- Hi, thanks for joining us for The Family Plot: Gardening in the Mid-South.

I'm Chris Cooper.

With the cooling temperatures, cool-season lawns are starting to grow.

Today, we're going to learn how to take care of them.

Also, it's not too late to start a compost pile for next spring.

That's just ahead on The Family Plot: Gardening in the Mid-South.

- (female announcer) Production funding for The Family Plot: Gardening in the Mid-South is provided by the WKNO Production Fund, the WKNO Endowment Fund, and by viewers like you, thank you.

[upbeat country music] - Welcome to The Family Plot.

I'm Chris Cooper.

Joining me today is Joseph Seago.

Joseph is a UT Extension agent right here in Shelby County.

And Tonya Ashworth will be joining me later.

Joseph, good to have you here today.

- Thank you for having me, Chris.

- All right, so we're gonna talk about those cool-season grasses that we can grow here in the South because we are in the South.

- All right.

That's right.

- So what are some of those cool-season grasses that we can grow here?

- We're gonna grow a tall fescue and a bluegrass mix.

- All right.

- So the tall fescue is gonna have a little bit more height to it.

Keep the grass, the roots, a little bit cooler, especially in the summertime, a little bit warmer in the wintertime.

And then the bluegrass is gonna have more of a drought tolerance.

So we kinda get a good blend of both.

- Good.

So why do we call them cool-season grasses?

- They're cool-season grasses, 'cause we grow 'em mostly in the North, in the cooler climates.

Down here in the South, it gets pretty warm June, July and August, and they kinda struggle some.

And they have a little bit of drought issues and heat issues, so.

- All right.

And here, particularly in Tennessee, we are in this transition zone, so it can be difficult to grow some of the cool-season grasses in this area, right?

- Yeah, so since we are in that transition zone, we can grow 'em pretty good in the wintertime or early spring, and then as it gets hotter during the summer, they kinda slough off a little bit, kinda die back a little bit, turn a little brown.

And then same thing for our warm-season grasses.

They kinda have the opposite effect.

- Okay, so can you tell us a little bit about the difference between a cool-season lawn and a warm-season lawn?

- So, cool-season lawns, like I said, they're gonna be more active and growing during the late fall, early winter.

and then they'll kinda slow down a little bit once it gets pretty cold.

In the springtime, they will kinda get active again, start growing again, and then, during the summertime, when it gets hot and gets dry, they kinda stop growing, they'll get a little brown on the tips, and they just look like they need some water.

It's real important to irrigate 'em a lot during that time of the year.

- Right, 'cause the cool-season grasses will want to go dormant in the warmer climates, right?

- Yeah, so they kinda will go in a dormant, semi-dormant stage.

And then our warm-season grasses, they do the opposite.

So they're getting ready to go dormant, they're starting to slow down now, and then they're gonna go dormant throughout the winter, and in late spring, they'll start greening up, and they'll start really growing very well around June and July, when it gets hotter.

- Okay.

Yeah, that's good.

So how do we take care of those cool-season lawns?

- So, cool-season lawns, we're starting about right now.

And we're gonna do some interseeding about 30, 45 days before our first freeze.

- Okay, and what do you mean by interseeding?

- So interseeding is when you already have an established grass and you're going to add more seed to it, yeah.

- So are there any other benefits to interseeding, other than just aesthetics, you know, just the look?

- Yeah, it's just the look, and it's also to get it thick again.

'Cause during the summertime, it's gonna thin out.

Some of it's gonna die back.

And so when you interseed and get that new seed going, it just thickens it up, makes it look a lot better.

It's not as patchy.

It doesn't have as much holes in it.

And it's healthier.

- Right, right.

- It's gonna be healthier, which is gonna help keep down your weeds.

And it's gonna keep down some of your diseases and insect issues coming up into the springtime.

- Okay.

And again, we're talking about using seeds, right?

- Mm-hm.

- So, yeah, as opposed to your warm-season grasses, I mean, do you really interseed your warm-season grasses?

- No, so interseeding is what's already established.

and you're gonna want that to build back up.

Overseeding is when you have a warm-season grass and you want to have green grass in the wintertime.

And we do that for different reasons.

Aesthetics, maybe someone just wants green grass.

But we also do it on a lot of athletic fields where they're playing soccer and football, 'cause the Bermudagrass is getting pretty beat up, the warm-season grasses are, and so we want something on that surface for the kids to play on.

- Okay.

And that's overseeding.

That's usually with... - We usually use a perennial ryegrass for that.

- All right, so what else do we need to do, as far as care goes?

So do we have to think about fertilizing?

- Fertilizing, mowing, and some irrigation.

You'll have to supplement some irrigation depending on how much rain we're getting in your area.

- Okay.

- But mowing, like I said, mowing, you're gonna wanna cut, wintertime, you're gonna wanna cut at about 2 to 3 inches, 2.5 is pretty good.

Something else you're gonna have to think about is the broadleaf weeds, 'cause they are gonna pop up.

- Yeah, they are.

Yeah, those winter weeds.

- So you'll need to go ahead and be ready for that and apply some herbicide - Right.

- For those.

- So let's talk more specifically about fertilizing.

So, should we fertilize our cool-season grasses?

And if we do, what are we gonna use?

- Yeah, so you definitely wanna fertilize.

And the first step to fertilizing is get a soil test.

- Ah!

I was waiting for you to say it.

Good.

- Get a soil test done.

'Cause that's gonna tell you how much to apply, at what rate, and when to apply it, and how often.

So normally we're gonna apply that fertilizer this fall, 'cause that's when the fescue and bluegrass is actively growing.

That's when they're doing their growing.

And then, again, you're gonna wanna fertilize again in the springtime.

'Cause, again, it's gonna kinda come out of that winter dormancy and it's in a little bit, and it's gonna start growing.

- Okay, so again, for the cool-season grasses, what about the watering, though?

- So irrigation- - So how much water will it need?

- Well, that's gonna depend on how much rain you're getting in your area.

You have to kinda judge it.

So you're looking at, you know, half an inch every 3 to 4 days, to an inch every 7 to 14 days.

And you wanna use it as a supplement as well.

And once it gets cold again, you're not gonna use as much water, 'cause it's not gonna be as actively growing.

- Got it.

So do we need to think about aeration with our cool-season lawns?

- Mm-hm.

Yeah, so it's really good to aerate, just like you do with warm-season grasses.

- Okay.

- The fall is a great time to aerate, 'cause it's when it's actively growing.

- Right.

- You can also do it in the summertime.

It's not as good as doing it in the fall.

- Sure.

- And the other reason why you wanna do it in the fall is 'cause it'll open up that soil and when you interseed, you'll get a better contact from the seed to the soil.

- Right, 'cause you definitely wanna have that contact.

- Yeah.

- Okay, got it.

- That seed's gonna root in a lot better and a lot quicker with that actual contact to the soil.

- Okay, that is good, 'cause you can get those nutrients and that water, you know, that air down into the soil profile.

- Right.

- It's beneficial for a healthy turf.

- Exactly.

- So any insect pressure we need to be concerned about, any diseases?

- Not too much of an insect.

They're gonna die off in the wintertime, or they're gonna go dormant deep into the soil, so we don't see too much insect pressure.

In the springtime, you do have to be on the lookout for brown patch, which is a fungal disease.

Of course, 'cause the grass has grown, we still have some cool nights, maybe some cool days, we get in a lot of rain, and so brown patch can develop.

- Okay, do you see many cool-season lawns here in the South, particularly here in Shelby County?

- We see some, we have some.

Not a whole lot.

It is very difficult to grow.

You really have to be dedicated to it.

And you have to understand that during the summer months, when it's hot and dry, it's not gonna look its best.

It's gonna look beat up.

It's gonna look stressed.

Irrigating it is going to be a big key.

Cutting it at a 3-, 3.5-inch height to protect those roots.

'Cause those roots will burn up pretty quick.

- Right.

All right, folks, so there you have it.

Cool-season lawns, right, for the South.

Appreciate that, Joseph.

We appreciate that.

- Thank you.

- Good information.

[gentle country music] - This is goldenrod, also known as Solidago, part of the Aster family.

And it blooms in the fall of the year, which is good for pollinators because it's something blooming when a lot of things is not blooming.

And you'll see it along the sides of the roads.

It grows with a stiff stalk.

It's green until it starts blooming in the fall.

So if you see something stiff growing up with these nice pointed leaves on it, I would leave it and see if it's not a Solidago plant, because this is great for the fall blooms, for the pollinators, and it's just something really pretty in the yard.

This happens to bloom at the same time that ragweed does.

And ragweed is not a Solidago.

Ragweed is Ambrosia.

So they're completely different plants.

But this one is blooming at the same time that everybody starts sneezing from the ragweed, but they are completely different plants, and this is not the culprit.

But this is when they both bloom.

[upbeat country music] - Tonya, glad you're here today.

We gotta talk about composting.

Now, here's the thing about composting.

A lot of people wanna do it, but they don't know how to do it.

So you're gonna help us out today, right?

- Yes.

- All right.

So why do people compost, anyway?

- Well, there's different reasons.

You can make composting as simple or as complex as you want it to be.

- Okay.

- I go for the simple method.

You just put everything in a pile and let it rot.

And the reason I do it is for environmental reasons.

I don't like to see plastic bags full of leaves sitting out on the curb to be taken to the landfill.

So my goal is just to not put biodegradable things in a landfill in a plastic bag.

But for people who are more serious about composting and plan to use it in their garden, it's a fantastic way to make your own nutrient-rich soil amendment.

It has free fertilizer for you.

In fact, it contains all of the 22 essential macro- and micronutrients that plants need to survive.

Let's think about it like this.

In a regular bag of fertilizer, you might have your nitrogen, your phosphorus, potassium, and maybe a few trace elements.

But when you put parts of a plant that was alive, you know for a fact that that plant contained every single macro- and micronutrient needed to survive.

So you know that in your compost pile, you're gonna get out every single macro- and micronutrient that you need to make your plants live.

- That's right.

- And that's a great reason to compost.

Also, when you put it in in your soil as an amendment, it helps with the pore space, opens up the pore space, allows air and water to transfer in and out to the roots.

So those are some really good reasons.

- Those are good things.

'Cause you're not gonna find that with your commercial fertilizers, that's for sure.

- Right.

- Okay, now, what do we add to compost piles?

Or what shouldn't we add to compost piles?

- Okay, well, simple things to add would be kitchen scraps, like when you're chopping up your vegetables to cook, the ends and the the carrot tops, and any kinda thing like that.

What you don't wanna put from your kitchen are things that have already been cooked.

You don't wanna put any kind of a bread product or any kind of meat in there.

You strictly wanna do your vegetables.

You can do eggshells.

That's not a problem.

But I wouldn't do dairy or anything like that.

Also from your yard, you've got free material out there as well.

Your fall leaves that are about to hit the ground.

- That's right, that's right.

- Just put 'em into a big pile would be simple enough.

But you can use your fall leaves.

And then in the summertime, when you're cutting your yard, you can use grass clippings.

If you have one of those bag attachments that already goes on your lawnmower, that's a great thing.

Or maybe you have a mulching lawnmower.

But at our house, sometimes we wait a little too long between cuttings, and we still have some clippings laying on the ground.

You just rake those up and put it in the bin.

- Okay.

Yeah, those are real good things to use.

'Cause I'm like you.

I hate to see all those leaves just piled up in plastic bags on the side of the curb.

- Yeah, I know.

The thing to look for, though, what you don't wanna put in, if you are cleaning out your garden, you can put in things in your compost pile from your garden.

You wanna make sure, though, that you don't put in anything that has diseased plant parts.

I'm thinking tomato plants, if your tomato plants had a disease.

Or if you have an insect infestation on your plant, you don't wanna introduce insects into your compost pile.

That's pretty obvious.

You don't wanna put things like the things you pick up from your dog should not go in there.

- Yeah, that waste.

- People ask about manures, and you can use manure in your compost pile, but you want it to be thoroughly rotted before you put that on your garden.

I'm talking a year.

And then, if you use a manure-based compost in your garden, you wanna give 120-day harvest interval.

That means you wanna wait 120 days from the time you put it on until the time you harvest your vegetables.

And I'd be especially careful if you're growing root vegetables in it.

- Sure, I would.

Yeah.

Okay.

- So those are some of the do's and don'ts of what can go in.

- But what about weeds?

- No.

[Tonya and Chris laugh] - No weeds in there?

- No, I think weeds that have gone to seed, especially.

You don't wanna introduce weed seeds into your bin.

- Okay, now, how hot do we need to get that compost pile so we can burn up some of those weed seeds and some of these other things you're talking about?

- Well, if you do get some weed seeds and diseased plant parts in there, you need to get your compost pile to about 131 degrees, between 131 and 170 degrees, that hot to be able to start killing off some weed seeds.

And it depends, I've seen research, it depends on what kinda weed seeds you have.

Different weeds die at different temperatures and lengths of time.

So I can't really say it has to be this for this many hours, because it just depends.

But it needs to be at least 131 degrees for at least three days, and then the longer, the better.

And I can tell you that it can be kinda difficult here to really get a hot compost pile, and the reason is because we get our grass clippings and the things that really heat up your pile seasonally.

So it can be a challenge to get your pile hot enough to kill the weed seeds.

- Okay.

All right, you wanna get us started?

- Sure!

Sure!

- Let's see how this thing works.

- Okay, well, here, we're gonna have a two-pile system, and this is fantastic because this means that what we get out we can use in our garden.

What would happen if we just pile everything in just one big pile and kept adding to the top is all of our good stuff would be on the bottom.

We could never get it out.

So what we're gonna do is build a pile.

The ideal pile is gonna be 3 feet tall, 3 by 3 by 3.

And then when we get it the right height, we stop, and we let it decompose, and we start putting our fresh stuff in the other bin.

So that's what we're gonna do.

And we have some wonderful fall leaves here.

- Yeah, we got the leaves.

- And these are gonna be, we call these browns.

- Just dump 'em in there?

- Uh-huh.

This is gonna be our carbon-rich additive here.

Rich in carbon.

And then we also need to add some greens, or things rich in nitrogen.

And we have some wonderful things here.

- Kitchen scraps!

- Kitchen scraps.

All sorts of stuff.

And I'm gonna kinda put these in the center.

If you are worried about attracting pests to your compost pile, just kinda bury your kitchen scraps, and that should take care of that.

So we're gonna kinda put these in the middle.

- Just throw 'em in there!

- Mm-hm!

And you don't have to buy a fancy compost crock to put on your kitchen counter.

Any kind of a sealable container like this is fine.

Something with a lid.

- Cool!

- I know!

- Old banana peels and all that good stuff.

- Yeah!

And so, then, let's see what else we have.

We have some grass clippings.

Fantastic!

And the grass clippings will give us a good supply of nitrogen.

And grass clippings break down super fast.

They'll really, really start to heat the thing up.

- And we're gonna put that on top, right?

- Uh-huh.

- Okay.

Break that open.

There we go.

Yeah!

- Okay.

- Yeah!

- And then we have some clippings from our garden here.

Not clippings, but older plants - Some actual plants, yeah.

- From the season, yeah.

All right!

- Oh, she just tosses that in.

- Just toss it in!

Now, what you need to do is to get your compost pile going.

Mix everything up.

This is what I use.

Just kind of with a pitchfork just kind of shove some of that back in there.

- Tonya, have you done this before?

- Yes.

[laughs] - Looks like you know what you're doing.

- And you want to turn your compost pile, ideally, if you wanna try to do a hot compost pile, ideally, you wanna turn it every week, - Okay, every week.

- You also need to add water.

We don't have a hose out here with us today.

But you know you have the water right if you reach in and feel, it feels like a damp sponge.

You don't want it soaking wet all the time, but it needs to be a little moist.

- Okay, let me ask you this.

So how do we know when it's ready, though?

- Well, your pile's gonna shrink a whole lot, and when it's ready, you aren't gonna be able to tell what was a tomato and what was a leaf.

It's not gonna smell, and it's gonna look like just really good potting soil, look like dirt.

- All right, that's what we want at the end of the day, right?

- I got this little gizmo to show you.

This is another compost pile turner.

When you stick it in, these go like this, when you pull it out.

The reason you wanna turn it is to allow for aeration to get in there.

If it's not aerated, you can get yucky smells.

You can also get some aeration going by putting a pretty large limb in the center of it to open things up.

- Just open it up.

- There's that.

And then you can also get a thermometer, compost thermometer, to stick in there.

Of course, ours are gonna be hot.

But it'll tell you low, medium, or hot on there, and the temperature, so you can see if you're getting it hot enough to kill any weed seeds.

- All right, well, Tonya, we appreciate that demo.

We hope folks really get into composting now.

Thank you much!

- Yeah, thank you!

- All right.

[upbeat country music] - We planted pansies and Swiss chard, and now we need to protect them from wildlife.

We know there are deer that come through this area.

They've uprooted our pansies in past years.

We've had to replant them.

Also, before we planted our Swiss chard, the rabbits ate it.

So we need to protect it and try and keep wildlife away from it, at least 'til it gets established.

So what we're gonna do is we're going to use bird netting and we're gonna put bird netting over it.

Now, we don't want to just lay the bird netting on the flowers, because the flowers will either be tangled up in it and when we try and take it off, it'll pull the flowers out, or it'll just restrict and smash them.

So we don't wanna do that.

So what we're gonna do is we're gonna put in some bamboo stakes, and then we are going to zip-tie the bird netting to the bamboo stakes.

I'm gonna put four across here, just because of the size of the bed.

Okay, so our stakes are in.

Now, let me get the bird net.

I have here some landscape staples, and I'm going to just put it through the bird netting here in a couple spots to secure it to the ground.

And then I have my zip ties.

Get it nice and tight.

That holds the bird netting.

So there we go.

We got the the net in.

Now what we need to do is just go around and put in some of these landscape staples here to hold it down.

So now we have our plants protected from small creatures, but it's nearly invisible.

So unless you're looking for it, you don't even see the netting.

[upbeat country music] - All right, here's our Q&A segment.

Y'all ready?

- Ready.

- All these are some great questions, all right?

Here's our first viewer email.

"How do I get rid of red ants in the flowerpot without killing the plant?"

And this is Monica.

So, Joseph, what do you think about controlling those ants that are in the flowerpot?

- Yeah, I would recommend using a bait.

- Okay.

- Just spread it out on the outside of the flowerpot, on the ground around the flowerpot, they'll get it.

- They'll get it?

- They'll get it and get back up in their nest, and... - You think that'll take care of them pretty good for you?

- Yeah, it'll take care of 'em.

- Okay.

All right.

You have anything you wanna add to that?

- No.

I like baits.

That's what I would do.

And of course, if she wants to, she can repot it.

- Yeah, I thought about that.

Yeah.

- But that's a lot of trouble.

It's just easier to get some baits.

- Yeah.

Unless it's time to up-pot.

Maybe a good idea to do it at that time.

Or you could use some water, maybe flood 'em out, maybe?

- Yeah.

Yeah.

- That's a possibility as well.

- That's true.

- Yeah.

So you could do that.

But any of those methods, I think, would be good, Monica, so thank you for the question.

Watch out for those ants, all right?

Here's our next viewer email.

"Something is eating our hostas."

Haven't we heard that before?

- Yeah.

- Mm-hm.

- "How do we keep our hostas safe?"

And this is Doug from Bartlett, Tennessee.

So Joseph, something's eating those hostas.

Any idea?

- Yeah, it looks like it's rabbits.

- Yeah, that's something we talked about, right, from the picture, and we appreciate that picture.

Yeah, because the rabbits, yeah, clean cuts, angled cuts.

- Clean cut, angles, and they only eat down to certain parts, so they're not eating all of it.

- Right.

Like deers will.

- Yeah, deer would just bite it off and there would be nothing but stems left.

- Right.

- And it's only eating parts of it at a time.

- Okay.

So, yeah, how do we keep those hostas safe, though?

What do you think, Joellen?

- Well, you know, wires are always good.

For voles, you do wire under the ground.

For rabbits, I would put chicken wire on top.

And you can make a little cage out of it or, you know, just to protect 'em.

- You can also put 'em in raised pots, something high off the ground rabbits won't get into.

That'd be another option.

- Okay.

Yeah, so there are a couple options for you, Doug.

Yeah, good luck with that.

- Yeah.

- Yeah, hostas.

- It's the candy of the plant world, right?

- Yeah.

- Yeah, yeah.

All these little critters love hostas, right?

It must be the taste or something about it, right?

So thank you for that question.

We appreciate that.

All right, here's our next viewer email.

"What is this?

It just came up in my garden."

This is Rick from Corinth, Mississippi.

All right, Mr. Rick, so Joseph and I, we're gonna get out of the way, right?

Because somebody actually grows this plant in their landscape.

So we'll hand this over to Joellen.

- Joellen's the expert.

- So, Joellen, take it away!

- That is a nerine, called nerine lily or a Guernsey lily.

It's Nerine sarniensis.

It's fall-blooming, and that's why I have it, because it blooms in the part of the year there are not a lot of things blooming.

So it's nice and bright red.

I have it out my front, and just have it all lined up.

I have it where the daffodils are in the spring, so they trade out colors.

But, yes, very, very nice plant.

And yes, there are no foliage on it.

When it finishes blooming, the foliage then will come about and stay out most of the winter, and then it'll die down in the spring, and you won't see it again until it blooms in the fall.

So, yeah, nerine.

Love it.

- Can you tell that she's excited about that?

She is.

- Love them.

Great plant.

- Nerine.

- So I actually said red spider lily, but you did say- - That sometimes is a common name, but nerine lily and Guernsey lily is mostly what they are referred as when you're looking for 'em.

And you can get 'em online, and buy 'em locally if you can, and, you know, fairly easy to find.

But, yeah, nice blooming fall color in the yard.

Highly recommend it.

- All right, Mr. Rick, I have nothing else to say.

[laughs] All right, so thank you for that question.

We appreciate that.

All right, here's our next viewer email.

"Can I grow garlic in containers?

I live in an apartment."

And this is Elizabeth.

So, Joellen, can she grow her garlic?

- Oh, yes, she can, yeah!

- On the patio there in the apartment?

- Yeah!

All that she needs to do is plant 'em at the depth that she would normally plant 'em in the yard in the ground, and keep 'em moist, but let 'em dry out.

They don't like to be too wet.

And harvest 'em when they get done.

- Yeah, so make sure you have a pot that has drainage holes at the bottom of it.

You're gonna have to keep it moist, right?

So I recently went to a garlic festival.

- Oh, cool!

- And he talked about growing garlic.

So, two varieties, so you have to decide which one you want, Elizabeth.

So there's a hardneck, there's a softneck.

So the softneck actually grows best in warmer climates.

The hardneck grows best in cooler climates.

So decide which one you want to plant.

Those cloves, make sure the pointed end goes up.

Not down.

It goes up.

Yeah, keep it watered.

I think it'll work.

- Mm-hm.

- Enjoy your garlic.

I think it'll work, so thank you much.

All right, Joseph.

Joseph, that was fun.

- Yes.

- Thank you so much.

- Thank you much.

- All right.

Remember, we love to hear from you.

Send us an email or letter.

The email address is questions@familyplotgarden.com, and the mailing address is Family Plot, 7151 Cherry Farms Road, Cordova, Tennessee, 38016.

Or you can go online to familyplotgarden.com.

That's all we have time for today.

Thanks for watching.

If you want to learn more about lawn care or compost, head on over to familyplotgarden.com.

Be sure to join us next week for The Family Plot: Gardening in the Mid-South.= Be safe.

[upbeat country music] [acoustic guitar chords]