(bright music) - One of the most common questions I get is, where do you find all these people and yards that are on the show?

Well, most of the time people will email or tell me about their own yards, or someone else who has a yard that they think is terrific.

And they've always been right.

Today our guest and yard came about just like that.

Several years ago, we did a show on the Tracy area Garden & Quilt Tour.

Someone from that tour suggested this yard today, so let's check it out.

(uplifting music) - [Narrator] Funding for "Prairie Yard & Garden" is provided by Heartland Motor Company, providing service to Minnesota and the Dakotas for over 30 years, in the heart of truck country.

Heartland Motor Company.

We have your best interest at heart.

Farmers Mutual Telephone Company and Federated Telephone Cooperative, proud to be powering Acira.

Pioneers in bringing state-of-the-art technology to our rural communities.

Mark and Margaret Yeakel Jolene, in honor of Shalom Hill Farm, a nonprofit rural education retreat center in a beautiful prairie setting near Windham, Minnesota.

And by Friends of Prairie Yard & Garden, a community of supporters like you, who engage in the long-term growth of the series.

To become a friend of "Prairie Yard & Garden," visit pioneer.org/pyg.

(uplifting music) - I just love to go visit with long-time gardeners.

Whether it is growing flowers or vegetables, and sometimes it's both, we get so many good tips on growing methods, varieties to try, or ways to deal with the critters.

Today we are visiting with Connie Anderson from Tracy, Minnesota.

And when I called her some time back, she told me she has been growing plants for over 60 years.

I bet we can get lots of great growing tips and knowledge today.

Thanks for letting us come visit.

- It's my privilege.

Thank you very much.

- How did you get started gardening?

- Actually, the first gardening I did was with 4-H.

Flower gardening.

I think it just started from there and just kept growing.

- [Mary] So did your family do a lot of gardening?

- [Connie] My dad did most of the gardening, but only vegetables.

He said, "If you can't eat it, don't grow it."

(laughs) - [Mary] (laughs) I've heard that before.

So who taught you how to garden, then?

- [Connie] When I was first married, the neighbor lady gave me some plants.

I think I owe her part of the expertise.

- So how did you end up with a greenhouse?

- Oh gosh, that came many years later.

I worked at Greenwood Nursery in Tracy.

A lot of the customers would say, "You know so much about this, you should have your own nursery."

And I thought about that, and it happened.

I ended up with four greenhouses (laughs) out on the farm.

Yes.

- [Mary] And where was that?

- That was just about a mile and a half out of town on a gravel road.

But people came out.

And it was growing and it was growing, and pretty soon I just, it was getting to be more than I could handle, even with an employee.

And about that time we were going to move out to the lake, away from the farm.

And so I wasn't going to do it anymore.

But I did wanna take some plants with me, so I started digging.

And then pretty soon we moved out there, and pretty soon I'm back in business again.

I really loved doing it.

And so a lot of people from the lake area would come there, and that was a lot of fun.

I got to meet a lot of the neighbors.

That went quite well, too.

But the problem there was the deer.

They weren't so bad when we first moved there, but later on, they were just ferocious.

They just were eating everything, and I was getting more and more frustrated.

So we lived out there 15 years.

And I said, "You know, if we find a nice house in town, we're gonna move.

I can't take this anymore."

And that happened.

We found a nice house.

And the setting was perfect because it had a lot of trees for all my hosta, which I had over 200 varieties.

So it all worked out.

Yeah.

- [Mary] So when did you move here?

- [Connie] 2012.

- [Mary] Okay.

And what was the spot like when you came?

- [Connie] There wasn't much here.

There really wasn't.

We had brought a whole load of hostas that I had dug up and potted, but they got sat outside, and there was nothing I could do about it.

And most of those did not survive.

But I was able to go back.

That was part of the contract, that I could go back and dig.

And so it began.

I brought a lot of it here and started planting, putting in edging.

Most of the flower beds were just pure clay.

So I would dig down, get the clay out, put that somewhere else, and then put good soil in.

I didn't know if it would work or not for the plants, because it was just like putting them in a vase or in a pot with the good soil.

But they all grew.

- [Mary] When we drove in, why do you have a wooden woodpecker out there at the driveway?

- Well, I have a very nice neighbor who makes all kinds of things, and he gave it to me.

Then when I put it up, I thought, "Woodpecker Lane!"

And on my birthday, his wife gave me a sign that said "Woodpecker Lane."

So between the two of them, it was a very nice gift.

- Well, I noticed that you have a lot of statuary, too.

Where do you get all of those things?

- [Connie] Oh, I just really enjoy going to yard sales, places where they sell all this kind of stuff.

Just anywhere I go, I'm always on the lookout.

And a lot of the things are also from my kids.

They know I love the garden, and a lot of it comes from them, too.

- [Narrator] Connie, you talked about having all the hostas you brought, but you've got quite a bit of sun, too.

- [Connie] Yes, that's been a big change.

We took out nine trees here that were old box elder trees.

This used to be a farm yard.

And that's what people had then, was box elders.

And also the black walnuts.

So the garden has been in transition from the shade to the sun in this area.

So I've been busy trying to move some of those into shade areas.

- [Mary] Connie, it looks like you've got a beautiful view of both your sun and shade gardens from your deck.

- [Connie] Well, thank you.

I enjoy it.

- [Mary] Can we go and see more of your beds?

- I sure can show you.

Yes.

Mary, I'd like to show you this garden.

It used to be in the shade.

We took down a big tree over there, and now it's more sun.

And a lot of the hostas are suffering, especially the yellow ones.

I had to take a lot of sun-damaged leaves off of them.

Also, the cannas, they should be this tall.

This year, they're about half as tall.

It's just been too cool.

They're a tropical plant.

They like it warm.

- [Mary] So are you dividing some of the hostas or moving them other places?

- I certainly am.

I haven't gotten around to this bed yet, but I've done other beds.

And the way I do that is, you know, those hosta roots are really tough.

And so I take a saw, I saw, saw, and I just cut right down through it and then maybe the other direction.

And then it's real easy to lift them up.

Works very well.

As soon as they're showing in the spring is the very best time.

But you can do it most anytime, but cut most of the big leaves off.

And then they don't have to be stressed from keeping up all those leaves.

- Then do you have a spot ready to take and plant them, or do you pot them?

Or how do you divide them?

- I usually pot them up and get them going, and then decide where to put them.

I know most of the names of the hostas, so I know how big they get, how they grow.

So that makes it easier.

- [Mary] Connie, with all of the varieties you have, how do you keep track of what you have?

- [Connie] Well, it's really interesting.

I had the blacksmith in town make these signs that are metal, and then I got a program for the computer to print the names.

And there's plastic on the top of it.

And they've lasted many years.

So a little spendy.

They cost about three bucks a piece to have made, but it's something that I worked for years to try to find something that would last.

And I finally found something.

- Tell me about that beautiful leaf that you have here in the yard.

- That was a gift from a lady who works at the nursing home, and she took care of my mother.

And she liked my mother, and so she made that and gave it to me in honor of my mother.

- [Mary] I have seen those leaf molds laying down.

But how did you get a frame that would hold it up like that?

- [Connie] There again, the blacksmith man.

I told him about how high it should be, and he did a good job.

- [Mary] Tell me about all of the tree branches or trunks that you have here.

- [Connie] We've cut down many, many, many trees.

And so I asked the people doing it to cut them into lengths so that I could make different areas.

So that kind of transitions from one bed to another.

It wouldn't look near that nice without them.

- [Mary] So did you have to dig holes down in the ground to help hold them up?

- [Connie] Yes, I did.

So it was not easy.

- Wow, what a lot of work.

Do you start some of your plants from seed, or do you buy them in?

- I do both.

I start a lot of seeds myself.

And I also can't stay away from the greenhouses.

Always looking for something unusual.

But I am trying to transition more to perennials so I don't have to buy as many annuals.

- [Mary] So you had mentioned that your yellow hostas are doing some burning in the sun.

- [Connie] Yes.

- [Mary] Is there anything that you can do to help prevent that?

- Yes.

I have bought a lot of the lace curtains, and I lay those over the ones that are especially prone to sunburn.

And the air can still go through them, but it shades them enough to keep them from burning.

Works really well.

- [Mary] How do you weight that down?

- Well, sometimes I'll put rods or something to hold them, but if it's windy, that doesn't always work.

Another thing.

Like, I use a lot of the coral bells in the front.

Last year, I started.

I used to plant petunia and things.

Well, that got pretty expensive.

So I had a lot of coral bells.

So I split them up, and I use them on most of the flower beds now.

And I don't have to buy annuals to fill in.

- [Mary] Well, it's a beautiful border.

- [Connie] Yeah, I like it.

Yeah.

- [Mary] How do you keep up with all of the weeding that you do?

- [Connie] Oh, that's a continual job.

I have a lot of poppies, and they're in another bed.

Most of them are done now, but there's a few still blooming that you can see.

The mulch helps some, but I think the mulch is more for the moisture.

You still get weeds through, and I'm always pulling or hoeing.

- [Mary] How do you water all this whole area?

- [Connie] I have a lot of soaker hoses.

This year, I have not had to use them one time.

- [Mary] And what's the advantage of - [Connie] Time.

I don't have to stand there and water each individual plant.

I can turn it on, set my timer, go out in a couple hours, move it to another one, and keep moving.

- [Mary] You have so many beautiful hostas.

Do you have any trouble with slugs?

- [Connie] Yes, I do.

Some of the things that I use are things that people have told me work.

I crush all my eggshells, put them around.

I use Sluggo.

That's made for the slugs.

And I also spray them with insecticide because it's faster, and I can't get around to putting the stuff around the bottom of all the plants.

So I do all those things.

- [Mary] So what do you find helps with all the critters?

- [Connie] The critters.

Well, as you can see, there's fences around most of the gardens.

If I didn't have the fences, I don't think I would have many flowers.

They just spoil everything.

So about two years ago I spent about $400 on fencing.

- [Mary] Do you have trouble with deer here in town, too?

- [Connie] No, I don't have problems with deer.

I've seen maybe two or three throughout all the years.

They go right by, through the field, and they don't bother here.

So I'm lucky there.

The planters are something different.

The squirrels like to get in there and dig out the plants.

I've talked to many people who have this problem.

And I've tried many things.

I've tried sticks, I've tried rocks.

What has worked the best for me is more fencing.

Put a fence around it, and they would still get in there.

So then I put netting over the fencing, and they would still get in there.

So then I have to put clips around to keep the netting in place.

So a lot of my time is spent trying to keep the critters away from my plants.

They like to plant the black walnuts in there, or corn from the feeders.

That's why they're doing it.

Because I find all kinds of things growing out of my planters.

- [Mary] (laughs) Things you don't want growing in your planters.

- Right.

Right.

Like black walnuts.

- Well, I see another beautiful area over farther to our right.

Can we go see that, too?

- [Connie] Absolutely.

(relaxing upbeat music) - I have a question.

I wanna expand the outdoor living space in my yard, but don't like pavers.

What do I have for another option?

- One thing that we've actually been trialing out here at the Landscape Arboretum is to incorporate some new technology to try to get the functional benefits of turf grass areas, which would be something to withstand foot traffic, that can allow for water infiltration, can collect dust, reduce sound, and also have that radiative cooling effect from a lawn, and incorporate that into a patio system.

So one thing that we're actually trialing out is using these interlocking pavers that we installed before seeding this living patio here at the Landscape Arboretum.

One reason why we're doing that is to try to reduce the effects of compaction over time.

And so, normally, in a normal lawn, you might have to deal with aerification to relieve that soil compaction.

And that can work, but these pavers are designed to reduce that even less, to allow for the turf stand to withstand even more traffic.

Say people enjoying themselves on an evening on their patio.

And so these pavers allow for our weight to be distributed across the section of the paver and not on the lawn itself.

We get to benefit from all of those functional benefits of turf that I had mentioned before and also have a green living space for us to enjoy.

When we were constructing this, we did not use any paver or crushed rock or anything.

We just used the native soil, installed that.

At the same time we were installing the pavers, we just added the soil, spread the seed over the surface, and then covered it with a germination and erosion control blanket, just to hold the seed in place while the living patio was growing in and installing.

By incorporating this technology in the turf grasses that are lower input, we can incorporate living plants around the areas that we're using them and still benefit from those functional aspects of those plants and still have a functional living patio.

(relaxing upbeat music) - [Narrator] Ask the Arboretum Experts has been brought to you by the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum in Chaska, dedicated to welcoming, informing, and inspiring all through outstanding displays, protected natural areas, horticultural research, and education.

(relaxing upbeat music) - Connie, what do you do with all of these plants in the winter time?

- A lot of the annuals I do winter over.

Like, the coleus especially.

That is probably my favorite.

They're so easy to propagate.

Take slips, put them in water.

In two weeks, you've got a rooted plant.

- [Mary] What do you mean by a slip?

- A piece about this long.

And then I keep those under lights in the house.

You should see my bathroom, my dining room, the living room.

They're so beautiful.

I just love them.

And I'm finding out this year, growing them outside, they do not do as well in the ground as they do in the pots.

They do fabulous in the pots.

- [Mary] So after you take the cuttings and they root in water, then how do you transplant them, or what do you put them into?

- [Connie] I put them in small pots over winter, and then in the spring, eventually, I can move plants into my garden shed.

I keep them there until it's ready to put outside.

It has to be pretty nice before they go outside.

But if they're in pots, they can go in and out.

- [Mary] So about how many cuttings do you do?

- I think I counted 97, including the original plant.

I just kept cutting them, and they just bush out more.

And they're wonderful.

- So what are the some of the other plants that you save from year to year?

- I have a lot of succulents, and I really like them.

And so those go back under the lights in the garage because it can still be cool, and they do very well.

Geraniums, I pull those up.

Some of them I put them in, like, a box, and they do very well over winter.

- [Mary] How about any of the bulb crops?

- [Connie] Yes.

The callas.

Love the callas.

And the cannas.

Two different things.

And I have very good luck keeping them in our garage.

It's about 45, 47 degrees.

With the plants in there, I have lights.

The bulbs, of course, don't need it.

I'm very lucky to have a heated garage.

- [Mary] So then do you clip the other plants that you leave outside in the fall or in the spring?

- [Connie] I do both.

Depends on the weather.

Like with the hostas, I wait until it freezes good so that I don't have to clip them.

I can just pull the leaves up.

- [Mary] So you have so many beautiful trees around here.

Did you say you have some black walnuts?

- [Connie] Yes.

They're a beautiful tree, but they're a nasty tree.

They're always dropping something.

And the worst is the black walnuts.

I pick up thousands of black walnuts.

This is an old farm grove, and that was a tree that evidently they planted in their groves.

- [Mary] This is a beautiful shed here.

Tell me the story about this.

- Well, needless to say, I needed a garden shed.

And so my husband was talking to somebody about that, and he said, "I've got this old garage that we wanna move out.

You can have it if you want it."

Really?

Okay.

So we measured the area, had cement poured, and this really nice family brought it in, set it on the cement.

It was pretty shaky.

They had to chain it to the trees.

And then I wanted them to take and put the boards on the outside, which is all it was for walls.

And I wanted them to put that on the inside.

And they looked at me a little strange, but they did it.

Oh, this is the carpenters now that did that.

And when they got done, they really liked it.

They thought that was pretty ingenious, so.

- Well, with the black walnuts, do you have to worry about squirrels here?

- Well, we never did until this year.

And there was a little red pine squirrel.

And first, he started climbing up those posts and putting all the walnuts underneath the roof there.

And that was a problem.

Well, it really didn't hurt anything.

But pretty soon, he got inside, and he's starting working on the walls.

He's got holes in the walls.

And we tried everything.

We tried keeping the radio on really loud at night.

We tried trapping him.

Poison.

We even tried poison.

Wouldn't go near it.

So we were at our wits' end.

So we kept watching and watching, and we saw that he would jump on that stump and then onto that bench, and he was able to jump up, maybe on that window, and then way up in there.

And so then we knew how he was getting in.

So we moved that bench, and the next time he came and he jumped down there, where the bench was, and he couldn't figure out where to go, he tried jumping a couple times.

That didn't work, and he left.

So it was a matter of watching him and seeing how he was getting in.

And we couldn't figure it out.

So.

- Do you have people that come and ask for divisions, or do you give some of your plant divisions away, too?

- Oh, yes.

I give away a lot.

We had a plant sale for our park.

We're trying to get park equipment for Tracy.

And I dug and potted, and we sold over $1,800 worth of plants.

My neighbor lady had some too to divide.

And it was a lot of work, but we were really happy to make that much money, so.

- [Mary] Wow, that really will help a lot towards getting- - Yes.

And I had people come who said, "I hope you're doing this again next year.

I'll be here."

So it went over very well.

So we'll be doing it again, but I'm gonna have to get more help.

- Well, do you have help now taking care of all of this?

- I do, most of it.

But my hubby helps whenever I ask him to do something, and he takes care of this wonderful lawn.

Ordinarily, in July, it's brown.

So we're really, really lucky to have a green lawn this time.

- Connie, are there any other gardening tips that you wanna pass along?

- Yes.

I have these pathways that my son gave me, the belting.

He works at an elevator, and when they switched, they put new ones down, and they had these.

And he thought, "Oh, bet Mom would like those."

And she does.

Yes, they work perfectly.

- [Mary] And then how do you transport all your things around here in the yard?

- [Connie] Oh.

My wonderful husband got me a utility golf cart.

And so it's got the thing in the back to hold my tools.

And that saves me so much walking.

Yes, it's wonderful.

Yes.

- [Mary] Any tips of what not to do?

- Yes.

I think if you can see these spots right on the lawn here, we're not sure if it was him or me.

So nobody's taking credit for it.

But after using Roundup, if you walk in it, and then you walk on the lawn, this is what you get.

(Mary laughs) So I think it's kind of funny.

It'll grow back in.

But he wasn't too happy, because his lawn is so perfect now.

And there's those footsteps.

- [Mary] Well, thank you so much for letting us come and see your beautiful yard.

- I'm so happy you came.

(uplifting music) - [Narrator] Funding for "Prairie Yard & Garden" is provided by Heartland Motor Company, providing service to Minnesota and the Dakotas for over 30 years, in the heart of truck country.

Heartland Motor Company.

We have your best interest at heart.

Farmers Mutual Telephone Company and Federated Telephone Cooperative, proud to be powering Acira.

Pioneers in bringing state-of-the-art technology to our rural communities.

Mark and Margaret Yeakel Jolene, in honor of Shalom Hill Farm, a nonprofit rural education retreat center in a beautiful prairie setting near Windham, Minnesota.

And by Friends of Prairie Yard & Garden, a community of supporters like you, who engage in the long-term growth of the series.

To become a friend of "Prairie Yard & Garden," visit pioneer.org/pyg.

(uplifting music)