1 00:00:01,001 --> 00:00:02,436 - Hi, thanks for joining us for 2 00:00:02,436 --> 00:00:04,204 The Family Plot: Gardening in the Mid-South. 3 00:00:04,204 --> 00:00:05,739 I'm Chris Cooper. 4 00:00:05,739 --> 00:00:07,641 Want to garden in a   very small space? 5 00:00:07,641 --> 00:00:09,142 It's called   square foot gardening, 6 00:00:09,142 --> 00:00:11,645 and today we're going   to learn how to do it. 7 00:00:11,645 --> 00:00:13,547 Also, does your crape   myrtle have bark scale? 8 00:00:13,547 --> 00:00:15,816 We'll show you one   way to take care of it. 9 00:00:15,816 --> 00:00:17,417 That's just ahead on 10 00:00:17,417 --> 00:00:19,286 The Family Plot:   Gardening in the Mid-South. 11 00:00:19,286 --> 00:00:20,554 - (female announcer)   Production funding for 12 00:00:20,554 --> 00:00:23,757 The Family Plot: Gardening in   the Mid-South is provided by: 13 00:00:23,757 --> 00:00:26,660 The WKNO Production Fund, 14 00:00:26,660 --> 00:00:29,096 The WKNO Endowment Fund, 15 00:00:29,096 --> 00:00:32,432 and by viewers like you.   Thank you. 16 00:00:32,432 --> 00:00:35,736 [cheerful country music] 17 00:00:42,643 --> 00:00:45,012 - Welcome to The Family Plot, I'm Chris Cooper. 18 00:00:45,012 --> 00:00:47,047 Joining me today is Tonya Ashworth. 19 00:00:47,047 --> 00:00:48,382 Tonya is our local garden expert, 20 00:00:48,382 --> 00:00:50,384 and Mr. D. will be joining us later. 21 00:00:50,384 --> 00:00:51,785 Alright Tonya, it's good to have you here 22 00:00:51,785 --> 00:00:53,754 at The Family Plot garden. - Yeah, thanks so much. 23 00:00:53,754 --> 00:00:55,422 - Oh, no problem. We're going to talk about 24 00:00:55,422 --> 00:00:57,057 square foot gardening. 25 00:00:57,057 --> 00:00:59,760 So the first question is this, what is square foot gardening? 26 00:00:59,760 --> 00:01:02,996 - Well it's my very favorite method of growing vegetables 27 00:01:02,996 --> 00:01:04,998 in my own backyard. 28 00:01:04,998 --> 00:01:08,135 And it was popularized by books from Mel Bartholomew. 29 00:01:08,135 --> 00:01:10,270 The idea behind square foot gardening is that 30 00:01:10,270 --> 00:01:12,472 it's a raised bed system. 31 00:01:12,472 --> 00:01:16,476 The basic raised bed size   is four foot by four foot. 32 00:01:16,476 --> 00:01:19,746 And a square foot garden, a true   square foot garden always has a 33 00:01:19,746 --> 00:01:23,050 grid laid on top of the   four-by-four square bed. 34 00:01:24,418 --> 00:01:27,120 That divides it   into square feet, 35 00:01:27,120 --> 00:01:30,490 so you'll have   16 square foot sections 36 00:01:30,490 --> 00:01:33,126 in a square foot garden bed. 37 00:01:33,126 --> 00:01:36,263 And you can make those grids out of twine and nails, 38 00:01:36,263 --> 00:01:38,465 or little pieces of wood strips that you lay on top. 39 00:01:38,465 --> 00:01:40,267 - Ok, that was going to be my next question. 40 00:01:40,267 --> 00:01:42,903 Ok, well what are the benefits of square foot gardening? 41 00:01:42,903 --> 00:01:45,605 - Ok, well here's the reasons why I do it in my yard. 42 00:01:45,605 --> 00:01:48,475 The first one is that it doesn't take up a whole lot of space. 43 00:01:49,376 --> 00:01:51,912 You can grow a lot in a very small back yard. 44 00:01:53,413 --> 00:01:56,216 You don't have to own a tiller or anything like that. 45 00:01:56,216 --> 00:01:58,952 The only thing I've ever used in my square foot beds 46 00:01:58,952 --> 00:02:01,788 are my hand trowel. 47 00:02:01,788 --> 00:02:04,524 Very, very little weed pressure, almost no weeds, 48 00:02:04,524 --> 00:02:06,727 I rarely ever have to pull a weed. 49 00:02:06,727 --> 00:02:09,596 You use less water because it's a smaller space 50 00:02:09,596 --> 00:02:12,065 that you have to water. 51 00:02:12,065 --> 00:02:15,969 And I have dogs in my backyard, so if I had a great big garden, 52 00:02:15,969 --> 00:02:19,740 I would have to fence around the whole thing to keep my dogs out, 53 00:02:19,740 --> 00:02:22,709 but it's very, very simple to   fence around to keep dogs or 54 00:02:22,709 --> 00:02:25,545 other critters out of   your square foot beds. 55 00:02:25,545 --> 00:02:27,280 - Good point, good point.   No weeds. 56 00:02:27,280 --> 00:02:29,449 Did I hear you say that? - Very, very little. Yes. 57 00:02:29,449 --> 00:02:31,084 - How about that, ok. 58 00:02:31,084 --> 00:02:33,186 Now how do we get started with our square foot garden. 59 00:02:33,186 --> 00:02:36,089 - Ok, the first thing that you have to do is build your bed, 60 00:02:36,089 --> 00:02:40,527 or now, you can even buy kits to build your square foot bed. 61 00:02:40,527 --> 00:02:43,463 And you want them to be at least six inches deep. 62 00:02:43,463 --> 00:02:45,399 Mine are a little bit deeper than that in my backyard, 63 00:02:45,399 --> 00:02:47,668 but six inches is really all that you need. 64 00:02:47,668 --> 00:02:51,605 And then you would first locate that in an area that gets at 65 00:02:51,605 --> 00:02:55,409 least six hours of sunshine a day, so full sun is best. 66 00:02:55,409 --> 00:02:57,077 - Full sun is best, ok. 67 00:02:57,077 --> 00:02:59,746 - And you know if you don't have a lot of full sun areas in your 68 00:02:59,746 --> 00:03:01,815 yard, if it's a concrete patio, you can put this thing right on 69 00:03:01,815 --> 00:03:05,419 top of concrete, so, it's great for small spaces. 70 00:03:05,419 --> 00:03:07,287 And then you fill it with whatever you're going 71 00:03:07,287 --> 00:03:09,256 to put in your raised beds. 72 00:03:09,256 --> 00:03:11,758 I think in his books Mel Bartholomew has 73 00:03:11,758 --> 00:03:14,428 his own mix that he's formulated. 74 00:03:14,428 --> 00:03:16,697 It's like a third vermiculite, a third peat moss, 75 00:03:16,697 --> 00:03:19,032 and a third compost. But you don't have to put that 76 00:03:19,032 --> 00:03:21,034 if that's not what you have on hand. 77 00:03:21,034 --> 00:03:23,036 If you've got some good compost, or whatever, 78 00:03:23,036 --> 00:03:24,771 you can fill that up. 79 00:03:24,771 --> 00:03:27,174 So we're going to modify this barrel to show you an example 80 00:03:27,174 --> 00:03:28,775 of how to do a square foot garden. 81 00:03:28,775 --> 00:03:32,946 So we're going to add a little bit of compost to our barrel. 82 00:03:32,946 --> 00:03:34,948 - I think I can handle that Tonya. 83 00:03:34,948 --> 00:03:36,783 - Thank you. - You just tell me how much. 84 00:03:36,783 --> 00:03:40,253 - Ok. And in my own yard in the spring, 85 00:03:40,253 --> 00:03:43,757 I usually will have to top dress with compost to get it back up 86 00:03:43,757 --> 00:03:47,394 to the top of my container. 87 00:03:49,596 --> 00:03:51,998 - This is good stuff here. 88 00:03:53,066 --> 00:03:55,969 - Alright, so another thing about square foot gardening is 89 00:03:55,969 --> 00:03:57,971 inside of these grids, you're going to plant your 90 00:03:57,971 --> 00:04:01,308 plants very close together. 91 00:04:01,308 --> 00:04:04,277 And you don't plant in rows with a square foot garden. 92 00:04:04,277 --> 00:04:07,747 So you'll usually see in planting guidelines, 93 00:04:07,747 --> 00:04:11,785 plant your things so many inches apart, 94 00:04:11,785 --> 00:04:14,154 and then so many inches between rows. 95 00:04:14,154 --> 00:04:16,857 But we just ignore the row part and you put them on centers. 96 00:04:16,857 --> 00:04:19,426 And so this allows you to be able to plant a lot of things in 97 00:04:19,426 --> 00:04:22,095 a small space, like in a square foot. 98 00:04:22,095 --> 00:04:27,134 In one square in your raised   bed you can plant 16 carrots. 99 00:04:27,134 --> 00:04:28,735 - Really? Wow. 100 00:04:28,735 --> 00:04:31,138 - Or you can plant   one tomato per square, 101 00:04:31,138 --> 00:04:35,308 so that gives you 16 tomatoes   in one four-by-four bed. 102 00:04:35,308 --> 00:04:38,278 Which is highly   intensive planting. 103 00:04:39,513 --> 00:04:42,582 Or you can do one pepper,   or one eggplant per square. 104 00:04:42,582 --> 00:04:46,686 You can also do four   bush beans per square, 105 00:04:46,686 --> 00:04:50,056 or you can do nine   sweet peas per square. 106 00:04:50,056 --> 00:04:51,691 So I know that sounds like a lot, 107 00:04:51,691 --> 00:04:53,460 but I've tried it on my own and it actually works. 108 00:04:53,460 --> 00:04:55,929 So in my one little one foot by one foot square 109 00:04:55,929 --> 00:04:58,865 I planted nine sugar sweet peas. 110 00:04:58,865 --> 00:05:01,201 And when they grow up they kind of support each other as they 111 00:05:01,201 --> 00:05:04,204 grow, and you don't even hardly need a support system, 112 00:05:04,204 --> 00:05:06,072 and there's no weeds because they're out-competing 113 00:05:06,072 --> 00:05:08,508 all the weeds. - Right, I got you, I got you. 114 00:05:08,508 --> 00:05:11,845 - Those are some of the basics, and if you want to do this in 115 00:05:11,845 --> 00:05:15,849 your yard, and you're not sure how many plants to put 116 00:05:15,849 --> 00:05:18,018 per square, there's some good resources online. 117 00:05:18,018 --> 00:05:20,387 You can go to squarefootgardening.com 118 00:05:20,387 --> 00:05:23,156 and watch short video clips on how to set this thing up. 119 00:05:23,156 --> 00:05:25,392 And you can also if you're on Pinterest, 120 00:05:25,392 --> 00:05:28,295 you can follow the Square Foot Gardening Foundation and they 121 00:05:28,295 --> 00:05:31,431 have charts of samples for how many plants to put in each 122 00:05:31,431 --> 00:05:34,935 square, so that's a great resource if you're on Pinterest. 123 00:05:35,669 --> 00:05:37,704 - Pinterest, ok. - So I brought some 124 00:05:37,704 --> 00:05:39,973 things with me to show, you could do one 125 00:05:39,973 --> 00:05:42,843 tomato plant per square, this is 'Pink Girl'. 126 00:05:42,843 --> 00:05:45,011 - [chuckles] Pink Girl. 127 00:05:45,011 --> 00:05:47,814 - Or one pepper, you could put that. 128 00:05:47,814 --> 00:05:51,017 And then I like to plant from seed sometimes, 129 00:05:51,017 --> 00:05:55,522 you could do one okra per square in your garden, 130 00:05:56,857 --> 00:05:59,793 or 16 carrot seeds per square, 131 00:05:59,793 --> 00:06:02,929 you could plant a whole bunch of carrots. 132 00:06:02,929 --> 00:06:05,165 Also it's good to plant carrots in containers because the soil 133 00:06:05,165 --> 00:06:07,300 is usually not as compact, they do better, 134 00:06:07,300 --> 00:06:09,336 they're a root vegetable. 135 00:06:09,336 --> 00:06:11,605 Also eggplant, I'm going to try from seed this year, 136 00:06:11,605 --> 00:06:13,673 and this is a container variety for a 12-inch pot, 137 00:06:13,673 --> 00:06:16,042 so this would be perfect for my 138 00:06:16,042 --> 00:06:18,745 space intensive square foot beds. 139 00:06:18,745 --> 00:06:22,382 So I'm just going to go ahead and plant, 140 00:06:22,382 --> 00:06:25,418 sorry, this tomato plant in there. 141 00:06:25,418 --> 00:06:28,255 And we probably have, this is probably a little bit more than 142 00:06:28,255 --> 00:06:30,790 one square would be in your square foot bed, 143 00:06:30,790 --> 00:06:32,826 so I'm going to put it kind of towards the back, 144 00:06:32,826 --> 00:06:34,561 and then I'm going to put a parsley in there too. 145 00:06:34,561 --> 00:06:36,696 'Cause I think we've got room. 146 00:06:36,696 --> 00:06:38,632 - It's a good root system on that too. 147 00:06:38,632 --> 00:06:41,635 - Nice, fluffy dirt. 148 00:06:41,635 --> 00:06:43,670 - Alright, looks good. 149 00:06:43,670 --> 00:06:45,672 Now how successful are you with the seeds though, 150 00:06:45,672 --> 00:06:47,240 when you're planting your seeds at home 151 00:06:47,240 --> 00:06:49,542 in your own square foot garden? 152 00:06:49,542 --> 00:06:53,546 - Well I have three of the four-by-four raised beds, 153 00:06:53,546 --> 00:06:55,782 one of them I use strictly as an herb bed, 154 00:06:55,782 --> 00:06:58,551 so I have a lot of success with planting things like basil, 155 00:06:58,551 --> 00:07:01,588 and parsley, and dill from seed. 156 00:07:01,588 --> 00:07:04,858 I've already got basil and dill seed sprouted up in my own yard 157 00:07:04,858 --> 00:07:09,296 in my own square foot bed, and also I've had a lot of success 158 00:07:09,296 --> 00:07:11,831 with carrots especially. 159 00:07:11,831 --> 00:07:16,102 And lettuce, lettuce is a great spring crop that you can do. 160 00:07:16,102 --> 00:07:20,006 You just get a nice seed bed and sprinkle out your lettuce seeds, 161 00:07:20,006 --> 00:07:24,110 it's fantastic for this type of scheme. 162 00:07:24,110 --> 00:07:26,112 And then let's see, what else have I planted from seed? 163 00:07:27,247 --> 00:07:30,383 My peas, I plant peas from seed. 164 00:07:30,383 --> 00:07:33,286 So you can definitely save money that way. 165 00:07:33,286 --> 00:07:35,555 And that's pretty much all there is too it. 166 00:07:35,555 --> 00:07:38,091 - And I guess it's easy to harvest too, 167 00:07:38,091 --> 00:07:39,793 right, you said there's no weeding. 168 00:07:39,793 --> 00:07:41,661 - No weeding. 169 00:07:41,661 --> 00:07:42,929 - Harvesting is going to be easy. 170 00:07:42,929 --> 00:07:44,531 What if you had like pest problems, it would be easy 171 00:07:44,531 --> 00:07:46,299 to just come in here and take those off, right? 172 00:07:46,299 --> 00:07:49,202 - Yeah, I mean I've mostly just had aphids that you can easily 173 00:07:49,202 --> 00:07:51,504 remove if you catch them in time. 174 00:07:52,972 --> 00:07:55,675 Yeah, the pest problems, very few, 175 00:07:55,675 --> 00:07:58,345 and my favorite part is no weeds. 176 00:07:58,345 --> 00:08:00,447 And it's easier on your back too, 177 00:08:00,447 --> 00:08:02,615 it's easier on your back than doing it in the ground. 178 00:08:02,615 --> 00:08:04,451 - I'm glad you mentioned that. 179 00:08:04,451 --> 00:08:06,453 - And they're easy, the beds are easy to build. 180 00:08:06,453 --> 00:08:10,457 My husband built mine for me, but I'll tell people that he was 181 00:08:10,457 --> 00:08:12,559 outside building my beds, and I was inside cooking dinner, 182 00:08:12,559 --> 00:08:15,195 and he got finished first. - Oh, Daniel's good. 183 00:08:15,195 --> 00:08:19,032 He's good. [both chuckle] One last question, 184 00:08:19,032 --> 00:08:21,368 any disease problems, you know because they're 185 00:08:21,368 --> 00:08:23,470 planted fairly close together, so... 186 00:08:23,470 --> 00:08:27,874 - Yes, well, for my tomatoes I spray preventative fungicide. 187 00:08:27,874 --> 00:08:30,944 Chlorothalonil is my favorite. Yeah, so. 188 00:08:30,944 --> 00:08:32,645 - And it works pretty good? No other problems? 189 00:08:32,645 --> 00:08:34,814 - No. - Alright, well Tonya we 190 00:08:34,814 --> 00:08:36,583 appreciate that demonstration, we can't wait to see what 191 00:08:36,583 --> 00:08:38,418 it looks like throughout the summer. 192 00:08:38,418 --> 00:08:40,053 - Yes! - Thank you much. 193 00:08:40,053 --> 00:08:41,654 - Thank you. 194 00:08:41,654 --> 00:08:43,256 - (Chris)   There are a number of gardening 195 00:08:43,256 --> 00:08:45,158 events going on in the   next couple of weeks. 196 00:08:45,158 --> 00:08:47,193 Here are just a few   that might interest you. 197 00:08:47,193 --> 00:08:50,964 [cheerful country music] 198 00:09:08,982 --> 00:09:12,051 Well, here at WKNO we have a problem with our crape myrtles. 199 00:09:12,051 --> 00:09:15,155 Looks like we have the   crape myrtle bark scale. 200 00:09:15,155 --> 00:09:17,190 - That's right, looks like   we got a fungus among us. 201 00:09:17,190 --> 00:09:19,292 [Chris chuckles]   - That's bad. 202 00:09:19,292 --> 00:09:22,128 - So how do you think the   scales got here Mr. D.? 203 00:09:22,128 --> 00:09:25,565 - You know, I don't know, these   were first identified in Texas, 204 00:09:25,565 --> 00:09:27,667 is that right? In the United States? 205 00:09:27,667 --> 00:09:29,402 - That's right. 206 00:09:29,402 --> 00:09:32,005 - So there's got to be some windborn activity. 207 00:09:32,005 --> 00:09:34,974 I know the males, we know have wings and can fly. 208 00:09:34,974 --> 00:09:39,012 But the females are secile, they can't move so, 209 00:09:40,313 --> 00:09:42,782 they couldn't have come in on their own. 210 00:09:42,782 --> 00:09:44,517 I think we've probably helped them a little bit. 211 00:09:44,517 --> 00:09:46,586 - I think we helped them too, and I think birds may have also 212 00:09:46,586 --> 00:09:48,455 brought them over too, what do you think about that? 213 00:09:48,455 --> 00:09:52,792 - Birds, birds. But transporting plants around. 214 00:09:52,792 --> 00:09:56,396 You know, we probably inadvertantly moved more 215 00:09:56,396 --> 00:10:00,066 critters and bad things than we really mean to. 216 00:10:00,066 --> 00:10:03,970 - Right. - But that would make sense. 217 00:10:04,971 --> 00:10:06,773 - And I'll tell you what, there's some heavy infestations 218 00:10:06,773 --> 00:10:08,741 here in Shelby County. I mean I've gotten calls 219 00:10:08,741 --> 00:10:12,679 from Germantown, Bartlett, Midtown, Collierville, 220 00:10:12,679 --> 00:10:14,914 so they're pretty much all over the place now. 221 00:10:14,914 --> 00:10:17,784 - In one year, I mean it's a little over a year ago when they 222 00:10:17,784 --> 00:10:19,652 discovered them in this area. 223 00:10:19,652 --> 00:10:22,689 - Right, you know, Dr. Harold and Dr. Windham came down last 224 00:10:22,689 --> 00:10:25,625 year, they're in Germantown, and saw a couple of cases, 225 00:10:25,625 --> 00:10:28,795 but this year, for some reason it's just exploded. 226 00:10:28,795 --> 00:10:30,864 Just multiplied, so they're pretty much 227 00:10:30,864 --> 00:10:32,799 all around the area now. - I wonder how closely 228 00:10:32,799 --> 00:10:36,469 they are related to their Asian counterpart. 229 00:10:36,469 --> 00:10:39,606 They're common over across the ocean. 230 00:10:41,774 --> 00:10:46,012 I wonder how close this race is that we have here 231 00:10:46,012 --> 00:10:48,882 is to the Asian variety.   I don't know. 232 00:10:48,882 --> 00:10:50,817 - That's a good   question, I don't know. 233 00:10:50,817 --> 00:10:52,552 But right now we know   they're pretty much specific 234 00:10:52,552 --> 00:10:54,687 to the crape myrtles. 235 00:10:54,687 --> 00:10:57,090 Which is a mainstay   pretty much here in the south. 236 00:10:57,090 --> 00:10:59,759 Everybody grows crape myrtles,   so we'll see what happens. 237 00:10:59,759 --> 00:11:01,261 - And it's been a   worry free plant, 238 00:11:01,261 --> 00:11:04,631 a plant that we didn't have any pests-- 239 00:11:04,631 --> 00:11:07,534 - Pest free. So this is how we're to treat 240 00:11:07,534 --> 00:11:09,736 the crape myrtle bark scale. This is what we've been 241 00:11:09,736 --> 00:11:12,105 telling the home owner to use. - This is what, imidacloprid? 242 00:11:12,105 --> 00:11:15,008 - It is, that's the active ingredient, it sure is. 243 00:11:15,008 --> 00:11:18,578 And of course, you know, our crape myrtle is multi-trunked, 244 00:11:18,578 --> 00:11:21,014 so you have to make sure that you read and follow the label, 245 00:11:21,014 --> 00:11:22,949 we definitely want people to do that. 246 00:11:22,949 --> 00:11:24,951 And what we're going to do is we're going to measure the 247 00:11:24,951 --> 00:11:27,787 distance in inches around each tree trunk at about 248 00:11:27,787 --> 00:11:29,889 four and a half feet. 249 00:11:29,889 --> 00:11:32,592 We're going to add together, and then we're going to multiply 250 00:11:32,592 --> 00:11:35,094 by .75, and that's going to give us the ounces that 251 00:11:35,094 --> 00:11:37,463 we add to a gallon of water. 252 00:11:37,463 --> 00:11:39,299 - That's a lot more specific than I... 253 00:11:39,299 --> 00:11:41,801 I don't guess that's that much more specific than a lot of 254 00:11:41,801 --> 00:11:45,471 pesticide, but it's kind of a different way of figuring out 255 00:11:45,471 --> 00:11:47,440 how much to apply. 256 00:11:47,440 --> 00:11:49,842 - But make sure that you read and follow the label on that. 257 00:11:49,842 --> 00:11:52,745 - That's the law. - Alright, let's do that. 258 00:11:55,782 --> 00:11:57,450 Alright Mr. D., so we're going to measure 259 00:11:57,450 --> 00:12:00,453 four and a half feet up. - Diameter chest height. 260 00:12:00,453 --> 00:12:02,589 - Alright, then at that level, we're going to measure in 261 00:12:02,589 --> 00:12:04,891 diameter the individual trunks. - All of these. 262 00:12:04,891 --> 00:12:08,661 It looks like we're going to have 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 11? 263 00:12:08,661 --> 00:12:10,997 - 11. - 11 measurements, ok. 264 00:12:10,997 --> 00:12:13,299 - Alright we're going to start with the first one. 265 00:12:13,299 --> 00:12:17,070 And you're recording this, right? 266 00:12:17,070 --> 00:12:19,906 - Yep. That would be five. 267 00:12:19,906 --> 00:12:22,642 Next one is going to be a bit bigger. 268 00:12:22,642 --> 00:12:24,277 And look at all the scales on here though, 269 00:12:24,277 --> 00:12:26,512 my gosh, it's covered. - Lots of sooty mold. 270 00:12:29,048 --> 00:12:30,516 That's going to be five and a half. 271 00:12:30,516 --> 00:12:32,385 - Ok. 272 00:12:34,420 --> 00:12:36,823 Right there. 273 00:12:38,625 --> 00:12:41,260 - Come up here, bring it through right there. 274 00:12:43,796 --> 00:12:45,331 Six. 275 00:12:46,799 --> 00:12:49,502 - Getting bigger. - Yeah, getting pretty big. 276 00:12:49,502 --> 00:12:51,404 This one is a small one. 277 00:12:54,307 --> 00:12:56,342 Yeah, there you go. 278 00:12:56,342 --> 00:12:58,544 It's four. - Ok. 279 00:12:59,946 --> 00:13:01,781 - Looks like we're averaging around five. 280 00:13:01,781 --> 00:13:03,616 - Yeah, it looks so. 281 00:13:03,616 --> 00:13:05,652 You want to see if you can get those on that side? 282 00:13:05,652 --> 00:13:07,720 - Yeah. Trade? 283 00:13:07,720 --> 00:13:09,789 - I'll record that. 284 00:13:15,361 --> 00:13:19,265 - 4.75. Four and three quarters. - Ok. 285 00:13:25,538 --> 00:13:28,107 - Looks like about three and a half. 286 00:13:29,575 --> 00:13:31,411 - Three and a half. 287 00:13:33,513 --> 00:13:35,515 - Five. - Ok. 288 00:13:38,384 --> 00:13:40,520 - Six. - Six. That's a big one. 289 00:13:45,325 --> 00:13:46,893 - Looks like three and a half. - Ok. 290 00:13:52,865 --> 00:13:55,868 - Looks like four and three quarters, 4.75. 291 00:13:55,868 --> 00:13:57,637 - Ok. 292 00:14:00,940 --> 00:14:04,243 - And that's 3.75. Is that it? 293 00:14:05,378 --> 00:14:07,280 - Alright, so that's going to be it. 294 00:14:07,280 --> 00:14:09,182 - Ok, let's figure now. Calculate. 295 00:14:09,182 --> 00:14:11,517 - We got to do math. - Oh man. 296 00:14:11,517 --> 00:14:13,753 - Alright Mr. D., we have all the measurements, 297 00:14:13,753 --> 00:14:15,021 so what do we have. 298 00:14:15,021 --> 00:14:17,757 - We do, it came up to 51.75 total inches, 299 00:14:17,757 --> 00:14:22,862 and we multiply that times .75 and we came out with 38.8. 300 00:14:23,930 --> 00:14:27,700 So we need 38.8 ounces of the product in a gallon of water. 301 00:14:29,001 --> 00:14:31,471 - Ok, sounds good, let's go for it. 302 00:14:31,471 --> 00:14:33,973 - That's a big plant. - It is. 303 00:14:33,973 --> 00:14:35,775 And we always want people to be safe. 304 00:14:35,775 --> 00:14:38,611 - We do. Follow the directions. It's the law. 305 00:14:38,611 --> 00:14:41,047 - Follow the label. Wear your gloves. 306 00:14:41,047 --> 00:14:42,749 - Get your rubber gloves on. 307 00:14:45,985 --> 00:14:48,020 - Alright, shake it up real good here. 308 00:14:48,020 --> 00:14:50,957 [liquid shaking in container] 309 00:14:50,957 --> 00:14:52,792 - And as you see it's a pretty green color. 310 00:14:52,792 --> 00:14:55,361 - Oh really? - Yeah. 311 00:14:57,597 --> 00:14:59,899 - There you go. It sure is. 312 00:15:07,640 --> 00:15:11,711 - This is also a fertilizer, it's a 2-1-1 fertilizer in here. 313 00:15:12,845 --> 00:15:15,314 - Ok, good deal. 314 00:15:15,314 --> 00:15:17,350 - Alright, so it was 38.8 ounces? 315 00:15:17,350 --> 00:15:19,552 - 38.8. 316 00:15:19,552 --> 00:15:21,487 - Ok, we're going to put that there, 317 00:15:21,487 --> 00:15:24,090 and put this into our gallon of water here. 318 00:15:26,826 --> 00:15:29,462 - That's turning green too. 319 00:15:29,462 --> 00:15:30,997 - Yeah, look at that green color, I tell you. 320 00:15:31,764 --> 00:15:33,900 [liquid splashes] 321 00:15:33,900 --> 00:15:36,502 Think that's pretty good? - Ought to do the trick. 322 00:15:36,502 --> 00:15:38,237 Need to stir it up a bit? 323 00:15:38,237 --> 00:15:41,707 - Yeah, stir it up there, make sure we get it into a solution. 324 00:15:43,242 --> 00:15:46,379 [stick scraping bucket] - Oh yeah. 325 00:15:46,379 --> 00:15:48,447 - Do you just put it under the drip line pretty much, 326 00:15:48,447 --> 00:15:50,349 or all up-- - The label says get it as 327 00:15:50,349 --> 00:15:52,485 close-- - to the trunk? 328 00:15:52,485 --> 00:15:54,353 - to the trunk as you possibly can. 329 00:15:54,353 --> 00:15:56,022 - Ok. 330 00:15:56,022 --> 00:15:57,723 - Again, we're following the label. 331 00:15:57,723 --> 00:15:59,292 - That's right. 332 00:15:59,292 --> 00:16:01,394 - As close to the trunk as you possibly can. 333 00:16:01,394 --> 00:16:03,763 - Ok. You got the gloves on. 334 00:16:08,534 --> 00:16:12,371 - Alright Mr. D., I'm going to go ahead and pour this as close 335 00:16:12,371 --> 00:16:14,540 to the trunk as we possibly can here. 336 00:16:14,540 --> 00:16:16,709 - Ok. 337 00:16:16,709 --> 00:16:18,678 - And I'll just try to go around here. 338 00:16:18,678 --> 00:16:22,048 [water splashing] 339 00:16:26,085 --> 00:16:28,054 - It would be nice if they'd start falling off right now. 340 00:16:28,054 --> 00:16:30,122 I don't think it works that way, do you? 341 00:16:30,122 --> 00:16:32,158 - I don't think it works that fast. 342 00:16:32,158 --> 00:16:34,827 And it will tell you on the label that according to the size 343 00:16:34,827 --> 00:16:37,697 of the tree it may take a couple of months for it 344 00:16:39,165 --> 00:16:42,802 to actually take effect. 345 00:16:42,802 --> 00:16:44,871 And there you have it. 346 00:16:44,871 --> 00:16:47,473 The roots will take it up systemically. 347 00:16:47,473 --> 00:16:49,342 And then we'll wait a couple of months or so, 348 00:16:49,342 --> 00:16:51,677 and we'll see what happens. 349 00:16:51,677 --> 00:16:53,813 - Yeah, to be on the safe side, we better treat the rest of 350 00:16:53,813 --> 00:16:55,581 these crape myrtles here, don't you think? 351 00:16:55,581 --> 00:16:56,949 - I think so. 352 00:16:56,949 --> 00:16:59,452 [cheerful country music] 353 00:17:01,087 --> 00:17:03,122 - Ok, it wasn't hard to tell that we 354 00:17:03,122 --> 00:17:06,192 had something feeding on our snap beans here. 355 00:17:06,192 --> 00:17:09,095 We've got holes in the leaves, and after we did just a very 356 00:17:09,095 --> 00:17:11,697 little investigation, we found the culprit. 357 00:17:11,697 --> 00:17:13,933 It's the Mexican Bean Beetle. 358 00:17:13,933 --> 00:17:16,235 Right here is the adult. 359 00:17:16,235 --> 00:17:20,539 Both the adult and the larvae create damage on snap beans, 360 00:17:21,908 --> 00:17:25,378 butter beans, they're   one of the main pests. 361 00:17:25,378 --> 00:17:29,015 The adult can fly   away and hide from you. 362 00:17:29,015 --> 00:17:31,584 The larvae are little   yellow, wooly critters, 363 00:17:31,584 --> 00:17:33,786 and they can't   get away from you. 364 00:17:33,786 --> 00:17:36,088 They feed on the little-bitty leaves, and when 365 00:17:36,088 --> 00:17:39,525 the leaves grow, the holes that they create grow also. 366 00:17:39,525 --> 00:17:42,428 One thing about almost any kind of beans, 367 00:17:42,428 --> 00:17:45,798 they can tolerate a lot of leaf feeding injury, 368 00:17:45,798 --> 00:17:48,801 without affecting the yield of the crop, 369 00:17:48,801 --> 00:17:51,237 so you probably don't have to treat right now. 370 00:17:52,271 --> 00:17:55,942 A reason to wait would be the hope that a beneficial insect 371 00:17:55,942 --> 00:17:59,111 will come along and eat these Mexican Bean Beetles, 372 00:17:59,779 --> 00:18:01,747 and you never build up a population, 373 00:18:01,747 --> 00:18:04,116 but you do need to keep a close eye on them, 374 00:18:04,116 --> 00:18:06,485 and as soon as you start to see the larvae out here, 375 00:18:06,485 --> 00:18:08,821 then you would need to   treat with carbaryl, 376 00:18:08,821 --> 00:18:12,491 bifenthrin, zeta-cypermethrin,   and gamma-cyhalothrin are four 377 00:18:12,491 --> 00:18:16,529 insecticides that should   take care of this problem. 378 00:18:16,529 --> 00:18:19,966 [cheerful country music] 379 00:18:19,966 --> 00:18:21,901 - Alright Tonya, here's our Q & A session, you ready? 380 00:18:21,901 --> 00:18:23,436 - Yes. - We have some 381 00:18:23,436 --> 00:18:25,171 good questions here. - Uh-huh. 382 00:18:25,171 --> 00:18:26,772 - Alright, so here's our first viewer email. 383 00:18:26,772 --> 00:18:29,375 "Please help me get rid   of this hump in my yard. 384 00:18:29,375 --> 00:18:31,077 "I pulled up an azalea   and now I have a hump. 385 00:18:31,077 --> 00:18:33,346 "I want grass to grow back   over it smoothly with the 386 00:18:33,346 --> 00:18:37,717 rest of the yard.   What should I do? Thank you." 387 00:18:37,717 --> 00:18:39,085 And this is from Mona,   right here in Memphis. 388 00:18:40,052 --> 00:18:42,822 So help, she has a   hump in her yard. 389 00:18:42,822 --> 00:18:46,359 - Well, it's time to get out the shovel unfortunately. 390 00:18:46,359 --> 00:18:49,228 - Uh-huh. - And pull back that grass, 391 00:18:49,228 --> 00:18:52,398 and try to level it out as best you can. 392 00:18:52,398 --> 00:18:56,836 - I think that's, yeah. Shovel is one option. 393 00:18:56,836 --> 00:18:59,405 Two I thought a good rake would be another option. 394 00:18:59,405 --> 00:19:01,907 The third thing... maybe pull out a tiller? 395 00:19:01,907 --> 00:19:04,810 You think. Just kind of till it in pretty good, 396 00:19:04,810 --> 00:19:06,912 and then smooth it out with the rake, 397 00:19:06,912 --> 00:19:09,849 and I think that may help. - Yes. 398 00:19:09,849 --> 00:19:12,618 - But yeah, a hump after pulling out an azalea though. 399 00:19:12,618 --> 00:19:15,054 - Yeah, usually you have a sunk in place, but... 400 00:19:15,054 --> 00:19:20,192 - Right. So shovel, good rake, till it up, smooth it over. 401 00:19:22,061 --> 00:19:24,230 You got a lot of work to do Miss Mona. 402 00:19:24,230 --> 00:19:25,765 - Yeah. 403 00:19:25,765 --> 00:19:27,266 - Alright, thank you for the question. 404 00:19:27,266 --> 00:19:29,201 Here's our next viewer email. 405 00:19:29,201 --> 00:19:30,870 "What is the definition of   the different kinds of soils 406 00:19:30,870 --> 00:19:33,939 "purchased by the bag,   specifically garden soil, 407 00:19:33,939 --> 00:19:36,776 "potting soil, top   soil, raised bed soil. 408 00:19:36,776 --> 00:19:38,811 "All of these have   the same components, 409 00:19:38,811 --> 00:19:40,813 "so how do they differ? 410 00:19:40,813 --> 00:19:43,616 "Also, none of these   have clay as a component. 411 00:19:43,616 --> 00:19:45,284 "Why not? 412 00:19:45,284 --> 00:19:48,287 You would think true   soil would contain clay." 413 00:19:48,287 --> 00:19:50,289 And this is from Chuck. 414 00:19:50,289 --> 00:19:54,560 So we're talking about the old soils in bags that you get from 415 00:19:54,560 --> 00:19:57,029 the big box stores, so Tonya, let's look 416 00:19:57,029 --> 00:19:59,031 at these individually for a second. 417 00:19:59,031 --> 00:20:00,666 Garden soil, what's in garden soil, 418 00:20:00,666 --> 00:20:02,268 do you think? 419 00:20:02,268 --> 00:20:06,505 - Well garden soil is going to be a lot of wood products mixed 420 00:20:06,505 --> 00:20:10,576 in, not very much peat, and not as much organic matter as like a 421 00:20:11,944 --> 00:20:14,346 potting soil would be. 422 00:20:14,346 --> 00:20:18,384 Garden soil is usually for just to put out into the landscape 423 00:20:19,852 --> 00:20:21,821 and not in a container. 424 00:20:21,821 --> 00:20:23,856 You can use garden soil in a raised bed. 425 00:20:23,856 --> 00:20:25,458 - Ok, so you can use it in a raised bed. 426 00:20:25,458 --> 00:20:27,126 Alright, potting soil? 427 00:20:27,126 --> 00:20:29,261 - Potting soil is going to be fluffier and ligher, 428 00:20:29,261 --> 00:20:31,530 less compaction, good drainage for your containers. 429 00:20:32,698 --> 00:20:34,333 Usually it will have a lot of peat moss in there, 430 00:20:34,333 --> 00:20:38,037 and some vermiculite, and nice loose material. 431 00:20:40,406 --> 00:20:43,309 As far as your topsoil, it usually comes from the top 432 00:20:43,309 --> 00:20:47,279 12 inches of the earth's surface, and there's not going 433 00:20:47,279 --> 00:20:49,381 to be a lot of organic matter or anything in there, 434 00:20:49,381 --> 00:20:52,751 it's usually the least expensive of all those, 435 00:20:52,751 --> 00:20:54,720 the cheapest stuff to use. 436 00:20:54,720 --> 00:20:57,656 You can use that, you can even mix compost in with that to make 437 00:20:57,656 --> 00:21:00,493 it a little bit better. 438 00:21:00,493 --> 00:21:02,962 And as far as why-- oh, what was the other? 439 00:21:02,962 --> 00:21:05,030 - Raised bed? The raised bed soil. 440 00:21:05,030 --> 00:21:07,633 - Raised bed, ok, that's going to be kind of like between 441 00:21:07,633 --> 00:21:11,670 potting soil and garden soil. So maybe not quite as 442 00:21:13,272 --> 00:21:15,908 good for containers, but you don't have 443 00:21:15,908 --> 00:21:18,944 to buy raised bed soil for your raised bed gardens, 444 00:21:18,944 --> 00:21:21,547 you can use the cheaper garden soil, but it's going to be a 445 00:21:21,547 --> 00:21:24,049 little bit lighter and fluffier, and maybe a bit less 446 00:21:24,049 --> 00:21:26,318 wood product that just plain garden soil. 447 00:21:26,318 --> 00:21:28,254 - Ok. You think you'll get the nutrients needed for 448 00:21:28,254 --> 00:21:31,824 plant growth if you use garden soil or raised bed soil? 449 00:21:33,058 --> 00:21:35,027 - Probably not, you might want to wait and do a soil test after 450 00:21:35,027 --> 00:21:37,196 a little while, and you may have to add some things, 451 00:21:37,196 --> 00:21:40,566 and I would say if you're just dumping out a bag of garden soil 452 00:21:40,566 --> 00:21:43,536 it wouldn't hurt to mix in some compost if you've got it. 453 00:21:43,536 --> 00:21:45,804 And was the other one, why is there not clay? 454 00:21:45,804 --> 00:21:48,174 - Yeah, why is there not clay in it. [chuckles] 455 00:21:48,174 --> 00:21:50,142 - Well you know, in soils class they teach you 456 00:21:50,142 --> 00:21:52,745 the three components of soil is sand, silt, and clay, 457 00:21:52,745 --> 00:21:55,447 so why don't they have clay in the soil. 458 00:21:55,447 --> 00:21:59,585 Well, clay is heavier, it's finer, and it's... 459 00:22:00,753 --> 00:22:03,455 doesn't drain very well. 460 00:22:03,455 --> 00:22:06,425 So that's probably why they don't put clay in there. 461 00:22:06,425 --> 00:22:08,260 - Right, it's going to hold a lot of moisture. 462 00:22:08,260 --> 00:22:10,362 Just take the clay in your backyard 463 00:22:10,362 --> 00:22:12,298 or front yard for that matter. 464 00:22:12,298 --> 00:22:14,533 But yeah, you're definitely right about those, 465 00:22:14,533 --> 00:22:17,102 and yeah, you see these all the time at the big box stores. 466 00:22:17,102 --> 00:22:19,338 Of course, you know, in the bags. 467 00:22:19,338 --> 00:22:21,073 But yeah, you don't want a lot of clay in that. 468 00:22:21,073 --> 00:22:22,541 - Right. 469 00:22:22,541 --> 00:22:25,110 - And I was thinking too, for the raised bed soil, 470 00:22:26,111 --> 00:22:28,247 I would think some of that would contain maybe some organic 471 00:22:28,247 --> 00:22:30,249 material, wouldn't you think? Probably has a little sand 472 00:22:30,249 --> 00:22:34,286 in it, little organic material. Maybe it holds nutrients 473 00:22:34,286 --> 00:22:36,488 a little better than some of the rest. 474 00:22:36,488 --> 00:22:38,958 The topsoil I use at home, I pretty much use that 475 00:22:38,958 --> 00:22:41,994 to fill in holes. - Yeah, uh-huh. 476 00:22:43,262 --> 00:22:44,930 - If I have little divots, or something in the yard or 477 00:22:44,930 --> 00:22:47,333 whatever, I just grab the topsoil and put it in there. 478 00:22:47,333 --> 00:22:49,501 Seems to fit that purpose pretty well. 479 00:22:49,501 --> 00:22:51,637 Alright, so there you have it Mr. Chuck, 480 00:22:51,637 --> 00:22:53,239 there's your different kinds of soils. 481 00:22:53,239 --> 00:22:54,773 Thanks for that question. 482 00:22:54,773 --> 00:22:56,842 Alright, here's our next viewer email. 483 00:22:56,842 --> 00:22:58,811 "My trees are dying   from the top down. 484 00:22:58,811 --> 00:23:01,113 "The centers are hollow   and filled with ants. 485 00:23:01,113 --> 00:23:02,815 "Why is this? 486 00:23:02,815 --> 00:23:06,051 Is there anything to kill   the ants on a healthy tree?" 487 00:23:06,051 --> 00:23:08,654 And this is from   Richard in Greenville. 488 00:23:08,654 --> 00:23:11,457 So we talked a little bit about this earlier. 489 00:23:11,457 --> 00:23:13,058 Be good to have a picture so we could see 490 00:23:13,058 --> 00:23:14,760 what's wrong with the tree. - Yeah, mm-hmm. 491 00:23:14,760 --> 00:23:18,230 - But anytime that I see or think about ants being in trees, 492 00:23:18,230 --> 00:23:20,833 there's a couple of things that come to mind. 493 00:23:20,833 --> 00:23:24,737 It's usually aphids around, or soft-scales. 494 00:23:25,871 --> 00:23:28,974 And of course we know aphids and soft scales produce honeydew. 495 00:23:28,974 --> 00:23:32,444 Which the ants are attracted to. 496 00:23:32,444 --> 00:23:34,780 So you may have aphids or soft scales. 497 00:23:34,780 --> 00:23:38,584 And the second thing is this, so the tree is already hollow, 498 00:23:38,584 --> 00:23:40,886 which means it's decaying. 499 00:23:40,886 --> 00:23:44,056 The ants are probably looking for an opportunity to nest. 500 00:23:44,056 --> 00:23:47,126 - Mm-hmm. Yeah the ants are just a symptom, 501 00:23:47,126 --> 00:23:49,228 they're not really the problem. 502 00:23:49,228 --> 00:23:50,829 - They're not going to cause a huge problem. 503 00:23:50,829 --> 00:23:52,898 So I wouldn't personally worry about killing the ants, 504 00:23:52,898 --> 00:23:54,900 would you? - Right. No. 505 00:23:54,900 --> 00:23:57,703 If you have the soft scale or something, 506 00:23:57,703 --> 00:24:00,372 treat that and then the ants should leave. 507 00:24:00,372 --> 00:24:03,642 - Yeah, but since those centers are hollow... 508 00:24:03,642 --> 00:24:05,477 Mr. Richard, I would get a certified arborist 509 00:24:05,477 --> 00:24:06,912 to come out there and take a look at that. 510 00:24:06,912 --> 00:24:08,414 - Yeah, if they're large, yes. 511 00:24:08,414 --> 00:24:10,316 - Right, because that might be a hazard, potentially. 512 00:24:10,316 --> 00:24:12,384 So I wouldn't worry so much about the ants, 513 00:24:12,384 --> 00:24:14,620 I would worry about the hazard. - Right. 514 00:24:14,620 --> 00:24:16,855 - The tree. So there you go Mr. Richard, 515 00:24:16,855 --> 00:24:18,457 thanks for the question. 516 00:24:18,457 --> 00:24:20,125 Alright, here's our next viewer email. 517 00:24:20,125 --> 00:24:22,861 "We had two, big, beautiful burgandy mums last fall. 518 00:24:22,861 --> 00:24:26,265 "I trimmed them back this past winter when they were dormant. 519 00:24:26,265 --> 00:24:28,901 "One has come back, but the other appears to only 520 00:24:28,901 --> 00:24:31,503 "have the front of the plant. 521 00:24:31,503 --> 00:24:34,606 "Literally it's like the whole back half is gone. 522 00:24:34,606 --> 00:24:38,043 Why did half my mum   plant die over the winter?" 523 00:24:38,043 --> 00:24:40,012 And this if from Bethany. 524 00:24:40,012 --> 00:24:42,414 So why do you think the plant died, Tonya? 525 00:24:42,414 --> 00:24:45,951 - Probably too wet, not enough drainage 526 00:24:45,951 --> 00:24:48,320 and the roots rotted in that area. 527 00:24:48,320 --> 00:24:50,923 And maybe a fungal thing set up. 528 00:24:50,923 --> 00:24:53,225 In general when you cut back your mums though, 529 00:24:53,225 --> 00:24:57,129 you want to leave about six inches from the ground, 530 00:24:57,129 --> 00:24:58,964 you leave a little bit of that vegetation, 531 00:24:58,964 --> 00:25:01,266 you don't want to cut them back too terribly late because you 532 00:25:01,266 --> 00:25:03,569 don't want to risk the frost damage. 533 00:25:03,569 --> 00:25:06,405 So those are some tips, but probably poor drainage. 534 00:25:06,405 --> 00:25:08,140 - Poor drainage, yeah. 535 00:25:08,140 --> 00:25:09,908 Definitely the first thing that came to my mind. 536 00:25:09,908 --> 00:25:12,578 Our winters of course are when it's wet. 537 00:25:12,578 --> 00:25:15,414 So I would always think about rotten roots, 538 00:25:16,682 --> 00:25:18,751 you know especially for those mum sitting there. 539 00:25:18,751 --> 00:25:20,819 And a lot of the mums, if you think about it that you get from 540 00:25:20,819 --> 00:25:24,056 the big box stores, and some of your nurseries are annuals. 541 00:25:24,056 --> 00:25:26,692 - Mm-hmm. You can get some garden mums that will come back, 542 00:25:26,692 --> 00:25:28,427 but most of them are annuals. 543 00:25:28,427 --> 00:25:29,828 - Yeah, most of them are annuals. 544 00:25:29,828 --> 00:25:32,264 Tonya we're out of time, it was fun. 545 00:25:32,264 --> 00:25:33,565 - Ok. Alright, thanks. 546 00:25:33,565 --> 00:25:35,801 - Remember, we love   to hear from you. 547 00:25:35,801 --> 00:25:37,269 Send us an email or letter. 548 00:25:37,269 --> 00:25:40,572 The email address is   FamilyPlot@wkno.org, 549 00:25:40,572 --> 00:25:43,742 and the mailing   address is Family Plot, 550 00:25:43,742 --> 00:25:48,347 7151 Cherry Farms Road,   Cordova, Tennessee, 38016. 551 00:25:48,347 --> 00:25:52,418 Or you can go online to   FamilyPlotGarden.com. 552 00:25:52,418 --> 00:25:54,920 That's all we have time for today, 553 00:25:54,920 --> 00:25:56,522 thanks for joining us. 554 00:25:56,522 --> 00:25:58,223 If you want to get more information about growing a 555 00:25:58,223 --> 00:26:00,893 square foot garden, or using soil drenches to control scale, 556 00:26:00,893 --> 00:26:03,562 go to FamilyPlotGarden.com. 557 00:26:03,562 --> 00:26:06,765 We have information on this and hundreds of other topics. 558 00:26:06,765 --> 00:26:09,101 I'm Chris Cooper, be sure to join us next week for 559 00:26:09,101 --> 00:26:11,603 The Family Plot: Gardening in the Mid-South. 560 00:26:11,603 --> 00:26:13,639 Be safe. 561 00:26:13,639 --> 00:26:17,643 [cheerful country music] 562 00:26:27,853 --> 00:26:29,855 [acoustic guitar chords]