh you are.
That's that's a whole other story, you know.
I would have expected.
I would think, as a former garden center owner, you would just be like the pure stuff.
I need it. I put it right in my veins.
Xena writes to us Rick and Stacy. I love your program. I try to catch you every week. Thank you for the fun education. Can I ask you for advice if you look up the term cement mites that looks like what I have. I love the swing on my patio, but after a few minutes I will see this tiny, tiny, reddish brown mite. Oh boy, I've been there, done that crawling on me. I have sprayed my patio several times this year. They still return. Do they nest somewhere or
fall from the trees. Please give me this information, and thanks so much.
So this is a job for some IPM. You got to do a little research in there, and so a couple of weeks ago or earlier, this wasn't. It was several months ago at this point, but we had a question on mailbag from a listener who had chiggers, and I had never really gone down the chigger rabbit hole as it were, and done my research about what they are. They are awful, horrendous creatures. I feel terrible for anybody who has them. And these concrete mites very much do look like chiggers.
So anyone who sees a red.
You know, might kind of scurrying around, might be immediately a little bit alarmed. It might, it might be, but if you're not getting bitten, then you know they're not chiggers, because if there is a chigger near you, it will be biting you without question. So yeah, it does look like something that is known as cement mites or concrete mites does look like a chigger. But again, these concrete mites, they don't bite humans. Now, their biggest threat is that
they do. They can stain your clothing, so if you sit on them or something like that in you, it's not their blood. It's just that the little insect it's or the little mite itself is actually red. But overall they are actually beneficial. I know that it's going to be hard to convince Zena of this, but they are beneficial. They prey on other insects, which is going to include probably a lot of plants or insects that are bad for the garden.
But here's the thing.
They live and breed in moist environments with organic matter. So this is a situation where you're going to want to look around your porch and identify any areas where say leaves start to accumulate, it gets wet and kind of that would be like an ideal breeding environment for them. So you want to keep that clear. You know, if you can adjust irrigation so that it's slightly less moist around that area, that also ought to take care of them.
And if it seems like you know, you spray, they go away and they come back, that's because that is what happens. So what happens with these with these little mites is they have this kind of boom bust life cycle where they'll you know, they'll hatch out and then they'll be hun of them and then that generation will die, but they will have left behind a bunch of eggs and then that second generation comes roaring back. So it looks like, you know, you just didn't knock them down.
But it's actually a whole second generation. So you know, my advice would be again to use that IPM approach. Can you modify the habitat, can you modify the environment that is encouraging them, because even if you are open to spreading or using chemicals against them, it's not easy to try to use a chemical management against these super teeny tiny little mites.
And the problem with them dealing with these through the years is again the stain. The stain is like having some ketchup on your pants. I mean they stain. I'm wearing khaki shorts today and thinking about those chiggers and they'll make a mess in a quick hurry.
Yeah, you know I did. I was reading about the concrete mites in Ohio State Universities as some like, if you're having a wedding in your yard, you may want to think about managing the concrete mi so zena.
Hopefully it'll work.
Again, take a behavioral modification approach first, if you can.
Froca asks whether dead heading hardy hibiscus like the Summer Summarific series promotes more flowers. Great question.
It is a great question, and I will say that in my experience, it has not.
How about you same here?
Yeah.
Now, one thing that's interesting and different about the Summarific series compared to other previous hardy Hibiscus is they are they have an indeterminate growth pattern. So other Hibiscus, older varieties they grow, they set all their flower buds and a story, whereas the Summarific Hibiscus will actually, since they're indeterminate, just like with tomatoes, they continue to grow and they
continue to set flowers. So this isn't an issue of dead heading where you know, the idea behind dead heading something is that the flower has opened, it started to set seed, and that if you remove that seed, that the plant is like, oh my gosh, I didn't reproduce, better make more flowers. And that sometimes works, but in the case of the summerfic Hibiscus it does not. But they should bloom for a much longer time than more
conventional older varieties of hardy hibiscus. Have you found that as well?
I agree, and I could see why you know, you want to dead head because those big, old, slimy remnants. You know, if you're into being tidy, you want to tidy it.
Up much mummies.
But yeah, exactly, but I don't think it's going to benefit the plant.
No, it doesn't.
And you know, honestly, I would say that of my summerfic hibiscus, maybe fifty percent of the blooms seem to set a seed pod. Not all of them do, Okay, So if it's not setting a seed pod, then you know that's not that idea of you know, the hormones going towards seed development and you being able to thwart that is kind of a non issue anyway. So like everything else in the garden, you just have to enjoy it well it lasts and take it for what it is.
That's how I feel about it.
So anyway, we're going to take a little break. When we come back, we're going to be revisiting our conversation about what you can do now for a better spring, So 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. It's time for branching news. And as we start branching news this week, want to mention coming up in a few weeks in October, we're going to do a show on Halloween horror stories. Harror stories, and what I mean by that is we
want to hear from you some gardening horror stories. Now, I've been in the garden industry for over forty years, and let me tell you I've seen some things that who For example, I have a neighbor who owns a second home and this second home he rents out like as an airbnb. His neighbor behind him has a number of Tree of Heaven trees growing right on the property line. And this neighbor insists on keeping these trees. Now, if if you don't know what tree of Heaven is, it is just a horrid tree.
Heaven is a misnomer exactly.
Some people call it stinking sumac. It's not native to the US, and this tree is very, very invasive. As a matter of fact, the tree basically has come on people's radar again because the spotted lantern fly like tree of Heaven. So anyhow, the neighbor insists on growing this tree of heaven. His other neighbor to the north of him insists on growing bamboo, and bamboo will spread like crazy. Yeah so, and that neighbor is insistent on growing bamboo.
Both of those plants are diminishing the value of his property. So to counterattack, he has obtained some mulberry trees and now he is extensively planting mulberries hoping the birds drop the berries, and they're just having an all out battle. I call that a Halloween horror stone.
That is a horror story. And you know, your Halloween horror story could be any number of things. It could be, you know, like I know in a previous radio show I did, someone called in and said she went to put on her garden glove and there was a mouse inside it.
Ohikes, that's a horror.
It could be anything like that.
We're open to your ideas and you can send those into us at Gardening Simplified on her dot com. We would love to hear from you, and for the Halloween show we will read those on the air.
Yeah. You know, when I ran a garden center one spring, very busy, you got a lot on your mind. We needed to plant up the flower beds out by the road and sent a young man out there. I thought I had given him good instructions for planting these annuals. When I got out there, he had planted them upside down. Oh my word, the roots up and the flower Ye horror story. What do you do? I don't.
I guess you turn them are out.
Yes, we want you horror stories. Send them to us. We'll have a lot of fun on that show that's coming up in October. Okay, As far as things to do in fall so that you have a better spring in twenty twenty five, two of my top items, and again there may be some disagreement on this, but number one, move plants. If you have plants that are too close to each other, too close to the house, they need to move, or maybe you're just not happy with where
they're at, move them in fall. I say, take the chance once again, soil is warm, cut the plants back, and then move them. I think it's the ideal time of the year to do that. And Stacey, I have plants in my landscape that are eligible for Frequent Flyer miles. They've moved to so many times. I love the fall season for moving plants and taking that chance.
Well, you know, I think is a great idea for many things. Now, I'll say if you watch my garden video about my lawn removal, I will say, oh, the top order of priority for me is moving these boxwood before spring ends. I have not moved the boxwood I was going to do with this fall. I am now not going to do with this fall because it's been so hot and dry here in Michigan. So again that goes back to what I was saying earlier about planting evergreens in the fall. So I'm gonna wait on those.
But the best thing about planting in fall, and I do this every year in fall, you know how much plants, how much room those plants are taking up, and why you need to move them. Now, what happens to me is I don't move stuff in fall, and I think, oh, I'll remember, take pictures, write notes for myself. And then spring comes along and you just have this cute, tidy little thing emerging from the ground and you're like, you
would never overstay your safe. It looks innocent, and then you know, now all of that memory of whatever you know garden Bully is taking over and edging out its neighbors or shading out its neighbors. That's all fresh in your mind, and you'll actually believe that it needs to be moved. So this is a note for myself as much as our listeners.
Now of course Stacy's video on our YouTube channel in her yard, Stacy, you want to remind folks how you took out the turf, how you did that.
Yeah, so I did not do it. I had someone else do it, which is always smart. It's a smart thing to do. I mean, as with everything in gardening, you need to decide what is the best use of your time and how you want to spend your time. And yeah, I had it done. We just called a landscaping company and they came by with a sod cutter and hauled it all away. And while we could have, of course managed the sod removal itself, the bigger issue for us was just the disposal of all of that stuff.
We don't have a dump.
We live on a small city lot, so you know, having someone come and do that and who has the right equipment, and you know, if I had gone out and rented you know, the sod cutter and rented a big power rake to regrade my yard.
I don't think it would have cost me that much.
I remem wouldn't been as much savings to make it worth it. So you know, sometimes you just got to price that out. It was definitely worth it for me to have that done professionally.
So now it's long gone, and when the turf going gets turf, the turf get going. Now, the point I'm trying to make here is that it's my favorite time of the year to kill turf. My neighbors again call me plant a clause. I love to go around and pick up leaves and use what nature gives us as a leaf mulch and to till into my soil. But if you have some grassy areas that you want to convert into a planting bed, fall is the time to do it. Now. I'm an old guy, okay, So traditionally
I've used newspaper on top of the grass. It's kind of tough to come by newspaper now, but you come by brown paper or cardboard or whatever it may be, and then throw leaves on top of that, and then some soil on top of that and just let it cook all winter long, and you till that up next spring, you've got an incredible bed to plant, whether it's annuals or start a new landscape bed, whatever it may be. I just think it's the ideal time of the year to do that. So I'm a turf killer in fall.
Also turf luck, turf luck, turf luck.
Well, I don't have any turf left to kill now, so all my grass is long gone, and I am loving it. But I am doing a lot of planting, and I am moving several things, especially like summerific hibiscus, that kind of stuff that's going to be dormant soon anyway. It's just those you know, those boxwoods that are going to have to wait until next spring.
Now, I'm afraid now.
You did mention taking pictures or video of your landscape at this time of the year, so that in February March, when you start getting excited about spring, you can be reminded of what needs to happen and maybe what you need to add to your landscape. Because generally people go to garden centers in greenhouses in spring and they buy impulsively. But if you go with a plan, odds are you're not necessarily going to buy as impulsively, So I do think it's a good idea. Does anybody really do it? Well?
I guess to it because it.
Depends on the kind of person you are. You know, my husband is a very much a planner. He likes to have everything on paper, all planned out, and I just honestly personally cannot imagine trying to.
To garden that way.
I mean, it's just it's an organic, you know, experience that you kind of have to do by feel, maybe a little more so than by formula. But you know, to each their own. We all have our different approaches and that's what makes gardens and relationships work.
There you go, Hey, let's end the show with a little bit of horticultural history, just for a moment. I wanted to mention that I'm very interested. And a Dutchman named Yon vander Hayden. And this guy Yon van Derhayden, yes, around sixteen seventy three. It was a Dutch painter, but he was also an inventor. He's the guy that's given credit for inventing the garden hose.
Oh.
I mean, if you think about it, Amsterdam was one of those cities that where it's all wood buildings, a lot of people living close to each other. Fire is always a threat, a concern, and he sewed leather tubes together and fifty foot lengths that would allow firefighters to get closer to a fire. The rest is history. So you know, you can argue about who invented the garden hose, but I'm going to say Yan. Now it's spelled jam. Some people might say Jan, but I think in Dutch
it's Yon vander Hayden. Look for him. Fascinating story, a painter, an inventor, and he's the guy we can credit for those garden hoses in our list.
Well, you know, Rick, as much as you and I both resent hoses, I think at the end of the day we are glad they exist.
Yes we are. Thanks to you and thanks to you for watching The Gardening Simplified Show Again we're on YouTube, radio and podcast. Thank you Adrianna, and thank you Stacey. Thank you have yourself a great week.