- Hi there, I'm Tom Spencer.

This week on Central
Texas Gardener,

multiply your wealth with
offsets, cuttings and seeds.

Leslie Halleck, author
of hot off the press

"Plant Parenting",
demystifies plant propagation

indoors and out.

On tour, when Jackson
Broussard returned

to his childhood home,
he gave it new ideas

along with sentimental memories.

Daphne answers your top question

and John divides houseplants.

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

- [Announcer] Central Texas
Gardener is made possible

by the University
of Texas at Austin

Lady Bird Johnson
Wildflower Center,

displaying Texas native
plants in sustainable gardens.

And with generous support
from Lisa & Desi Rhoden.

Thank you.

Support for this and
other KLRU productions

made possible by the
Producers Circle,

ensuring local programming
that reflects the character

and interests of the Greater
Austin, Texas community

(cheerful music)

- When landscape designer,
Jackson Broussard,

returned to his childhood home,

he gave it new ideas along
with his sentimental memories.

(slow music)

- [Vo] Sentiment means a
lot to Jackson Broussard.

Through Sprout
Landscape Architecture,

he unites beauty, function
and memories in every design.

As a child, he picked
up landscape impressions

through family vacations.

Now an architectural designer,

an especially poignant project

landed him in his
Austin childhood home.

As a kid, he watched planes land

at the historic Mueller
Airport beyond the back fence.

- My mom and dad bought
it in 1980, for $28,000,

(laughs) which is kinda
funny to think about now.

My dad and my mom asked
me if I was interested

in buying it about
six years ago.

- [Vo] Eventually he built
a narrow treehouse home

for himself in the backyard

he shares with new
renters up front.

- There was nothing here.

So, it was literally the
two oak trees in the back,

the sidewalk in the
front, and some grass.

It's a blackland prairie.

What we do is we add
a lot of Thunder Dirt,

our gravel, when we plant here.

I knew I wanted something
that was halfway formal,

reminded me of Italy and
reminded me of traveling,

and that I could show
all the different

little pieces that I've found.

- [Vo] After
renovating the house,

he headed to the yard,
breaking up lawn with a broad

entrance patio and an
allee of Bradford pears.

- I think when you're
coming up to a house,

it's very important to
establish a sense of entry,

and to know where to go.

I love walking through
pathways of plants

with borders that are five
feet tall on both sides,

and kinda dragging my
fingers through 'em.

- [Vo] Thick limestone
pavers atop washed pea gravel

replace the old sidewalk
that Jackson chopped up

for other destinations.

- The pedestals that
hug the front pathway,

those are me finding
little things,

little scraps from
jobs and stuff,

but it's also friends of mine
that are donating things.

A friend of mine went to
help after Katrina happened,

and he found this piece just
laying around in New Orleans,

and he brought it back.

- [Vo] Architecture
and plants collaborate

to vary both lines
and viewpoints.

Strategic placement creates
a gently shielded patio

near the front door.

- [Jackson] I wanted
to be able to create

little nooks and mysteries,

so that you don't see
everything in half a second.

And so, in order to do that,
you have to create layers,

and so you have to plant things

that block your view so you
have to work to get around it,

and that's what that
front patio is about.

So that it gives a little bit
of privacy from the street.

It's not saying, keep
out, by any means.

- [Vo] Jackson
pops in surprises,

like with a technique
he saw in France.

- [Jackson] And I thought, man,

I've always wanted to do that.

And beach vitex, I thought,

well, it might be
the perfect solution

because it grows really fast.

It's incredibly hardy.

It's called stripping.

Really, I just snip off
everything that I don't want.

- [Vo] Jackson and his neighbors

are great friends in this
sociable neighborhood,

so his low wall between
properties wasn't for division.

- It's to help a little
bit with drainage,

so that everything doesn't
wash out the driveway.

But it's my love of
found things, you know?

It's fossils and bricks

and all sorts of little things
that are incorporated in.

A wall like that, or
a pedestal like that,

it's not just
leftovers and junk.

Those are all very
intentional pieces

that I've saved over
time, found over years.

- [Vo] You'll find
lots of memories

in the carport's wall, too.

- I know the story of all
those different pieces.

It's a nice reminder
of trips for me.

- [Vo] To enclose one side,

he attached cedar to the
old chain link fence posts.

- [Jackson] If you're
working on ranches and stuff,

this is called the coyote fence.

- [Vo] He turned the
garage into a carport

that's become a charming
neighborhood hangout.

- [Jackson] Functional things,

tools, found objects and things,

can be very, very beautiful,
and also, sentimental.

- [Vo] From the carport,
he proclaims entry

into his own abode via
carefully chosen scraps

for footing and regal columns.

- [Jackson] Trying to put
little pieces of things together

is really what this
place is about.

- [Vo] An altar of plants,

viewed from either
side, unites the spaces

even while designating
separation.

- [Jackson] It's a
beautiful piece of concrete.

It's helped to create
the sense of entry.

The terracotta that's on the
property, we found it all.

So, meaning that I go
to Italy once a year

and I've found
different sources,

and we bring back
an entire shipment.

They come from a place
called Impruneta in Italy.

It's the strongest
terracotta in the world.

- [Vo] A Mission olive tree
graces backyard entrance.

- The house does protect
it from the North wind,

which I think is really
kinda the important thing.

At least for the first
two or three years

when it's getting established.

After that, they're
pretty hardy,

but if we do have a winter
when it's super cold

and it gets down into
the 20s, low 20s,

then they'll definitely,
parts of it will freeze back.

That gate and fence idea

started with the
sliding hardware.

That sliding hardware
came out of a butcher shop

in Seguin, Texas,
that's no longer around.

It was Mr. Grind's Butcher Shop.

I wanted to make a sliding gate,

because it's a
tight little spot.

So, if you have a normal gate
that opens up on a hinge,

it kinda starts running
(laughs) into the olive

or the trashcans or whatever.

Then, the fence itself is made
up really with just rebar.

That's all it is.

It's from a scrap yard.

- [Vo] In back, Jackson
carried on his style

of turning spaces
into destinations.

Backed by the cedar
coyote fence technique,

curves break up straight lines.

Geo Zoysia segues
into pea gravel

under post oak trees,
contributing definition

and semi-shaded
playground for Daisy Mae.

He chose bay laurel to
hedge the grassy arena

after mixing gravel into
the soil for good drainage.

To elevate the view,

Jackson designed an ipe deck
big enough to entertain.

- [Jackson] I didn't
want to just have steps

that came directly
out of the back door.

I wanted to step out
onto a level surface.

So, you're still kind of
looking down on things,

and it gives an
interesting perspective.

The concrete pond, that stems
from my love of furniture,

(laughs) as strange
as it sounds.

It's a bench.

It's another way to get
furniture into a space

without adding actual chairs
or benches or anything.

Whenever anybody comes
over and hangs out,

everybody's sitting on
the side of the fountain.

- [Vo] Steps down,
Jackson tends the grill

while guests disperse
to their seat of choice,

especially near the
fire pit on cool nights.

- I did wanna
separate a little bit

the grass from the
entertaining area,

I didn't wanna put
a gate or anything.

I wanted you to be
able to flow through,

but it's the same concept of
walking through something.

It feels like you're
literally changing spaces.

- [Vo] He chose a classic
ranch-style entrance

topped with a sentimental
heritage bell.

These days, his back
gate opens to a view

quite different
than in childhood

when he watched
Mueller's runways.

- My fondest memories of that

is you could sit up on the roof

and you could count
the jackrabbits,

'cause it was just
an open field,

so there were
jackrabbits everywhere.

All you see is just these
ears poking up over the grass.

The whole thing is is that when
you walk through the fence,

it leads to a green belt.

That green belt leads
to the Mueller Lake.

I wanted you to be able
to see through that gate,

and kind of see
what was going on,

because in the springtime,

when all the wildflowers
are blooming,

then you actually
get hints of that.

- [Vo] Foundling objects turned
into a tower of interest.

- That goes back
to the same concept

of creating site
lines and destination

and visually and
physically moving

someone around the property.

It's something that
sparks interest,

so when you're moving
around the garden,

you're looking at
every different thing

and kinda spurs the question
of, "Hey, what is that?"

- [Vo] Hedged boxwoods
peppered with foliar contrast

embrace the narrow strip.

An old boat chain, hauled
by lots of landlubbers,

anchors the other side.

Rounding the corner of
the screened-in porch,

Jackson adds height with
a quite different purpose.

- It started from the gate,

and that was a piece that I
found in New Orleans years ago.

And then one day I thought,

that would be a great gate,

and that would be a great
gate for the shower.

We were building the
deck at the same time,

and so, I thought, well,
we're gonna have a few

extra pieces of wood
(laughs) from the deck

and so that's what
spurred the shower walls.

- [Vo] Sentimental good finds

even creep into a
utilitarian spot,

overlooked by Rangoon creeper.

- Something that I
really, really believe in

is a middle ground, okay?

What I mean by
that is that a lot

of landscape architects
and designers,

they're either plant heavy
or they're hardscape heavy.

And I really think
that the best projects

that I've ever worked on
are somewhere in the middle.

I love plants but I also
love stone and architecture.

That's where that middle ground

I think is really,
really important.

- Are you ready to
be a plant parent?

Well, you will be
in about 10 minutes,

because our guest,
Leslie Halleck,

is the author of
"Plant Parenting".

And welcome back to
Central Texas Gardeners,

great to have you.

- Thank you so much, I'm so
excited to be here again.

- Plant propagation, a
lot of people really,

as they advance into gardening,

they really get into this
notion and this idea.

They wanna pass along plants
to their friends, et cetera.

But people should understand
the many different ways

that plants propagate
themselves first.

- We decided to call the
book "Plant Parenting"

because I felt like this
is an activity, you know,

that people really
wanna get into,

and I wanted to make the
book really accessible

to total beginners and anybody
who hasn't propagated before.

And that's really
what you're doing,

you're making plant babies.

But in order to make
plant babies successfully,

you have to understand
a little botany 101,

how plants multiply.

And it's so interesting.

Someone actually said to
me that they felt like

the act of propagating
plants on their own

felt a little
artificial to them,

and I had to remind them that
plants are way smarter than us

and they've figured out
how to do all of this

without us, whether it's seed--

- A million years ago.
- I know, seeds.

And so, I had to assure
the new plant parent that,

no, no, no, the way that
you germinate these seeds

and the way you
take these cuttings,

they're already ways that these
plants multiply themselves.

- [Tom] Sure.

- And every plant
does it differently

depending on where they evolved

and where they're endemic to.

You have to learn how the
plant you wanna multiply

is able to do that,
and some plants,

you can take leaf cuttings,
and some plants you can't.

Some plants you
can get seeds for,

some plants you
just can't get them

because they're too
hard to harvest.

So, a lot of people
experience failure

with first time propagating,

because they just didn't realize

that the plant they
wanna make more of

doesn't propagate that way,
it doesn't multiply that way.

So, we do start out
with some basic 101

on how plants
multiply themselves

so that you can take advantage
of those tactics yourself.

- And it's very
clear in the book,

and I think you mentioned
seeds, I wanna start there,

'cause when I think
about plant propagation

my earliest memory of plants

is putting a little
plant in a window sill,

with my mom, and cut
off milk cartons,

you know, the whole thing.

I know this book is
more advanced than
cut off milk cartons,

but let's talk about
techniques for seeds.

- Again, you have to go back

to understanding the plant
that you wanna grow from seed,

because every plant
has different needs.

Most tropical seeds, annuals,
don't necessarily require

a lot of preparation.

They need consistent moisture

and they're gonna
need bright light

after they germinate,
and a lot of times

not enough light is where
a lot of people fail

with their seedlings.

Window sills are not great
for most young seedlings,

for your tomato
transplants, for example.

Other seeds, like
wildflowers and grasses

and shrubs and trees may
require special preparation,

pre-soaking, stratification,
scarification,

and if you don't
know that going in,

that seed will rot
before it roots.

- [Tom] Exactly.

- So, that's always the
trick with propagation,

it's a race to root
before you rot.

(laughing)
Right?

- I like that.
- That's what I always say.

- Right.

- For the seeds, you wanna
create the conditions

that are most conducive
to that seed germinating

as quickly as possible, and
putting down roots and a shoot

so that it's successful
before the elements

come in to take it down.

- And the elements can be
an over-attentive parent

with too much water.
- Absolutely.

And over-watering is sort
of the classic common issue,

whether you're
maintaining house plants

or you're taking care of seeds,

and you literally suffocate
your seedlings and plants

with too much water.

You drown the roots.

So, yeah, too much
water can cause

all sorts of issues with seeds,

fungal diseases, you name it.

So, learning how to manage
that is pretty important.

- The book is filled
with lots of examples

of how to deal with seeds,

and the proper care, and
finding that balance,

which is so important.

Between just enough water
and too much, et cetera.

But you cover the bases in a way

that really makes is
accessible for people.

- Yes.

- So, congrats for
that piece of it.

- Thank you. (laughs)

Well, it's for everybody,
so they can be successful.

- Exactly, right.
- Right.

- Now, speaking of water,
another technique is,

and everybody knows this,

there are a lot of plants
you can simply snip

the end of a growing tip off,

put it in water, and voila.

- Yeah, for a lot of
new plant keepers,

apartment dwellers,
dorm dwellers,

you name it,
houseplants are really,

you know, have become
a bit of an obsession.

- [Tom] Yes.

- And once you have them,
you want to make more.

And many of those
tropical houseplants

propagate vegetatively,
and you don't need soil,

you don't need containers,
other than a water vessel.

So, we call that water rooting,

and you can water root many
types of tropical plants

before you have to put
them into a pot with soil.

It's really cool.

- It's very cool,
and they can survive

a long time in the water--

- [Leslie] Sure.

- There's a downside to
leaving them in for too long.

- Right.

There are certain
plant like pothos,

I mean, you can grow--

- [Tom] The classic one.

- You can grow a
pothos rooted in water

and leave it there forever,

but it's good to understand

that there's a
physiological difference

between roots that
develop underwater

and roots that develop in soil.

So, if you're water rooting,

you have to know
kinda that prime time,

if you wanna pot it
up, when to do that.

If you leave it too long
sometimes those plants

can have transplant shock when
you go to soil after water,

or going too early
before those new roots

have really branched out, right?

So that they can take
up oxygen from the soil,

you need to wait
'til that happens

to go into potting soil.

- Right, right.

And knowing timing
is everything.

- [Leslie] Yes.

- And the book is super
helpful on that note

for people knowing
when to step things up

or to transplant them.

I'd like to spend a moment just
talking about air layering.

- [Leslie] Yeah.

- The first thing
I saw in the book

when I was just
flipping through it

was these images of kind
of, some new techniques,

or new tools for air layering,

and I thought, that is cool.

- Yeah, air layering is in

the vegetative propagation
section of the book,

and it's probably the
most advanced form

of propagation I
cover in the book,

but I'm into DIY
recycling, you know?

But I also love cool tools,

and air layering can be a
little tricky for first timers,

but there's some
great little pods

that you can use
that snap right on

to the stem of the
plant that help you see

the roots as they're developing

on that air layered cutting,

which are really cool.

- So, just for folks
out there who don't know

what air layering is,
you can kinda peel back

a little bit of bark,
moisten some sphagnum moss,

or some other kind of medium.

- Yeah, coir, I like
to use coir, yeah.

- And then the way
that I've ever done it,

was I would wrap that
in plastic, tape it up,

and then roots would
develop in the sphagnum moss

and you could then
cut it and plant it.

- And then you snip
it off and pot it up.

- [Tom] Right.

- Right, so it's a great way
to create a cutting on a plant

before you ever have to
remove it from the main plant.

But the little balls
help you see the roots

as they come through, so
that's kind of a new cool tool.

- And the book is
filled with, again,

helpful little tips
about the tools to use,

in fact, let's spend some time

What do folks need
to get started

if they're really
interested in this?

- Well, if you're
doing water rooting,

all you need is a
vessel that holds water.

Literally, that's all you need.

- [Tom] (laughing) Right.

- And even if you're
starting seeds,

you can often reuse
a lot of containers

you have in the house,

and I show you a lot
of those in the book.

For seeds you need a good,
quality seed starting mix,

and you need light,
okay, for seedlings.

For vegetative cuttings,
it comes down to, again,

having containers and
a good quality medium,

which I cover in the book.

But if you wanna get serious,

there are also lots of
really more advanced tools

like automated propagators,

if you are wanting
to take cuttings

that are a little trickier,

that take a little
more babysitting time

there's some really
interesting propagators

that you can use to
help you with that.

So, it depends on
what you're growing

as to how advanced the
tools that you need are,

but I cover all the
basic tools that you need

to go from basic to a
little bit more advanced.

- What about things
like root starters,

or things like rooting hormones?

- Yes.

Yeah, I cover rooting hormones,

and I get a lot of questions
about rooting hormone.

What is it?

Essentially, plants have
a hormone inside them

that stimulates root growth

and we people have figured out
how to copy those hormones.

And so, when you take a
little vegetative cutting

and you dip it in
that rooting hormone,

it helps that cutting
make roots faster.

So it, what?

It roots before it rots.

- [Tom] Yeah, right.

- Essentially, right.

- [Tom] Yeah, got it.

- So, it speeds up
the rooting process

and helps that
cutting develop roots

faster than it normally would.

You don't always need it,

but if you're taking
slightly woodier cuttings,

or say, citrus cuttings.

- I think woody is
the answer, really.

- Yeah, citrus, roses,
slightly woody cuttings,

I find that it
actually helps people,

especially less
experiences propagators,

be successful with
those types of cuttings.

- [Tom] You can find
that in most nurseries.

- Yes, and there are
organic options as well,

and then some other
natural things

that you can use to sort of,

keep a cleaner
propagating environment,

like honey and
willow tea extract.

So, they're not really
rooting hormones,

but they also help keep
the decay kind of at bay.

- Right.

We have just a brief
amount of time,

but I want you to just
talk about bulb division

and root division.
- Yeah.

- Just real briefly.

- I include division at the end,

because it's not just for
houseplants and seeds,

you can propagate from
the plants in your garden,

and learning how to divide
bulbs and perennials

is just as important.

- Pass along plants.
- Yeah.

- That's one of the real
joys of plant propagation,

it's giving plants away,

and that's one of the
more common varieties,

or ways of doing that.

- Right.

So, I've got some cool tips
for that in the book, too.

- Okay.

Well again, this
has been terrific.

Another fantastic book.

Thank you so much--

- Thanks so much for having me.

- [Tom] For sharing all
your wisdom on this stuff.

- Oh, thank you.

I hope people have a lot of
fun with "Plant Parenting".

- I know they will.

Coming up next, it's Daphne.

(bright music)

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

We've gotten lots of
questions this week,

from pathogens to insects.

Joan Luedke's white rose bushes

are usually full of blooms,

but recently, they
started wilting

and now the stems
are completely black.

We suspected a
microbial problem,

so we checked with Extension
plant pathologist Kevin Ong,

who suspects phytophthora,

a soil-borne pathogen
that causes plants

to crater and die,
seemingly overnight.

First, dig up and
toss this plant,

then allow the soil
to dry out completely;

phytophthora is usually
only problematic

if the soil is staying too wet.

Be sure that there aren't
any drainage issues

in this area and wait
awhile before replanting.

Unfortunately, once you have it,

phytophthora will
always be in the soil,

so you want to control the
environment as much as possible,

to ensure that it can't
become a problem again.

Now, whats going on with
Nance Highum's yaupon holly?

Two years ago, it was covered
with tiny scale-like bugs

and looked unhealthy.

Topical treatments for the
scale insects did no good,

so reluctantly she
used a root systemic

which seemed to help.

This spring the tree
budded out nicely

but now the foliage is
dying and it looks sparse.

Will it recover?

What should she do?

Unfortunately, scale
insects are not

normally gotten rid of
with a single treatment,

and usually once their
population booms on a plant,

it's pretty stressed and may
never fully be rid of them

and recover completely.

But to give this yaupon
a fighting chance,

you should prune out all of
the dead branches and twigs,

to encourage new growth.

Also, supplemental irrigation,
if there's no rainfall,

and a little fertilizer
to kickstart growth,

will help, especially during
the early stages of recovery.

Next, what's this damage
on Tinh Bui's oak tree?

Was it caused by disease,
insects or animals?

These are twig galls,
caused by gall wasps.

Similar to leaf galls,

twig galls are tissue
created by the plant

in response to
insect infestation,

to protect the
growing larva inside.

The galls on this
tree have decayed

and begun to break apart,

now that the adult
insect has emerged

and vacated the premises.

Gall-inducing insects
usually cause minimal damage

to smaller twigs,
not larger branches,

so just keep an
eye on the problem.

The insects are gone now,
so there's no need to treat.

We'd love to hear from you.

Check out klru.org/ctg to
send us your questions,

pictures and videos!

- Whether our viewers
are growing from seeds,

transplants, cuttings,
or divisions,

they're planting for
beneficial wildlife.

We're thrilled to hear
from Laura Fordahl

from Picture Rocks, Arizona,

who grabbed a great picture

of a hummingbird
on her larkspur.

Now, let's check in
with Backyard Basics.

(bright music)

- Hello, gardening friends.

Welcome to Backyard
Basics, I'm John Dromgoole.

We've done it before,
and we showed you how

to take some house plants and
propagate them, separate 'em.

Here's some more now.

The Boston fern, what
a beautiful plant.

Look at this guy.

Wonderful specimen
to have on the porch

or in the house, great plant.

But they can be propagated, too.

Let me take it down.

Take its little
bottom off of here,

and I've already cut a
little bit on this guy,

so I can show you.

I just cut around this one spot,

it was growing right there,

and I just got in there and
made some nice deep cuts.

Doesn't hurt the plant,
and now we have this guy.

Now we can take it and put
into a rooting container

like this one, with a
good quality potting soil,

go ahead and put it in there.

And if it's too heavy on top,

cut some of the top off also,

it won't hurt it at all.

That's the Boston fern,

could be even divided
into more pieces,

if you look in there you'll
see other little segments.

Before you know it, there it is,

well rooted in a
little container.

What a nice birthday present
this is, or Christmas.

The pothos ivy, one of
the most common plants

in the whole world, I think.

I've seen them in old places

where they're growing along
the wall or in houses,

they're great plants.

Probably the
easiest one to grow.

You wanna start
something with your kids,

this is the one.

And the way to do that
though with the kids,

is to go ahead and make
some cuttings on it also.

You can see here,
look, watch this.

It's got roots everywhere,

it's just waiting to
have the cutting taken.

And you do the cuttings
when they're too long,

they're reaching
the floor already.

So what I would
do is go in here,

and right below that root there,

go ahead and make that cut.

Now we have it almost rooted.

And once again, we would take
a good quality potting soil,

and put it in here.

We can put several cuttings
in this thing right here,

and then we're on our way.

You know what, in three
weeks it's got a good,

solid root system on it.

But a good quality potting soil,

or also perlite works,
vermiculite for some people,

and a good sand, sand
is another good one.

It's not just houseplants
that you can propagate,

some of these that
you got in nurseries,

like this coleus
especially easy.

And they benefit because
they get bigger this way.

You can make cuttings
out of these.

I pulled some of the lower
leaves off like that,

now you can see the stem.

It gives me access to where
I'm gonna make the cut.

And so some people are good,

they snap them off of there,
I like a nice, clean cut.

So there it is.

That's the top of it.

There's rooting powder,

you can stick them in the
rooting powder and do that.

A nice, rich potting soil
has some nutrients in it.

We'll take it, we'll
stick it in a little bit,

maybe a half way of what
the cutting is, there it is.

Keep it moist.

And when you see new
growth coming out,

you probably have some
roots already established,

and you can take them off
into the little pots that way.

For Backyard Basics,
I'm John Dromgoole.

I'll see you next time.

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

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