- Hi, there, I'm Tom Spencer.

This week on Central
Texas Gardener,

we've got a honey
of a deal for ya.

Tanya Phillips from the Travis
County Beekeepers Association

explains top tips for
starting your own beehive.

On tour, see how
a gardener slowly

took out lawn for
flowers and pollinators.

Daphne makes her
pick of the week,

and determines if a frozen
euphorbia can be saved.

And Trisha's got your
Backyard Basics tip,

so let's get growing,
right here, right now.

- [Narrator] Central
Texas Gardener is
made possible in part

by Austin Area Garden Center.

Sharing the joys of
gardening for over 50 years

in Zilker Botanical Garden.

Home of 32 garden clubs,
and Zilker Garden Festival.

Zilkergarden.org.

- [Narrator] And from the
University of Texas at Austin,

Lady Bird Johnson
Wildflower Center.

Displaying Texas native
plants in sustainable gardens.

Support for this an
other KLRU productions

made possible the the
Producer's Circle.

Ensuring local programming
that reflects the character

and interests of the greater
Austin Texas community.

(gentle upbeat music)

Taking out the lawn for gardens

doesn't have to
happen all at once.

See how Vicki made the
transition to flowers,

food and plants for
pollinators and birds.

- [Narrator] Vicki
Blachman went on a mission

to re-frame the lawn
life when she married

husband Steven and
moved to the suburbs.

A culinary expert and now a
Travis County Master Gardener,

she assists gardeners
to find their path

to resourceful techniques
for the kitchen,

and wildlife habitat.

A writer for Texas
Gardener magazine,

she brings to it her experience
in commercial kitchens

and as a hands-on gardener.

Her blog, Playin' Outside,

journals her home
ground adventures.

Turning fence-to-fence
grass into gardens

started with amending
anaerobic soil.

- It was stinky it was
not only dense clay,

but it had a really nasty smell,

and was totally
devoid of any life.

I mean when we dug our pond,

Steven laughed that
there really wasn't

any need to put a
pond liner in there,

that we should just
build a fire in there

and glaze that stuff.

- [Narrator] She didn't dump
all the lawn in one day.

For one thing, she wanted
to get to know the lighting

before she installed new plants.

- And so every year I had the
annual moving of the bricks,

and I would just go out
there and play in the garden,

and I would shift all
the beds out about

the width of two bricks
or maybe a little more.

- [Narrator] At first she simply
lays the bricks down flat.

Later she digs
them in at a slant,

since these are scavenged
house bricks with holes.

- You can tell when I start
to be happy with an edge,

because the bricks
get tilted and dug in,

and at some point I may go back,

and really make
those hard edges,

when I think I'm really
going to leave it like that,

I'll probably go
in with limestone

or something and make
it more permanent.

Not necessarily mortared because
I may still change my mind.

- [Narrator] The brief
expanse of lawn she kept

doesn't get extra water,
but it's really a ball

as a low maintenance
ground cover.

- [Vicki] We need some
area for the dogs to run.

- [Narrator] A
charming barricade

prevents their
latest rescue, Brady,

from too much communication
with the dog next door.

A young redbud tree will
soon canopy this corner.

To style up the
blank privacy fence,

she added height,
color and texture.

(gentle music)

Austin craftsman
Bob Pool assisted

with custom-made trellises.

He works with regular plate
steel given a rust patina,

that will get even
better looking over time.

Antique and heirloom roses,
Vicki's trusty favorites,

blanket fences with
color and fragrance.

Artfully, she combines plants

to harvest for the
kitchen and for crafts.

At first she just
amended the soil

in the wide holes they dug.

- But basically
created an environment

that the plants were
reluctant to move out of.

I mean, why would roots
go outside of that

when outside of
that is so nasty?

So slowly but surely I
amended all of the beds.

- [Narrator] A bed filled with
evergreen passalong irises

and seasonal wildflowers
nestles near the patio.

It's a deliciously
fragrant spot to hang out

among containers of scented
geraniums and fruit trees,

including a passalong kumquat.

A kit greenhouse, a gift
from Steven and his mom,

is just as fragrant in winter

when they move the
cold-tender plants indoors.

To complete the refreshing
scene, they added water.

- The prime motivator
was tranquility.

The sound of the pond,

cools the backyard.

I mean it seems ridiculous that
a sound could cool you off,

but if you're sitting
here in the heat,

you actually feel cooler
when the pond is running.

- [Narrator] For a natural look,

they arranged scavenged
honeycomb limestone rocks.

- [Vicki] This actually is
sort of like white noise.

It makes it a little more
soothing, it attracts wildlife.

The birds are always here.

I also noticed that I was
creating a habitat for critters,

but it became a more comfortable
habitat for us as well.

- [Narrator] Now a certified

Wildlife and Pollinator Habitat,

as well as a
Monarch Way Station,

Vicki makes sure there's water,

shelter and food for everybody.

Instead of hummingbird feeders
she plants food for them,

like coral honeysuckle.

She grows milkweed, the sole
larval food for Monarchs.

The flowers nectar all kinds
of butterflies and pollinators.

Many insects fuel up and
pollinate the patio citrus.

Leaves attract Swallowtail
butterflies to lay their eggs.

Vicki offers free rent for
mason or solitary bees,

great non-stinging pollinators.

To customize insect hotels
for them and leafcutter bees,

she designed comfy quarters
with repurposed finds.

This four star
rated hotel started

with a vintage metal
rack for soda bottles.

With help from fellow
Master Gardener

Sheryl Williams and
her husband Ed Kimball,

they drilled holes
of the right size.

Like with every project, Vicki's
made a few modifications.

One leafcutter bee
found impromptu nesting

on Vicki's tool bench.

- There was one trying very hard

to decide whether to
move into the hole

in the handle of my
CobraHead gardening tool,

which just happened to be
the exact right diameter,

and she was flying
back and forth

between that and a clay pot
that also had a hole in it,

and back and forth
and back and forth

and she finally settled on
the hole in my CobraHead tool.

- [Narrator] To captivate
nature's other bounty, rain,

do-it-yourselfers Vicki
and Steven installed

a 1,600 gallon rainwater
collection tank.

A 50-gallon tank near
the vegetable beds

doubles as a tiny trickle to
a wildlife drinking fountain.

Recycled bottles with
screw-on adapters

gently water containers
when Vicki's on the go.

For sun-loving vegetables,
flowers and herbs,

she corralled a bright
strip alongside the house.

She kept some lawn on
both sides of the house

to slow down rainwater
runoff from the street.

Bob Pool charmed up the
standard backyard gate.

Vicki's trained a Lady
Banks rose over his arbor.

In front, she left her
lawn removal until last.

- What started the change was,

the trees weren't very healthy,

the grass wasn't very healthy,

the grass got to the
point that we were either

going to have to
go in and dig out

all that was there
and build up the soil,

and put down new sod, we're
going to have to do something.

- [Narrator] She
decided to lose the lawn

and spice up the dimension
with drought-tough plants.

Still youngsters in
their first year,

she's given them room to grow.

(gentle music)

Vicki's front porch
design warmed up

and magnified the narrow space.

Bob Pool's trellis frames
for a touch of enclosure.

Wildlife gets the
welcome sign, too.

- At one point in the year
cars drive by, and clouds,

orange clouds of Queen
butterflies fly up,

and people will actually
drive by and stop,

and back their car up
and then drive by again.

- [Narrator] On Bob Pool's
custom-made address sign,

beneficial green lacewings
laid intricate suspended eggs.

- Neighbors stop all the time.

"I love your yard
it's not just rocks,"

those are their exact words.

It's not just rocks.

We still barbecue,
we still do all the

standard suburban
stuff, it's just in a

cooler, more
friendly environment.

- Thanks Vicki for sharing
your garden with us,

and right now we're
gonna get a little buzz,

bee wise I mean.

We have Tanya Phillips
joining us right now,

Tanya is with the Travis
County Beekeepers Association,

and we're gonna be
talking about the things

that anybody's
contemplating keeping bees

needs to know, but let's
start off by talking

about the bee phenomenon.

Right now I understand
there's a lot of interest

in maintaining and keeping bees.

- Sure.

Everybody has had,
has heard about,

you know, CCD, Colony
Collapse Disorder,

and the problems that
the bees are having,

and so I get a lot
of calls just saying,

"How are the bees doing?

"We just wanna check in,
what can we do to help?

"Can I plant flowers for them."

- [Tom] Well that's neat.

- Yeah.

- Well people are concerned.

- Yes.

- And actually beekeeping can be

a very good thing
for bee populations.

- Yes it is, because
in the bee world

where the bees are
having the problem,

most of it is the
commercial beekeepers,

where they're moving the bees,

like to almond pollination,

which is happening
right now in California.

- [Tom] Right.

- They're moving the
bees across the country

and it's very
stressful for bees,

and that stress adds
to colony collapse.

- So just having little
small colonies spread out

dispersed around the nation
that aren't being shipped around

to pollinate things
makes a big difference?

- Yes.

- So lets, for those
people who are considering

the possibility of having a
colony or two in their backyard,

let's talk about some of the,

the big things they
need to contemplate.

First off, there are
actually regulations

about keeping bees, right?

- Exactly.

So you need to check with
your Homeowners Association,

you need to know your city laws.

In Austin you are allowed
to have two colonies,

actually two colonies and a nuc,

which is kind of
like three colonies,

but it's two colonies,

you need to have a fly
barrier of six feet high

between you and your neighbor.

The hive should be 10 feet
off the property lines.

So there's a few little rules.

- But those don't
sound onerous at all.

Nothing that would really slow

somebody who's determined down.

Now,

it is a,

something you need to kind
of be educated about right?

This is another
one of the tips is,

you really should be serious
about learning about the bees

because if not, you could have
very unhappy consequences.

- Exactly.

I recommend either
joining, you know,

a local organization like
the Travis County Beekeepers,

taking a class or two, a
hands-on class would be good,

and doing some research.

Just be careful, not
everything you read

on the internet is true.

(laughing)

- You're kidding me?

(both laughing)

- Right?

- There's actually false
information on the internet?

Go figure.

Location is important
in the yard, right?

- Yes.
- I mean,

let's talk a little
bit about that,

'cause there would
be some locations

that just wouldn't
work at all, right?

- Yeah maybe not at all,

I mean you wouldn't
want the bees someplace

where they'd be in
danger of flooding

or something like that.
- Okay.

- But in general, you want
them in the area of yard

that would be mostly
sunny all day.

- [Tom] Okay.

- Maybe a little bit of
shade late afternoon,

it is hot there.

- Right.

- And then you want the hives,

the direction of the port
they fly in and out of,

you want that to be
facing east or south

or somewhere in between.

- [Tom] Mm hmm, why is that?

- That way the sun comes
up, shines on the hive,

bees go right to work.

- Oh okay, wake 'em up.

- Yes, exactly.
- Here's your alarm clock.

Go get to work.

- Bees don't fly
when it's dark so.

- Now are there types of
bees that people can have?

- Well there are about
1,000 different species

of bees here in Texas.

- [Tom] 1,000?

- Yes, but, of those,

only a few are actually
the honey bee species

that collects honey.
- Okay.

- So, we don't want the
wild bees necessarily,

you can do things to promote
those in your yard too,

but what we're talking
about is keeping honey bees,

so for honey bees there's
only a few different kinds

you can get and pretty much
you're gonna be stuck with

what you can get and what
you can drive to go pick up.

- Okay.

All right.

You talked about the
beekeeping groups,

tell me about the
kinds of activities

that take place
within the groups.

- They usually have
monthly meetings,

and there'll be some sort of an

education component happening,

so we usually time it to work

just before that seasons
is starting in beekeeping,

so it's very
appropriately timed.

Sometimes they bring
in guest speakers,

and another big part of it
is they share resources,

so if there's a shared
library, or a shared extractor,

something like that,
that really helps.

- Okay.

And I guess you get tips on what

kind of gear to get as well,

and then you've brought
along a little bit of gear.

Here's a smoker, right?

- [Tanya] Yes, yep.

- [Tom] And the smokers are,
everybody's seen pictures

of the smoke, how does
that actually work

in terms of calming
the bees down?

- [Tanya] Well, so you don't,
so bees don't like smoke.

- [Tom] Okay.

- Okay, so it isn't that
it calms them down so much,

it's more as a herding tool.
- Ah okay.

- So you're kind of
putting the smoke

where you don't want bees to be.

- [Tom] Mm hmm.

- So if you want 'em to
go back into the hive

and you spray a little
bit of smoke there,

the bees'll go down
back into the hive.

- Okay.

Okay, that makes a lot of sense.

These are for cleaning the...

- This is when, really
when I think of it,

is when my smoker goes out,

and I don't have the ability
to get it filled really quickly

you can kind of sweep the bees

away from the area that
you're trying to clear.

- [Tom] Okay.

- And this is for prying
the wood boxes apart

basically.
- Okay, okay.

Very simple.

Those are some of the
different things you need,

but a good bee suit
is another thing,

and we have the headdress here,

and you know,
- Yep.

- I've always been curious
about these things.

So I'm gonna actually,

put it on.
- Think you'll be safe.

There you go, it looks perfect.

- Central Texas
Gardener first I think.

(Tanya laughing)

I feel like a pilgrim from Mars.

- Well, you know.
(Tom laughing)

Yeah, that's kind of just
your basic simple veil,

it's actually one
of the favorites

of the students in my classes,

they really like to
just put a veil on

over their regular
clothes and not,

you know it's hot here in Texas
to put a whole bee suit on.

- And the material protects
you from the stings?

Is that right?

- Yes, just getting extra layers

in between you and bees
is always a good thing.

- Okay, so a good
bee hat, bee suit,

these are all important things.

- [Tanya] Gloves.

- [Tom] Gloves, right,
so there is kind of

some regalia you should have.

- [Tanya] Yes.

- Now what about actually
the hives themselves?

You know, I see, I drive
around the country,

and I see the box
kinds of hives,

is that the standard thing
that most people use?

- Yeah, the standards style hive

is called the Langstroth hive,

and that is your square
box, 19 inches long,

you know and they can vary
between eight frame or 10 frame,

but that's the standard,
I also like top bar hives,

which is a little bit different.

That's what this
comb is right here.

- [Tom] Uh huh.

- And in a top bar hive,
you just put the bar in,

which goes across the top.

- [Tom] Right.

- And then when you put that
in there and the bees come in,

they build all of
this naturally.

- [Tom] Mm hmm.

- So the bees can...

- Let me see.

- Build their comb naturally.

You don't have to buy frames,

you don't have to build frames,

and you don't have
to lift boxes.

- Right.
- In a top bar hive.

- Well I can see that
this has been used,

and, you know, how much
honey can be produced

from a single colony
or single hive?

- Well here in central
Texas we average

somewhere between
probably 30 and 50 pounds.

- [Tom] Wow.

- And that's what they
collect during the spring

and then we take
it in the summer.

- What does a homeowner,
I know I love honey,

I'd eat it every
single day on my toast,

but 50 pounds is a lot.

(Tom laughing)

- Yeah, well.

- [Tom] What does some people--

- It's about three to
five pounds per comb.

- Some people share
that and give it away

and actually I'm
assuming there's a
market for that as well.

- Absolutely, yeah.

We sell it, we have
it in liquid honey

and we also sell the comb honey.

- [Tom] Right.

- Reminds people of
the old good old days

when they used to
eat comb honey.

- I like the comb
honey very much,

spread it on the bread, it's
just absolutely delicious.

- [Tanya] Exactly, and cheese
plates and restaurants now

a lot of 'em will
have comb honey.

- That's right, that's right.

Well you know, one thing is
on the ordering of the bees,

that timing is really important,

and you were just
referencing that you

expect delivery of
the bees in spring,

but you order
yours much earlier.

- Yeah, we order typically
sometime in the fall

starting around October.

Whenever all the bee sellers
advertise it basically,

but the problem is is there is
still somewhat of a shortage

when you're going to
buy good quality bees,

and so they sell out every year.

All the breeders sell
out, so you wanna order,

especially in the fall
to get them earliest

possible delivery in the spring.

- [Tom] Okay, so--

- Which is usually April.

- So April is about
the time you start,

so things have already
warmed up here pretty well,

and that's important
I'm assuming?

- Yeah, absolutely.

The bees, you know,
they want it to be

pretty much over
60 or 70 degrees

to really start brooding
up and making babies.

- Well they've come to the
right place here in Austin

if they want it over 60 degrees.

- Yeah bees of great
here, bees do great.

- That's great.

Well Tanya, I know that people
can be in touch with you

via the beekeeping
association so that's awesome,

we really appreciate
you taking the time

to be a part of the
show, and we hope

that a lot of the
viewers out there

will get busy as a bee and
help out these critters,

that really make such a
huge impact on mankind.

So.
- That's it.

Thank you.

- Tanya, thank you so much,

and coming up next
is our friend Daphne.

(gentle upbeat music)

Hi, I'm Daphne Richards,
and this is Augie.

Our question this week comes
from Vicki and Jack Newton,

about their frozen
euphorbia ammak.

If you're a regular viewer,

you might recognize that
this is a return appearance

for Vicki and Jack's
towering beauty

on our Down to Earth segment.

Well then, just a few months
after we got their question,

we got hit with the coldest
temperatures in six years,

which were much too cold for
this heat-loving species.

Vicki and Jack covered
it on the first night

of freezing temps, but
it was still damaged.

After that, they
brought it inside,

and thankfully they
have very tall ceilings,

since this plant is
over 10 feet tall.

Here's what it looks like
now, can it be saved?

Well Jack and Vicki,
it looks to me

like it has enough
healthy tissue to survive,

but unfortunately, the tissue
that was damaged by the frost

will always have that
scorched appearance,

and indoors, it will
continue to stretch,

seeking light that
it won't find,

getting more lanky
and less stable.

First I'd would recommend
transplanting it

into a larger container at least
two to three times as wide,

but not much taller.

The roots don't need
more soil to grow into,

but the plant would benefit
from a wider base to anchor it.

Our plant of the week is
native Salvia farinacea,

also widely known
by the common names,

mealy cup sage, mealy blue sage,

and just plain ol' mealy sage.

This herbaceous perennial
is in the mint family,

and has a similar spreading
habit to it's relatives,

although it doesn't
travel as far afield.

Hardy to zone eight, and by
some references into zone seven,

mealy sage will die back
to the ground each winter,

but it's easily
reinvigorated each spring

after shearing it to the ground.

It's best to wait until
you notice new growth

reemerging at the base before
cutting back the top-growth,

since those dead stems
serve as insulation,

and protection from the cold,

and be sure to wait
until late spring,

until all danger of frost
has passed, before planting.

Each plant will spread
to about two feet wide,

and equally as tall, with
gorgeous light blue flowers

from spring all the
way through fall,

extending the height an
additional foot or so.

Place mealy sage in full
sun for best performance,

but it can also be
planted in partial shade.

It's listed as a
medium water-use,

which means it'll need a bit
of supplemental irrigation,

perhaps two to three times
a week during the hottest,

driest times, especially
if planted in full sun.

The plant in this
week's viewer picture,

from KLRU's own Ted O'Brien,

may look familiar to
you, since we do see it

around Central Texas,
but this bottlebrush tree

adorns his parent's
driveway in New Zealand,

where it's called Rata.

As we know, hummingbirds
and bees simply love

this small, shrubby tree.

In fact, there's even
a Rata honey made

by those busy bees down under.

We'd love to hear from you,
so visit us at klru.org/ctg,

to send us your
questions, pictures,

and video from your garden.

- Thanks, Daphne.

Now let's check in with
Trisha for Backyard Basics.

(gentle upbeat music)

- Welcome to Backyard
Basics, I'm Trisha Shirey.

Most of you devout Central
Texas Gardener fans

already know the
amazing healing energy

that can be found when
your hands are in the dirt.

Digging in the dirt
is good for you,

and it's good for children also.

The microbes in
garden dirt can help

boost your immune system and
make you healthier and happier.

Unfortunately we have become
a nation of germaphobes,

we using hand
sanitizers and wipes

and strong chemicals for
disinfecting our homes,

and in the past 20
years there has been

a dramatic increase in
asthma and allergy rates.

We see pharmacies popping up
on every corner as a result.

When we changed from
an agrarian society

in the late 20th century,
allergies became more prevalent

in the upper classes
in the US and Britain.

Farmers and their families
were the least likely

to suffer from allergy issues.

A recent study of an
Amish community in the US

found that they had
the lowest rates

of allergies in the
developed nations.

The study found that
these Amish families,

including pregnant
women and children,

worked and played
among farm animals

and in barns where they
were regularly exposed

to a variety of microbes,

and the women exposed to
microbes while pregnant

have been found to have children

with the lowest
rates of allergies.

This initial exposure causes
the children less reaction

to pollen and dander, a
sort of vaccination effect

which was named The Farm Effect.

The problem is not that
the pollen is out there,

it's that we react
to the pollen,

and early exposure
to allergens allows

children's immune
systems to adapt.

A common soil mycobacterium
has been found

to have a natural antidepressant
effect on the brain,

and it can have the same
effect that the drug Prozac

has on the brain, without
all the side effects.

Working in the soil can help
stimulate serotonin production,

which leads us to feeling
more happy and relaxed,

and when we harvest food the
brain produces more dopamine.

There's an actual Harvest High,

that's probably linked
to our primitive brain

when hunting and
gathering successfully

was crucial to our survival.

Having your hands in the
soil can lower blood pressure

and stress hormones and
improve your memory.

Inflammatory skin
conditions like psoriasis

and gut conditions
like Crohn's disease,

and even arthritis
can be improved

by experiencing soil microbes.

Gardeners get lots of
Vitamin D from being outside

and that also increases the
feel good hormone serotonin,

and it helps to regulate
melatonin levels,

which leads to good sleep.

Children who play
outside regularly

tend to be more
adventurous, confident

and self-motivated and they
use their imaginations more,

so get the kids involved in
gardening as early as possible.

Provide them with a
window box or a container

if you don't already
have a garden space.

You might even notice that
they'll eat a wider variety

of fruits and vegetables
when they've experienced

growing and harvesting
their own food,

and let kids get dirty.

Splashing in puddles
and making mud pies

is not only fun for kids,

it's actually good
for their health,

and if you're feeling blue,

a little garden green
might be your best cure.

For Backyard Basics, I'm Trisha
Shirey, thanks for watching.

- Find out more, watch online,

and sign up for our
weekly newsletter,

and join us on Instagram
and Facebook too.

Until next week, I'll
see you in the garden.

(gentle upbeat music)

- [Narrator] Central
Texas Gardener is
made possible in part

by Austin Area Garden Center.

Sharing the joys of
gardening for over 50 years

in Zilker Botanical Garden.

Home of 32 garden clubs,
and Zilker Garden Festival.

Zilkergarden.org.

- [Narrator] And from the
University of Texas at Austin,

Lady Bird Johnson
Wildflower Center.

Displaying Texas native
plants in sustainable gardens.

Support for this an
other KLRU productions

made possible the the
Producer's Circle.

Ensuring local programming
that reflects the character

and interests of the greater
Austin Texas community.

(gentle chiming)