Narration: Making It Grow is brought to you in part by the South Carolina Department of Agriculture Certified South Carolina grown helps consumers identify, find and buy South Carolina products.

McLeod Farms in McBee South Carolina.

This family farm offers seasonal produce, including over 22 varieties of peaches.

Additional funding provided by International Paper and the South Carolina Farm Bureau Federation and Farm Bureau Insurance.

♪ Amanda: Well, good evening, and welcome to Making It Grow.

We're so glad you can join us tonight.

I'm Amanda McNulty.

I'm a Clemson Extension agent.

And we're here to help give you advice on how to do things in your yard, hopefully to make it more enjoyable for you and prettier for you and, and more sustainable so that you do it in a way that's good for the ecology.

We're also going to take you to Boyd Island with Dr. John Nelson.

And we'll have a grand time walking around there.

And then we're going to tell you a little bit about the Columbia Green Festival of gardens that's coming up.

Always a great way to go and see other people's yards where they've just been slaving away getting ready for having people come through the yards.

But um, first I want to say, Teresa, thank you for being with us tonight.

And um, you do our Facebook page or is posting things sometimes I send you things that you say I shouldn't send you but anyway, that's fine.

But you have a lot of hats for Clemson.

Terasa: I think we all do.

I think that's just a characteristic of extension workers in general.

Amanda: It is, you know, when you are in an office and somebody comes into the question, it's not your specialty, but we can always hook them up somebody.

Terasa:We do our best to help them or at least connect them with the person that can give them the information they're seeking.

Amanda: And Christopher Burt, you are down there.

All I can keep straight is that you live in Berkeley County, I think in Moncks Corner, but But you have several areas that you're responsible for.

Christopher: That is correct to cover Charleston, Berkley and Dorchester County, which are very different counties as far as what people grow.

But I not only work with homeowners, I also work with nurseries as well as landscape.

Amanda: And that's a big place for nurseries still, isn't it?

It sure Christopher: is.

There are quite a few large nurseries throughout the Tri County area.

And I'm sure there are many more coming.

Amanda: Do you think so?

Oh, yes.

Because of the population growth.

They just gonna need them.

Christopher: Absolutely.

I've already talked to a couple different groups that are looking to build new nurseries.

Amanda: Gosh, Oh, y'all have an explosion down there, don't you?

You sure do.

I'm glad you come home to a slightly quieter city, the downtown Charleston.

Absolutely.

Vicky Bertagnolli, lives in this slightly quiet city of Aiken.

I love Aiken.

Y'all just have a great downtown.

And I'm just he used to be the hort agent for Aiken, but now gosh, she got split into a lot of little segments.

Vicky: I'm still the hort agent in Aiken Okay, still the Master Gardener coordinator Aiken but also are now participating in a pilot project for there's four virtual extension agents.

And then I also work part time for the HGIC.

Amanda: Well you never know what's going to come across the phone or the email.

Vicky: It's always interesting.

Sometimes some different countries even worldwide.

Amanda: That's amazing.

Yeah.

Well, and I tell you, just within South Carolina, we've got a good many different growing zones.

And so that's a challenge in itself, isn't it.

Vicky: it is and I tell you what, working for HGIC.

I'm learning a lot because I'm answering questions that that are very, very different from what I'm used to dealing with in the in the Aiken area.

Amanda: Well good.

I'm glad you're keeping your brain active, Bruce McLean you are with North Carolina extension.

And we are so fortunate to have you down here you've written in a wealth of knowledge.

And so tell people what your whom you're trying to help commercially particularly Bruce: well I work with a wide variety of growers.

I work with vegetable commercial Vegetable Production, Commercial fruit production, and that's both, you know, like strawberry production and also perennial fruit production like blueberries, blackberries, you know, muscadines in size, and also tree nuts, like pecans or pecans.

Amanda: And um, you know, I always remind people that that's a great South Carolina product.

And I don't think that they use nearly the amount of water that almonds do and you don't have to truck the bees across the country, do you?

Bruce: you exactly, you know, their wind pollinated so we don't have to really worry about you know, bringing in Bees and you know, the only time that they really require any water is right during, you know when the when the the nuts starting to fill and right during that time Yeah, most of the the rest of the year, we have enough water for good growth and good development.

Amanda: So really it's a very sustainable Tree nut to eat in my opinion.

For the most part.

Yeah, I'm a little prejudiced though.

Okay, Terasa, you usually start with Gardens Of The Week.

And then you always remind people that they're just kind of randomly selected.

So don't get your nose out of joint if we didn't pick yours, right?

Terasa: That's right.

We usually have far too many than we could share in one episode, but you can always visit our Facebook page to see all of the potential submissions.

Let's take a look.

This week from Gale Bolt we have a uniquely framed photo looking through the branches of a Japanese Magnolia.

Alison Hirsch submitted a close up of an azalea flower and the color is so vibrant, although I'm not exactly sure what to call it.

It's sort of pink sort of purple.

Beautiful nonetheless, Beverly Satchfield shared her crocus peeking up above the leaf litter, and from Kelly Toadvine, a large orchid collection.

I know how easy it is to start collecting orchids.

Marlene Gillespie shared a camellia flower that looks very much like a carnation in its form.

And then finally, Karen Neely shared an indoor plant, plant, a prayer plant that has just absolutely gorgeous foliage.

So I hope you enjoy looking at those and I always look forward to receiving them.

Amanda: Well, thank you so much.

And then Terasa, you have questions that you've gathered from Facebook and people have written to you and things like that.

So um, Should we see if we can help somebody?

Terasa: I think we should.

Kathy in Bluffton needs our help.

She's got sort of a long story, we have a grapefruit tree that has a disease that none of our local nurseries can identify.

The tree is about 10 years old and has produced red grape fruits, it looks like tiny broccoli florets on the branches and the leaves have all curled and dropped.

We tried citrus spikes a fungicide that mixed with water and poured around the base and seven, it has spread to other shrubs that we've now cut back to 12 inches off the ground.

But it did not affect our lemon tree.

What is the name of this disease?

Amanda: Whoa, well, first of all, if I can just say to our viewers never go out and start doing something a pest I mean a fungicide or insecticide until you know what it is.

Because that's not environmentally sustainable, and could make something worse.

And all you got to do is call your local extension office and we will help you and Christopher Burt, we're gonna ask you to help us right now.

Christopher: Absolutely.

So that picture actually looks remarkably like herbicide damage.

So it's a really good example of when you have to be a little bit more careful spraying.

And in the fact that it's spreading to other plants tells me that there is some herbicide that is being utilized that is causing this distortion of growth on the plant.

Amanda: Do we know if she's near an agricultural field and we think that she's just in a home landscape.

Christopher: So so that that would be really the main thing, we'd have to start getting some more information.

So we'd have to figure out is her neighbor spraying?

Is she spraying, and then figure out exactly what they're spraying with that the first thing to do, obviously, if they're spraying, they need to, they need to stop.

Because it's obviously causing damage.

And whatever they're spraying with.

It's just it's it's drifting too much.

And then of course, once that's been addressed, then figure out if it's someone else who's spraying something, again, whether it's their neighbors, or the local farm or something like that.

Amanda: And then, you know, their, their herbicides, I mean, the herbicides that people use for weed control in their lawn.

I mean, there's so many different types of herbicides that people use, and and each one has to be applied in a very specific manner.

Christopher: Yeah, absolutely.

And that's where as as anytime we talk about pesticides, we always say read the label, the label is the law.

And that label is going to not only outline exactly what you can spray around, but how to spray, whether it's a granular a liquid or any other type of form, it's going to go through all the different things that need to be addressed, as far as safety precautions as far as plant care, because again, these things are hopefully going to be selective, but these things are meant to kill plants.

And so they're going to cause problems if they get on anything they're not supposed to.

Amanda: And even temperature and and then if it hasn't rained in a long time.

I mean, I think plants are supposed to be actively growing so it's just not as simple as filling up a sprayer and walking out in the yard.

Christopher: you're, you're you're absolutely correct.

And again, that's where that label needs to be gone through.

And that's where if there is something being sprayed, you need to address what that's being sprayed.

And then of course, figure out why what you sprayed is causing that problem.

Amanda: All right.

Well, thank you so much little broccoli florets, and not the kind of broccoli that will be eating for supper.

I hope.

Well Terasa so what's next for us?

Terasa: This question comes in from Harold and Gable, he sent a photograph he said, I have a tree with lots of holes in it.

What could be causing this?

Amanda: Aha.

Vicki, what do you think this is?

Vicky: So this picture right here?

The it's it's super easy to identify.

It's one of those things you're like, Well, maybe it's an insect.

But you know that it's not an insect because of how straight the lines are.

They're in really pretty rows.

So you know that that's not an insect because an insect whenever they do their thing, they're just kind of willy nilly all over the place.

Because it's so organized.

We know that this is a yellow bellied sapsucker, which is a woodpecker.

It's really common.

They they do cause this kind of damage on over 100 different types of our landscape, trees and shrubs.

Amanda: Well, first of all, why are they making those holes?

Vicky: So there's a couple different types of holes that they make.

There's really shallow pointed ones that are going to be in rows.

And then you're also going to see larger square rectangular ones.

And what they're doing remember I called it a yellow bellied sapsucker.

So it's not that they're necessarily going after insects in the plant, there may be insects in that plant.

But what they're really going for is the sap.

So they're going to drill those holes for the tree to bleed, and then they're going to they've got long tongues, they're gonna lap that sap up.

Amanda: Because it's nutritious?

<Yep.> My word in hevans.

Well, and that's interesting, because I always thought that sometimes, then insects came in that birds might come back and enjoy the insects.

so the insects Vicky: So if the, if there are insects that come out with a sap that's just added protein.

So it's just a bonus.

But what they're going to do is they'll feed out of those smaller holes, but they're also going to maintain the larger ones, so that the tree is constantly bleeding.

And they'll come over and maintain those so that they can feed off of those.

The cool thing is, is that whenever they do make those larger, Wounds to the tree.

Other species come in like insects, other birds, bats are going to come in, and they're going to feed on this thing really, really cool.

Amanda: Gosh, well, I have several trees in my yard that had this on it.

And they look perfectly fine to me.

So I hope it's not particularly damaging.

Vicky: Most of the time, it's not so damaging that it's going to be a detriment to the tree.

Some times you're going to lose part of the tree, maybe you lose a limb.

Rarely is it going to kill the whole tree, but you might lose a limb Amanda: Well, and that's just too bad if you do, because you can replant a tree but we are not in any way going to damage the birds it would be illegal to do so.

Vicky: All of these birds are protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.

So it is a federal crime to do anything to the birds themselves.

We can deter them.

But I mean, what's gonna happen is if you exclude that bird from that particular tree, it may move to another 1.

Amanda: There are others it can feed on Yeah, okay.

All right.

Well, Terasa, Terasa: Jaylan in Loris has a tree question.

I have a few older pecan trees that are needing some help, can they be saved?

Alright.

Amanda: Well, Bruce, I've got a lot of old pecan trees, I say pecan.

And if Tony were here, he'd remind us that they used to have, call it pee can a thing they kept under the bed because they had an outhouse way out in the yard.

But um, but um, pecan trees, we see a lot of older ones in yards that mine don't produce much anymore.

But this How about this one?

Is it in trouble?

Bruce: Unfortunately, it is.

If you just looking at a picture, there's a lot of breakage in the top of the tree.

Oh, so I mean.

You know, honestly, would when you start getting that kind of wounding that kind of breakage.

Very likely that you're already starting to get some some internal rot some heart rot.

And once it gets to that point, it's hard to to be able to eliminate that because once he gets on the inside, on the inner wood, it just races all the way down to the to the base of the tree.

Okay, um, you know, really you have to look at the economics of it.

of potentially get an arborist out.

Is the tree worth it?

Is it you know, in honestly, is it's a tree close enough to a barn?

Is it close enough to a house?

If it's out just on a property line, and there's there's no structure around, you know, other than you know, the potential of limb breakage You know, and potentially someone being there.

What what damage is it is it really caused them?

Amanda: And really, I mean, in that case, those trees sometimes are good places for other things to take refuge and find homes, I think exactly.

Decaying tree.

Exactly.

Yeah.

Um, you know, one thing I've noticed, and I don't know what it is about it, but it seems to me that pecan trees, sometimes they'll just lose a limb.

And it's not necessarily on a real windy day or they kind of weak structured or what is it about pecans that makes them do that sometimes?

Bruce: Well, their their wood is is rather brittle.

It is rather hard wood.

And it but it's brittle.

From the standpoint of because it is such a such a hard wood.

But probably the the biggest thing that is because they're there they're branching a lot of times they're branching is very weak branching, they have very tight crotch on them.

And and those those that really tight crutches really promote for you know, it's just not exactly it's it is a it's a weak point.

And some varieties are even much worse than others.

Amanda: Oh, because there are a lot of varieties.

<There are absolutely.> Okay.

All right.

Well, thank you so much.

Appreciate it.

I guess they got to spend some money if it's near Bruce: the house.

Yes.

If it's near the house near a barn near anything that cause any any major structural problem, then, you know, then is it is it worth taking the tree down?

Is it worth taking some of the broken branches out try to salvage it for a few more years, or just let it be.

Amanda: okay.

We have a live close enough to Colombia grew up in Colombia, and have known about Colombia Green for years and years.

And we had one of the representatives of that organization come down and tell us about their upcoming tour.

I'm speaking with Presley Hogue and Presley is on the board of Columbia Green.

Presley, you've taken on a big task the last couple of years.

Unknown: Yes, but it has been fun.

The Festival of gardens is our big annual event happens every spring.

This is going to be our 29th year <Whoa.> And they've all been great.

I think this one's going to be our best one yet.

It's going to be in the University Hill neighborhood.

A lot of people don't know where that is.

But it's right adjacent to the University of South Carolina's main campus on the horseshoe.

And it's bound by Laurens, Blossom, Gervais and Sumter streets, and it's a fabulous little neighborhood.

It's real small.

And it's very busy during the week, but it's pretty quiet when the students are not around on the weekend.

And there are a lot of lovely old homes there are some dating back to early 1800s.

How about Amanda: that.

And so if you're a Hoofer, you could probably walk a good bit of the tour, and then go to a lot of the gardens without having to move the car, you can really walk Presley: all of it in with the exception of one that's going to be sort of out of that area.

But I think people will be very interested in seeing the new glass house on the grounds of the Hampton Preston Mansion.

Historic Columbia is really proud of the this.

Amanda: Well and I think that we can thank Susan Boyd once again.

<Yes> for her tremendous support of projects.

<Absolutely> particularly those that have to do with horticulture.

Presley: Yeah, so it's just going to be a wonderful time.

It's a wonderful walking tour.

We've got seven private gardens, and they range in size from a really small patio home to a much larger, grander and more formal garden.

So we really have a lot of variety.

And we have those seven private gardens.

And along with that, we've got the garden behind the university's president's house, which is lovely, yeah.

And there on the glass house back there as well.

And then Finley Gardens, which it has been newly restored.

And that is behind what was formerly known as the Beringer House.

And they're now calling the Anne Frank Center, because the way they have an Anne Frank Museum in the basement, and that is a lovely garden that was originally designed by George Betsill, a renowned landscape architect, and was restored recently with the help of Emily Jones, the landscape architect for USC and it's just beautiful.

I think Amanda: Peg Avery was, <yes> very instrumental in supporting the restoration of that garden.

Presley: Absolutely.

She was and it's just lovely.

It's a lovely gift to Columbia.

And it's public, but not many people know about Amanda: and it's just record is from the side across from the side of the Capstone and usually can find a place to park down there.

Presley: Yes, yes, there.

There'll be lots of parking on the weekend.

Lots of metered spots open and there's a parking lot right behind the Finley gardens that has a lot of metered spot spots, and they don't check meters on Saturdays and Sundays.

Amanda: Well, Columbia Green has sponsored so many projects in Colombia, the medium I mean, I'll see ya sponsored by Columbia green, and they're just so beautiful.

But you, you don't restrict yourself to sponsoring government projects.

You've done some other fun things as well.

Presley: Oh, yes, we have helped schools and different neighborhood associations.

One of our more recent projects that we supported was lrmo Middle School, where they had the children come and participate in this project.

And they decided they wanted a pollinator garden and they wanted a vegetable garden.

And the children actually put their on what they've learned to use practical application of the math and science.

So they researched plants to plant in the area for pollinators, and they researched vegetables that would work.

And they use their math skills to measure their plots, and even had to troubleshoot because I believe they had a little rabbit munching on some of the vegetables and they had figured out that they might need to put a little Amanda: on that need to talk to the biology teacher about that.

Yes, well, if people want to find out about, you know, see the list of places and blah, blah, blah, and the times and all, where do they go?

Presley: There?

Our website, columbiagreen.org, www.columbiagreen.org .

Amanda: And what are the dates again?

Unknown: April 2, and April 3 is a Saturday in a Sunday.

All right.

I'm gonna look forward to seeing you then.

Yes, thank you, Amanda.

Amanda: I hope that the weather is lovely.

And then I will see some of y'all enjoying the beautiful gardens on the Columbia Green tour.

I was looking for stuff for hat.

And of course, I always turned to my dear friends Ann Nulty and Hank Stallworth and I went out there because they knew they had bougainvillea in their greenhouse because I'm the dog, I take my new dog out there to try to wear him out, on a very long walk.

And so they gave me some of that and then Hank took me over and gave me some of this Pink Prunus.

We're not quite sure what it is.

And in my very own yard, I did have some edgeworthia and edgeworthia sometimes I can stick my nose in it and I don't smell a thing.

And today it really smells, I don't even know if y'all can smell it up here.

I'll let you stick your nose in it and see what you think, oh yeah, it's really fragent today.

Anyway, um, so So that's, that's the hat.

And then, Christopher, I think you've got some Show and Tell since I've been out, chopping things down and clipping away.

You've been you've got some ideas and suggestions on pruning absolutely away.

Christopher: And so I wanted since last week, you brought you However, last time I was with you.

You had some forsythia on your hat.

And of course, one of the things about forsythia is the type of growth that it has.

So it's what's known as cane growth, where a lot of the shrubs that we are used to either have a mountain in growth or a tree like growth.

Cane, like growth is very common with things like flowering Quince.

Yes, Spirea and of course Forsythia and so I really wanted to kind of address the type of pruning that you do to keep that as fresh and as healthy as possible.

One of the big things that ah with Forsythia really with any of those cane like growths, is you want to identify your older canes.

So when we talk about older canes, this whole thing is going to be a cane, and so what you're going to do is a lot of times, you're going to go through and you're going to remove a lot of your older canes after a couple years once they're done flowering, you're going to remove a lot of the older ones.

So that way, it encourages new cane growth from the base.

And so when I say you're going to remove those older canes, you're actually going to cut almost to the base of the ground.

And you're going to cut that off, because that's where the growing the main growing points are going to be is around that crown.

Amanda: And does that keep them fresher and more vibrant, if you keep new things coming up?

Christopher: Absolutely.

So what you're doing is you're taking away a lot of the older, less productive wood and you're encouraging a lot of that newer, more productive wood.

And that way you can kind of get a lot of new growth I did want to address also one more thing is is you have two parts.

Always remember when you have pruning is you want to remove any of your crossing branches, anything that's rubbing together, and also when you do happen to cut so not necessarily cutting right at the base.

But when you do happen to cut, something like that you do always want to cut above the node, that's where you're going to see those swollen buds.

That's where you're going to have your growing point and when you cut, you're going to cut right above that.

So that way, everything above that is going to die off anyways.

And so we want to leave as little of that Deadwood as possible.

But again, as I said you want to make sure you get rid of those crossing branches and you always want to make sure you're cutting right above a node.

Amanda: all right, and then, but then for the entire cane, you want to go as close to the ground as you can Christopher: that that is absolutely correct.

So if I'm removing the entire cane, which a lot of times I am going to do, once they're done flowering, then I'm going to go ahead and do that right at the base of the ground.

Amanda: And the one that's hardest to do for me is quince.

If you have to lie on the ground, and then there so the thorny and so I ended up having to wear gloves and a long sleeve shirt, because it's hard to get in there.

But now that I have my Saws-All I don't have to use a you know, a, you know, A to A to handle.

Yeah, pruner, I can just use my Saws-All and get very close to the ground much more easily, and hopefully with fewer nicks and bruises on me.

I do like that Saws-All.

Thank you so much for explaining that to us.

And I appreciate it.

Okay, Terasa.

Let's see what we have next.

Terasa: Oh, all right.

Well, you know, I was keeping my keeping an eye on my peripheral vision.

Taryn from Hodges sent us a photo and said the top half of my Sago palm looks sick.

Would fertilizer help?

Amanda: Oh, my goodness, um, the top half looks sick.

Vicky, what do you what do you think?

Vicky: So looking at this picture, I kinda think that it's going to be a nutritional problem really, um, just because there's, it's, it's the new growth that's that's affected?

The old growth looks fine.

So I know that it's not winter damage.

But it's it's one of those things where we're going to ask have you had your soil tested?

How do you get a soil test, you can contact your local extension office, you can contact HGIC.

Or you can go on to the HGIC website.

And you can find a fact sheet for soil testing.

But one of the big things about cycads is that they're often and Sago palm is one of them.

And yes, and sago is one of the Yeah, they're often deficient in magnesium.

And so when you get that soil test back, it's going to give you your nutrient levels.

And we want to pay attention to the magnesium level on that.

And that's exactly what this one looks like.

Amanda: Um, can you get magnesium without having to get a complete fertilizer of this got all the other things because it may not need those things.

Vicky: Um, you can, it's going to be so at the very bottom of the soil test results.

After gives you all the nutrient levels tells you about your pH, if you need to add lime, in little bitty print, there's going to be something called comments underneath those comments.

There's going to be some notes, but it's going to tell you the requirements, what it wants you to apply how much it wants you to apply, and when it wants you to apply.

And we don't want to just go out there and just put stuff out there into the soil because it may not need it.

It may be one of those things where it's available to the it's there.

But it's not available to the plant for whatever reason.

And if the Amanda: pH is off, sometimes there's things I mean, you could put nitrogen out all you want to but if the pH is crazy, Bruce, if I'm not mistaken, I mean, you can the plant just plain can't take it up.

And in that kind of window of 5.8 or 6.5 kind of when everything is at least slightly available.

Bruce: Exactly.

For for the most part, most plant nutrients are available at that five, eight to 6.4 6.5 pH range, you know, in the greatest quantity, because once you get really into higher pH is all of a sudden you start losing the availability of some of your nutrients.

If you start getting in the lower pH is you can also start losing a lot of your availability of nutrients.

Okay, Amanda: another reason to do it.

Okay, well Terasa do We have a spotlight garden of somebody who can just go and take a panoramic view of their yard and everything is gorgeous and they don't have any bad spots like I do.

Terasa: Well, it certainly looks that way viewing the yard of Linda Smith in Anderson but you know, she did take the photos and submit to us so it's not perhaps her whole yard but we're gonna give her the benefit of the doubt.

Let's take a look around Linda's yard.

Her landscape is starting to emerge from its winter slumber.

The pensive frog statue seems to be marveling as he observes that landscape coming to life.

Under the shade of the tree.

The mauve and white Helleborus appear to be enjoying their space, and several areas are illuminated with bright yellow daffodils.

Linda's yard also hosts a number of chameleons a beloved plant in many southern yards and gardens.

Thanks, Linda for giving us a glimpse of your yard.

It was almost like a virtual field trip.

Amanda: And your comments were so lovely.

I feel like you were in a little bit of a poetic mood.

Terasa: Thank you.

I don't think that happens often.

Okay, Amanda: so now we will go back to school teachers mode and get a question.

How about that?

Terasa: All right, this one comes in from Allie in Lake City.

Allie said, my pear tree has one large dead limb.

Someone told me it was Fireblight.

Is it?

Amanda: Hmm, well, I hear that Fireblight can be a problem.

But what do you think is happening?

In this case?

Bruce: We're looking at a picture, you're not seeing that classic Shepherd hook appearance, when typically whenever Fireblight occurs Amanda: and tell people why that happens, why you get that little quick at the top?

Bruce: It's basically Fireblight is a bacteria.

That comes in at during bloom it and what it does, it affects the newest growth, that new flush of growth that comes out.

<Do the pollinators carried it around?> They can Yes, absolutely.

And but it's it is moved around typically during bloom.

And it affects the new growth isn't there has come out.

And so any, you know, typically what ends up happening is that new growth, whenever it starts dieing off, it nods over it tips over like a shepherd's hook, and then the the damage will start backing up into the plant back back towards the trunk.

Now just looking at this, I don't see that classic Shepherd hook.

But what it looks like is in no one, that some of our weather patterns from this past year that we did have a very pronounced dry period, the latter part of last year, my thought would be that it's probably drought injury.

<Oh, goodness.> And so I mean, in you know, that that would be my initial thought.

Now, you know, it could be seen into the, to the diagnostic to the diagnostic lab, to just make sure that it is you know, that it is Pseudomonas or something?

Yeah.

But I would still treat it the same way, as far as pruneing it out.

Go slightly below, you know, six, eight inches below maybe a foot below If anyway possible, and remove all of that dead growth out and look at that, that tissue.

If if you don't see any dead wood at the at the cut, then chances are you're probably fine.

Okay, and but, you know, an application of fungicide just a general, you know, fungicide off the shelf would would be just fine.

<Okay> just as a protectant on that wound, and because it would be such a large wound because it is, you know, pretty substantial portion of that tree.

And then, you know, just be sure since that, just to make sure that, you know, if it is potentially anything like Pseudomonas or Fireblight, or anything like that, you know, we're not going to spread it to any any other ones, you know, just for the slight potential.

Cleaning your pruners with or your Saws-All with, with like a solution of bleach, alcohol wipes, even Lysol, Lysol does good.

Amanda: Bleach means that if I had a shirt like that, oh, yeah, I mean, I would, you know, Bruce: you can quickly ruin some clothes Amanda: mess left on the washing machine if he asked me, okay.

We're going to now go to Boyd Island, which of course, we have done a segment on with, with Susan Boyd, for whom she's named it for her husband.

And you can find that segment at SCETV YouTubes Boyd Island.

But and we had a lovely conversation with Susan Boyd out there a while ago.

But then Dr. John Nelson came.

And as you know, we not only have lovely conversations, but we have great fun conversations with Dr. Nelson exploring.

♪ <Amanda> I'm with Dr. John Nelson, and we are on Boyd Island where three rivers come together.

And John, this is an unusual situation.

And there are certain things that happen here that don't happen in other places.

<John> It's a complex situation involving a great deal of geology, as well as biology.

And what's really going on is that two major rivers in the state, the Saluda, and the Broad, are flowing together very close by (you can hear the water) forming the Congaree.

So this is the absolute place where the Congaree River starts.

And, of course, it flows down to where the Wateree River is, forming the Santee when those two streams come together.

<Amanda> And when we look out, we see a lot of rocks, and this is called the 'fall line'?

<John> This is the fall line, and it stretches from Virginia down to much farther west, Alabama, Mississippi.

And what it is, it marks the place at which there's no more exposed crystalline or granitic rock downstream.

And this is also historically the place where boats coming from downstream would have to stop, because it's just too hard to get barges and things farther upstream from where we are.

<Amanda> And are those little unique communities?

Do things happen there that don't happen in other places?

<John> There certainly are.

There's wonderful communities out there comprised mostly of big boulders, some small boulders, but rocky places that have been exposed by the stream bed.

And you can also find these in a band across the fall line.

But what happens with these exposed rocks is that they form habitat for very specialized plants and animals.

It being these shoals, you might imagine that during times of high water, there's lots of flooding going on, and rapid water has a way of dislodging anything that's trying to grow there.

So sometimes the shoals themselves would have a certain amount of vegetation on them, and a month later, it's all been washed away.

So you see that it's a very high energy kind of environment.

Amanda, one of the most interesting plants in the world grows around these rivers coming together.

<Amanda> That's a pretty big statement.

<John> I think it's very true.

This plant is called Rocky Shoals Spider Lily, and it only occurs in about 12 populations in the world, stretching from our state over to Alabama.

And it only occurs in these rocky shoals, these bouldery places in the middle of rivers.

But what's about the adaptations of the spider lilies that make it work in habitats like that, and they have really tough, tenacious roots once they sprout from the seeds.

The seeds are able to lodge themselves in cracks and crevices of the rock, and they love it.

It's the only place they can grow.

<Amanda> [laughing] Imagine being happy to be lodged in a crack or a crevice.

Yeah, but that's an adaptation.

<John> Yeah!

<Amanda> Yeah, yeah.

Well, and then John as we're here on Boyd Island, I think it's just, there's just such a massive plant material.

There's a lot of trees and then... <John> Amanda, I love my hometown.

I'm going to start crying, but Columbia has got so many good things going for it, and this is one of the best, you know, and I've never been here before.

So I'm very excited about just looking around and seeing the diversity of stuff that's here.

We have all sorts of characteristic plants of shoals, as I was saying, but also levees and flood plains along rivers, including Sycamore is one of them.

And then we'd have things like Box Elder, which, of course, is really a maple.

We learned that in our class.

<Amanda> Yes, we did.

<John> And plenty of other things including ash trees, including a number of maples that are native, including one that's called Chalk Maple, which you usually don't see too widely distributed, a very handsome tree.

And we have plenty of groves here on the island of Paw Paw which everybody tends to love and enjoy, and a good many vines.

This is a very good place to have vines.

<Amanda> Vine-arama.

<John> Vine-arama.

You've probably seen some of the big old grape vines that are here, as well as Bignonia, the Crossvine, but also Cow Itch.

Remember that one?

<Amanda> Yes.

<John> Yeah, that's a really pretty one.

Great big vines.

<Amanda> And Smilax.

You're always going to run into that.

<John> Several species of Smilax.

And you can't hardly get away from Smilax, can you?

<Amanda> And then you saw a couple of kind of, I guess, herbaceous plants too that were kind of fun.

<John> Oh, and on the ground layer, there's still additionally a wide array of blooming things.

And I expect that any time of the year except for the dead of winter, there's going to be something out here blooming.

So we saw down below, we saw what's called Bur Marigold, and we saw Mist Flower.

And we saw this viny thing, a native cucumber, with real spiny pods on it, which is kind of fun.

And then we saw New York Ironweed, which is gorgeous purple flowers.

And we saw all sorts of different grasses, and you just can't go... <Amanda> Golden Rod.

<John> Golden Rod, plenty of Golden Rod.

<Amanda> And a funny thing called Ground Cherry.

<John> Ground Cherry.

<Amanda> We just had a good time botanizing.

<John> Yeah, it's been great.

I've got to come back and bring my plant press.

<Amanda> Yeah, and it is open for people to come and still being developed.

It will have light, more light, and people are welcome, and I thank the River Alliance, the Boyd Foundation.

<John> I mean, it's just in its beginnings, I think.

So much work has gone into developing this place, and I hope that the people of Columbia will really realize that and understand that it could be one of our best attractions.

<Amanda> It's pretty special.

<John> Yeah.

<Amanda> Thanks, John.

John, and I had a good time at Boyd Island.

And you don't have to stay on the path we asked.

And the River Alliance, people said that the island is there for you to explore.

With courtesy, you know, but but but you are allowed to step off.

If something catches your eye and you want to examine it a little more closely.

I hope you'll take advantage of that.

And, of course, he's right by the zoo.

So you could also go see our friend Andy Kabe, and Eric Shealy while you were there, a great way to spend the whole day, I would think.

Terasa , do you have another question?

Terasa: We do this question comes from Colt in Edisto Island, and I wish that we could make a recording of this answer and play it everywhere.

Because it's one that we get very frequently, when is the best time to put out weed and feed, Amanda: Weed and feed?

And I'm not sure that the big box stores should be dictating when we do our yard work.

What do you think?

Alright, Christopher: so this is a very simple answer, but also a very complicated one.

So the first answer is do not put out weed and feed.

Now, while there may be some instances where it's okay, but weed and feed means that you're putting out a herbicide as well as a fertilizer.

These are usually things that I'm putting out a very different times.

So fertilizer, when it comes to your turf grass should not be put out until it's actively growing.

So if it's cool season grass, it has to be either in the spring or fall.

And if it's a warm season grass, it has to be in the summer, really May 1st through August 15th, which is what I'm mostly used to down in the low country Amanda: because you want the the the grass to be vigorously growing.

So that if you get a four inch rain, you don't lose all your nutrients.

Christopher: Yes, absolutely.

Well, not only that, but you also don't want the grass to put on growth at the wrong Amanda: time of year.

Of course, Oh, yeah.

Again, frozen.

I mean, get burned?

Christopher: Yes, I saw a lot of that last year, people put out their fertilizers too early and had a lot of black lawns come May 1st Because we had a late frost, So if you're putting out fertilizer you want to wait, it's it's really not the right time of year for it.

And as far as herbicides, go that's going to depend on what am I trying to kill.

So remember that your herbicide should be kind of dictated to the type of grass you have, as well as the type of weed that you're trying to control.

And so when the question comes, put out a weed and feed, you have to always ask why am I putting out a herbicide and then of course, address it that way.

And so really, the, the problem with the weed and feed is is it's a one size fits all solution to a lot of times what's not even a problem and one size fits all does not work when it comes to gardens.

And it specially does not work when it comes to turfgrass.

Amanda: And a lot of people I think, Bruce see all these big weeds and think, Well, I need to put out something to kill them.

And they're already blooming and setting flowers by then.

So that's not good.

do you any good?

Bruce: No, the, the one that that, I guess, lends itself to what you're exactly what you're talking about?

Is burr weed or spur weed?

I always get that question in the, in the spring.

And it's like, well, how do I get rid of my burr weed or spur weed, and it's like, you know, wait till next fall.

And I'm because you know, unfortunately, but a lot of times, by the time that you really see that tremendous growth in the, in the spring, a lot of times, it's already starting to set, you know, set seed and things I went or, you know, that is going to be an easier problem to attack, you know, in the in the fall and manage starting in the fall, and then, you know, doing a cleanup application whenever spring comes around.

Amanda: So Christopher, give us a kind of a rule of thumb about when, okay, in the when you put out something that's going to control the weeds that you start noticing when it warms up in the spring because that has to be done pretty early in the fall dosen't it?

Christopher: So, excellent question.

And so the best way to put it is we always want to try to act preventatively Yeah, so preemergence which is a type of herbicide that is going to prevent weeds.

That is something that we have to put out in advance of those weeds germinating.

And so if I'm trying to write in to correct water it in and again, that's all going to be on the label as with any other pesticide, but if I I'm putting out a pre emergent for the spring and summer.

I want to make sure it's in late winter, which is going to be right around mid February, at least for us in the low country.

And then of course you have for your fall and winter, we do have to do it in late summer.

And so that's going to be kind of mid September for us.

So you want to make sure it's got to be well in advance putting it out once the weeds already there.

And I get the same question about the lawn burr weed where if I'm not acting preventatively by the time I notice it, it's already Amanda: too late.

Yeah, cuz they don't notice it, too.

They're stepping on it.

Yeah, yeah, the children have run around barefooted, and everybody's unhappy.

And it's coming in and their dogs fur too I guess.

Yeah.

So really, that's the kind of thing you need to get a calendar.

And now that we got, you know, you can zip ahead on your computer, you could say what weed and feed it's September, but if you want to control those weeds that are really ugly, and kind of real obvious.

In the as you know, as we get into March and things start showing up.

They're so big during their adult form.

That's when you have to do it and this and then the converse.

It is kind of tricky, isn't it?

Absolutely.

Yeah.

Okay, Vicki, um, you brought something that I see just covering covering fields as I come over, and I think you've told me that, although it's a it looks like a weed that is not a particularly bad weed.

Vicky: It's not so this is a really pretty little weed in my opinion.

This is called henbit This is Lamium amplexicaule.

This is one of the only scientific names of plants.

And so Lamium amplexicaule.

Yeah, this is one of the very first weeds that we're going to see flower flower whenever it's the weather starts to warm up.

And this is actually really beneficial that it's starting to flower now, because this is because this is one of the first things to start to flower.

The honeybees have something after the winter, you know, there's nothing out there.

So we're gonna start seeing honeybees go after this.

Because they're going to start flying when the weather's warming up.

Amanda: And then we were looking at Ben Powells postings, and we found out something kind of interesting.

Vicky: So Ben has a newsletter.

It's called cappings.

And you can sign up for it and he talks about henbit and honeybees and he shows some really great pictures of the honeybees with this.

This kind of magenta, red pink pollen and you're like what is going on on their in their little bit of pollen baskets and it's it's the pollen from the henbit.

Amanda: That delightful that's really for this is Vicky: one of my whenever you start looking at this plant, and start looking at the flowers, the flowers are really unique.

They're really attractive up close she, I encourage you guys to go out there with your you know, everybody's phone takes pictures now.

Go out there and zoom in and look at these flowers.

They've got like little faces on them.

But they they're just they're uniquely shaped.

They're really pretty.

It's a it's an attractive little weed.

It really is.

Well, it's Amanda: good because it sure is in every field that you ever ride by everywhere, everywhere.

It is all over the place.

Probably worldwide distribution.

Thanks so much.

That was fun.

Okay.

All right.

Terasa.

So who can we guess whose brain can we pick now?

Terasa: Well, let's see if we can help Maggie in Long's.

Maggie says my blueberry bushes are really starting to bloom.

How much cold can they take?

Can I save my flowers and fruits?

You know, we always get a late freeze that seems to come out of nowhere.

Amanda: Yeah.

Well, do you need to go put sheets on top of blueberries often?

Or what's your advice?

Bruce: Well, blueberry flowers, it depends upon the stage that they're at, oh, if if the if the flower has yet to open, if the the end of the Corolla has actually, you know, before it actually opens, it can still tolerate a fair amount of cold, you know, 26 27 degrees wood without too much trouble.

But once that Corolla opens, and when the end of that bloom opens up, then it does make it more susceptible to cold, then, you know, as the flower matures, that it gets more and more susceptible to cold.

Ah, and so once the Corolla opens, and the yeah really about 31.

Maybe 32 is about as much as it is it'll take and and even you know, like in if, if the forecast is for, say like less than 35 and you really wanted to try to preserve at least a little bit of fruit and you've only got just a few plants and they're not, you know, 14 feet tall by any means, then yes, I mean, you could you could get a tarp you could get a sheet you could get, you know, anything I didn't just, you know draped over it, but uh, put like 100 watt light bulb, if you can still find incandescent bulbs, sometimes you might have to use something like a halogen, you know, steel puts off a little bit of heat, LEDs unfortunately, don't put out enough heat to do that.

But but you could put it at the base of it and just, you know, up under the up on with a sheet or, or a tarp or something, and any will protect them, you know, give them a bit of protection.

Amanda: And then I think what some people forget to do is if it's going to get real warm the next day, you don't want to leave that covering on it, because it might get too hot under them Bruce: exactly.

Really, once the temperature starts coming up, you know, and it gets above freezing, say safely above freezing, say, you know, if is, say 35-38 degrees, you know, and you feel pretty sure that you can uncover it without too much trouble.

Now, commercial blueberry production.

Yeah, that I mean, you know, if you've ever been by a large scale, blueberry grower, you know, they've got a sprinklers going.

A lot of times that is a bit of a challenge for a homeowner, it can be done, but Amanda: and explain why.

Because that seems like a bit counterintuitive, but explain what happens.

Okay, as the water fridge starts to freeze, Bruce: yes, the what it does is that even though the ice is forming, on the on the bush on around the fruit, it does maintain that that small thin layer of water, you know, just above freezing right around the fruit.

And so it does, I act almost like a little protective pocket around it.

So but the challenge is, you know, large scale commercial blueberry production, you know, then a lot of times they're pulling out of ponds, you know, they're they're using large quantities of water.

And you you need to have a certain amount of water volume that you're spraying on the plant to where basically you can really get good penetration into the plant, really get good coverage.

Sometimes in in or in a residential type situation, it's a little bit difficult to do.

Amanda: So if we had a real early variety of blueberry.

How many?

What's the period during which it blooms?

Is it four days?

Or is it three weeks?

Bruce: Oh, as far as blooming?

Well, it all depends.

It all depends on pollinator activity.

Yeah, once the, you know, you'll see color on the on the the blueberry bush literally for weeks, Oh, you do it first, you know, you'll see the scales and themselves, they'll get kind of a little bit of a like a light color outline around the scales on the buds.

And so then it and then it goes to actually what they call Greenbud.

And where you just start to say that bud opening up, then it goes to like an early pink, where the the, the flower has not open.

And you but you can you can distinguish.

So you can see the stretching of the pedals and the development of the pedals.

Amanda: Excuse me, but that is that happening to the all the flowers simultaneously?

Or is there a little bit of like, some of these are doing this and then a week later, some are doing Bruce: there are there there are multiple stages.

Okay, throughout the plant, okay, so but you'll go from the early pink to the late pink, and then all sudden they'll turn white and then they'll open up.

And then after that they have what's called petal fall.

Petal fall and really is from the time that the bloom opens to Petal fall is really just a few days typically would because of pollinator activity once a flower is pollinated, then there's really no need for for the, the the flower.

Yeah, because it's done its job so you know, sheds off, and then you've got that little flat fruit pad that that's where the where the berry actually develops, surprisingly that unopened to just open flower.

And so Petal fall to where you just start to get that that fruit pads out there is the most sensitive, surprisingly, actually larger fruit once fruit star sizing up, it is actually a degree or two more tolerant of cold than it is in that real critical stage.

But like you had, had mentioned, it does have multiple stages.

So you know, if you see some blooms out there, and there's there's open blooms, it may not be necessary to just, you know, get all worked up over 10% of the blooms out there.

Because chances are you know, even if you lose that early 10% then you still got 90% Okay, and the end and the plant itself cannot really support that whole 100% of Blooms anyway.

So you're gonna lose a certain amount anyway I mean by so, you know, really look at them really good.

If you see, you know, a lot of white or pink, but you're not seeing open open.

Yeah, I'm not gonna see it.

Okay, then.

It might be better just just to save the blanket of the next week.

If another cold spell comes, Amanda: oh, goodness, goodness.

Well, that was fun too.

And you know, really?

I had blueberries when I first moved in and then it got so shady.

So I think this is the time for me.

Where Where do you is there a good place and we've got like 40 seconds.

Where can you where's a good place to find blueberries that that have Are there mail order places that you can get them from that are good?

Bruce: Yes, there are a number of mail order online nurseries that are really good you can in it.

There are you know, and there are plenty of local nurseries as well even you know even the the big box stores you know they have good varieties as well.

All right.

Amanda: Okay.

All right.

Well, I want to thank all of you all for being here.

Gosh, what a lot we've learned and let's say goodbye to everybody night night.

♪ Narration: Making it grow is brought to you in part by the South Carolina Department of Agriculture.

Certified South Carolina grown helps consumers identify, find and buy South Carolina products.

McLeod Farms in McBee, South Carolina.

This family farm offers seasonal produce, including over 22 varieties of peaches.

Additional funding provided by International Paper and the South Carolina Farm Bureau Federation and Farm Bureau Insurance.