- Hi, thanks for joining
us for The Family Plot:
Gardening in the Mid-South.
I'm Chris Cooper.
The growing season is over.
But today we are going to
talk about some great shrub
and flower options
you can try out.
Also, fruit trees are
losing their leaves
but there are some
things you can do
to prepare them for next year.
That's just ahead
on The Family Plot:
Gardening in the Mid-South.
- (female announcer)
Production funding for
The Family Plot: Gardening
in the Mid-South is provided by:
the WKNO Production Fund,
the WKNO Endowment Fund,
and by viewers like you.
Thank you.
[cheerful country music]
- Welcome to the Family
Plot, I'm Chris Cooper.
Joining me today
is Joellen Dimond.
Miss Joellen is a TSU Extension
Agent in Tipton County,
and Mr. D. is here.
- Howdy.
- Thanks for joining us.
- Good to be here.
- Hi Miss Joellen, let's
talk about some shrubs
that folks should try out.
- Yeah.
- So let's start out
with viburnum.
- Viburnums.
- I know you like
viburnums.
- Yeah, I like viburnums.
And viburnums are actually
a fairly common shrub.
- (Chris)
Okay.
- But a lot of people
don't know about them.
The reason that they're
not more popular
is because most of
them are very large.
- (Chris)
Okay.
[laughs]
- And so it's kind of
hard to put, you know,
people want foundation plants
and things that are small,
well, but sometimes it takes
a large shrub, you know,
in the back corner of
your lot or somewhere.
And viburnums would be
an excellent edition.
They are all different kinds.
There's one thing that
is true about viburnums
is that they're not all alike.
As related as they are,
they can be trees, shrubs.
They can be evergreen.
They can be semi-evergreen.
- (Chris)
My goodness.
- They could be deciduous.
- Look at Mr. D.
He's like, wow.
I'm with ya on that, Mr. D.
- They can be large,
up to 60 feet tall.
They can be short to three feet.
- Oh, okay.
- So, I mean.
- (Chris)
That's quite a range.
- So there's a huge
range of viburnums.
So consequently, there's
probably one that will fit your
situation no matter
what you're looking for.
We'll talk about a few of 'em.
- (Chris)
Okay.
- But first, the things
that they have in common.
They all have white
or pink flowers
and they bloom in the spring.
- (Chris)
Okay.
- They all have red fruit
that turns to purple
if the birds don't eat it first
so it's a good shrub for birds
if you want to feed birds.
So it's good for that.
Some of the smaller
varieties, though,
don't always have
berries and flowers.
- (Chris)
Okay.
- I don't know exactly why but
sometimes it's not reliable
for flowering and berries on
some of the smaller varieties.
- (Chris)
Okay.
- They like full sun.
They like light shade.
And they can grow in
some pretty dark shade
but they probably won't bloom
and they probably
won't have berries.
- (Chris)
Right.
Makes sense.
- And they won't
grow a whole lot.
So they won't get huge.
- (Chris)
Okay.
- In shade.
One of the best things
about them though
is they are very tolerant
of soils in general.
- Oh, that's a good thing.
[laughs]
- That's good for us here
in the Mid-South because,
you know, we don't
have the greatest soils
for air and water movement.
- (Chris)
Okay.
- 'Cause it's such a tight soil.
But one thing they
don't like is wet feet.
So they don't like
the roots to stay wet.
So you can't put 'em in
an area that holds water.
So if you have that problem
you gotta raise 'em up
'cause they don't
wanna have wet feet.
- (Chris)
Okay.
- But other than that
they're not particular.
[laughs]
Which is really good.
- You hear that Mr. D.?
- Sound pretty
temperamental to me.
[laughs]
I'll tell ya.
- Well let's talk
about some varieties.
There's one called viburnum
davidii, or David viburnum.
It's the smallest one.
It's about three feet tall.
And it's fairly common.
You see it at garden centers
occasionally here and there.
- (Chris)
Okay.
- And it will be good
for a foundation plant
because it doesn't get very big.
- (Mr. D.)
Mhmm.
- Well,
- Evergreen?
- It's evergreen, yeah.
That one is evergreen.
The next one I'm gonna talk
about the viburnum carlesii
was the first viburnum
I fell in love with.
But it is deciduous.
- (Mr. D.)
Ah-hah.
- It loses its leaves.
But look at all you get.
Besides the wood in the
winter, which is interesting,
and it is a fairly large shrub.
We're talking maybe up
to eight feet or so,
so it's a big sized shrub,
but in the spring it blooms
and it has round spheres
of blooms that are white
and pinkish and fragrant.
- (Chris)
Ah-hah.
- So can you imagine that
large shrub with fragrance?
And you can smell
it a ways away.
So that's why I had
fallen in love with it.
And it has gorgeous green
foliage in the summer time
and in the fall it
has nice fall color.
So I mean it really is
a very versatile plant
but it's big and it likes sun
so you gotta give it some sun
for all that nice
wonderful blooms.
- Makes sense.
- So, that's one.
And then there's one
that is also grown for its
bloom and its fruiting.
It's the doublefile viburnum.
- (Chris)
I've seen those.
- Viburnum, plicatum tomentosum.
And it's got horizontal
branching and the flowers
stand up on the
long top of the stems.
They're lace-caps on
the top of the stem.
And then those turn
into red berries.
And so they're very, very
pretty and very popular.
They are large too, so, I
mean, you're gonna give them
about eight, ten feet, so
these are not small shrubs.
And then there is the one
viburnum and is the hybrid,
viburnum rhytidophylloides.
It's a leatherleaf viburnum
and that's what I have in my
yard, which is this one here.
And as you can see, it's
like a leather leaf.
It's very substantial.
And this particular one blooms
pretty white blooms
in the spring.
And then it's semi-deciduous,.
So what it is the leaves
will turn purple color
and they'll kind of cling
and unless it gets
really, really cold
and then sometimes some
of 'em will fall off
but it'll still have
some clinging to it
and, you know, you can see
in ice storms and stuff
the leaves are still
there and growing.
- I don't see any sign
of insect or disease.
- This is, I have never had
any problem with this viburnum.
I don't know of any problems
they have other than
keeping their roots dry.
'Cause you know, they
don't like wet feet.
- (Mr. D.)
Sure.
- So, other than that, I haven't
seen no problems with these
which I don't understand
why they're not so popular.
But, you know.
- (Mr. D.)
Almost looks like
a little tobacco plant.
[laughs]
- The leaves do look alike.
- Well if you feel it,
they're real leather
and across there's little
spines on these too.
- That may be why
insects don't bother it.
- Maybe that and, you know,
I don't think deer eat
this particular one because
it's just so spiney.
And if you handle it.
- Joellen, you mentioned
earlier about if you handle it,
- If you handle it you gotta,
you don't want to rub your eyes
because these little, everything
they have on 'em is just
real fuzzy and they can
be sharp and irritating
but it's a beautiful plant.
It grows, it's nice stiff,
the large leaves make a
nice texture difference
in the landscape
and I really like it.
- So Joellen, let's
talk about asters.
- Asters.
- Yeah.
- The large family of asters
and not only in the United
States but across Eurasia
and Europe, so it's
a large family.
They have done a lot of
scientific research on asters
because they are so popular.
And they have found out
that they are different
so they've, the botanists
have reclassified the asters
and grouped them into the kinds
of scientifically DNA tested
ones that are more
related to each other.
And so that's made it
even more, you know,
confusing for you.
But most of the popular ones
you see in garden centers today
are a certain type called
Symphyotrichum novi-belgii
And I think that.
- (Chris)
Wow, that's a mouthful.
- It's a huge mouthful, but
it's an aster that has been,
they've taken some
of the European
and some of the American asters
and they've hybridized
them and that's what you see
mostly in the garden centers.
And they're beautiful.
And the pictures that
you have of asters
don't do them justice because
they come in ranges of white,
there's a creamy yellow,
and then all of the colors
of blues, purples, pinks,
magenta, that you can think of
and they're just very vibrant
because they are blooming
in the fall, this time of year.
And I've had mine bloom
clear up until December.
- (Chris)
Wow.
- It just depends
on the weather.
- (Chris)
Okay.
- But they are very
good in the wild.
You can find seed catalogs
that have native asters in them
that you can, course
they're not gonna be called,
they may be called asters,
but they are going to be
of one of these different,
you know, classifications
of genuses now, but
they are asters.
In fact if you take a
walk out in the woods
and you see something blooming
this time of year, usually
white, sometimes a
little bit on the lavender side,
it's going to be an aster.
- (Chris)
Hmm, okay.
What kind of conditions
do they best grow in?
- They, of course,
like a lot of sun.
- (Chris)
Mhmm.
- But they can take some partly
sunny, partly shady, areas.
But they won't bloom as
much and they'll get long
and leggy and fall over.
'Cause they like sun.
Asters like to be in the sun.
They like well-drained soil
and that's a little bit
of the problem we have here,
you gotta make sure, you know,
I've bought 'em, and
I've planted 'em.
I've kept 'em for years.
But they do like to
have well drained soil.
- Okay, yeah usually
when I think about asters
I think about the weed aster
that I have in my Burmuda lawn.
- Yeah, well, but he's native.
- Native, okay.
- It's a wild.
- Then I should let him stay.
- You can let him stay.
It gives you some color.
- Get some color Mr. D.
[laughs]
- There ya go.
- Back off that lawn mower.
- The bees will
come and visit it
and anyway, the one that I
have that seems to do very well
in the Mid-South is
the fragrant aster
and that's this one here.
And it's a blue color
and it's got a woody stem
as you can see and what happens
when you crush the leaves
there's an aroma to them and
that's where it gets its name.
- (Chris)
Okay.
- And you can see some
of these with the yellow
parts, the yellow centers,
they are the newer ones.
Those are the ones
the bees go to.
- (Chris)
Hmm.
- And then when they get older
they turn kind of
a purple inside.
- (Chris)
Those are pretty.
- And they're, but it's a
real pretty, pretty blue.
And there's lots of them out
there and there all these
asters are clump forming
so when you divide them,
probably divide them in the
spring because they're blooming
in the fall.
You don't want to disturb
them when they're blooming.
And they will live
for a long time
and you can pass 'em along.
- Alright well thanks.
We appreciate that information.
I think Mr. D.
really likes that.
Thank you much.
There are a number
of gardening events
going on in the next
couple of weeks.
Here are just a few
that might interest you.
[cheerful country music]
Alright Mr. D.
Fall fruit tree care,
what do we need to know?
- Well, probably one of the
best things to do, you know,
right now in the fall of the
year is to clean up under
your fruit trees.
Get rid of any rotten
fruit or mummified fruit
and leaves, branches that
could possibly be infected
with diseases
or if you had a problem
with fire blight.
We had a lot of fire blight
pressure this year with all
of the rain that we had.
You wanna get all of those
leaves and everything out of the
orchard if you can or out
from under the trees.
And don't put it in
your compost bin.
I would get rid of it, either
have a bonfire and burn it up
if you can legally do that
or bag it, double bag it,
and put it in the garbage.
But that's one
of the best things
that you can do right now.
Another thing that very soon
that you can do is start
thinking about applying
your dormant oil sprays,
liquid lime sulfur,
in some cases fixed copper.
These are some applications
that you can put out during
the dormant period that
will help control some of,
you know, it's a preventative
treatment for insects next
year, insects some will
over winter as eggs,
or even sometimes
adults in bark crevices
and things like that.
And these treatments
will help take care
of some of these problems.
Let me kind of go down a list
of what some of the products do,
what some of the problems
that they control.
The dormant oil can be applied
any time the trees are dormant
when all the leaves are off
November through, well, March.
You definitely need to make
sure you make at least one
application just before bud
break in the spring time though
in late winter.
Need to follow the
label directions
on temperature restrictions.
Temperatures, if it's a
real cold freeze coming
that can create a problem.
So you need to apply it
when the temperatures,
if you put it out when the
temperatures are below
35 degrees, you might
damage the bark.
But the dormant oil will
control aphids, scales,
spider mites, and
many other insects by
desicating or smothering
the eggs and larva.
So that's what your
dormant oil will do.
Lime sulfur is more
for fungal disease
and bacterial diseases.
So if you've had a problem
with fire blight, scab,
bacterial blights,
and anthracnose,
lime sulfur is the product
that you need to do
and probably two
or three applications over
the winter time, early in the
winter, middle of the winter,
and then late winter.
- (Chris)
Okay.
- Would be a good
idea on lime sulfur.
- Any temperature requirements
for the lime sulfur?
- Don't see anything on that.
Fixed copper controls
canker, a fungal disease,
and you may wanna make a
couple of applications of that
if you've had a
problem with canker.
Primarily on peaches
and plums in our area.
And if you don't have
peaches or plum trees
then you don't have to worry
about the fixed copper.
- Let me ask you
about this though.
Going back to the fixed
copper and the lime sulfur.
Do you do one or the other?
Or do you do 'em both?
- It's best to do 'em both.
- (Chris)
Both.
Okay.
- If you have
peaches and plums now
of course the copper is
only for peaches and plums.
The liquid lime sulfur,
that would be on all of 'em,
apples, pears, peaches,
plums, nectarines.
- But you wouldn't mix the
two together would you?
Or would they have to be
separate applications?
- That's a very good question.
You know, I don't really see
a reason why you wouldn't
mix those together.
I would see why you
wouldn't wanna mix 'em
with the dormant oil.
- (Chris)
Yeah.
- 'Cause you might
affect the consistency
of the dormant oil.
But I really don't see
a problem with mixing
the fixed copper with
liquid lime sulfur.
I don't see a problem
with doing that.
And that would reduce the
number of times you're out there
spraying about 50 percent.
- It sure would.
One thing that you see a
lot of fruit growers do
is they'll paint the
base of their tree
with white latex paint and
what you're trying to do
is avoid freeze injury,
avoid on the southwest
side of that plant,
even in any time during the
winter time, if it's real
cold and it thaws,
the sun thaws the cambium layer
or the bark and then it
refreezes that night.
It can cause that bark to split.
And mixing just white
latex paint, you know,
mix it with water, cut it
50%- one part paint,
one part water, and then
you paint the trunk
and that will act
as a sunscreen.
You know, basically
repel the sunlight
and keep that from happening.
And the commercial
growers I know
will put a rubber glove
on and a cotton glove
and just put their hand in
the paint and just go up,
you know, 20, 30 inches, you
know, you don't have to go all,
you don't wanna
paint the whole tree.
- Sure.
- But especially the
lower part of the tree
it'd be a good idea to do that.
You know, also now is the time
to be thinking about ordering
and replacing fruit trees.
I lost an apple tree this year
and what happened is I planted
it in a little bit lower
place than the other
apple trees and over time
soil had washed in
around that apple tree
and as much as I preach
against planting trees too deep
that tree actually, soil
settled in around it and
I got a windstorm and
noticed the foliage
was much lighter than the
rest of my fruit trees
and we got a little windstorm
and just blew the tree over.
- (Chris)
How 'bout that.
- And I looked at it and it
was actually planted too deep.
Well, it wasn't
planted too deep.
But soiled washed in
around it and then
the same thing took
place so that's one thing
that you really need
to be careful with.
- (Chris)
Okay.
- So but think about,
you know, going and ordering,
you can order from
reputable nurseries
and pick out your varieties
and go ahead and soil test,
you know, if you're
gonna plant any.
Make sure you get the pH right.
Your pH needs to be pretty
high for almost all fruits
except for blueberries.
And if you're gonna
plant blueberries
you need to get the pH down.
- (Chris)
Right.
- Make it acidic enough
to burn the soles
off the bottom of your shoes.
[Chris laughs]
4.2 to, you know, 5.2.
Very low, very low pH.
- Well Mr. D., we appreciate
that good information.
- Thank you sir.
[cheerful country music]
- Fall is here and
the bermuda grass
and the zoysia grass
is goin' dormant now
and people think
that it's a good time
to fertilize your grass now.
But if it's for the bermuda
grass and zoysia grass
this first number
here, nitrogen,
no nitrogen fertilizer
this time of the year
because it goin' dormant.
You gotta make sure it
don't get no growth on it
this time of the year.
Phosphorus and potassium
is good for your
bermuda grass now 'cause it's
good for the root system.
And this is a good
time to do a soil test
to make sure that you can
add these numbers to that.
But for your fescue lawn,
fall is a good time to
start fertilizing this now
because it begin to grow now.
And on a bag of fertilizer
we see a complete fertilizer
with all three numbers.
Maybe 13-13-13,
12-12-12,
6-12-, 6-12-10.
But you got a complete
fertilizer right there
with your first few lines now.
You begin to grow now.
See all that green
folks lawn now.
That's what they have,
But the grass
start turning brown
you got the bermuda grass
and the zoysia grass.
Hold back on your
nitrogen fertilizer.
Give ya phosphorus and potassium
and it's good for
the root system
and also gonna
fight off diseases.
[cheerful country music]
- Alright, so Q & A session.
You all ready for
these questions?
- Sure.
- Good questions.
- Good questions.
Alright lets start with
the first viewer email.
"Can you identify this flower?"
And this is form Miss Sandy.
So, Miss Joellen, do we
know what that flower is?
- After some research, yeah.
- Okay.
[all laughs]
- Gentiana.
I guess that's how
you pronounce it.
- That's the way I pronounce it.
- And it's pretty.
It blooms this time
of year in the fall
which is probably why
she's wondering, you know,
she's seeing it out and she
wants to know what it is
and she's putting it in
her garden and, you know,
it's native but it
is found in the wild
but we're about at the southern
end of its native area,
zone seven, so I'm surprised
she actually found it out.
- Right.
It is a herbaceous perennial.
I did talk to Miss Sandy.
She told me she was out
walkin' her dogs in the woods-
- (Mr. Dr.)
Where does she live?
- outside of Bartlett.
And she happened to cross
this beautiful plant.
She dug it up, brought it home,
put it in her landscape. And
wanted to know what is it?
- And that's how most, you know,
hybrid plants and
plants get in neighborhoods
because you find it
out and you bring it in
and you hybridize them.
And the fact that it's
blooming this time of year
should make it start
to be very popular.
- (Chris)
Right, it should.
- Plant.
- And of course, you know,
conditions rich, cool, moist,
well drained, acidic soils.
- That's true.
There's a lot of landscapes
that fit that description.
We just gotta replicate
what was found in nature,
where it was found in nature.
And you can grow it.
- So there you
have it Miss Sandy.
Gentiana, right?
- Gentiana.
- Alright, here's our
next viewer's email.
"Should I prune my
gardenia before I cover it
"for the winter?
My grandfather did that
"and his was always
so healthy looking.
"My bush is tall
but not too full.
"I thought maybe
it would increase
"the branches in the spring.
Am I wrong?"
And this is from Miss Edwina.
So she wants to
prune her gardenia
before she covers
it for the winter.
- I don't think that
would be a very good idea
since gardenias normally bloom
on the second year growth.
So she's cutting off
the blooms for next year
if she trims it.
You're supposed to trim
plants' flowers and shrubs
that bloom right after
they finish blooming
so then they have time to grow
and produce flowers
for next year.
My parents had one and it
kept dying down every year
and my mother loves gardenias
so they dug it up
and put it in a pot
and they rolled it in
and out of the garage.
- (Chris)
That's smart.
- And they had beautiful shrubs.
There are hearty varieties,
hearty gardenias now
and they're smaller.
They're much smaller
varieties than the older ones
that are huge.
So she might wanna
try one of those but
I understand it's not
as thick as she wants it
but maybe next year, after
it finishes blooming,
she should trim it
and fertilize it
and make sure it gets
enough nutrients.
And I don't know how
much light it's getting.
- (Chris)
Right.
- They need quite a bit of
light to be able to produce
that nice green
foliage and blooms.
- Anything to add
to that, Mr. D.?
- Just, I don't know of anything
that needs to be pruned this
time of the year really.
This is normally,
your pruning shears need
to be oiled and greased
and shoved up
on the shelf waiting,
waiting for late winter.
You need to put 'em up.
Leave 'em.
I don't know of
anything that does well
unless you're trying
to kill something.
And if you want to kill
something prune it now.
- (Chris)
Got that right.
- Stress it really good
before it goes into the winter
and maybe you'll kill it.
And some thing's you
wanna try to kill.
- (Joellen)
Mhmm.
- Kudzu.
Now is a really good
time to prune kudzu
if you wanna kill kudzu.
- Japanese privet.
- Mhmm.
- Japanese privet.
- Yeah, yeah.
Anything you wanna kill.
Now is a good time
to really stress it.
- We don't wanna stress
that gardenia Miss Edwina.
So there ya have it
from Miss Joellen.
Alright, but I do have
another question for that.
So she doesn't prune it.
Do gardenias need to be
covered up for the winter?
- Well, yes and no.
- (Chris)
Okay.
- It depends on
what kind she has.
- (Chris)
Oh, okay.
- And if she normally covers it,
I don't know where she's at
in the part of the country,
but and maybe it is that
she needs to cover it up.
She's not digging it up
and putting it inside.
It's one of those that is
hurt by the really cold
temperatures and not
one of the hearty ones
then maybe it does
need to be covered up.
- Miss Edwina may be
from Buffalo, New York.
- You never know.
- Alright, thanks for that
question Miss Edwina.
Alright so Mr. D., Miss
Joellen, we're outta time.
That was fun.
We're outta time.
Thank you.
Remember, we love
to hear from you.
Send us an email or letter.
The email address is
FamilyPlot@wkno.org
and the mailing
address is Family Plot
7151 Cherry Farms Road,
Cordova, Tennessee 38016.
Or you can go online to
FamilyPlotGarden.com
That's all we have
time for today.
We only have one episode left
before we go dormant
for the winter.
To get a jump on
next year's season,
head on over to
FamilyPlotGarden.com.
We have hundreds of videos on
all sorts of gardening topics.
I'm Chris Cooper.
Be sure to join us next
week for The Family Plot:
Gardening in the Mid-South.
Be safe.
[cheerful country music]