Working the Land | Work Smarter, Not Harder!

<v Speaker 1>Broadcasting from Studio A Here at Proven Winners, Color Choice Shrubs.
<v Speaker 1>It's time for the Gardening Simplified Show with Stacy Hervella
<v Speaker 1>me Rick weisst and our engineer and producer Adrianna Robinson. Well, Stacy.
<v Speaker 1>Sometimes I feel like a farmer, you know, when you're
<v Speaker 1>out there working in your landscape. It's like you're working
<v Speaker 1>your piece of land, your own, very own piece of land,
<v Speaker 1>and I don't know, just stand out there, be outstanding
<v Speaker 1>in the field like a farmer. And falls a great
<v Speaker 1>time of the year to be working the land. From
<v Speaker 1>a design perspective, plant materials have three major functions in
<v Speaker 1>the landscape, esthetic, structural, and utilitarian, and when we work
<v Speaker 1>the land, we're taking advantage of those benefits for our property.
<v Speaker 1>There's many ways where it just feels when I'm out
<v Speaker 1>there like I'm working the land. I like that feeling.
<v Speaker 2>It is a good feeling. I like feeling like I'm
<v Speaker 2>taking care of the land. But do you realize that
<v Speaker 2>you said you just said something controversial?
<v Speaker 1>Did I really? Well?
<v Speaker 2>You did? You said plant material A lot of people
<v Speaker 2>take issue with the term. No, you know, no problem
<v Speaker 2>with it. I get it right, but a lot of
<v Speaker 2>people and I was surprised to hear this, but a
<v Speaker 2>lot of people take offense to the term plant material Wow.
<v Speaker 2>And you know, in the context of being stewards of
<v Speaker 2>the land, it's like that kind of treats it like, well,
<v Speaker 2>you know, you're undergoing a bathroom renovation, so that's like
<v Speaker 2>your bathroom renovation materials your plant The plants that you
<v Speaker 2>plant in the yard are not just materials. They are
<v Speaker 2>you know, living things. I don't know, I don't have
<v Speaker 2>a strong opinion about it, but it did. It did
<v Speaker 2>surprise me that you get.
<v Speaker 1>It's a lot like it's not dirt, it's soil.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, well that I feel strongly about.
<v Speaker 1>Yes, yeah, exactly. See one minute in and I've already.
<v Speaker 2>Learned something hot takes right off the bat.
<v Speaker 1>But it's true. And when we work the land, we
<v Speaker 1>can work smarter, not harder. I think about weed control,
<v Speaker 1>for example, if only people would listen to me and
<v Speaker 1>not have that scorched earth policy in spring spraying weeds here,
<v Speaker 1>there and everywhere. There are things you can do. For example,
<v Speaker 1>the bigger the weeds get, the more difficult they are
<v Speaker 1>to control. So the most effective way to deal with
<v Speaker 1>weeds is to get them before they're established, or at
<v Speaker 1>a stage when you can lightly disturb them in the
<v Speaker 1>soil and they'll die. So I think that that's a
<v Speaker 1>great approach. Same thing with fall, taking care of weeds
<v Speaker 1>and identifying weeds winter annuals so they're not a problem
<v Speaker 1>in spring, even perennial weeds who are translocating into the
<v Speaker 1>root system for fall. Just like the trees, you do
<v Speaker 1>some selective spraying in the fall, you're able to better
<v Speaker 1>control weeds. So there's many ways in the landscape stacy
<v Speaker 1>where we can work smarter, not harder.
<v Speaker 2>And you know, I think that we can sit here
<v Speaker 2>and give a lot of tips on how you and
<v Speaker 2>I have discovered different ways to work smarter, not harder.
<v Speaker 2>But one of the things that's just so great about
<v Speaker 2>gardening is that everyone discovers what those different things are
<v Speaker 2>for their unique property, for their unique location, and for
<v Speaker 2>their own unique style of working. You know, we all
<v Speaker 2>find our little shortcuts and tips and tricks, and sometimes
<v Speaker 2>those are the result of what we thought was a
<v Speaker 2>mistake and we learned something from them and said, oh,
<v Speaker 2>actually that works out pretty great. I'm going to do
<v Speaker 2>that from now on. So it's not like these aren't
<v Speaker 2>necessarily set in stone things. We're going to share some
<v Speaker 2>tips and ideas that you and I have developed over
<v Speaker 2>the years. In fact, plants on Trial is going to
<v Speaker 2>be a work smarter, not harder speed round. But yeah,
<v Speaker 2>it's it's each of us discover those things. So if
<v Speaker 2>you have a work smarter not harder tip, you know,
<v Speaker 2>leave it as a comment for us on YouTube, or
<v Speaker 2>write to us at Gardening Simplified on air dot com.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, and fall is the perfect time the year to
<v Speaker 1>work smarter not harder. I just mentioned the weed control
<v Speaker 1>but having false strategies. Fall is a time of transformation,
<v Speaker 1>so fall cleanup is often viewed as a chore raking leaves,
<v Speaker 1>cutting back plants, tidying ever every corner. But you don't
<v Speaker 1>need to do that.
<v Speaker 2>Eck no, I certainly do not. I would prefer I
<v Speaker 2>didn't exact, because what are you gonna look at all winter?
<v Speaker 2>What are the birds going to do? You know? I
<v Speaker 2>would rather have the garden look a mess. Well, it
<v Speaker 2>doesn't look a mess to me, but I'm sure to
<v Speaker 2>most people are like, what in the world is this
<v Speaker 2>person doing? And have that be untidy and let the
<v Speaker 2>birds scramble through there and have something to look at. Otherwise,
<v Speaker 2>what am I looking at? Just bear soil and you know, yeah,
<v Speaker 2>mush snow.
<v Speaker 1>It's like trees shedding leaves. Why not take advantage of
<v Speaker 1>that bony that the trees are giving us. I shred leaves,
<v Speaker 1>use them in my landscape as mulch. And really doing
<v Speaker 1>some reading the other day the International Society of Arborists,
<v Speaker 1>and they had a really interesting article on the nitrogen
<v Speaker 1>content in leaves. And I'm thinking, if I use these leaves,
<v Speaker 1>I'm working smarter, not harder. And then I took it
<v Speaker 1>to the next level, Stacy, So you know that I've
<v Speaker 1>got this machine where I grind up the leaves and I,
<v Speaker 1>you know, like maple leaves, and I use them in
<v Speaker 1>my landscape. I'm working the land. But I've really gotten
<v Speaker 1>into honey locust leaves. Oh yeah, like a sunburst honey
<v Speaker 1>locust or wherever you see them everywhere, And as they
<v Speaker 1>shed the leaves, they're already pre ground up, so tiny,
<v Speaker 1>they're so tiny. And within this article, this Arborist article,
<v Speaker 1>I found that honey locust was rated near the top
<v Speaker 1>as far as nitrogen content is concerned.
<v Speaker 2>That's not surprising. It's in the bean family and we
<v Speaker 2>all know that, you know, beans and soybeans and so
<v Speaker 2>forth fix nitrogen in the soil, and when they do that,
<v Speaker 2>that foliage actually takes that nitrogen, so it is naturally
<v Speaker 2>higher in nitrogen because of the fabaesi or bean family's
<v Speaker 2>ability to fix nitrogen from the soil. So it's win
<v Speaker 2>when although we all know that it's a beggars can't
<v Speaker 2>be chooser situation for you with leaves, you just take
<v Speaker 2>whatever you can get off the street. But how are
<v Speaker 2>you ensuring you get honeylocust?
<v Speaker 1>Oh? Because I identify the trees.
<v Speaker 2>Well, you have one under You're driving around and you're like,
<v Speaker 2>that person has a honeylocust. I'm like scoping them out
<v Speaker 2>for their leaf.
<v Speaker 1>There's a park. There's a park near my house and
<v Speaker 1>they have pretty honey locust trees there. And when the
<v Speaker 1>leaves fall off, I just take leaf bags and pick
<v Speaker 1>them up and then I use them in my landscape.
<v Speaker 2>Do you wear an orange vest so people think you're
<v Speaker 2>a park personnell while they're doing this.
<v Speaker 1>It's okay, folks, I'm a trained professional. Nothing to see.
<v Speaker 2>I mean, you're doing them a favor. It's just you know.
<v Speaker 1>But still I think that it works out really really well,
<v Speaker 1>and then I feel like a farmer, like I'm working
<v Speaker 1>the land, like I'm taking the natural bounty from the land.
<v Speaker 1>Here's a dad joke for you. What's a farmer's favorite
<v Speaker 1>rock song?
<v Speaker 2>Maggie's Farm by Bob Dylan. Good.
<v Speaker 1>Try living in the USDA. Bruce Springsteen, Right, that's really good.
<v Speaker 2>Born in the USDA, Born in the us.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, that's it. Living in the USDA would be John
<v Speaker 1>Cougar Mellencamp. You're right. Yeah, born in the USDA would
<v Speaker 1>be Bruce Springsteen. And you improved my joke. As bad
<v Speaker 1>as it is, I grew a crop of beans this
<v Speaker 1>year organically they died of natural causes. That's another bad one. Okay,
<v Speaker 1>I'll move on. By the way, I wanted to mention
<v Speaker 1>something here too, working the land. Have some friends who
<v Speaker 1>live in Nebraska and in the Plain States, and they
<v Speaker 1>really deal with a lot of wind. But you can
<v Speaker 1>take advantage of the wind in your landscape where maybe
<v Speaker 1>you determine where the prevailing winds are coming from and
<v Speaker 1>grow some hedging or some plants that help block the
<v Speaker 1>wind in winter, or maybe it's really hot around your
<v Speaker 1>house in summer and you want to create a tunnel
<v Speaker 1>effect where you feed the wind in a nice breeze.
<v Speaker 1>All of these things are things that you can look
<v Speaker 1>at when you work the land. And by the way, again,
<v Speaker 1>living on the shores of Lake Michigan, I'm very familiar
<v Speaker 1>with a website windfinder dot com. That's a fun website
<v Speaker 1>to go to, and if you go to windfinder dot com,
<v Speaker 1>you're able to see where, what direction the wind predominantly
<v Speaker 1>comes from in your area, at what month of the year.
<v Speaker 1>For example, where I live on the lake shore, in November,
<v Speaker 1>fifty six percent of the time, winds are at eight
<v Speaker 1>to twenty five miles per hour. Wow, that's cooking.
<v Speaker 2>That's a lot. Yeah. Well, you know, speaking of wind,
<v Speaker 2>I think another really important consideration that people should bear
<v Speaker 2>in mind is for snow. If you live in a
<v Speaker 2>groat climate, I can't tell you how many times you'll
<v Speaker 2>be driving down the country road and you're driving along
<v Speaker 2>it's a snowy day and la la la lah lah,
<v Speaker 2>and then all of a sudden there's a house with
<v Speaker 2>no plantings and the snow just drifts there.
<v Speaker 1>You go.
<v Speaker 2>So, if you are the person who's like, gosh, wire
<v Speaker 2>car is always getting it stuck in front of my house,
<v Speaker 2>it would be a good time to consider planting a
<v Speaker 2>wind break because that will make a world of difference exactly.
<v Speaker 1>So that's why I mentioned the windfinder website and living
<v Speaker 1>on the lake shore, people are always looking to you know,
<v Speaker 1>kite surf and that, and so they're interested in that.
<v Speaker 1>Let me give you a limb a rick today, as
<v Speaker 1>we work the land like farmers, it's kind of a
<v Speaker 1>work in the land mentality. I have a new mentality
<v Speaker 1>to improve my landscape's functionality. Need solutions that are cheap,
<v Speaker 1>not a price tag that steep First and foremost. I
<v Speaker 1>practice frugality doesn't have to be totally grand. I also
<v Speaker 1>don't want something that's bland at efficient is my domain name.
<v Speaker 1>Get it Done is my claim to fame. Just a
<v Speaker 1>plant lover, work in the land in any weather. I'm
<v Speaker 1>not in my hovel in self pity. You won't see
<v Speaker 1>me grovel. I'm American Gothic with a pitchfork. I sling
<v Speaker 1>mulch and dirt with great torque. I get it done.
<v Speaker 1>When push comes to shovel, there you go. So we're
<v Speaker 1>gonna do a speed round.
<v Speaker 2>We're doing a speed round for plants on trial.
<v Speaker 1>That's Coming up next here on the Gardening Simplified.
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<v Speaker 2>Proven Winner's Color Choice dot com. We're reading's gardening friends,
<v Speaker 2>and welcome back to the Gardening Simplified Show, where the
<v Speaker 2>order of the day is all about working the land,
<v Speaker 2>which is to say, taking care of your land like
<v Speaker 2>a good steward or a farmer. And you know, it's
<v Speaker 2>not just about the plants. The plants are what we
<v Speaker 2>focus on because most people when they think of gardening,
<v Speaker 2>they're thinking about plants and tending plants, but really the
<v Speaker 2>land that you plant those plants in requires tending in
<v Speaker 2>many different ways as well. And of course it helps
<v Speaker 2>to think of your whole yard as a place that
<v Speaker 2>you tend, not just you know, a place where your
<v Speaker 2>plant plants. So normally, at this time in the show,
<v Speaker 2>what we do is I'll tell you all about one
<v Speaker 2>of the three hundred and fifty plus proven winner's color choice
<v Speaker 2>shrubs and you can decide if you're going to put
<v Speaker 2>it in your garden. But of course, with such a
<v Speaker 2>broad topic, I mean, how would I possibly narrow it down.
<v Speaker 2>It's a perfect plant for today. So instead we're doing
<v Speaker 2>a work smarter not harder speed round. Yes, and we
<v Speaker 2>do a couple speed rounds every now and then. And
<v Speaker 2>basically what that means is we just have different topics
<v Speaker 2>and we just try I'm usually bad at this, Rick
<v Speaker 2>is pretty good at this to quickly give you an
<v Speaker 2>answer on that. But I do have to say I
<v Speaker 2>think that because we were being very tip based here,
<v Speaker 2>it might need a little bit It's like a speed
<v Speaker 2>ish round, okay, so we might need to have like
<v Speaker 2>a little bit of you know, expository ghetto information around it.
<v Speaker 1>Expository.
<v Speaker 2>So if this is your first time joining to ask
<v Speaker 2>for a speed round, we are often speedier in our
<v Speaker 2>speed round. This is just going to be but the
<v Speaker 2>information is good, so stick with us. So all right,
<v Speaker 2>to kick it off, since it is October, what is
<v Speaker 2>your favorite work smarter not harder fall tip?
<v Speaker 1>Oh I could give you hundreds, I'll give you one.
<v Speaker 1>Move plants around best time of the year to move plants,
<v Speaker 1>rearrange your garden.
<v Speaker 2>Yep, you know, I hear from so many people. Is
<v Speaker 2>now a good time? Yes? The answer is absolutely yes.
<v Speaker 2>And you know we've talked about it before. I think
<v Speaker 2>we recently did a show on it. If it's on
<v Speaker 2>your mind, you were thinking in summer home, man, these
<v Speaker 2>things are getting too close. I don't really like that.
<v Speaker 2>Now is the perfect time, even if you're in a
<v Speaker 2>colder zone. If you're in a warmer zone than we
<v Speaker 2>are here in West Michigan, maybe a couple more weeks
<v Speaker 2>down the line, if things are really still kicking. My
<v Speaker 2>fault tip is plant bulbs, and lots of them, because
<v Speaker 2>you don't need to plant them one at a time. Now.
<v Speaker 2>If you have great, big bulbs, like a really fancy
<v Speaker 2>alium sure or a frittle area, those you're probably gonna
<v Speaker 2>plant one at a time. But when we're talking about daffodil's, tulips,
<v Speaker 2>minor bulbs, all of this kind of stuff, it's best
<v Speaker 2>what I always do. Dig a big hole, cram it
<v Speaker 2>full of bulbs, cover it right back up and it
<v Speaker 2>looks fabulous in the spring.
<v Speaker 1>Word of the day swaths, Yes, swatz.
<v Speaker 2>And it doesn't require digging one hundred different holes. You
<v Speaker 2>dig like five holes and put twenty five bulbs in them.
<v Speaker 2>So that's working smarter, not harder, and you'll be real
<v Speaker 2>grateful you did that in the spring. Next up, work
<v Speaker 2>smarter not harder. Planting tip.
<v Speaker 1>Great follow up to your answer. My planting tip was
<v Speaker 1>make like a squirrel and plant long lasting deer resistant
<v Speaker 1>bulbs like fritile areas, aliums, dutch iris, daffodils. Oh all
<v Speaker 1>deer resistant.
<v Speaker 2>Yes, yeah, the squirrels are going bananas right now. Oh
<v Speaker 2>my gosh. Mine is a general tip, not just specifically
<v Speaker 2>for fall. But a lot of people don't realize this,
<v Speaker 2>but as long as you are not using a dehandled shovel,
<v Speaker 2>you're using a straight handled shovel, turn that thing the
<v Speaker 2>other way around and use that to gauge the depth
<v Speaker 2>and width of your whole. Compare it to the plant
<v Speaker 2>that you have out of the hole. Rather than lifting
<v Speaker 2>a thing up, putting it in, lift it up, put
<v Speaker 2>it in, move it around. Use that to gauge the
<v Speaker 2>depth in the midth of your hole. So much easier.
<v Speaker 2>You just use your hand. It doesn't have to be exact,
<v Speaker 2>but it's still a much faster weighted plant properly. I
<v Speaker 2>like it all right. Next up pruning tip.
<v Speaker 1>Weight on both roses and ornamental grasses. They're beautiful. My
<v Speaker 1>roses don't shut down until well after Thanksgiving Day. Don't
<v Speaker 1>be out there pruning them. Wait.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, that's a great point, and especially if you live
<v Speaker 2>in a warmer climate, you definitely don't want to prune
<v Speaker 2>until they're really going to be going for a lot longer.
<v Speaker 2>And yeah, I mean, just wait until spring. And if
<v Speaker 2>you wait until spring on roses, then they're telling you
<v Speaker 2>exactly where to prune them because you're going to see
<v Speaker 2>that new growth coming out, and then it's very easy
<v Speaker 2>to figure out where you should actually make that cut.
<v Speaker 2>And of course, for ornamental grasses, why do you want
<v Speaker 2>to look at a pile of stubble all winter when
<v Speaker 2>you could be looking at some really lovely ornamental grasses.
<v Speaker 2>Those ornamental grasses give birds, you know, material for making
<v Speaker 2>nests and for insulating birdhouses so they can make it
<v Speaker 2>through winter better.
<v Speaker 1>Did you say it gives birds material?
<v Speaker 2>I did say material?
<v Speaker 1>Oh my gosh, hot take.
<v Speaker 2>Does a plant become plant material when it's dormant, like
<v Speaker 2>like an ornamental grass? Because this is what you're talking
<v Speaker 2>about the weeds.
<v Speaker 1>Now.
<v Speaker 2>Well, like I said, I don't personally have a trouble
<v Speaker 2>with the plant material thing, but I know some people do.
<v Speaker 2>My pruning, too, is a little bit more direct, and
<v Speaker 2>I don't think a lot of people know this. This
<v Speaker 2>is one of the first things that I learned in
<v Speaker 2>horticulture school, and that is when you have your hand pruners,
<v Speaker 2>they have what I guess I would call a bumpy
<v Speaker 2>side where you know, the little screw is and the
<v Speaker 2>little you know, gear thingy is, and they have a
<v Speaker 2>flat side. So when you are pruning, you should always
<v Speaker 2>face the flat side toward the plant. That helps you
<v Speaker 2>get as close as possible to where you're actually making
<v Speaker 2>that pruning cut. So there is kind of you know,
<v Speaker 2>and sometimes it's not possible you're you know, all in
<v Speaker 2>there and contorted and twistering yourself around in a plant.
<v Speaker 2>But if possible, when you pick up those pruners, face
<v Speaker 2>the flat side into the plant and the other side out.
<v Speaker 1>That's really sharp cutting edge, uh cutting hedge? Okay, move on?
<v Speaker 2>What is yours? Worksmurder not harder watering tip.
<v Speaker 1>Mulch evergreens at the base so they don't go into
<v Speaker 1>winter dry and use anti desk on broad leaf.
<v Speaker 2>Evergreens, especially if they were newly planted this year. You know,
<v Speaker 2>mulch is just one of those things I say, keep
<v Speaker 2>things mulched y around, but especially for winter. It will
<v Speaker 2>look better, your plants will be happier. I know some
<v Speaker 2>people don't love the look of mulch, but your plants
<v Speaker 2>will be so much happier that it is more than
<v Speaker 2>worth it. I thought about all of this in a
<v Speaker 2>much more practical and less autumnal sense. But my watering
<v Speaker 2>tip is to get a shut off valve. It amazes
<v Speaker 2>me how many people don't have a simple, you know,
<v Speaker 2>ball shut off valve on their hose, and then what happens.
<v Speaker 2>They go to move their sprinkler or their water and
<v Speaker 2>they're kinking the hose and trying to you know, prevent
<v Speaker 2>it from going all over the place. Now, most watering
<v Speaker 2>wands do come with a shut off valve, not all
<v Speaker 2>of them. It's kind of built in. In many cases. I
<v Speaker 2>would actually prefer it to be separate, because then you
<v Speaker 2>don't lose the whole thing if your shut off valve
<v Speaker 2>goes bad.
<v Speaker 1>And preferably one that doesn't leak. Well.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, they all get to leaking sooner or later. I'm
<v Speaker 2>in the market for a new one come this spring,
<v Speaker 2>because ours has definitely given up the ghost here in October.
<v Speaker 2>But it's such I mean, they're like a dollar at
<v Speaker 2>the hardware store, and it will change your life. It
<v Speaker 2>is just so much easier, it's more efficient to use water.
<v Speaker 2>You can also use it, you know, kind of dial
<v Speaker 2>it down so that ball valve is just kind of
<v Speaker 2>sort of cracked, and use that to dribble on to
<v Speaker 2>new plants. You know, leave that running for a little
<v Speaker 2>while to make sure you're thoroughly saturating newly planted trees
<v Speaker 2>and shrubs. It's just a great thing to have around.
<v Speaker 1>I just wet my plants.
<v Speaker 2>Yes you will if you have a shut off valve.
<v Speaker 2>What is your work? Smarter not harder?
<v Speaker 1>Fertilizing tip most important time of the year to feed
<v Speaker 1>lawns because they're focused on root growth. And I feed
<v Speaker 1>trees in fall, just as the leaves are falling off.
<v Speaker 1>I feed trees because the soil is still warm. Tree
<v Speaker 1>is gonna benefit.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, and you know you often benefit from rains, autumn
<v Speaker 2>rains which will help to weather that fertilizer make it
<v Speaker 2>available to the tree. Or other plants and then they'll
<v Speaker 2>actually be able to make use of it. Mine is
<v Speaker 2>to keep it to the outside ring when you are
<v Speaker 2>fertilizing anything. So what's also known as the drip line.
<v Speaker 2>You know, so often I think that people go out
<v Speaker 2>there and they just sprinkle it all close to the plant.
<v Speaker 2>And especially when we were talking about trees and shrubs
<v Speaker 2>and even perennials, the closer you get into the center
<v Speaker 2>of that plant, the fewer root tips there are going
<v Speaker 2>to be. And it's the root tips that are the
<v Speaker 2>most responsible for absorbing those nutrients and translocating it into
<v Speaker 2>the plant for it to use. So you want to
<v Speaker 2>concentrate your effort just in a ring sort of around
<v Speaker 2>the outer edge of your plants, which actually makes it
<v Speaker 2>even easier than trying to get in there, and you know,
<v Speaker 2>sprinkle it up in the middle.
<v Speaker 1>I love that you're in for a root to awaken it.
<v Speaker 2>Are we Now? We talked a little bit about weeds
<v Speaker 2>in segment one, But what is your work? Smarter not
<v Speaker 2>harder weeding tip? Yes, that's the same one you said earlier.
<v Speaker 1>Fall is time to you know, you're weeding by example,
<v Speaker 1>when you're identifying both annual and perennial weeds in fall
<v Speaker 1>and getting them in fall as opposed to spring.
<v Speaker 2>Well, I kind of have two. Okay, So my number one,
<v Speaker 2>and I know this is not going to be a
<v Speaker 2>tip for everybody, but if you watch my summer garden tour,
<v Speaker 2>it is one that I certainly give freely, and that
<v Speaker 2>is grow a lot of self sowing annuals and plants,
<v Speaker 2>and they will outcompete your weeds and then all of
<v Speaker 2>your weeds become beautiful and useful plants instead of you know,
<v Speaker 2>junkie plants that are just going to spread more like
<v Speaker 2>you know, yellow nutsede or something. So I have kind
<v Speaker 2>of gotten my garden to a place where my self
<v Speaker 2>sowers pretty effectively, I mean not all, I certainly am
<v Speaker 2>not going to pretend all, but pretty effectively out compete
<v Speaker 2>smart other weeds, either because of shade or you know,
<v Speaker 2>just space. My other one is, you know, goes back
<v Speaker 2>to what you said, Rick, and this is a great
<v Speaker 2>winter project for you know when to snap and no
<v Speaker 2>when to pull. There are weeds that you you don't
<v Speaker 2>need to pull. Just snip those flowers off, snip the
<v Speaker 2>you know, or with with printers or whatever, and no
<v Speaker 2>which ones you have to pull. Perennial weeds you have
<v Speaker 2>to pull, but there are annual weeds where if you
<v Speaker 2>simply prevent them from going to seed, you will greatly
<v Speaker 2>reduce the number of that weed that you will have,
<v Speaker 2>And then you don't necessarily have to go and disturb
<v Speaker 2>the soil and you know, spend hours down there in
<v Speaker 2>the soil pulling everything out. So it's kind of a
<v Speaker 2>lazy man's way. You do obviously have to be able
<v Speaker 2>to tolerate some weeds, but also I think it's also
<v Speaker 2>just interesting to, you know, learn more about weeds. So
<v Speaker 2>that is all we have for our speed around. I
<v Speaker 2>think we did pretty pretty speedy all things considered.
<v Speaker 1>I'm bad.
<v Speaker 2>I knew I would be the ones to talk more,
<v Speaker 2>but that's just how it is.
<v Speaker 1>You know, when it comes to weeds you've got pull.
<v Speaker 2>We're going to take a little break, but when we
<v Speaker 2>come back, we're going to be opening up the garden
<v Speaker 2>mail bags, So please stay tuned. At proven when there's
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<v Speaker 2>Greetings gardening friends, and welcome back to the Gardening Simplified Show,
<v Speaker 2>where it is our pleasure to help you with your
<v Speaker 2>gardening questions, quandaries and conundrums. And you know, in addition
<v Speaker 2>to helping you with all of that stuff, we also
<v Speaker 2>welcome your gardening celebrations and triumphs. In fact, I just
<v Speaker 2>had a message from someone the other day who said,
<v Speaker 2>I hope I can share some of my garden with
<v Speaker 2>you next year because she just had done a bunch
<v Speaker 2>of work for based on what we had recommended. And
<v Speaker 2>last week I got a mysterious package in the mail
<v Speaker 2>addressed to the Gardening Simplified staff, and I took it
<v Speaker 2>over to Adriana and we were like, what is this,
<v Speaker 2>Because you know, Rick doesn't actually work with us every day,
<v Speaker 2>only when we're in studio a here recording the show,
<v Speaker 2>and we already opened it. But I brought it in
<v Speaker 2>so you can see what this lovely listener Cheryl uh
<v Speaker 2>sent for us. Wow, all right, so you're ready.
<v Speaker 1>It's kind of like, let's make a deal. Let's behind yours.
<v Speaker 2>Well, this is your only option.
<v Speaker 1>Is it a Macromain lawn chair? No?
<v Speaker 2>No, no, those are two things you love.
<v Speaker 1>But wind chimes.
<v Speaker 2>It is not wind chimes. Not a good time to
<v Speaker 2>talk to about wind chimes, because I was awake all
<v Speaker 2>night from someone's wind chimes last night. Dang, Dane Dan anyway,
<v Speaker 2>So go ahead, and we had to unwrap the box.
<v Speaker 2>But you know now you can.
<v Speaker 1>Open it all. Oh my, yes, fantastic.
<v Speaker 2>You got to hold them mops over, I can see.
<v Speaker 1>Look at that. I talked about that, I know, yes,
<v Speaker 1>a couple of weeks ago.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah. So this is what Cheryl sent in her message
<v Speaker 2>to us.
<v Speaker 1>This is great.
<v Speaker 2>Your nine twenty seven show included mention of knitted pumpkins.
<v Speaker 2>In clothes, you will find a trio of crocheted kirky bits.
<v Speaker 2>This one's a gourd, which I love, that one for
<v Speaker 2>each of you. Crocheting is a hobby that relaxes me
<v Speaker 2>and I create gifts for people who hold a special
<v Speaker 2>place in my heart. I hope you'll enjoy my left
<v Speaker 2>handed handiwork filled with autumn vibes. Love watching your show
<v Speaker 2>each week, and I'm learning so much. And she goes
<v Speaker 2>on to say that the straw flowers on this cute
<v Speaker 2>little pumpkin are from her own garden. Wow, so it was.
<v Speaker 1>You know, we joke around a lot, but this is
<v Speaker 1>this is special.
<v Speaker 2>No, it's honestly, it was so delightful. I got choked up,
<v Speaker 2>honestly when I when Adriana, I know, opened up this package.
<v Speaker 2>So thank you so much, Cheryl. These are absolutely beautiful.
<v Speaker 2>I'm a knitter and crochetre, so I know how much
<v Speaker 2>this means. And we just wanted to thank you so
<v Speaker 2>much for.
<v Speaker 1>Thank you your lovely gift. Thank you very much. That
<v Speaker 1>is fantastic. For others who'd like to send gifts, send
<v Speaker 1>us a box of fudge. Fudge yeah, fudge, know.
<v Speaker 2>So send your five gallon buckets to But anyway, let's
<v Speaker 2>get to some of our listener questions. And this first
<v Speaker 2>question from Alicia I think is especially timely and useful
<v Speaker 2>for today's theme.
<v Speaker 1>Alicia says, love your show, I watch it on YouTube
<v Speaker 1>every week. My question is regarding adding manure based composts
<v Speaker 1>to my gardens. When's the best time to apply how
<v Speaker 1>much sheep, horse, cow? Does it matter? I'm surprised she
<v Speaker 1>doesn't mention chicken.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, well maybe she doesn't have access to chicken. And
<v Speaker 2>she also has a second part to her question.
<v Speaker 1>Oh also, I have wood chips on top of my
<v Speaker 1>garden beds and there are hundreds of lady bugs where
<v Speaker 1>whenever I move the chips, will it harm them? If
<v Speaker 1>I move the chips and add the compost and then
<v Speaker 1>move the chips back.
<v Speaker 2>Okay, So what's your perspective on that manure question?
<v Speaker 1>First of all, I wouldn't move the chips. I'd put
<v Speaker 1>the compost right on top.
<v Speaker 2>Of the chips, you would me, okay.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, stir it up and then just refresh the chips
<v Speaker 1>maybe next spring or what. That's what I would do.
<v Speaker 1>I'm not saying it's right. I'm not saying that's what
<v Speaker 1>you have to do. It's what I would do.
<v Speaker 2>And what do you have a feeling about sheep, horse, cow, chicken, poultry?
<v Speaker 1>Yes?
<v Speaker 2>What is it?
<v Speaker 1>Yes?
<v Speaker 2>All all, yes, I mean.
<v Speaker 1>It, I guess I just I want to work with
<v Speaker 1>stuff that's composted.
<v Speaker 2>Yes, of course you want it fully composted, which is
<v Speaker 2>basically another way of saying it doesn't smell like its
<v Speaker 2>original product anymore. It's completely decomposed and made into organic matter.
<v Speaker 2>And I think the general guideline about which animals manure
<v Speaker 2>you are using is whatever you can get. You know,
<v Speaker 2>some of us live in areas that are maybe very
<v Speaker 2>horse heavy, and so the horse maneuver is going to
<v Speaker 2>be what you're gonna have. You If you live in
<v Speaker 2>a dairy farming area, you're gonna get cow. If you
<v Speaker 2>live out here in West Michigan, where we are making
<v Speaker 2>tons and tons of poultry, especially turkeys, then it's probably
<v Speaker 2>going to be poultry manure.
<v Speaker 1>We have egg farms out here and they make pelletized
<v Speaker 1>chicken manure pellets, yeah, that you can use on your lan.
<v Speaker 2>So usually whatever is going to do whatever, is going
<v Speaker 2>to be the least expensive and the most abundantly available
<v Speaker 2>to you. You know, there probably are various analyzes of
<v Speaker 2>you know, just like Rick was talking about earlier in
<v Speaker 2>the show with the different nitrogen content and leaves. Yes,
<v Speaker 2>but it's not I don't think quite so much based
<v Speaker 2>on the animal as their diet, and that's really going
<v Speaker 2>to vary as well, so by all means, yes, it's
<v Speaker 2>great to do that and make sure it's fully composted.
<v Speaker 2>I personally would not invest the time or the money
<v Speaker 2>in applying manure to my garden in fall for fear
<v Speaker 2>that that because it's very heavy in nitrogen. And that's great,
<v Speaker 2>you want nitrogen for your plants, but I would worry
<v Speaker 2>that with the relatively limited amount of time in the
<v Speaker 2>growing season, that a lot of that nitrogen is just
<v Speaker 2>going to leach out before it gets used by the
<v Speaker 2>plants since it's growing dormant. So I would personally save
<v Speaker 2>that effort for later in the season when it's going
<v Speaker 2>to you know, have a definitely direct benefit for the plant.
<v Speaker 1>That's what you call entremneurial savvy.
<v Speaker 2>That's you know, that's just what I would do. And
<v Speaker 2>I would actually move the mulch aside just because I
<v Speaker 2>would rather have the compost down there. But it's okay
<v Speaker 2>if it mixes a bit, because many people use compost
<v Speaker 2>as mulch, and you know, that's perfectly swell if you
<v Speaker 2>have enough. I would not be able to have quite enough.
<v Speaker 1>Stacy, I consider you an insect expert. I'm curious and
<v Speaker 1>interested how you feel about the lady.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, so this was an interesting question, and I feel like,
<v Speaker 2>you know, a couple months ago, we talked about how
<v Speaker 2>all worms in North America are essentially invasive species, and
<v Speaker 2>I feel like that kind of breaks a lot of
<v Speaker 2>people's hearts because as gardeners are taught, oh the more
<v Speaker 2>worms that are in your soil, the better it is. Well,
<v Speaker 2>I am going to break people's hearts once again because
<v Speaker 2>the majority of ladybugs that are in our yards in
<v Speaker 2>most of the country are actually invasive. They yeah, they're
<v Speaker 2>asiatic ladybugs. Now whether they are truly harmful to our
<v Speaker 2>native populations of the various ladybugs. And it's not just
<v Speaker 2>like we have one ladybug. I mean, ladybugs are a
<v Speaker 2>big group of insects and there's lots and lots of them.
<v Speaker 2>So it's not really necessarily a situation where the asiatic
<v Speaker 2>ladybugs are directly threatening our native ladybugs and causing problems
<v Speaker 2>for them. But it's also not necessarily like something that
<v Speaker 2>you need to feel like, oh, every single one is
<v Speaker 2>you know, precious and I really need to worry about it.
<v Speaker 2>But also I would say ladybugs are going to maybe
<v Speaker 2>get a little bit in a kerfuffle after you move
<v Speaker 2>up this mulch. But they'll just settle. They'll just settle
<v Speaker 2>right back down, so I would not worry about them
<v Speaker 2>at all. I do have a link that we will
<v Speaker 2>add to the YouTube version about ladybugs as invasive species
<v Speaker 2>and kind of understanding what they mean. People don't necessarily
<v Speaker 2>recommend that you go around just killing ladybugs because they're
<v Speaker 2>apparently quite difficult to tell the asiatic species from our
<v Speaker 2>native species. And again they're not that threatening, but it's
<v Speaker 2>still good to know that they're as cute as they are,
<v Speaker 2>they're not completely innocent, so it goes all right.
<v Speaker 1>Beth has what's the best way to overwinter a passion flower?
<v Speaker 1>I'd say passionately right. We have had this one on
<v Speaker 1>our deck for many years. Each fall we pull off
<v Speaker 1>what we can from the post, cut the vines back
<v Speaker 1>to three to four foot long. A new issue this
<v Speaker 1>year was that the squirrel felt the support was a
<v Speaker 1>perfect ladder up to the deck and he defoliated most
<v Speaker 1>of the lower part of the plant. How far back
<v Speaker 1>should we be cutting this plant? You know? It brings
<v Speaker 1>up a great point Stacey, that yes, it's the time
<v Speaker 1>of year when people are moving mandavillas and hibiscus and
<v Speaker 1>passion flower inside the bug. These are plants that tend
<v Speaker 1>to get bugs like aphids inside or mites. So I
<v Speaker 1>personally believe cutting them back hard and then keeping them
<v Speaker 1>in a cool room, a cool area, and be careful
<v Speaker 1>with the water. Make sure they're not overwatered. You're gonna
<v Speaker 1>rot the roots. But it's possible to do. An unheated
<v Speaker 1>spare bedroom that has a window is a perfect spot
<v Speaker 1>for Not everybody has that, I understand, right.
<v Speaker 2>A lot of times we were just like, oh, if
<v Speaker 2>you have this, yeah, and so I think the question
<v Speaker 2>the answer to best question that was all. I agree
<v Speaker 2>with everything you just said, Rick, But it does depend
<v Speaker 2>on the passion flower. So there are actually hardy passion flowers.
<v Speaker 2>We have a native passion flower that is native through
<v Speaker 2>the Midwest. I don't know if it quite comes up
<v Speaker 2>into Michigan, but interest certainly throughout the Midwest it grows native.
<v Speaker 2>And if you have that passion flower, then you can
<v Speaker 2>easily just you know, overwinter it in a protected spot.
<v Speaker 2>I think it's hardy to his own six. Really yeah,
<v Speaker 2>it's pretty great. And so in that case you don't
<v Speaker 2>have to do anything at all. But now the tropical
<v Speaker 2>passion flowers and our native one is just as showy
<v Speaker 2>and just as beautiful. Well maybe not quite, but pretty close.
<v Speaker 2>The tropical ones absolutely need to come indoors, obviously, since
<v Speaker 2>they're tropical and they're not going to survive a cold winter.
<v Speaker 2>And I think that just because the squirrel went ahead
<v Speaker 2>and fully did the lower part of this plant, that
<v Speaker 2>doesn't mean there aren't still buds. So I would continue
<v Speaker 2>to do, you know what you've always been doing, cutting
<v Speaker 2>it back, even if that means that the remaining portions
<v Speaker 2>of the plant don't have foliage on them. I don't
<v Speaker 2>think you're going to see much go on indoors, but
<v Speaker 2>you know, as spring comes along and the days start
<v Speaker 2>to get longer, then that will actually leaf out and
<v Speaker 2>recover and you'll be able to put it right back
<v Speaker 2>outside again. So thank y'all so much for your questions,
<v Speaker 2>and thanks again to Cheryl for our lovely crocheted pumpkins.
<v Speaker 2>We appreciate all of you, and we're going to take
<v Speaker 2>a break and when we come back, we'll be continue
<v Speaker 2>our conversation on working the land, so please stay tuned.
<v Speaker 2>Thanks for listening to the gardening Simplified Podcast brought to
<v Speaker 2>you by proven Winter's Color Choice. Our award winning flowering
<v Speaker 2>shrubs and evergreens are trialed and tested by experts with
<v Speaker 2>your success in mind. Learn more at Proven Winners color
<v Speaker 2>Choice dot com.
<v Speaker 1>Welcome back to the Gardening Simplified Show. As we talk
<v Speaker 1>about working smarter, not harder, working the land, and I
<v Speaker 1>love doing the speed round. That's that's so much fun.
<v Speaker 1>We didn't get to composting tips, and of course you
<v Speaker 1>know what mine's going to be. Stacey, use the leaves,
<v Speaker 1>shred the leaves, use the leaves.
<v Speaker 2>Are you going to talk about your shredding contraption. We're
<v Speaker 2>gonna have to bring that back because you know, I
<v Speaker 2>don't it's been like a year since people have heard
<v Speaker 2>about your shredding contraption.
<v Speaker 1>I'll fire it up and we'll have Adriana put some
<v Speaker 1>video on YouTube.
<v Speaker 2>All right, good, good, good, because that is that's probably
<v Speaker 2>working smarter not harder.
<v Speaker 1>Well, yeah, and I always have. And there's an example
<v Speaker 1>of working smarter not harder, because it used to be
<v Speaker 1>I would put leaves in a trash can, put on
<v Speaker 1>a pair of safety goggles, and then use my weed whacker.
<v Speaker 2>Oh that's what I thought you were still doing.
<v Speaker 1>No, No, I've got something that's oh okay, we work
<v Speaker 1>and smarter or not hard.
<v Speaker 2>Okay, good, I feel a lot better about that. Will
<v Speaker 2>get your video, okay perfect. My composting tip is definitely
<v Speaker 2>along those same lines, and that is you have to
<v Speaker 2>keep a stock of browns. And it's a simple thing
<v Speaker 2>that a lot of us don't think about, especially as
<v Speaker 2>we're heading into winter, where if you want to continue
<v Speaker 2>to compost your food scraps, you don't have any of
<v Speaker 2>that brown you know, to keep that nice proportion of
<v Speaker 2>brown and green. So you're putting the food scraps and
<v Speaker 2>it's just getting slimy and it's not good. If you
<v Speaker 2>don't have the proper proportions of browns or you know,
<v Speaker 2>dry dead material and greens, you just don't get compost.
<v Speaker 2>You get slime. So I recommend that you just stockpile
<v Speaker 2>that stuff, whether it is stuff that you're pulling out
<v Speaker 2>of your garden or leaves that you have relieved your
<v Speaker 2>neighbors of.
<v Speaker 1>Very well done.
<v Speaker 2>You know, keep that stuff stockpiled, and you know, just
<v Speaker 2>add it to the pile. Whenever you have that layer
<v Speaker 2>of food scraps or whatever. Just make sure you have it,
<v Speaker 2>because back in the day they used to say shredded newspaper.
<v Speaker 2>But when is the last time anyone had enough newspaper
<v Speaker 2>to shred? So those days are long gone and we
<v Speaker 2>have to fend for ourselves on the browns.
<v Speaker 1>Well done lawn care tip. I'm just going to say,
<v Speaker 1>this is the time of year when we slowly start
<v Speaker 1>to lower the deck. In other words, all year long,
<v Speaker 1>you want to raise the deck. Have the deck high
<v Speaker 1>so the plant can photosynthesize, so it shades the crown
<v Speaker 1>of the plant, so it helps the grass compete with
<v Speaker 1>weeds naturally. But as we get into winter, we want
<v Speaker 1>to lower that deck. That way we reduce the incidents
<v Speaker 1>of snow mold vul problems in.
<v Speaker 2>That Yeah, that snow mold is nasty and I have
<v Speaker 2>seen it plenty when I had a lawn. And my
<v Speaker 2>lawn care tip is to get an electric mower if
<v Speaker 2>you can, if you have a smaller yard, you know,
<v Speaker 2>I think it can do most residential yards just fine.
<v Speaker 2>And it's just so much more pleasant to mow the lawn.
<v Speaker 2>You're not out there looking like a maniac trying to
<v Speaker 2>yank that cord, and it's quiet and it's just it's
<v Speaker 2>win win all around. So if you're in the market
<v Speaker 2>for a new lawnmower, make it electric. Unless you have
<v Speaker 2>multiple acres to mow, you will be glad you did.
<v Speaker 1>I love it. So when you're working the land a
<v Speaker 1>pointer here, pick your trees carefully. Remember a tree is
<v Speaker 1>an investment and it grows slowly over time, so make
<v Speaker 1>sure to pick the right tree right off the start,
<v Speaker 1>in the right location, and then maintain your trees. Trees
<v Speaker 1>are one of the most impactful elements that you add
<v Speaker 1>to your landscape. But if you ignore the tree and
<v Speaker 1>you don't do a necessary pruning over time, but wait
<v Speaker 1>until it becomes a problem, don't do that. So that's
<v Speaker 1>a recommendation that I have and one often overlooked key
<v Speaker 1>to a well functioning landscape is planning for storage and
<v Speaker 1>utility areas right from the s for what for story,
<v Speaker 1>your shed, your electric blowers and trimmers and everything else,
<v Speaker 1>your rakes and your shovels. I just think that that's
<v Speaker 1>important so that your outdoor space stays organized, clutter free,
<v Speaker 1>and efficient.
<v Speaker 2>Hey did you ever get around to organizing that shed?
<v Speaker 1>Not yet?
<v Speaker 2>I think that was your New Year's resolution for twenty
<v Speaker 2>twenty five. But don't worry, it's not over yet. You
<v Speaker 2>still got a couple more weeks.
<v Speaker 1>I'll be out there in the middle of winter doing it,
<v Speaker 1>you know. I remember working in the garden center, we
<v Speaker 1>often would hire speaking of feeling like a farmer when
<v Speaker 1>I'm working out there, we would often hire individuals from
<v Speaker 1>rural areas, and they all had the same type of dynamic,
<v Speaker 1>and that is they could fix anything. They could fix anything,
<v Speaker 1>And I love that because that's essentially what you do
<v Speaker 1>when you work on a learn how to, you know,
<v Speaker 1>fix things.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, you know, I love going to car shows and
<v Speaker 2>I love going to see like the old nineteen twenties cars.
<v Speaker 2>And I remember one of the first car shows I
<v Speaker 2>was at. I was remarking on how simple the engine was,
<v Speaker 2>and the guy who owned that car told me that
<v Speaker 2>they specifically made them like tractor engines because all of
<v Speaker 2>the farmers could fix tractors on site, and they just figured, well, hey,
<v Speaker 2>I already have this knowledge. I can now fix a
<v Speaker 2>car engine and get it down faster.
<v Speaker 1>I love that, I really do. Here's another idea, and
<v Speaker 1>that is my personal appealing. A feeling is not my
<v Speaker 1>personal appearance. My feeling, and that is to plant native ours. Yeah,
<v Speaker 1>I just see. I know that I preach this all
<v Speaker 1>the time, but I just see the unbelievable benefit of
<v Speaker 1>you know, Erronias or Baptisias or Amsonia. You know, the
<v Speaker 1>list goes on and on of native plants that have
<v Speaker 1>been bread and cultivated to be better. And so we
<v Speaker 1>work smarter, not harder when we plant native ours. Does
<v Speaker 1>that make sense?
<v Speaker 2>Yeah? And I think you know that this idea of
<v Speaker 2>better you know, one of the really important things that
<v Speaker 2>I think a lot of There's two important things that
<v Speaker 2>native ours can do. Number one is be disease resistant.
<v Speaker 2>So right now I have October Skies New England aster
<v Speaker 2>in bloom in my garden. It is glorious, It is beautiful,
<v Speaker 2>and it is powdery mildew resistant.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah.
<v Speaker 2>And if you've ever tried to grow New England asters,
<v Speaker 2>they can be powdery mildew magnets by this time of
<v Speaker 2>the year. And so it's just really nice to have
<v Speaker 2>this plant full of fabulous blue purple flowers covered in
<v Speaker 2>all sorts of native bees and not covered in powdery mildew.
<v Speaker 2>I'm like my zinias, Yeah, still will grow them, but man,
<v Speaker 2>are they looking sad. And similarly, another advantage of native
<v Speaker 2>ours can be sized is that if you don't have
<v Speaker 2>room for a bague old version of the native shrub,
<v Speaker 2>which you know, could be ten feet tall ten feet wide,
<v Speaker 2>like in the case of button bush, you know, our
<v Speaker 2>beautiful native button bush cephalanthis not everyone has room for that,
<v Speaker 2>but they may have room for sugar shock, which is
<v Speaker 2>our selection of that, which is about five feet tall
<v Speaker 2>and wide. So then it makes it a lot more
<v Speaker 2>possible for people to have that plant and get those
<v Speaker 2>benefits in their yard.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah. I love this, Adrianna. I I throw something out
<v Speaker 1>there like plant native ours. It's just I lob a
<v Speaker 1>softball and then I know Stacy's gonna say something brilliant.
<v Speaker 1>She's gonna say something brilliant, But you're right, and I
<v Speaker 1>just really believe in working the land.
<v Speaker 2>Uh yeah, I mean there. And the thing too, is
<v Speaker 2>like I totally get it when people want to grow,
<v Speaker 2>you know, true natives. But the simple fact is that,
<v Speaker 2>you know, as we've talked about on the show, they
<v Speaker 2>can be hard to find unless you're going to a
<v Speaker 2>specialty nursery. And by all means, if you have one
<v Speaker 2>of those special nurseries around you go out there support
<v Speaker 2>them in the work that they're doing to preserve native
<v Speaker 2>plants and preserve local genotypes. But a lot of us
<v Speaker 2>don't have that ben So native ours available at garden
<v Speaker 2>centers make a good interim measure or alternative to that.
<v Speaker 1>Absolutely you set it all. Here's one that I'm really
<v Speaker 1>big on for working smarter, not harder, working the land,
<v Speaker 1>and that is creating water basins for your plants. Harvesting
<v Speaker 1>rain water. Now, not everybody wants to mess with a
<v Speaker 1>rain barrel, and people have mosquito issues and you know,
<v Speaker 1>all of that type of thing. So I understand that
<v Speaker 1>if you do fantastic harvesting rainwater makes sense and a
<v Speaker 1>rain barrel makes sense. However, if you don't, you can
<v Speaker 1>use a basin technique at the base of your plants
<v Speaker 1>to help hold valuable water and get it into the
<v Speaker 1>root zone of the plant. And I'm always doing that
<v Speaker 1>with soil or mulch, but I'm creating a basin type
<v Speaker 1>area at the base of the plants or in your landscape,
<v Speaker 1>taking a look at the slope and maybe altering the
<v Speaker 1>slope somewhat so that water doesn't run away from the plants,
<v Speaker 1>but rather runs towards them in the heat of summer.
<v Speaker 1>You're going to be so happy that you did. And
<v Speaker 1>it's so beneficial to the plants. So when I'm out
<v Speaker 1>there working the land, I'm always thinking slope grade and
<v Speaker 1>I'm thinking basin technique.
<v Speaker 2>You know, I used to do that when I worked
<v Speaker 2>as a landscaper over on the east side of the state.
<v Speaker 2>But I don't think that my very sandy soil will
<v Speaker 2>form many basins. It's really hard to sculpt like a
<v Speaker 2>used to the clay soil over in the area. Do
<v Speaker 2>you just have mandaged your soils?
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, or in a clay soil, sometimes we elevate the
<v Speaker 1>plants a little bit higher than the grade. But in
<v Speaker 1>sandy or well drained soils, many times we'll put them
<v Speaker 1>in the ground a little lower than the grade. Then
<v Speaker 1>you're able to create that basin. And yes, I've used
<v Speaker 1>mulch to do it. Shredded mulch interlocks and helps create
<v Speaker 1>a basin, and it just makes watering so much easier
<v Speaker 1>and it's so beneficial to the place.
<v Speaker 2>Yet no, I agree keeps it from running off to well.
<v Speaker 1>Thanks Stacy, this has been fun. Thank you Rick, Thank
<v Speaker 1>you Adriana, and thanks most of all to you for
<v Speaker 1>watching us on YouTube, listening to the radio version of
<v Speaker 1>our show, or downloading our podcast. Have a great week.