1 00:00:00,367 --> 00:00:01,768 - Hi, thanks for joining us 2 00:00:01,768 --> 00:00:04,137 for The Family Plot: Gardening in the Mid-South. 3 00:00:04,137 --> 00:00:05,372 I'm Chris Cooper. 4 00:00:05,372 --> 00:00:07,507 Spring is here and the   lawn is greening up. 5 00:00:07,507 --> 00:00:09,743 Today, we're talking   about what to do to get it 6 00:00:09,743 --> 00:00:11,578 ready for   the growing season. 7 00:00:11,578 --> 00:00:14,147 Also, we'll show how to   calibrate your spreaders. 8 00:00:14,147 --> 00:00:15,582 That's just ahead 9 00:00:15,582 --> 00:00:17,784 on The Family Plot:   Gardening in the Mid-South. 10 00:00:17,784 --> 00:00:19,253 - (female announcer)   Production funding 11 00:00:19,253 --> 00:00:21,021 for The Family Plot:   Gardening in the Mid-South 12 00:00:21,021 --> 00:00:22,956 is provided by 13 00:00:22,956 --> 00:00:25,359 the WKNO Production Fund, 14 00:00:25,359 --> 00:00:27,561 the WKNO Endowment Fund, 15 00:00:27,561 --> 00:00:29,630 and by viewers like you. 16 00:00:29,630 --> 00:00:31,064 Thank you. 17 00:00:31,064 --> 00:00:33,634 [upbeat country music] 18 00:00:40,941 --> 00:00:42,175 - Welcome to The Family Plot. 19 00:00:42,175 --> 00:00:43,443 I'm Chris Cooper. 20 00:00:43,443 --> 00:00:44,978 Joining me today is Mr. Booker T. Leigh. 21 00:00:44,978 --> 00:00:46,713 Booker is a UT Extension agent right here 22 00:00:46,713 --> 00:00:48,615 in Shelby County, and Celeste Scott 23 00:00:48,615 --> 00:00:50,550 will be joining me later. 24 00:00:50,550 --> 00:00:53,654 All right, Booker, so how do we prepare the lawns 25 00:00:53,654 --> 00:00:55,923 for the spring into the summer? 26 00:00:55,923 --> 00:00:57,958 - Okay. At that time of the year again 27 00:00:57,958 --> 00:00:59,326 and I'm so happy to start. 28 00:01:00,527 --> 00:01:02,029 I like to have that pretty green grass. 29 00:01:02,029 --> 00:01:03,630 I know everybody else like to have that pretty green grass 30 00:01:03,630 --> 00:01:04,598 or whatever grass that you have 31 00:01:04,598 --> 00:01:05,832 in your landscape. 32 00:01:05,832 --> 00:01:07,634 And this is a good time to start doing things 33 00:01:07,634 --> 00:01:08,802 and getting ready for that. 34 00:01:08,802 --> 00:01:10,504 The first thing I start out doing would be 35 00:01:10,504 --> 00:01:11,772 getting me a soil test. 36 00:01:11,772 --> 00:01:13,540 If I read that and I had a soil test, 37 00:01:13,540 --> 00:01:14,675 and then it's going to tell you what you need to 38 00:01:14,675 --> 00:01:15,943 add to your soil. 39 00:01:15,943 --> 00:01:17,210 Whether you need to add lime or what kind 40 00:01:17,210 --> 00:01:18,712 of fertilizer I need to add to it 41 00:01:18,712 --> 00:01:20,247 because the soil pH is very important in any kind 42 00:01:20,247 --> 00:01:21,848 when you're trying to grow your lawn grass 43 00:01:21,848 --> 00:01:23,717 'cause for most lawn grass, 44 00:01:23,717 --> 00:01:25,285 you need a soil pH   between 6.0 and 6.5. 45 00:01:26,586 --> 00:01:28,288 And the only way to tell   that is by a soil test. 46 00:01:28,288 --> 00:01:30,123 And reading everything about that soil test, 47 00:01:30,123 --> 00:01:31,591 your soil pH is very important. 48 00:01:31,591 --> 00:01:32,793 - Very important. 49 00:01:32,793 --> 00:01:33,627 - Very important. 50 00:01:33,627 --> 00:01:34,895 If the pH is off, 51 00:01:34,895 --> 00:01:35,896 if it's too high, all the other nutrients 52 00:01:35,896 --> 00:01:37,097 you put down on your lawn 53 00:01:37,097 --> 00:01:39,132 is not going to be used up by the plant. 54 00:01:39,132 --> 00:01:40,367 You want to make sure that it's used up 55 00:01:40,367 --> 00:01:41,635 by the plant, and then when you put it on there 56 00:01:41,635 --> 00:01:43,637 So if not, then they're not going to work right. 57 00:01:43,637 --> 00:01:47,541 You just add fertilizer in there and it's not doing any good. 58 00:01:47,541 --> 00:01:49,576 So if you have somebody to take care of your lawn 59 00:01:49,576 --> 00:01:51,311 you need to ask them to do a soil test sometime, 60 00:01:51,311 --> 00:01:52,779 you know just do a soil test 61 00:01:52,779 --> 00:01:54,481 and to make sure that you have it, that's right. 62 00:01:54,481 --> 00:01:55,949 - You're exactly right. 63 00:01:55,949 --> 00:01:57,217 Your soil pH is all about nutrient availability. 64 00:01:57,217 --> 00:01:58,919 So you definitely want to get that right. 65 00:01:58,919 --> 00:02:01,822 - Another thing I do it every year. 66 00:02:01,822 --> 00:02:03,557 I like to sharpen my lawn mower blade 67 00:02:03,557 --> 00:02:05,192 before you get started sharpening 68 00:02:05,192 --> 00:02:06,493 make sure you have a sharp blade, right? 69 00:02:06,493 --> 00:02:08,729 'Cause you don't want to start cutting the grass 70 00:02:08,729 --> 00:02:10,364 with a dull blade. 71 00:02:10,364 --> 00:02:11,765 When you have a dull blade, 72 00:02:11,765 --> 00:02:13,166 it's not going to cut the grass. 73 00:02:13,166 --> 00:02:14,668 It's just going to beat it down. 74 00:02:14,668 --> 00:02:17,671 And so I sharpen mine twice during the growing season. 75 00:02:17,671 --> 00:02:19,673 Yeah. And they easy to take off. 76 00:02:19,673 --> 00:02:20,607 One thing you might want to do 77 00:02:20,607 --> 00:02:21,975 you might want to take the plug, 78 00:02:21,975 --> 00:02:23,176 remove the spark plug wire. 79 00:02:23,176 --> 00:02:24,378 You don't want people in there working 80 00:02:24,378 --> 00:02:25,779 with the spark plug wire on there. 81 00:02:25,779 --> 00:02:27,180 You want to make sure it don't start up 82 00:02:27,180 --> 00:02:28,782 or something cause you could have an accident 83 00:02:28,782 --> 00:02:30,283 and you don't want to do that. 84 00:02:30,283 --> 00:02:31,551 When you take it off, then make sure you know how 85 00:02:31,551 --> 00:02:32,986 to put it back on there because if not 86 00:02:32,986 --> 00:02:34,654 and you put it back on there wrong, 87 00:02:34,654 --> 00:02:35,856 it's not going to do a good job cutting. 88 00:02:35,856 --> 00:02:37,190 When I first took mine out the first time 89 00:02:37,190 --> 00:02:39,326 I had to go back to a store 90 00:02:39,326 --> 00:02:41,061 and look at the lawn mower to 91 00:02:41,061 --> 00:02:42,329 see how that blade go on there. 92 00:02:42,329 --> 00:02:43,663 So from now on I mark mine when you take it 93 00:02:43,663 --> 00:02:45,265 off there to make sure you put it back 94 00:02:45,265 --> 00:02:46,099 on there right. 95 00:02:46,099 --> 00:02:47,267 - Right 96 00:02:47,267 --> 00:02:48,201 - That's a good thing to do in there, 97 00:02:48,201 --> 00:02:49,436 but you need that sharp blade. 98 00:02:49,436 --> 00:02:50,704 And that thing when you start cutting 99 00:02:50,704 --> 00:02:51,638 your lawn grass this year if you haven't 100 00:02:51,638 --> 00:02:53,807 been doing that, try to cut 101 00:02:53,807 --> 00:02:55,042 in different directions. 102 00:02:55,042 --> 00:02:56,376 You know, I try to do it all the time now. 103 00:02:56,376 --> 00:02:58,078 I didn't start doing it. 104 00:02:58,078 --> 00:02:59,680 Then you will see that grass begin to grow better. 105 00:02:59,680 --> 00:03:00,781 You want to cut it one way this time 106 00:03:00,781 --> 00:03:01,715 then another way next time 107 00:03:01,715 --> 00:03:03,250 and get that grass to stand up. 108 00:03:03,250 --> 00:03:04,751 - Right. 109 00:03:04,751 --> 00:03:05,585 - Because if you cut it the same way all the time, 110 00:03:05,585 --> 00:03:06,820 it's gonna be laying down. 111 00:03:06,820 --> 00:03:08,121 So you need to make sure you cut that grass 112 00:03:08,121 --> 00:03:09,356 in a different direction 113 00:03:09,356 --> 00:03:10,724 so it begins to stand up in there. 114 00:03:10,724 --> 00:03:11,958 - And you want it to stand up 115 00:03:11,958 --> 00:03:13,527 so you can get water and the fertilizer 116 00:03:13,527 --> 00:03:16,029 - You want to get down to where you're at. 117 00:03:16,029 --> 00:03:19,266 Then another thing, maintain the correct height. 118 00:03:19,266 --> 00:03:21,268 Now I cut mine low twice. 119 00:03:21,268 --> 00:03:23,503 If you haven't   made a cut already 120 00:03:23,503 --> 00:03:24,938 on that first   couple cuttings, 121 00:03:24,938 --> 00:03:26,406 I like to cut mine low. 122 00:03:26,406 --> 00:03:27,641 I like to bag that grass 123 00:03:27,641 --> 00:03:29,342 and get all that dead grass out of there. 124 00:03:29,342 --> 00:03:30,577 - Okay. 125 00:03:30,577 --> 00:03:32,079 - Then I started working more to the 126 00:03:32,079 --> 00:03:33,346 correct height and cut for during the summertime. 127 00:03:33,346 --> 00:03:34,347 And you should have that pretty grass 128 00:03:34,347 --> 00:03:35,849 or something when you start 129 00:03:35,849 --> 00:03:37,184 doing that and stuff in there. 130 00:03:37,184 --> 00:03:38,452 So the other thing you want to do 131 00:03:38,452 --> 00:03:39,886 to your lawnmower in there, check it out, 132 00:03:39,886 --> 00:03:41,121 make sure you're ready to go. 133 00:03:41,121 --> 00:03:43,223 - Okay. So what kind of grass do you have? 134 00:03:43,223 --> 00:03:44,424 - I have Bermuda grass. 135 00:03:44,424 --> 00:03:45,358 - Okay. 136 00:03:45,358 --> 00:03:46,927 - Yeah, I have Bermuda grass. 137 00:03:46,927 --> 00:03:49,262 My grass now is still kind of dormant. 138 00:03:49,262 --> 00:03:50,497 - Okay. 139 00:03:50,497 --> 00:03:51,731 - Mine begin to come out of dormancy right now. 140 00:03:51,731 --> 00:03:53,100 - Okay. 141 00:03:53,100 --> 00:03:55,368 Now do we need to be concerned about any diseases, 142 00:03:55,368 --> 00:03:57,204 you know, in our lawns? 143 00:03:57,204 --> 00:03:58,538 - We could be. It'll depend on what 144 00:03:58,538 --> 00:04:00,040 kind of winter you had. 145 00:04:00,040 --> 00:04:00,941 If you had a lot of snow in there, 146 00:04:00,941 --> 00:04:02,409 a lot of ice on it. 147 00:04:02,409 --> 00:04:03,443 And it stayed on there for a long period of time 148 00:04:03,443 --> 00:04:05,312 and you had poor drainage. 149 00:04:05,312 --> 00:04:07,013 You might see that grass to begin to 150 00:04:07,013 --> 00:04:08,782 not come out right now. 151 00:04:08,782 --> 00:04:11,118 Cause it could be, it damaged the root system. 152 00:04:11,118 --> 00:04:14,254 But normally we have brown patches, 153 00:04:14,254 --> 00:04:15,555 spring dead spots. 154 00:04:15,555 --> 00:04:16,623 Look over the whole   lawn and you'll see 155 00:04:16,623 --> 00:04:17,891 if your grass   not coming out 156 00:04:17,891 --> 00:04:19,326 and you have little   spots out in there. 157 00:04:19,326 --> 00:04:21,061 You probably have one of those fungus disease on there. 158 00:04:21,061 --> 00:04:22,529 - Okay. 159 00:04:22,529 --> 00:04:23,797 - Could begin looking at and see how to control that. 160 00:04:23,797 --> 00:04:25,766 - Okay. And what about soil insect pests? 161 00:04:25,766 --> 00:04:27,033 - What we do have a lot of times now, 162 00:04:27,033 --> 00:04:28,068 a lot of times we start having 163 00:04:28,068 --> 00:04:29,169 you might have like armyworm, 164 00:04:29,169 --> 00:04:30,437 that get on there sometimes. 165 00:04:30,437 --> 00:04:32,806 Sometimes you have bugs in the grass, 166 00:04:32,806 --> 00:04:34,908 grubworms under the lawn in there. 167 00:04:34,908 --> 00:04:36,209 And so you need to check that 168 00:04:36,209 --> 00:04:37,477 and how you check for that. 169 00:04:37,477 --> 00:04:38,745 You might want to dig a section of that 170 00:04:38,745 --> 00:04:40,280 out of there, look in there see if you have 171 00:04:40,280 --> 00:04:42,015 a lot of insects in there. 172 00:04:42,015 --> 00:04:42,849 If you do then you might wanna 173 00:04:42,849 --> 00:04:44,384 start a lawn treatment. 174 00:04:44,384 --> 00:04:45,485 - Okay. All right. 175 00:04:45,485 --> 00:04:47,487 So what about aeration? 176 00:04:47,487 --> 00:04:51,291 So when do we need the aerate our cool season grasses 177 00:04:51,291 --> 00:04:52,559 and our warm season grasses? 178 00:04:52,559 --> 00:04:54,427 Why do we need to do that anyway? 179 00:04:54,427 --> 00:04:56,596 - That's a good question, we need to do that too. 180 00:04:56,596 --> 00:04:59,199 Now I did mine a couple years ago. 181 00:04:59,199 --> 00:05:00,600 Aerate it. 182 00:05:00,600 --> 00:05:02,936 I de-thatch it, and that made a big difference 183 00:05:02,936 --> 00:05:04,604 in that lawn grass in there. 184 00:05:04,604 --> 00:05:06,373 We opened that grass up some 185 00:05:06,373 --> 00:05:08,275 and we got a lot of traffic on there. 186 00:05:08,275 --> 00:05:09,809 Open up the grass and it began to breathe better. 187 00:05:09,809 --> 00:05:11,011 Water got down in there. 188 00:05:12,078 --> 00:05:13,113 I saw a big difference in there. 189 00:05:13,113 --> 00:05:14,314 - Okay. 190 00:05:14,314 --> 00:05:15,248 - But when you want to do that now, 191 00:05:15,248 --> 00:05:16,650 when that grass begins to grow. 192 00:05:16,650 --> 00:05:19,252 You know, Bermuda   grass and zoysia grass, 193 00:05:19,252 --> 00:05:20,754 you want to do it when   that grass begin to grow. 194 00:05:20,754 --> 00:05:23,490 You don't want to do it   into the dormancy season. 195 00:05:23,490 --> 00:05:25,492 'Cause you don't want to   expose the root system 196 00:05:25,492 --> 00:05:29,362 to winter weather   all winter long. 197 00:05:29,362 --> 00:05:30,730 And for your fescue lawn 198 00:05:30,730 --> 00:05:32,065 that probably   sometime in September, 199 00:05:32,065 --> 00:05:33,066 you got a   cool season grass. 200 00:05:33,066 --> 00:05:34,301 Whenever you want   to do that, 201 00:05:34,301 --> 00:05:35,468 you want to do it   in the coolest, 202 00:05:35,468 --> 00:05:37,604 when that grass   begins to grow. 203 00:05:37,604 --> 00:05:38,438 So you want to do it   when that grass begins 204 00:05:38,438 --> 00:05:39,506 to grow in there. 205 00:05:39,506 --> 00:05:40,707 So you don't   want to do it 206 00:05:40,707 --> 00:05:42,108 when that grass goes into a dormancy 207 00:05:42,108 --> 00:05:43,610 I want it just fresh coming out of the dormancy. 208 00:05:43,610 --> 00:05:44,878 But when they get out, you want to aerate it then. 209 00:05:44,878 --> 00:05:46,112 - Okay. 210 00:05:46,112 --> 00:05:46,913 - And you will see a big difference there, 211 00:05:46,913 --> 00:05:48,181 you need to try that. 212 00:05:48,181 --> 00:05:49,716 And then you got a lot of dead grass, 213 00:05:49,716 --> 00:05:50,951 a lot of thatch in there. 214 00:05:50,951 --> 00:05:53,320 You get you something   like a garden rake. 215 00:05:53,320 --> 00:05:55,488 If you've got little small   areas and rake across 216 00:05:55,488 --> 00:05:57,357 and get all that dead   grass out of there. 217 00:05:57,357 --> 00:05:58,558 And then when   I like to bag mine 218 00:05:58,558 --> 00:05:59,826 the first couple times 219 00:05:59,826 --> 00:06:01,361 you get all that dead grass out of there. 220 00:06:01,361 --> 00:06:03,063 - So why would we want to get that dead grass out of there? 221 00:06:03,063 --> 00:06:05,098 - It can add thatch over a period of time. 222 00:06:05,098 --> 00:06:06,867 It can begin to do that. 223 00:06:06,867 --> 00:06:08,034 Then you have less water getting 224 00:06:08,034 --> 00:06:10,103 down into the root system. 225 00:06:10,103 --> 00:06:11,104 You have less fertilizer getting 226 00:06:11,104 --> 00:06:12,339 into the root system 227 00:06:12,339 --> 00:06:13,506 and you're wasting a lot of money. 228 00:06:13,506 --> 00:06:14,708 - Okay. 229 00:06:14,708 --> 00:06:16,476 - Another thing that if you need to 230 00:06:16,476 --> 00:06:18,011 water that grass, you wanna water it 231 00:06:18,011 --> 00:06:19,279 early in the morning time. 232 00:06:19,279 --> 00:06:20,714 A lot of times you start watering the grass 233 00:06:20,714 --> 00:06:23,083 late at night and in the evening time, 234 00:06:23,083 --> 00:06:25,285 you can start adding disease problems 235 00:06:25,285 --> 00:06:26,219 to that grass. 236 00:06:26,219 --> 00:06:27,454 So you don't want to do that. 237 00:06:27,454 --> 00:06:30,123 If you've got a really good thick turf, 238 00:06:30,123 --> 00:06:32,025 you can get out a lot of weeds. 239 00:06:32,025 --> 00:06:34,160 It'll choke all that out of there. 240 00:06:34,160 --> 00:06:36,663 So you won't have that problem in there. 241 00:06:36,663 --> 00:06:38,365 I cut it twice a week and 242 00:06:38,365 --> 00:06:40,867 when we cut it twice a week there, 243 00:06:40,867 --> 00:06:43,003 I'm not moving, but just clip it off there. 244 00:06:43,003 --> 00:06:45,205 And I leave old clippings on the lawn 245 00:06:45,205 --> 00:06:47,207 and that adds nitrogen to your soil. 246 00:06:47,207 --> 00:06:48,441 - Okay. 247 00:06:48,441 --> 00:06:50,143 - Yeah and then you don't want it 248 00:06:50,143 --> 00:06:51,578 to look like hay out there when you cut it, 249 00:06:51,578 --> 00:06:53,046 you don't want just a whole lot of hay out there. 250 00:06:53,046 --> 00:06:54,814 You want to cut it the way I cut it twice a week. 251 00:06:54,814 --> 00:06:56,116 And another thing I can cut it faster 252 00:06:56,116 --> 00:06:57,450 when I cut it twice a week. 253 00:06:58,551 --> 00:06:59,719 If you go a real period of time that like, 254 00:06:59,719 --> 00:07:01,087 we have a lot of rain, 255 00:07:01,087 --> 00:07:02,689 I can't go out there and cut it. 256 00:07:02,689 --> 00:07:04,324 Then I might go bag it then. 257 00:07:04,324 --> 00:07:06,426 To keep some of the other grass off 258 00:07:06,426 --> 00:07:09,362 and I get back to cutting it like I should have. 259 00:07:09,362 --> 00:07:11,898 - So we were talking about fertilizer earlier, right? 260 00:07:11,898 --> 00:07:13,500 And we want people to fertilize according 261 00:07:13,500 --> 00:07:14,968 to the soil test. 262 00:07:14,968 --> 00:07:17,570 So you get, when you get the analysis back 263 00:07:17,570 --> 00:07:19,739 how do you fertilize your lawn? 264 00:07:19,739 --> 00:07:22,175 - When I fertilize my lawn, if it says 265 00:07:22,175 --> 00:07:24,210 add 50 pounds, 266 00:07:24,210 --> 00:07:26,313 I go different directions. 267 00:07:26,313 --> 00:07:27,847 I go half this way. 268 00:07:27,847 --> 00:07:30,317 I put 25 pounds this way   and 25 pounds other way. 269 00:07:30,317 --> 00:07:32,018 I make sure I get   a good coverage. 270 00:07:32,018 --> 00:07:33,520 And another thing I   see a lot of times 271 00:07:33,520 --> 00:07:35,689 people have these   fertilized lawn grass, 272 00:07:35,689 --> 00:07:36,956 and they have a lot of   fertilizer on the sidewalk. 273 00:07:36,956 --> 00:07:38,958 You you don't want to get on the sidewalk. 274 00:07:38,958 --> 00:07:41,561 That's not going to do any good on the sidewalk 275 00:07:41,561 --> 00:07:45,398 but you want to make sure that you get it on the lawn. 276 00:07:45,398 --> 00:07:46,666 - You know, we were talking about the 277 00:07:46,666 --> 00:07:47,467 warm season grasses Bermuda and zoysia, 278 00:07:47,467 --> 00:07:48,435 how often, you know, 279 00:07:48,435 --> 00:07:49,703 should we fertilize them 280 00:07:49,703 --> 00:07:51,471 with the nitrogen fertilizer though. 281 00:07:51,471 --> 00:07:53,273 - One of the things about nitrogen fertilizer 282 00:07:53,273 --> 00:07:54,974 on the bag you gonna   see three numbers. 283 00:07:54,974 --> 00:07:58,978 your nitrogen, your   phosphorus, and potassium. 284 00:07:58,978 --> 00:08:02,082 The nitrogen it don't   stay in the soil too long 285 00:08:02,082 --> 00:08:04,884 grass kind of use   that up because 286 00:08:04,884 --> 00:08:07,253 it normally do two things to the plant, 287 00:08:07,253 --> 00:08:09,089 make it grow and turn it green. 288 00:08:09,089 --> 00:08:10,023 - Okay. 289 00:08:10,023 --> 00:08:12,058 - You know, you put that on it 290 00:08:12,058 --> 00:08:14,227 about three times during the growing season, 291 00:08:15,328 --> 00:08:17,697 but your phosphorus and potassium, 292 00:08:17,697 --> 00:08:19,399 they build up in the soil. 293 00:08:19,399 --> 00:08:20,600 That's why I say you might not want to, 294 00:08:20,600 --> 00:08:21,968 you might want to look at your fertilizer 295 00:08:21,968 --> 00:08:22,969 when you're putting it down, 296 00:08:22,969 --> 00:08:24,838 because you might want to say 297 00:08:24,838 --> 00:08:27,140 like 13-13-13. 298 00:08:27,140 --> 00:08:28,508 Well, those second two numbers 299 00:08:28,508 --> 00:08:29,709 you might wanna drop those down later on 300 00:08:29,709 --> 00:08:31,378 'cause they, they can build up in the soil and 301 00:08:31,378 --> 00:08:33,046 based on your soil test, but normally 302 00:08:33,046 --> 00:08:34,581 the nitrogen leaches itself out fast, 303 00:08:34,581 --> 00:08:36,383 it don't stay in there too long. 304 00:08:36,383 --> 00:08:39,853 It comes, do it's job, turn it green, and make it grow. 305 00:08:39,853 --> 00:08:41,321 - And make it grow. 306 00:08:41,321 --> 00:08:42,589 - But the phosphorus and potassium 307 00:08:42,589 --> 00:08:44,157 they can go for the root system. 308 00:08:44,157 --> 00:08:45,158 And also, they fight off diseases. 309 00:08:45,158 --> 00:08:46,726 - Okay. All right. 310 00:08:46,726 --> 00:08:48,128 So we do all those things 311 00:08:48,128 --> 00:08:51,031 and we'll have nice clean lawn right. 312 00:08:51,031 --> 00:08:52,665 From the spring into the summer. 313 00:08:52,665 --> 00:08:55,468 Yeah. We appreciate that good information. 314 00:08:55,468 --> 00:08:56,603 - Thank you. 315 00:08:56,603 --> 00:08:59,205 [upbeat country music] 316 00:09:03,510 --> 00:09:04,711 - Blight. 317 00:09:04,711 --> 00:09:05,545 We say blight, especially dealing 318 00:09:05,545 --> 00:09:06,379 with tomatoes, right? 319 00:09:06,379 --> 00:09:08,081 We always say blight. 320 00:09:08,081 --> 00:09:09,816 - Oh yeah, got the blight. - The blight. 321 00:09:09,816 --> 00:09:11,051 - Oh, I got the blight. 322 00:09:11,051 --> 00:09:12,252 What can we do about the blight, you know? 323 00:09:12,252 --> 00:09:13,286 Yeah. It's a bad thing. 324 00:09:13,286 --> 00:09:14,554 It's definitely, I mean 325 00:09:14,554 --> 00:09:17,123 you can just have a lot of people say it blight. 326 00:09:17,123 --> 00:09:18,124 So yeah, it's the blight. 327 00:09:18,124 --> 00:09:19,359 It's a bad thing. 328 00:09:19,359 --> 00:09:21,294 And it can either be referring to 329 00:09:21,294 --> 00:09:22,896 a particular disease. 330 00:09:22,896 --> 00:09:24,097 - Okay. 331 00:09:24,097 --> 00:09:25,432 - We have a light blight, early blight, 332 00:09:25,432 --> 00:09:27,500 on tomatoes, or it could just, 333 00:09:27,500 --> 00:09:29,636 when you use the word blight, it could refer 334 00:09:29,636 --> 00:09:32,772 to actually the injury on the leaf. 335 00:09:32,772 --> 00:09:35,508 So it could be a disease,   or the injury that is 336 00:09:35,508 --> 00:09:39,145 caused by diseases   that are blights. 337 00:09:39,145 --> 00:09:43,216 What happens is it could be a   spot that could be the injury. 338 00:09:43,216 --> 00:09:44,818 It could be a lesion. 339 00:09:44,818 --> 00:09:47,454 It could be anything   or can be even death. 340 00:09:47,454 --> 00:09:49,923 You know, blight very   definitely can cause some 341 00:09:49,923 --> 00:09:53,593 of the bad ones can cause   eventually death of the plant. 342 00:09:53,593 --> 00:09:55,595 So it's a bad thing, you know, 343 00:09:55,595 --> 00:09:59,199 and if you've got blight, you need to do something 344 00:09:59,199 --> 00:10:01,000 to try to remedy the blight. 345 00:10:01,000 --> 00:10:03,069 And as you say, fungicides are, 346 00:10:03,069 --> 00:10:04,571 is the way to go, because most of the blights 347 00:10:04,571 --> 00:10:07,640 are caused by fungi. 348 00:10:07,640 --> 00:10:10,443 And most of our fungicides are only preventative. 349 00:10:10,443 --> 00:10:11,911 They're not curative. 350 00:10:11,911 --> 00:10:13,513 And the idea is to get it out there 351 00:10:13,513 --> 00:10:14,814 and get the foliage covered and 352 00:10:14,814 --> 00:10:16,449 the blossoms and the fruit. 353 00:10:16,449 --> 00:10:18,718 So it depends on exactly which blight 354 00:10:18,718 --> 00:10:19,886 we're trying to control. 355 00:10:19,886 --> 00:10:21,621 But yeah, it's a bad thing. 356 00:10:21,621 --> 00:10:24,224 [upbeat country music] 357 00:10:24,224 --> 00:10:25,992 - All right, Celeste, so we said that there 358 00:10:25,992 --> 00:10:28,027 was going to be some math involved. 359 00:10:28,027 --> 00:10:29,195 Well, now's the time for that math. 360 00:10:29,195 --> 00:10:30,196 - Yes, we did. 361 00:10:30,196 --> 00:10:31,030 - So what are you gonna show us? 362 00:10:31,030 --> 00:10:31,998 - Okay. 363 00:10:31,998 --> 00:10:34,234 Well, we're going to talk about proper fertilize, 364 00:10:34,234 --> 00:10:36,436 a proper fertilizer application on our lawns. 365 00:10:36,436 --> 00:10:37,837 For homeowners, when you get your 366 00:10:37,837 --> 00:10:40,406 soil sample results,   they're usually going to be 367 00:10:40,406 --> 00:10:43,409 recommending to apply a   certain amount of pounds 368 00:10:43,409 --> 00:10:47,580 of product per 1000   square feet of lawn. 369 00:10:47,580 --> 00:10:49,682 So before we get ready to get out there 370 00:10:49,682 --> 00:10:51,551 and put our fertilizer out, we need to make sure 371 00:10:51,551 --> 00:10:54,487 that our spreaders are applying that fertilizer 372 00:10:54,487 --> 00:10:57,190 at the appropriate rate. 373 00:10:57,190 --> 00:10:59,592 So what we want to do is a little 374 00:10:59,592 --> 00:11:01,261 on the fly calibration. 375 00:11:01,261 --> 00:11:03,563 You know, we're not going to get real technical with it. 376 00:11:03,563 --> 00:11:05,732 - On the fly. - On the fly calibration. 377 00:11:05,732 --> 00:11:10,236 So for example, say that your application rate 378 00:11:10,236 --> 00:11:13,172 is supposed to be 2 pounds of triple-15 379 00:11:13,172 --> 00:11:17,043 or triple-13 per 1,000 square feet. 380 00:11:17,043 --> 00:11:20,246 We are going to actually test that theory 381 00:11:20,246 --> 00:11:24,117 to make sure that your spreader's working properly. 382 00:11:24,117 --> 00:11:26,586 You want to set your gauge on your 383 00:11:26,586 --> 00:11:28,054 rotary-type spreader. 384 00:11:28,054 --> 00:11:30,490 This is broadcast spreader, it's rotary type. 385 00:11:30,490 --> 00:11:33,192 So that means the fan spins and disperses it. 386 00:11:33,192 --> 00:11:36,262 That's going to give you the best coverage. 387 00:11:36,262 --> 00:11:38,998 We want to make sure we set our setting 388 00:11:38,998 --> 00:11:40,200 at the appropriate rate. 389 00:11:40,200 --> 00:11:42,368 Your fertilizer bags usually tell you 390 00:11:42,368 --> 00:11:44,537 what rate to set that on. 391 00:11:44,537 --> 00:11:47,140 So that takes guesswork out of that. 392 00:11:47,140 --> 00:11:48,741 Next you need to decide, 393 00:11:48,741 --> 00:11:53,112 determine how wide the width of your spread is. 394 00:11:53,112 --> 00:11:54,047 And that's easy to do. 395 00:11:54,047 --> 00:11:55,481 You can go out on the pavement 396 00:11:55,481 --> 00:11:57,383 push a few feet and see, you know, 397 00:11:57,383 --> 00:12:01,187 measure the width of where you've thrown your fertilizer. 398 00:12:01,187 --> 00:12:02,889 We know that this spreader has 399 00:12:02,889 --> 00:12:04,557 a five-foot width spread. 400 00:12:05,725 --> 00:12:09,028 So we're going to push it for approximately 401 00:12:09,028 --> 00:12:10,363 a hundred feet. 402 00:12:10,363 --> 00:12:14,434 One hundred times five is five   hundred square feet, right? 403 00:12:14,434 --> 00:12:16,869 So that's half of a thousand. 404 00:12:16,869 --> 00:12:21,074 So our application said   two pounds per thousand. 405 00:12:21,074 --> 00:12:23,443 We've measured one   pound of fertilizer 406 00:12:23,443 --> 00:12:26,212 and we're going to push   it across 500 square feet. 407 00:12:26,212 --> 00:12:28,281 So when I get to the end, if I still have 408 00:12:28,281 --> 00:12:31,117 fertilizer left, I pushed too fast 409 00:12:31,117 --> 00:12:33,453 or my gauge isn't set properly, 410 00:12:33,453 --> 00:12:36,356 and we need to open that gate a little higher. 411 00:12:36,356 --> 00:12:39,425 If you run out before you get to the end 412 00:12:39,425 --> 00:12:42,362 then you're pushing way too slow 413 00:12:42,362 --> 00:12:44,497 or your door is way too wide open 414 00:12:44,497 --> 00:12:45,698 and you need to lower it, okay? 415 00:12:45,698 --> 00:12:46,899 - Okay. 416 00:12:46,899 --> 00:12:48,534 - So I think we're going to do a little demo 417 00:12:48,534 --> 00:12:51,170 pushing it and then we'll   see where we end up. 418 00:13:04,784 --> 00:13:06,019 - All right, Celeste, what do you think? 419 00:13:06,019 --> 00:13:07,920 - All right, well, we got pretty close. 420 00:13:07,920 --> 00:13:09,489 We don't have much fertilizer left 421 00:13:09,489 --> 00:13:11,157 in the bottom of our hopper there. 422 00:13:11,157 --> 00:13:12,425 So that means that we got, you know 423 00:13:12,425 --> 00:13:13,860 we were pretty accurate as far as 424 00:13:13,860 --> 00:13:16,062 our speed, like I said, there's a little left, 425 00:13:16,062 --> 00:13:18,564 so I may have been able to walk a little slower. 426 00:13:18,564 --> 00:13:20,066 Slow my pace down a little bit 427 00:13:20,066 --> 00:13:22,335 and then we'd pretty much be on target. 428 00:13:23,936 --> 00:13:26,172 Like we said before, if you'd had quite a bit left 429 00:13:26,172 --> 00:13:29,075 you want to slow your speed down considerably 430 00:13:29,075 --> 00:13:31,744 and maybe consider raising your gate there 431 00:13:31,744 --> 00:13:33,913 that lets your fertilizer out as you walk. 432 00:13:33,913 --> 00:13:35,982 So I think that was a good, 433 00:13:35,982 --> 00:13:38,284 a good example of how you can do 434 00:13:38,284 --> 00:13:41,254 on the fly calibration right out in your own yard. 435 00:13:41,254 --> 00:13:44,090 - On the fly with some good junior high math, right? 436 00:13:44,090 --> 00:13:45,024 - There you go. There you go. 437 00:13:45,024 --> 00:13:46,392 - All right, well let's talk 438 00:13:46,392 --> 00:13:48,127 about some other applicators we have out here. 439 00:13:48,127 --> 00:13:49,829 So you want to start with the sprayer? 440 00:13:49,829 --> 00:13:51,898 - Yeah, sure we can. 441 00:13:51,898 --> 00:13:55,201 Okay, lots of spray application rates, 442 00:13:55,201 --> 00:13:59,172 especially for herbicides and insecticides especially, 443 00:13:59,172 --> 00:14:01,941 are going to also give their recommendation rates 444 00:14:01,941 --> 00:14:06,179 in ounces per gallon. - Right. 445 00:14:06,179 --> 00:14:07,380 - But then they will specify 446 00:14:07,380 --> 00:14:09,015 that you need to use that one gallon 447 00:14:09,015 --> 00:14:11,250 of water over a certain amount of area. 448 00:14:11,250 --> 00:14:13,986 And that's where a lot of people get poor insect 449 00:14:13,986 --> 00:14:15,521 and poor weed control when they're 450 00:14:15,521 --> 00:14:17,757 trying to apply these because they're not 451 00:14:17,757 --> 00:14:19,425 getting the appropriate amount 452 00:14:19,425 --> 00:14:22,595 of solution on the appropriate area. 453 00:14:22,595 --> 00:14:24,931 So one way that you could make sure 454 00:14:24,931 --> 00:14:26,399 that you're doing that properly 455 00:14:26,399 --> 00:14:30,236 before you actually mix your herbicide or insecticide 456 00:14:30,236 --> 00:14:31,971 in there is that you could fill it up 457 00:14:31,971 --> 00:14:35,508 with just water and mark off 458 00:14:35,508 --> 00:14:38,277 a 10-by-10-foot area. 459 00:14:38,277 --> 00:14:40,179 That's a hundred square feet 460 00:14:40,179 --> 00:14:43,116 and apply, you know, your liquid. 461 00:14:43,116 --> 00:14:44,283 Or actually I would just go ahead 462 00:14:44,283 --> 00:14:45,718 and do a 10-by-100, 463 00:14:45,718 --> 00:14:48,488 as long as it's just water and cover that area. 464 00:14:48,488 --> 00:14:51,224 And if you use your entire gallon, then you know 465 00:14:51,224 --> 00:14:54,060 that you are applying it at the appropriate amount. 466 00:14:54,060 --> 00:14:55,995 And if you have some left then that means 467 00:14:55,995 --> 00:14:58,798 you need to walk slower with your applications. 468 00:14:58,798 --> 00:15:01,467 So that's another quick calibration method 469 00:15:01,467 --> 00:15:04,470 for handheld, even backpack sprayers. 470 00:15:04,470 --> 00:15:06,739 And it's going to vary a little bit, because you're always 471 00:15:06,739 --> 00:15:09,008 having to pump up the pressure. 472 00:15:09,008 --> 00:15:11,310 So you want to try to maintain, you know, as 473 00:15:11,310 --> 00:15:13,446 as a good even pressure as you can while you're 474 00:15:13,446 --> 00:15:14,647 doing that. 475 00:15:14,647 --> 00:15:16,115 - Because of course with these, you can build 476 00:15:16,115 --> 00:15:16,649 up enough pressure before you even get started. 477 00:15:16,649 --> 00:15:17,350 Right? 478 00:15:17,350 --> 00:15:18,584 - Yeah. 479 00:15:18,584 --> 00:15:19,252 But I mean, it's going to decrease 480 00:15:19,252 --> 00:15:20,419 as you go down. 481 00:15:20,419 --> 00:15:22,054 So you got to take that into account also. 482 00:15:22,054 --> 00:15:23,289 - Okay. All right. 483 00:15:23,289 --> 00:15:25,825 Now what about a hose end sprayer? 484 00:15:25,825 --> 00:15:27,126 - Hose end sprayers are great. 485 00:15:27,126 --> 00:15:29,162 It takes a lot of the guesswork out of it. 486 00:15:29,162 --> 00:15:31,297 You don't have to do really any calibration 487 00:15:31,297 --> 00:15:32,865 because it's doing it for you. 488 00:15:32,865 --> 00:15:35,635 This is the simplest kind that you can get. 489 00:15:35,635 --> 00:15:37,770 If it calls for two ounces per gallon 490 00:15:37,770 --> 00:15:39,772 you put two ounces of chemical in it. 491 00:15:39,772 --> 00:15:41,274 And then you fill it up 492 00:15:41,274 --> 00:15:44,544 with water to the line that says one gallon. 493 00:15:44,544 --> 00:15:46,279 You hook your hose up to it 494 00:15:46,279 --> 00:15:47,680 and you start spraying. 495 00:15:47,680 --> 00:15:50,750 And when it runs out of material in your bottle, 496 00:15:50,750 --> 00:15:52,552 you've sprayed two gallons. 497 00:15:52,552 --> 00:15:55,221 So that's a pretty easy, straightforward way. 498 00:15:55,221 --> 00:15:56,622 There's some that have dials 499 00:15:56,622 --> 00:15:59,091 on the top and you have to set them yourself. 500 00:15:59,091 --> 00:16:01,027 So that gets a little more tricky. 501 00:16:01,027 --> 00:16:02,695 - Yeah. I think I'll stick with that one. 502 00:16:02,695 --> 00:16:03,529 No math. 503 00:16:03,529 --> 00:16:05,598 Right. 504 00:16:05,598 --> 00:16:08,601 Now, what about a handheld rotary sprayer? 505 00:16:08,601 --> 00:16:09,802 Spreader. 506 00:16:09,802 --> 00:16:11,370 - Handheld spreaders, I think are great 507 00:16:11,370 --> 00:16:13,606 for homeowners that have really small lawns. 508 00:16:13,606 --> 00:16:17,043 Or if you're needing to do a spot spreading 509 00:16:17,043 --> 00:16:18,778 for maybe you're trying to fill in 510 00:16:18,778 --> 00:16:20,713 some empty holes in your lawn with some seed, 511 00:16:20,713 --> 00:16:22,315 these are great for that, 512 00:16:22,315 --> 00:16:23,950 but you can also do fertilizer 513 00:16:23,950 --> 00:16:25,518 granular fertilizer out of them. 514 00:16:25,518 --> 00:16:27,687 And there's really no way to 515 00:16:27,687 --> 00:16:29,121 do calibrations with these. 516 00:16:29,121 --> 00:16:31,624 I'd say the most important thing to remember is 517 00:16:31,624 --> 00:16:34,427 that you need to always have a little bit of overlap. 518 00:16:34,427 --> 00:16:35,828 And that way you don't end up 519 00:16:35,828 --> 00:16:38,464 with bands that haven't gotten any fertilizer. 520 00:16:38,464 --> 00:16:41,033 It's really going to show up when that grass 521 00:16:41,033 --> 00:16:43,536 starts growing, you're going to have really 522 00:16:43,536 --> 00:16:45,605 dark green bands that have grown a lot. 523 00:16:45,605 --> 00:16:46,973 And then you'll be able to see the yellow 524 00:16:46,973 --> 00:16:50,943 or tints from where your fertilizer didn't get applied. 525 00:16:50,943 --> 00:16:51,811 - Okay. 526 00:16:51,811 --> 00:16:53,012 And you know what, 527 00:16:53,012 --> 00:16:54,146 and that also applies with this as well. 528 00:16:54,146 --> 00:16:55,381 - It does. 529 00:16:55,381 --> 00:16:56,816 - So you have to do some overlapping. 530 00:16:56,816 --> 00:16:58,651 You have to make sure you get good coverage. 531 00:16:58,651 --> 00:16:59,919 - And another tip on that is 532 00:16:59,919 --> 00:17:02,255 if you have a irregularly shaped yard, 533 00:17:02,255 --> 00:17:03,589 say that, you know your lot's not a 534 00:17:03,589 --> 00:17:05,091 perfect square or rectangle. 535 00:17:05,091 --> 00:17:05,925 - Which mine is not. 536 00:17:05,925 --> 00:17:07,593 - Hardly anyone's is. 537 00:17:07,593 --> 00:17:10,596 You probably want to do your perimeter first. 538 00:17:10,596 --> 00:17:12,598 And that way you make sure you get coverage 539 00:17:12,598 --> 00:17:14,934 in those odd areas, because we're going to 540 00:17:14,934 --> 00:17:17,904 be doing our applications mostly in 541 00:17:17,904 --> 00:17:20,139 vertical, horizontal lines. 542 00:17:20,139 --> 00:17:21,641 - Right. And that's exactly what I do. 543 00:17:21,641 --> 00:17:23,943 And one last thing that I like to let people know 544 00:17:23,943 --> 00:17:26,178 is, look, if that fertilizer gets 545 00:17:26,178 --> 00:17:28,014 in your driveway, make sure you sweep it 546 00:17:28,014 --> 00:17:29,515 back up into your lawn, because you don't want 547 00:17:29,515 --> 00:17:31,918 that to go down to the water sewage systems. 548 00:17:31,918 --> 00:17:33,386 - Definitely. 549 00:17:33,386 --> 00:17:35,154 - I mean, there's fish at the end of that chain. 550 00:17:35,154 --> 00:17:36,289 So we definitely don't want the fertilizer 551 00:17:36,289 --> 00:17:37,757 to get down in there. 552 00:17:37,757 --> 00:17:39,325 - Yeah, making sure we get that fertilizer put on 553 00:17:39,325 --> 00:17:40,426 the appropriate area. 554 00:17:40,426 --> 00:17:41,260 For sure. 555 00:17:41,260 --> 00:17:42,461 - All right, Celeste. 556 00:17:42,461 --> 00:17:43,262 Thank you for that demonstration. 557 00:17:43,262 --> 00:17:43,896 We appreciate that. 558 00:17:46,265 --> 00:17:49,035 [gentle country music] 559 00:17:49,035 --> 00:17:50,336 - This is 34-0-0. 560 00:17:50,336 --> 00:17:52,038 We're gonna do some side dressing. 561 00:17:52,038 --> 00:17:54,774 Okay, we want to encourage our vegetables 562 00:17:54,774 --> 00:17:56,943 to get real good, robust growth. 563 00:17:59,111 --> 00:18:01,814 On the side of our pepper plants here. 564 00:18:03,349 --> 00:18:05,184 How much do I need? 565 00:18:05,184 --> 00:18:06,786 I always use just about a handful. 566 00:18:06,786 --> 00:18:08,721 Really, to side dress it. 567 00:18:08,721 --> 00:18:10,156 That should be good enough once you 568 00:18:10,156 --> 00:18:11,157 get that watered in. 569 00:18:13,359 --> 00:18:15,294 And usually when you get your soil analysis back 570 00:18:15,294 --> 00:18:19,031 it'll tell you how much you need to put down 571 00:18:23,469 --> 00:18:25,671 in your garden for your vegetables. 572 00:18:28,007 --> 00:18:29,241 Last little bit here 573 00:18:29,241 --> 00:18:32,378 and that's how you side dress your vegetables. 574 00:18:32,378 --> 00:18:34,380 [gentle country music] 575 00:18:35,147 --> 00:18:36,382 All right, this is our Q and A session. 576 00:18:36,382 --> 00:18:37,283 You ready? 577 00:18:37,283 --> 00:18:38,217 - Ready. 578 00:18:38,217 --> 00:18:39,151 - This is a great question. 579 00:18:39,151 --> 00:18:40,086 - Okay then, ready to go. 580 00:18:40,086 --> 00:18:41,454 - Here's our first viewer email. 581 00:18:41,454 --> 00:18:43,990 "Our yard is almost   entirely zoysia 582 00:18:43,990 --> 00:18:46,392 "with a bit of   Bermuda in spots. 583 00:18:46,392 --> 00:18:47,860 "This year, we have   a grass we've 584 00:18:47,860 --> 00:18:49,328 "never seen before,   and it is 585 00:18:49,328 --> 00:18:51,630 "choking out our zoysia. 586 00:18:51,630 --> 00:18:53,532 "It is almost   impossible to pull it 587 00:18:53,532 --> 00:18:56,335 "up by the roots and it   spreads like Bermuda. 588 00:18:56,335 --> 00:18:58,671 "What is it, and how   do I get rid of it? 589 00:18:58,671 --> 00:19:00,940 Weed killer   did nothing to it." 590 00:19:00,940 --> 00:19:03,976 And this is Greg   in Midtown Memphis. 591 00:19:03,976 --> 00:19:05,945 Okay. So he wants to   know what is this? 592 00:19:05,945 --> 00:19:08,714 Because it's choking out his zoysia. 593 00:19:08,714 --> 00:19:09,915 - Looks like Bermuda grass got in there. 594 00:19:09,915 --> 00:19:12,585 Bermuda grass got into his zoysia grass. 595 00:19:12,585 --> 00:19:13,853 I had that same problem 596 00:19:13,853 --> 00:19:16,455 in our church plot in there and getting in there. 597 00:19:16,455 --> 00:19:18,257 It's hard to get it out of there. 598 00:19:18,257 --> 00:19:19,892 If you use a herbicide in there, 599 00:19:19,892 --> 00:19:21,994 you might use something like Ornamec 600 00:19:21,994 --> 00:19:23,195 and that'll try to kill it there. 601 00:19:23,195 --> 00:19:24,363 But one thing, when you use a herbicide is, 602 00:19:24,363 --> 00:19:25,197 you need to read the label. 603 00:19:25,197 --> 00:19:26,465 - That's right. 604 00:19:26,465 --> 00:19:27,700 - You need to read the label on there 605 00:19:27,700 --> 00:19:28,868 and it'll tell you how to use it on there. 606 00:19:28,868 --> 00:19:29,668 And then you might need to do it more than 607 00:19:29,668 --> 00:19:30,970 one time on there. 608 00:19:30,970 --> 00:19:32,471 So they don't have, it's gonna take 609 00:19:32,471 --> 00:19:33,739 some time to get up. 610 00:19:33,739 --> 00:19:34,940 And when you read the label on that 611 00:19:34,940 --> 00:19:36,308 you need to make sure that you don't 612 00:19:36,308 --> 00:19:37,910 use it at the right temperature. 613 00:19:37,910 --> 00:19:39,612 'Cause if you start spreading it wrong 614 00:19:39,612 --> 00:19:41,714 it can damage your zoysia grass, 615 00:19:41,714 --> 00:19:42,915 so you wanna make sure that you use it right. 616 00:19:42,915 --> 00:19:44,383 And read the label. 617 00:19:44,383 --> 00:19:45,351 That one thing we say, you got to read that label 618 00:19:45,351 --> 00:19:46,685 on there and go by the label. 619 00:19:46,685 --> 00:19:48,220 If it tell you you need to put so much in there, 620 00:19:48,220 --> 00:19:49,722 you need to do that. 621 00:19:49,722 --> 00:19:50,756 But yeah, it will be hard to get out there though. 622 00:19:50,756 --> 00:19:52,291 He got a tough job. 623 00:19:52,291 --> 00:19:53,759 - Yeah, it's going to definitely 624 00:19:53,759 --> 00:19:56,562 be multiple applications, Ornamec is something, 625 00:19:56,562 --> 00:19:58,864 the homeowner can   get Grass B Gon. 626 00:19:58,864 --> 00:20:02,234 Contains the same active   ingredient fluazifop. 627 00:20:02,234 --> 00:20:04,403 Yeah. So do read and   follow the label on that. 628 00:20:04,403 --> 00:20:07,273 Yeah, for sure, but like we always tell people, 629 00:20:07,273 --> 00:20:08,541 cultural practices. 630 00:20:08,541 --> 00:20:11,343 Make sure you're going to get a thick stand 631 00:20:11,343 --> 00:20:13,579 of zoysia, because zoysia is thick enough to 632 00:20:13,579 --> 00:20:15,848 it should be able to crowd out that Bermuda. 633 00:20:16,849 --> 00:20:17,817 - That really thick grass, 634 00:20:17,817 --> 00:20:19,285 and I like zoysia grass too. 635 00:20:19,285 --> 00:20:20,252 It's a really thick grass and it should crowd 636 00:20:20,252 --> 00:20:21,220 the Bermuda grass out of there. 637 00:20:21,220 --> 00:20:23,189 Yeah. But it'll take some time for him to do that now. 638 00:20:23,189 --> 00:20:24,490 But he got to read the label and 639 00:20:24,490 --> 00:20:26,625 go by the label, if not, it's not going to work. 640 00:20:26,625 --> 00:20:27,927 - Right. Right. 641 00:20:27,927 --> 00:20:29,195 And like you mentioned before, it'll tell you 642 00:20:29,195 --> 00:20:30,730 on the label about the temperature. 643 00:20:30,730 --> 00:20:31,731 So you don't want to spray when it's too hot 644 00:20:31,731 --> 00:20:32,932 because it can damage it. 645 00:20:32,932 --> 00:20:35,701 The zoysia as well. - That zoysia as well. 646 00:20:35,701 --> 00:20:37,203 You don't want that to happen in there. 647 00:20:37,203 --> 00:20:38,504 - So definitely read and follow the label on that. 648 00:20:38,504 --> 00:20:42,007 Just don't take our word for it. 649 00:20:42,007 --> 00:20:44,977 - And when I buy any kind of chemical, I like 650 00:20:44,977 --> 00:20:46,712 I like to take the label off there. 651 00:20:46,712 --> 00:20:48,214 And put it in a plastic bag 652 00:20:48,214 --> 00:20:49,448 and put it in a plastic bag or something. 653 00:20:49,448 --> 00:20:50,750 Cause if you keep, you keep messing with it 654 00:20:50,750 --> 00:20:53,185 on that thing, your hands sweating 655 00:20:53,185 --> 00:20:55,788 sometimes you sweat it out and 656 00:20:55,788 --> 00:20:56,622 you can't be able to read it. 657 00:20:56,622 --> 00:20:57,556 - That's a good point. 658 00:20:57,556 --> 00:20:58,491 - Yeah. And you take it off and 659 00:20:58,491 --> 00:20:59,425 put your little plastic bag 660 00:20:59,425 --> 00:21:00,659 and may put that plastic bag and 661 00:21:00,659 --> 00:21:02,528 tape it on the side of the container. 662 00:21:02,528 --> 00:21:04,029 Then you take it out there 663 00:21:04,029 --> 00:21:05,764 and read it when you need it and keep it covered. 664 00:21:05,764 --> 00:21:07,133 And that's a good thing to do. 665 00:21:07,133 --> 00:21:08,534 And you need to probably to do that. 666 00:21:08,534 --> 00:21:09,468 When you do that, when you buy any kind 667 00:21:09,468 --> 00:21:10,536 of label on the container, 668 00:21:10,536 --> 00:21:11,804 try to take it out there and 669 00:21:11,804 --> 00:21:13,272 put a little plastic bag, then put back. 670 00:21:13,272 --> 00:21:14,240 Then get you some tape and put back on there. 671 00:21:14,240 --> 00:21:15,141 - Oh, there you go. 672 00:21:15,141 --> 00:21:16,709 Yeah, preserve it. - Preserve it. 673 00:21:16,709 --> 00:21:18,210 Yeah, because you don't, you're sweating out there, 674 00:21:18,210 --> 00:21:19,612 you're cutting, you're sweating, you're trying to get the label 675 00:21:19,612 --> 00:21:21,013 later on and the ink will start fading off, 676 00:21:21,013 --> 00:21:23,215 and you won't be able to read it. 677 00:21:23,215 --> 00:21:24,483 Also, there's a number on there. 678 00:21:24,483 --> 00:21:26,385 You get, if you have a problem with it, 679 00:21:26,385 --> 00:21:27,653 and know you can call that number on that. 680 00:21:27,653 --> 00:21:28,988 On that label, so make sure you know that. 681 00:21:28,988 --> 00:21:30,289 - Right. They do have emergency numbers. 682 00:21:30,289 --> 00:21:32,725 Everything you need to know is on the label. 683 00:21:32,725 --> 00:21:34,026 So there you go, Greg. 684 00:21:34,026 --> 00:21:35,628 Hope that helps you out and good luck with that. 685 00:21:35,628 --> 00:21:36,562 All right. 686 00:21:36,562 --> 00:21:38,130 Here's our next viewer email. 687 00:21:38,130 --> 00:21:40,332 "We need to get grass   in our front yard 688 00:21:40,332 --> 00:21:44,036 "in an area located   under a large oak tree. 689 00:21:44,036 --> 00:21:46,405 "The area is   in shade all day. 690 00:21:46,405 --> 00:21:49,175 "What is the best kind of   sod to have installed? 691 00:21:49,175 --> 00:21:51,977 And when is the   best time to lay it?" 692 00:21:51,977 --> 00:21:54,413 This is Joe in   Bartlett, Tennessee. 693 00:21:54,413 --> 00:21:57,383 So as you can see there,   it's pretty large oak tree. 694 00:21:57,383 --> 00:21:59,818 Lots of shade. 695 00:21:59,818 --> 00:22:01,253 Are they going to have any success 696 00:22:01,253 --> 00:22:03,022 with grasses under that large oak tree? 697 00:22:03,022 --> 00:22:04,523 - You can. 698 00:22:04,523 --> 00:22:05,758 And then looking at that, it looked like the soil 699 00:22:05,758 --> 00:22:06,992 is kind of compact under there too. 700 00:22:06,992 --> 00:22:08,827 I saw the soil's compact in there, 701 00:22:08,827 --> 00:22:10,829 and he has two choices. 702 00:22:10,829 --> 00:22:12,164 He can just look at the sun. 703 00:22:12,164 --> 00:22:13,465 If he's getting about, 704 00:22:13,465 --> 00:22:14,967 at least four hours of sun, 705 00:22:14,967 --> 00:22:16,635 he might be to go   with a zoysia grass. 706 00:22:16,635 --> 00:22:18,304 Like we have the   Palisades or Royal. 707 00:22:18,304 --> 00:22:20,839 But if not, he's gonna have   to go with a fescue lawn. 708 00:22:20,839 --> 00:22:22,808 - Cause again, shade all day 709 00:22:22,808 --> 00:22:26,579 unless you limb up   some of those branches. 710 00:22:26,579 --> 00:22:28,647 - He probably needs to go with a fescue 711 00:22:28,647 --> 00:22:31,650 and the best time is later, that's in the fall of the year. 712 00:22:31,650 --> 00:22:35,688 As you can find this, you can start 713 00:22:35,688 --> 00:22:37,256 in the fall of the year and you can find some seed. 714 00:22:37,256 --> 00:22:39,892 You can seed it in the fall of the year. 715 00:22:39,892 --> 00:22:43,028 And if you want to sod it during the summertime 716 00:22:43,028 --> 00:22:45,130 you might to keep watering a lot. 717 00:22:45,130 --> 00:22:46,065 You gotta keep a lot of water on it. 718 00:22:46,065 --> 00:22:47,299 - It is a cool season grass. 719 00:22:47,299 --> 00:22:50,202 - And it might not do it well with the sun 720 00:22:50,202 --> 00:22:51,503 hitting so hard in there so 721 00:22:51,503 --> 00:22:53,305 I'd probably wait until the fall to do that. 722 00:22:53,305 --> 00:22:55,841 And for the sod, I'd seed it. 723 00:22:55,841 --> 00:22:57,276 - Okay. 724 00:22:57,276 --> 00:22:58,410 So again, your suggestion would be the fescue 725 00:22:58,410 --> 00:22:59,878 talking about shade. 726 00:22:59,878 --> 00:23:01,647 Now if you limb, you know, some of those branches 727 00:23:01,647 --> 00:23:04,416 up and get enough sun down there for maybe the, for the 728 00:23:06,118 --> 00:23:07,586 - Yeah go with zoysia, something like 729 00:23:07,586 --> 00:23:09,655 Palisades or Royal zoysia, after I look at those 730 00:23:09,655 --> 00:23:11,690 two in there and see how they work in there. 731 00:23:11,690 --> 00:23:13,525 But the fescue is probably your best option. 732 00:23:13,525 --> 00:23:14,760 - Okay. 733 00:23:14,760 --> 00:23:15,728 And something else we should mention as well. 734 00:23:15,728 --> 00:23:17,196 Get the soil tests. 735 00:23:17,196 --> 00:23:18,864 - Get the soil tests, that'll tell you what you 736 00:23:18,864 --> 00:23:20,599 before you're doing that, 737 00:23:20,599 --> 00:23:21,834 you don't want to waste your money 738 00:23:21,834 --> 00:23:24,236 putting your sod, 'cause sod is not cheap now. 739 00:23:24,236 --> 00:23:26,238 Sod is not cheap stuff in there. 740 00:23:26,238 --> 00:23:28,073 But like, looking at that tree, 741 00:23:28,073 --> 00:23:30,042 the soil is real compact. 742 00:23:30,042 --> 00:23:31,477 They need to aerate that real good, 743 00:23:31,477 --> 00:23:33,679 and then lay that sod in there. 744 00:23:33,679 --> 00:23:34,947 - Okay. 745 00:23:34,947 --> 00:23:36,348 Would they need to add any type of, 746 00:23:36,348 --> 00:23:38,150 you know, soil or compost, anything on top? 747 00:23:38,150 --> 00:23:39,451 - I wouldn't do anything to that. 748 00:23:39,451 --> 00:23:41,320 You might want to get, if it's real bad, 749 00:23:41,320 --> 00:23:42,655 you might wanna get your garden tools 750 00:23:42,655 --> 00:23:44,590 just run across there and try to till it up a little bit 751 00:23:44,590 --> 00:23:45,858 for that grass to come into good contact 752 00:23:45,858 --> 00:23:47,860 with some soil. 753 00:23:47,860 --> 00:23:49,395 So he might want to do that. 754 00:23:49,395 --> 00:23:50,529 He don't have much time, but he can, 755 00:23:50,529 --> 00:23:52,031 he can make it work. 756 00:23:52,031 --> 00:23:53,899 Now if you seed it, sometimes you might 757 00:23:53,899 --> 00:23:56,835 want to overseed it about, at least about three years, 758 00:23:56,835 --> 00:23:58,937 to get a good stand over seed and then you'll 759 00:23:58,937 --> 00:23:59,772 get a good stand. 760 00:23:59,772 --> 00:24:01,006 - Fill in the gaps. 761 00:24:01,006 --> 00:24:01,807 - Fill in the gap gaps in there, yeah. 762 00:24:01,807 --> 00:24:02,741 - Okay. All right. 763 00:24:02,741 --> 00:24:03,976 So there you have it, Joe. 764 00:24:03,976 --> 00:24:06,011 Yeah. We were thinking you might be successful 765 00:24:06,011 --> 00:24:06,845 with that. 766 00:24:06,845 --> 00:24:07,680 - I think so. 767 00:24:07,680 --> 00:24:08,947 - Get that soil test 768 00:24:08,947 --> 00:24:11,517 - Take some time, get a little work in there 769 00:24:11,517 --> 00:24:14,019 he can do that in there, so yeah. 770 00:24:14,019 --> 00:24:15,020 - Big tree. 771 00:24:15,020 --> 00:24:15,954 All right. 772 00:24:15,954 --> 00:24:17,456 So here's our next viewer email. 773 00:24:17,456 --> 00:24:20,459 "We have nimblewill   growing in our lawn. 774 00:24:20,459 --> 00:24:23,595 What can kill it without   harming our tall fescue?" 775 00:24:23,595 --> 00:24:26,165 And this is David in   Florence, Kentucky. 776 00:24:26,165 --> 00:24:27,333 All right. 777 00:24:27,333 --> 00:24:30,302 So nimblewill, we know, can be a problem. 778 00:24:30,302 --> 00:24:32,104 It resembles Bermuda. 779 00:24:32,104 --> 00:24:33,038 - Looks like   Bermuda grass, yeah. 780 00:24:33,038 --> 00:24:34,239 Yeah. Almost looks   like it, yeah. 781 00:24:34,239 --> 00:24:36,475 - Almost looks like it,   poor man's Bermuda. 782 00:24:36,475 --> 00:24:38,010 Is what I call it. 783 00:24:38,010 --> 00:24:39,478 - Like the first   thing you said though, 784 00:24:39,478 --> 00:24:42,915 really good turf,   thick turf in there now. 785 00:24:42,915 --> 00:24:45,351 You might can use some chemicals in there now 786 00:24:45,351 --> 00:24:46,285 you're going to try chemical herbicide 787 00:24:46,285 --> 00:24:47,853 in there to kill, I don't know. 788 00:24:47,853 --> 00:24:49,355 - Yeah. My, my thing is, you know 789 00:24:49,355 --> 00:24:51,890 I always like to start with cultural practices first. 790 00:24:51,890 --> 00:24:55,694 So nimblewill grows by seed and by stolens. 791 00:24:55,694 --> 00:24:56,929 Okay? 792 00:24:56,929 --> 00:24:59,098 So it's going to try to fill in space, right? 793 00:24:59,098 --> 00:25:00,733 So the thing with that is you need 794 00:25:00,733 --> 00:25:03,502 a good dense stand of grass. 795 00:25:03,502 --> 00:25:04,436 So make sure you have the appropriate 796 00:25:04,436 --> 00:25:06,105 grass species for that area. 797 00:25:07,406 --> 00:25:08,707 Mow it the correct height. 798 00:25:08,707 --> 00:25:09,908 - Correct height. 799 00:25:09,908 --> 00:25:11,143 - Fertilize, according to your soil test. 800 00:25:11,143 --> 00:25:13,145 Okay. Now, if you want to remove it, 801 00:25:13,145 --> 00:25:14,780 it's a couple of different things here. 802 00:25:14,780 --> 00:25:16,448 You can rake it out. 803 00:25:16,448 --> 00:25:18,350 You can either rake it out, or you can dig it out. 804 00:25:18,350 --> 00:25:21,220 Okay. Now we're talking about chemicals. 805 00:25:21,220 --> 00:25:23,055 There's a couple of different routes we can go. 806 00:25:23,055 --> 00:25:26,058 Pre-emerge, okay,   dithiopyr, is something 807 00:25:26,058 --> 00:25:26,992 you can use. 808 00:25:26,992 --> 00:25:29,128 Pendimethalin,   as a pre-emerge, 809 00:25:29,128 --> 00:25:30,529 but since it's already there, 810 00:25:30,529 --> 00:25:32,731 we're going to be   looking at a post-emerge. 811 00:25:32,731 --> 00:25:34,099 Right. And we're talking about 812 00:25:34,099 --> 00:25:36,068 a post-emerge in tall fescue. 813 00:25:36,068 --> 00:25:37,336 So the only thing that's labeled that 814 00:25:37,336 --> 00:25:39,772 the homeowner could   get is called Tenacity. 815 00:25:39,772 --> 00:25:42,007 Right? So it's Tenacity. 816 00:25:42,007 --> 00:25:45,411 Read and follow the label. 817 00:25:45,411 --> 00:25:48,147 So if you're going to go   the post-emerge route, 818 00:25:48,147 --> 00:25:49,381 there's Tenacity. 819 00:25:49,381 --> 00:25:50,849 But I want you to read and follow 820 00:25:50,849 --> 00:25:51,650 - You gotta follow the label directions on that. 821 00:25:51,650 --> 00:25:53,318 Because that's the law. 822 00:25:53,318 --> 00:25:55,120 That they stand behind that law and everything. 823 00:25:55,120 --> 00:25:56,588 So you need to do that. 824 00:25:56,588 --> 00:26:00,259 - And again, it will remove nimblewill from fescue. 825 00:26:01,460 --> 00:26:02,261 But you just gotta make sure that you 826 00:26:02,261 --> 00:26:03,228 read the label on that. 827 00:26:04,730 --> 00:26:05,798 Yeah. So they have it, David. 828 00:26:05,798 --> 00:26:07,466 Thank you for the question. 829 00:26:07,466 --> 00:26:10,202 That was fun. - That is fun, yeah. 830 00:26:10,202 --> 00:26:12,638 - Thank you much. - I enjoyed that. 831 00:26:12,638 --> 00:26:14,973 - Remember, we'd love   to hear from you. 832 00:26:14,973 --> 00:26:16,708 Send us an email or letter. 833 00:26:16,708 --> 00:26:20,312 The email address is   familyplot@wkno.org. 834 00:26:20,312 --> 00:26:22,281 And the mailing   address is Family Plot 835 00:26:22,281 --> 00:26:27,853 7151 Cherry Farms Road   Cordova, Tennessee 38016. 836 00:26:27,853 --> 00:26:31,623 Or you can go online to   familyplotgarden.com. 837 00:26:31,623 --> 00:26:33,692 That's all we have time for today. 838 00:26:33,692 --> 00:26:35,060 Thanks for joining us. 839 00:26:35,060 --> 00:26:36,962 If you want more information on anything 840 00:26:36,962 --> 00:26:38,497 we talked about today, 841 00:26:38,497 --> 00:26:40,866 head on over to familyplotgarden.com. 842 00:26:40,866 --> 00:26:42,768 We have linked Extension publications 843 00:26:42,768 --> 00:26:44,603 you can read to find out more. 844 00:26:44,603 --> 00:26:46,104 Be sure to join us next week 845 00:26:46,104 --> 00:26:48,674 for the Family Plot: Gardening in the Mid-South. 846 00:26:48,674 --> 00:26:50,309 Be safe. 847 00:26:50,309 --> 00:26:53,178 [upbeat country music] 848 00:27:02,788 --> 00:27:04,790 [acoustic guitar chords]