Narrator>>: Making It Grow is brought to you in part by Certified South Carolina is a cooperative effort among farmers retailers and the South Carolina Department of Agriculture to help consumers identify foods and agricultural products that are grown harvested or raised right here in the Palmetto State.

The Boyd Foundation supporting outdoor recreational opportunities, the appreciation of wildlife, educational programs, and enhancing the quality of life in Columbia, South Carolina and the Midlands at large.

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This family farm offers seasonal produce, including over 40 varieties of peaches.

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

So glad that you can join us tonight.

I'm Amanda McNulty.

I'm a Clemson horticulture agent.

And we are all big on continuing education.

And so I get mine because I get to come and have these wonderful panelists who have young minds and fresh knowledge, and they share it with me and with you.

I want to thank them so much.

And tonight, we have such a treat for you.

I mean to tell you, our wonderful friend Robert Carter called to tell us about a magical Firefly display.

And then also, we're going to go to see roses roses roses at Dr. John Green's garden up in Newberry, where they also had someone doing plenty of painting in the garden.

It was very edifying and pretty sophisticated for South Carolina.

But at any rate, Terasa Lott is always so wonderful to us.

She gets everything together, she puts pictures on Facebook, and she still manages to do her day job too which is?

Terasa: Its extension is all about wearing many hats.

<That's true.> Amanda: And of course, you keep the Master Gardener program going, and what a wonderful, expanded way of getting information out to people, those people who take that course Terasa: So the program started many years ago course.

in the state of Washington as a way to help horticulture agents be able to reach more people because there was so much demand and just not enough extension agents to get that information where it needed to be.

So the idea came about let's train some volunteers.

And now I believe it's offered in every state in the United States as well as a few other countries maybe.

Amanda: I think it's an international organization.

That's kind of fun and Christopher Burtt, I know you're glad to have them cuz you've got three counties in the low country.

And the growth down there is phenomenal.

So probably they can't even get to you on the phone.

But so to sum up I think some of the offices have master gardeners who come in and man the phones occasionally don't they?

Christopher: That is correct.

So I cover Charleston, Berkeley and Dorchester counties and of course Charleston being definitely the most populous of the three.

We do have a pretty steady supply of master gardeners.

To man the phones there.

Amanda: And I think fortunately, you got a few parking spaces behind your building because otherwise they could never get there and come to work to help you because you can't park.

Christopher: Yeah, well, I like to think we have some parking spots.

But it might be even limited for them.

Unfortunately.

Amanda: Yeah.

A little iffy.

Yeah.

Oh, goodness.

Well, a good reason to, to hoof it.

Right.

Exactly.

The wonderful South Carolina summers of walking down the sidewalks of Charleston.

Well Brad Fowler you're lucky because your master gardeners could maybe just go run and jump in the ocean.

Because you down in Horry County.

Brad: Yes, ma'am.

Yes, ma'am.

Horry County and Georgetown County and Georgetown.

Amanda: And if you had a chance to teach a Master Gardener course yet.

Brad: So this past class was was my first one.

And I mean, it was a good experience.

I enjoyed it, you know, getting to meet everybody and learning how that works.

Amanda: Well, and you had, you've had a good many years since finishing Clemson.

And so I bet you sat there and listened and learned a few things too.

Brad: I did I did.

I was I have been more than the landscape industry.

So I'm trying to refresh on some of that stuff I learned those years ago.

Amanda: Well, we're so glad that you're part of Clemson now and you actually live in Georgetown.

<Yes, ma'am.> Down downtown Georgetown.

<Yes, ma'am.> And um, people used to say when we were little, I'm so much older than y'all.

I'm not sure we even had air conditioning you you ride to Georgetown and it had a certain odor.

And my brother said the people who live here say that the smell of money because it meant jobs with people back when there weren't jobs.

Brad: Exactly, exactly.

The paper mill was a big part of part of Georgetown.

Amanda: A lot of people sent their children to college exactly when that didn't they?

Okay, Terasa, usually we start off happily with some pictures that people have sent of happy, cheerful lovely spots in their garden.

Terasa: That's right.

We call it gardens of the week and it's your time to share with us what you're doing in your yard or garden, house plants or fair game too wildlife or maybe just a beautiful place you've captured in South Carolina.

Today we begin with Dannie McClellan who shared a caterpillar she's happy to see a black swallowtail caterpillar on her parsley, from Theresa Seay a special place planted by her husband for the two of them to enjoy.

Now this one's maybe happy and not so happy all at the same time.

Nicky Haynes sent a common tomato pest the leaf footed bug perched atop of one of her green tomatoes, she said they love the tomatoes about as much as she does.

And I have them all over my tomatoes as well.

Liz Hyrkas sent us She's trying her hand up microwave drying some flowers from her yard, so I'll be anxious to see if they turn into some crafts, maybe some pressed flower cards or something like we saw your friend Ruth Ann demonstrate.

Amanda: Arn't they lovely?

That she's given some other people some ideas too.

Yes, and we wrap up with Mike Haley who sent in a shady spot near the creek that is great for rooted cuttings.

So thanks to everyone who shared their photographs, I encourage you to either post it when you see us make our posts for gardens of the week, you can put your pictures in the comments or you're welcome to send them to my email, smoke signal them however you want to send them in and we'll be, we'll do our best to try to get the feature.

They are chosen at random.

So please don't be offended if your photo doesn't make the show.

And we just choose from random.

Amanda: And Terasa is a ray of sunshine.

And so it is: "terasa@clemson.edu" <That's right.> That's how I keep it straight.

Oh, okay.

Well, I guess also Terasa, you're the person that gets questions from lots of different sources, sometimes from Facebook, and sometimes people write to you.

So can we start with one and try to help somebody?

Terasa: Sure.

I think we'll try to start with Allison in Beaufort.

She said I just recently recently purchased a satsuma tree and I'm wondering if this is something that can be put in the ground?

Or does it need to be kept in a pot to bring in in the winter?

And if I can plant it, when is the best time to do so?

Well, she's got a lot of questions.

Also, I haven't liked to have other citrus.

What is the best for this area "Beaufort" and which ones are the most cold tolerant?

Amanda: All righty.

Well, Christopher, I think is satsuma is gonna be fine.

What do you think?

Christopher: For the most part, so citrus is is kind of a large group of plants.

Very fascinating group of plants but definitely rising in popularity, but satsuma which is a type of Mandarin is considered to be one of the most cold tolerant I believe I've seen some conflicting reports but anywhere from 18 to 24 degrees is as cold as it can handle.

One of the things I will still caution anyone on is remember that's when it's established.

So being in the ground and established is much different than if it's just in a pot or you're just planting it so I'm always very hesitant to put it in the ground though most trees and shrubs I'm going to be planting in the fall citrus is one of those I'm probably going to be on the other end I'm going to be planting it really early in the spring.

Amanda: and that's because you want it is that when it's going to have its growth spurt or what if you just want to have that summer without having to go through that potential cold snap in the fall?

Christopher: Yes, so that summer is going to be hard on it no matter what that summer is hard on all plants but you want it to basically have the root system develop as much as possible and that foliage harden off as much as possible.

A an established plant is going to be much more cold tolerant as well as a plant that doesn't have any fruit and so though a satsuma can handle our cold weather for the most part, though we don't have much cold weather.

It's still citrus is that group that we want to be as careful as possible.

Amanda: I love kumquats that you do know how to eat a kumquat?

<I don't think so.> Well you have to put it In your mouth all at one time and bite down real fast, because the peel is sweet, but the inside is not sweet.

And, um, but they're beautiful to decorate at Christmas, and they're very cold hearty.

But Terasa, Do you remember when our friend from Cooper's nursery came on?

<Yes, Casey.> He had those incredibly cold hardy trees that he got, I think from Texas, and he can only get like 20 a year and they're good.

He's got limes and all kinds of things that are good down to like 10 degrees.

And so I think it's interesting that there are, there's some research going on.

And so that's pretty that's gonna really, Arctic Frost is, I believe what they were called.

And so it's so maybe other people can expand the realm... of citrus.

It's kind of hard to be hauling them in and out of the garage all winter.

Christopher: Yeah, I prefer not to do that.

That's why I always encourage try to find the most cold tolerant citrus is grafted in.

So the weather actually improving the cold tolerances is not only through hybridization, but also through selecting kind of the proper grafted or the rootstocks in order to of course provide that kind of cold tolerance.

But the key is, as you mentioned, kumquats and satsumas are really cold tolerant.

That's kind of the key is you want to stick with the really cold tolerance.

And that's where that kind of both satsumas or mandarins in general, kumquats, but as well as calamondins, which are kind of a unique source of or acid orange or an acid fruit.

That's kind of an alternative to limes.

Oh, and so, that being said, lemons and limes are kind of our least cold tolerant.

And so as long as you know, kind of falls in that range, generally, it's good to pick the ones that can handle it the best so you don't have to do all the hauling.

Amanda: Yeah, that's true.

Okay.

Well, thank you so much.

And Terasa, Ruth Annn Digger, our wonderful Master Gardener friend who came on, she keeps old fashioned Christmas tree lights on her tree, her satsuma.

And she says that sometimes that's enough to help it get through a cold night here and Sumter.

Christopher: So absolutely.

It's just enough heat.

That keeps that kind of cold off.

And again because they're so cold tolerant already.

Amanda: A little bit, just a few degrees sometimes can make a difference.

<Exactly.> Okay, well, thank you so much.

Well, Terasa, uhm, whom else can we try to help?

Terasa: Max would like our help, it seems he's got some trouble with fire ants.

Max said, we've been having trouble with fire ants in our yard is it too late to treat for them?

Amanda: Goodness well Brad there's like the spot treatment.

If you've got, you know, you can have a picnic and you know, you've got one right by the picnic table.

And then I think there's also a broadcast method.

So how would you handle this?

Brad: So yeah, there's definitely always stuff you can do this really quick.

But the way I will go is fire ant bait, for the most part seems to give you good control throughout the entire year.

You may need to do it a couple of times a year, maybe once in the spring and once in the fall, broadcast it over your yard.

Amanda: It's kind of amazing how much a small container can cover.

Brad: Yes, ma'am.

It does not take much at all.

And I always recommend people read the label, make sure you're putting out the amount on that's recommended by the label.

But normally it does not take much bait at all because those ants will go out and find that bait in the yard.

And like I said, it really just gives you a good long term coverage.

Amanda: Are there some things that you do to be sure that the ants are foraging I've heard about that sometimes Brad: you normally want it to be between about 70 to 90-95 degrees outside.

I like to try to land somewhere in the middle of that.

That's when they're going to be foraging more.

You also want to make sure most of the time with this bait that it's not going to get wet.

Right after it needs time to pick it up.

Yes, ma'am.

They had to go out and pick it up.

So it needs a certain amount of time on the ground before it gets rained on or disturbed.

You don't really want to mow over it immediately.

You want to give those ants time to go out and get that bait.

Amanda: So be sure that the grass or the area is dry when you do it as well.

Brad: Yes, ma'am.

And it depends on which brand you use and stuff like that each label is going to have recommendations and I always tell people just make sure you follow the exact directions.

There's on the label of that.

But when it comes to fire ants, I haven't found anything better than than bait.

Amanda: And I think Christopher that we have at H-G-I-C our home and garden Information Center.

I think we have some information there on some products that you can use within a garden.

Is that correct?

Christopher: Have you heard that?

Yeah, yeah.

So baits are generally kind of that product that is designed not only for kind of the general landscaper, but also for the home gardener, because I'm not putting it directly on the mounds.

And so if I get a mound next to my tomato plants or my next to my cucumbers, I'm not putting out any chemical around those plants.

I'm putting it out over the entire yard.

And one of the ways you can check to see if they actually are testing is the potato chip test.

And that's where you're taking just a plain, Amanda: Not a no fat potato, you want a real one.

Christopher: Want a greasy potato chip, but just throw it out in the yard Wait 15 minutes, if you have some ants near their their foraging, that's a really good way to test.

Amanda: I think there's some restrictions about putting it on real close to water, but they go a long way.

So you can easily if you follow the directions and get control without putting it near the water.

Brad: Yes, ma'am.

You definitely want to be careful with ponds and things like that bodies of water.

But yes, they these ants are traveling quite a number of feet to go out and find this this bait out.

Amanda:.

a lot of people.

Thank you so much.

And then the other thing I think, is it, we don't want it to get hot.

That can it go Can it go off, if it gets too hot.

So don't like buy it and leave it the car in the trunk of the car for three or four days.

Brad: Exactly.

It can it can get stale and a little bit rancid and the ants just aren't going to be attracted to it.

So it's something that you want to kind of try to buy the amount that you need, go ahead and use that amount and be done with it, it's gonna be a little bit harder to store it may lose its effectiveness.

Amanda: Thank you so much.

I really do appreciate it.

We have done several wonderful things with Robert Carter, who's just a marvelous naturalist.

And he called us and was just so excited, he was just about to jump out of his shoes.

And that was because he and an entomologist at Winthrop University had found this amazing colony of fireflies.

And so we had to pack up our van and race right up there and sit out at night to have a wonderful experience.

♪ (Fun Music) ♪ Amanda: I'm at the Winthrop University, recreational and research complex, and I'm speaking with my good friend, Robert Carter.

Robert, you are my go to person for things about nature, because I just don't know anybody who enjoys it more.

Robert: Yeah, I mean, anything that's involved in nature doesn't matter what it is.

Amanda: And we've done several things to get to but you've recently called us and told us about something super exciting up here.

Robert: Yeah, I mean, it's fireflies.

You know, most people are used to seeing fireflies in their yard.

It's what we call the Big Dipper because it makes kind of a dipper shape when it fires up that these are totally different.

It's a totally type of display is really spectacular.

Amanda: And some people call them lightning bugs.

Robert: sometimes called lightning bugs.

Yeah, but they're not bugs.

And they're not flies either.

They're actually beetles, Soft winged beetles.

Amanda: And we know like I live in the middle of the state, we know that people go to Congaree to see a synchronous display of fireflies there and I'm sure it's quite fascinating.

What we're going to see here is a very different phenomenon.

Robert: Yeah, it's a twinkle, like their on a Christmas tree.

I mean, so all up in the tree, they don't stay close to the ground all up in the tree.

They're just flashing.

It looks like this Christmas tree display.

Amanda: And is it to find a mate?

Robert : Yes that's right, it is to find a mate.

So the males are flying around up in the tree.

And they're, they're flashing, sending a specific signal and is species specific.

And then the females are down on lower vegetation and they're, you know, they're looking around.

And thinks male comes close.

And I think it's the right one, they're gonna flash and send it a message so that the male can come down and they can mate.

Amanda: Okay.

And then the males generally don't live very long in the adult phase, the female can, will feed and live a little longer and in some cases.

Robert: In some species, yeah, but in general, the adults live about a month.

But there are species of fireflies where the female continues to eat after she has laid her eggs and they can live a long time a lot of fireflies are in decline because as part of is pesticides.

Part of it is habitat destruction of the larvae take one or two years to develop.

And you know, they don't have wings they're not flying.

So if they're down in the leaf litter and you disturb that leaf litter then you can you disturb their their life pattern.

So that's one one problem though, is the habitat destruction and then you have you know light pollution.

You've got to use bioluminescence to attract your mate.

If there's too much light, well you can't attract a mate.

Amanda: Yeah, because although it looks very bright here, that's because there's no light out here.

Robert: That's right, because there's not much light down here.

So it is really bright.

Amanda: But under other circumstances, they might just miss each other completely.

Robert: Yeah, if you ever paid attention, your long busy streets, you don't see many fireflies because it just doesn't work for them.

Amanda: Well, the ones that were watching put on this beautiful display, tell us what we need to know about them specifically, Robert: because they're in a different genus, but the photuris genus, and they are, they're a little bit different than the photinus that is so common.

And one big difference is they don't have a toxin in their body.

Because the photinus that you see in your yard, which is so common, they have a toxin.

So predators don't like to eat them.

They taste horrible.

They taste bad.

Yeah, to get enough of the toxin, it might make the animals really sick.

But they figured out you stay away from that.

Amanda: It's possible that the glowing the bioluminescence, originally was to serve as a signal.

You don't want to come mess with me because I taste bad.

Robert>>: It could be because of the eggs and the larvae, both glow.

So if you're glowing, then the predator is now Hey, I better stay away from this.

Amanda: And that's uses energy.

And so the purpose?

Yeah, yeah, Robert: I mean, there's no reason for it, an organism to do that expend that energy unless it has a purpose.

Amanda: Now, the Lar...

The female is going to lay her eggs.

And then groupings are singly kind of depending.

And it's amazing how long the larvae is the active phase.

Robert: Yeah, cuz the eggs will hatch in two to three, three weeks and the eggs glow.

It's really amazing.

And then, when the larvae hatches, it might be one year to two years before they mature into adults.

Amanda: And then they they pupate and emerge, and then the mating rituals.

Yeah.

Robert: And it's usually in May and June that you'd like to see the fireflies because that's when the adults come out.

Amanda: The ones that we're particularly interested in tonight, they don't have the toxin in them.

Do they?

Robert>>: No that for Pretorius or photuris.

I'm sorry, they don't have that toxin.

But they have a little trick that they use to get the toxin and it's really amazing that the females that are down on the lower vegetation, oftentimes they will they know that there is a photinus close by which has the toxin which is called lucibufagin there's your word for the day.

Yeah, that's what the toxin is called but they'll flash and imitate the the flash of the photinis, then the Photinis smell comes down to mate with for photuris and then turns into a snack for that female and she sequesters that toxin in her body.

And so then she's protected and she can pass the protection on to her egg.

So it's really amazing.

Amanda: That is just fascinating.

And there are a lot it's difficult to tell what you have in some of the species y'all are studying is not well understood.

Robert: No, no.

Fireflies are not well understood, you know, and we've captured some.

And Dr. Paula Mitchell from Winthrop has been working on identifying them, she's pretty sure she's got it down to the right species.

But all the literature says you can't get into species unless you watch the flash pattern.

Amanda: Since we know there are in decline, fortunately, in this area on the edge of a swamp and this recreational and research complex is probably going to be protected the Winthrop University.

But we do know that habitat destruction is happening.

What are some things that we can do in our own life to try to help the fireflies that are still here.

Robert>>: One thing is protect the wetlands because they need moisture.

So they like to be in in the leaf litter and rotten rotten logs and stuff like that, but but they need the moisture and then a clean water for me to try to keep the pollutants out of the water.

So you know just protecting the area around ponds and streams to make sure you have these, these areas that have the leaf litter and in the moisture, try to cut down on the light.

Try to avoid pesticides as much as possible.

There's a lot of things that we can do that will really help the climate change.

We're not sure what that is going to do to the fireflies.

We'll just have to wait and see hope it doesn't do much.

Amanda: We don't know what their temperature requirements and some of those things if they hatch early, if there's real changes in the weather patterns and things might do to them.

Robert: Well we know that that does influence their their lifecycle but we don't know what's going to happen.

And you know they need the moisture.

So as we suck more and more water out of the ground, the water table drops.

And then that reduces their habitat also.

Amanda: Robert, if you hadn't called, I would have never seen this exquisite display.

I'm so glad that you are my eyes in nature, and that you're letting us know about it.

Robert: I'm glad you're here.

And I encourage other people to delve in, lower the Carolinas, because you think you know, fireflies because you see that one in your yard, but you really don't.

There's so much more to learn.

Amanda: And if people do start paying more attention to them, they may change some practices that will encourage them to increase the numbers.

Wouldn't that be wonderful?

Robert: Everybody remembers fireflies, and they were a child?

And they want to keep seeing it?

I hope?

Amanda: I think they I think they will after this.

Paul: I think so.

I want to thank Paula Mitchell who gave us so much information.

And of course, Robert Carter, for giving us this really kind of once in a lifetime experience.

It was very special.

thank them so much.

I was out working in the yard this weekend, Terasa and I had a hat on and it was just so hot and I wanted shade.

So I thought I'm gonna have some shade.

<You made your own.> So I made my own shade.

And so I have so smilax and then I had some ginger lilies that the flowers were getting to, fade on and I said, and you know what, it's been on the refrigerator, and I'm very cool.

This is just perfect.

I may have to do this more often.

Terasa: Well, I thought since you always bring a hat so today maybe I would bring something to share.

Amanda: Oh, um, so... What in the world have you got there?

Terasa: Well, it's not as fun probably as Dr. John because he's got the best personality and sense of humor and knowledge.

So we can pretend this is a mystery plant.

This one happens to be two that I guess grew side by side.

So they fused together.

<Yes.> A gentleman came into the Darlington county extension office and he was not asking for an identification he had too much squash and to much of this particular plant and just wanted to give it away.

I'm very appreciative and I thought this one would make something neat to talk about so any ideas what this might be?

Amanda: Well, if there's a lot of it, I'm guessing maybe it's in the squash family.

Terasa: I don't know that is correct.

Any any closer guesses?

Amanda: It looks kind of like a cucumber.

Terasa: It does.

So the common name is Armenian cucumber, and that is where the plant originated.

But it's not actually a cucumber it gets its name from the way that we consume it so we consume it like a cucumber.

So all cucurbits cucumber is cucumis sativus or sativus is however you like to say this is cucmumis melo which would be the like the musk melon group and the variety is called flexuosus and from what I understand this is a polymorphic group so there are like six different fruit shapes.

But anyway, so this one called the Armenian cucumber and I did bring a knife with me so I thought it'd be fun maybe to just cut into it break them Amanda: Oh so we get to taste it.

Terasa: If you would like to and sure enough it does pretty much look like a cucumber on the inside very thin skin but I understand that the longer you let it grow before harvesting the harder that that rined would be.<This is fun.> I thought that was just pretty neat.

Uhm, it's not grown in the US a lot that I know of.

Amanda: What an interesting man to bring that and to share it with you.

Terasa: Well it tastes like a cucumber.

I don't know if you want to do anyone wants to cut a slice and taste it.

Amanda: Teresa and I were talking earlier.

We just love cucumber sandwiches and you said that that's not something that your English grandmother gave you very often.

Terasa: She liked banana sandwiches but.

Amanda: Banana and peanut butter that's one that people use to eat.

Terasa: Just banana and mayonnaise which I could never understand because to me mayonnaise doesn't go with a bun.

Oh much better but I'd like to just slice up cucumbers with some onion in vinegar and make like instant pickles you know so no canning process.

Amanda: I'm gonna bring you a recipe allows you presumed makes smashed cucumbers and they are delicious.

She makes kind of oil and sesame oil and a little bit of hot chili stuff on them and smashes them up.

Lets it sit in that and it you know, it makes the cucumber a lot mission but this is very good.

Well I hope you will thank the gentleman so much for sharing that with us.

Terasa: I feel so bad.

I didn't ask him his name.

I hope that he's watching.

Thank you so much for coming into the office for your generosity and for allowing us me to have something kind of fun to talk about today.

Amanda: Real crispy.

Really good.

Well, that was fun.

But I bet now you've got a question.

Terasa: Oh, yes.

Let's see, this one comes from Mary in Anderson.

She says, I have this weed in my yard that's blooming yellow.

Is this ragweed?

If it's not?

Is it the one that causes allergies?

And before we answer the question, I think it's interesting, she used weed in there.

So you know, we there's just a plant that we don't want or plant in the wrong place.

So beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

So she might think it's a weed and other people might actually plant it.

Amanda: And there may be some insects that think it's a very important part of their diet.

Well, um, Christopher, what do you think she has there?

Christopher: So interestingly enough, this is goldenrod.

So Goldenrod is oftentimes it's in bloom, kind of towards the end of summer beginning of fall, and it is oftentimes Miss identified as ragweed.

And of course, ragweed is has green flowers actually has wind borne pollen.

So that is the one that is causing the kind of allergy uptake.

But goldenrod.

On the other hand, the pollen is actually too heavy and sticky, that it does not move with the wind, it has to be moved through insects, and so Goldenrod has no effect on of course, your allergies, even though you're getting the allergies at that same time, it's blooming.

Amanda: Well, and it's just because it's so prevalent, and you see it, and of course you want to blame it, this amount was this was down going on the edge of the cement, I mean, the pavement, and, um, is some ragweed I think, and it's interesting, apparently, the seeds and all are so tiny that we've spread them all over the world.

Because it's in fields and all, the process they use, I guess when they're doing whatever they can to get as much of the exact... has been 100% What they say it is in there, sometimes things slip in and so we've sent ragweed around, but it gets blamed for a lot of things.

But Teresa, do you remember when we went up and went to that wonderful sunflower place?

And we learned that the sunflowers that people grow for florist don't have any pollen?

Terasa: Oh, well, that would be I guess helpful is people don't want the messy pollen all over the place in their arrangments.

Amanda: Yeah.

But um, but you know, so um, so I was thinking, you know, if we're going to plant sunflowers in our yard, I think we should go to the trouble to be sure that we've got one that has both nectar and pollen.

Terasa: Yeah, that's really good advice.

You know, sometimes we think about how much beauty plants and they do, but that's not their sole purpose, right?

There's this intricate relationships between insects and plants that really are the base of the entire food chain.

So it's better if we can think of it in a more broad perspective.

Amanda: So um, so, you know, try to, if you have, you know, if you got to go and put some flowers in your house, and I understand that sun flowers are very popular right now because of Ukraine, and we feel like we're showing solidarity with them.

But but if you're going to plant them outside to get some that have pollen and can be helpful, but this is the this is the offender.

And not the... Get this back over here without making a horrible clump there we go.

That wasn't too bad was it.

Okay.

Well, what's next Terasa?

Got something.

Terasa: I do we have someone looking for some advice?

So not a problem per se, from Grayson in Aynor.

I'd like to hire a lawn service company to take care of my yard.

Any tips on choosing a reputable company?

Amanda: Oh, well, I think you have been in that business for a while.

And um, it's, you want to get somebody who's good.

Brad: Definitely.

It's a it is a crazy industry.

There are a lot of people in that industry.

And I actually get this question quite a bit.

And it's folks normally wanting me to recommend someone and while we don't do that, what I tell folks is ask questions.

<All right.> That is the most important thing you can do is speak to this person that you're thinking about hiring and ask them questions.

You know, I'm not we had the the South Carolina certified landscaper program that some of these landscapers stuff can get their certification, maybe ask them say hey, do you have your certification and that if they're going to be doing pesticides, do you have your your pesticide license don't Amanda: they have to have a little something on the front of the truck if they?

Brad: They do they have like a sticker are a badge to let folks know.

So I always recommend asking about things like that to see what kind of certifications they have and what their background is.

But you really it a lot of it comes down to is to being able to work with an individual, not always, or is everyone going to get along all the time.

So it's really important when it comes to trying to hire a landscaper or a lawn care professional, to just have a conversation with them.

See if your views align on certain things.

I get a lot of folks that they want to try to do things more organically and use a lot of native plants, which is wonderful.

Not every landscaper wants to do that.

So you want to try to ask these questions to make sure that you're getting someone that does want to do those things.

Amanda: kind of philosophically and rain and turn Brad: exactly and and at the end of the day, I think that's the most important part because you don't want to enter an agreement or a contract, and then regret that later on.

That's just going to be harder on your landscape professional and yourself.

Amanda: What do you think people are offended if you're asked for references?

Brad: I don't think so.

I think I think anyone legitimate that is in that business as a career, we'll be perfectly fine with with asking for some references, maybe seeing some work that they have already done is always a good idea asking for that.

Okay, Amanda: well, thank you.

Those are some good tips.

But I will say sometimes it's just a matter of being able to find somebody.

I mean, there's kind of a shortage I think of people out there doing that kind of work.

Now, in some cases, Brad: it is there, it is tough at times.

There are a lot of folks that are doing the more maintenance side of things but it can be on folks that are doing the irrigation and the installation of the landscape and stuff like that.

So it can be tough.

It's gonna take a lot of patience.

And I recommend folks talk to 2-3-4-5 Different companies or individuals before you make that decision.

Amanda: Okay.

All right.

Well, good advice.

And uhm fortunate people who can afford to do that too.

Definitely.

Okay.

Okay, Mrs. Terasa.

Terasa: Let's see if we can help Bill in Mount Pleasant.

Bill said my Bermuda lawn that's been planted for several years looks like it's starting to decline.

What could be the issue?

And how can I treat it?

Amanda: Okay.

I'm Christopher.

I think Bermuda is one of the ones that takes a little more maintenance, then some of the others what, what do you think this person needs to do?

Christopher: So the first thing I would recommend doing is the soil test.

So in a place like Mount Pleasant, that we have sandier soils there.

And one of the big deficiencies that we're going to run into is potassium.

And probably the biggest issue when it comes to Bermuda grass outside of just improper care is actually potassium deficiencies, it can lead to disease buildup.

So there is a couple different diseases that affect Bermuda grass but one of the bigger ones that I've seen, especially along the coast, is of course known as melting out or fading out.

It's caused by a disease known as helminthiasis forum, though it's they've updated the name melting out it's perfectly fine but it generally it is disease it is causing decline.

But a lot of times, it's actually because there's not enough potassium in the soil in order for that plant.

Amanda: So it's like if you didn't have good nutrition, you might be more susceptible to getting an illness.

Is that kind of that way?

Christopher: Absolutely.

But I still would recommend that would be the first thing get a soil test I would still would recommend kind of adjusting whatever you're doing as far as care goes.

So Bermuda grass, as you mentioned, is a higher maintenance grass, probably the highest maintenance and starting to figure out am I fertilizing it enough, as opposed to you know too much.

And then of course, making sure that I'm mowing it properly.

So Bermuda grass is kind of unique, it likes to be mowed very short, especially, especially sod, Bermuda which is generally hybrid that actually is going to prefer being mowed almost to about a half an inch, a half an inch, so you can mow it down that low.

It can go up to about an inch, inch and a half.

But for the most part, we want to cut it a lot shorter than we are centipede or St. Augustine or even our zoysia.

Amanda: Well, that means it's a lot more work on you or if you're lucky enough to have a company, get them to come that much and cut it.

Christopher: It can be but one of the benefits of Bermuda as long as you have plenty of sun is it can kind of take just about anything.

It's used in a lot of athletic fields.

It's used on golf courses, it can help you <It can take traffic.> and handle the foot traffic you can handle the wear and tear of kind of a high use turf grass.

And so if you plan to use it as a turf grass and actually walk out in it, it can kind of handle all those things.

It just requires a little bit more work.

Amanda: Okay, how important is it to keep your lawn mowed blades short and can you grass can you recycle the clippings if you cut it frequently enough on Bermuda grass?

Christopher: So you can definitely recycle the clippings in fact now would encourage doing that keep those clippings in there, that's going to hopefully you know reduce the amount you actually need to fertilize.

But you want to make sure not only is it short, but those blades are sharp.

A lot of times when it comes to Bermuda, especially higher in Bermuda, they are actually going to mow with a what's known as a reel mower.

So it's a different type of blade system that's actually going to be able to cut it not only shorter, but it's actually cutting it as opposed to the rotary mowers are actually, you know, just kind of whacking at it.

Yeah.

So once your blades get dull, you're actually tearing the leaf blades Amanda: up, that's just a good point of entry for [Mixed speech]...

Exactly.

And Christopher: Exactly.

And so keeping your blade sharp is going to be very important.

If you mow it too high, you'll actually scalp the Bermuda grass, because the growing point or the stem of Bermuda gets really long, whereas the actual Leaf Blade starts to shorten and so you really want to keep it mowed fairly short.

Either way.

Amanda: Gosh, I think I'm just gonna stay with a lazy man's grass and not play football on the front yard.

How about that but I understand that there are people who need to do that.

Well, thank you.

So um, the first thing that person needs to do is get a soil test and then look at the maintenance and and I think we have good fact sheets on maintaining different types of turf grass.

If you go to Clemson H-G-I-C don't they have like a yearly calendar sometimes.

Christopher: So for the four main species of warm season turf grass that grow in South Carolina, we have a fact sheet on each one.

It talks about what to do for each okay.

Amanda: We had a wonderful time in Newberry at a garden but which is maintained by Dr. John Green.

And I think you are going to be thrilled with the beauty that you see there.

♪ Amanda: We are in Newberry, South Carolina at the garden of Dr. John Green.

I came to this garden because the Newberry Chamber of Commerce was having a Garden Festival that was being organized in a very safe manner.

And oh my goodness when I got here it was just the most wonderful thing.

And in addition to taking us to such beautiful gardens, they had artists doing plein air and each garden, and Robert Matheson was sitting here painting a new tablet rose.

And it is quite beautiful.

And I enjoyed meeting him as well.

But the person responsible for this garden is Dr. John Green.

And we want to thank you so much for letting us come.

<My pleasure.> And this is full sun and it's a warm day.

But your yard has great diversity and you have deciduous trees that really give you a chance to do things a little differently.

Dr. John: Particularly in the front and on the side, we're able to get enough sun in to have good blooming of the camellias.

The native azaleas with the hydrangeas now.

And then coming around to the side.

We have some blooming of the carrier and of the Rose of Sharon.

That allow in that section.

Sun, which by the end of the summer will have become very shady.

Amanda: And then that is also a place where you very interestingly, have a completely seasonal winter vegetable garden.

I believe.

Dr. John: Yes.

These are the cabbages the broccoli is the cauliflowers, the beets, the spinach is that we will start in seed and then we'll put them out in the February early March and watch them grow during that time.

But by the time it hits 90 degrees, those plants will have run their course and that garden will be put to sleep.

Amanda: and fortunately have other areas where you can grow vegetables.

As we come on around to the back of the house was a space becomes a little bit smaller.

And there you start using rock and getting some three dimensional beds there.

And I think that there's actually a purpose for that.

Dr. John: Yes, the in the behind the house we did four brick, four foot high 3 & a half, four foot high raised beds for seasonal flowers to help bring color close into the house.

And then we've brought in a lot of the rock that we have found it around on the property to help outline some of the beds in the perennial beds in the back of the house, just because it makes it part of the The nature of the property Amanda: Well, and being a proponent of nature, you decided that you would be ha... Another another type of animal back there.

Dr. John: The July 4, holiday that I decided to get out of red clay, dig down a two foot deep fish pond is a memorable, there's got to be a better way to do it, but still is now.

So enjoyable to have the little koi and goldfish back there.

To help remind that nature has a lot of different beautiful forms.

Amanda: The greenhouse is when your apparent addiction to football, you retreat to the greenhouse.

And what do you do there Dr. John: In January is the prime time to start all the seeds, although you have to turn them out so that you don't get to mature too quickly.

But that makes life enjoyable out there.

I tend to have the orchids that will bloom in the winter, early spring so that I can enjoy them.

And then there are a lot of just plants that I have accumulated, that you try to maybe propagate through some cuttings on but just makes life during those winter months that tend to be a little bit gray and dull outside, you bring a growing greenness inside.

Amanda: So then we come to a part of the yard where I should have put on a little more sunscreen for today because we have full sun over here.

Even though we're surrounded by trees, Dr. John: we have been able to open this area up so that plants that do like a full sun seem to thrive.

Amanda: And you have what is a daunting soil type for many gardeners, it is red clay, and um that can be pretty hard to deal with.

And you have done, I think a pretty wonderful engineering project with creating these beds so that they can hold water, but you can move excess water off the property tell me how you've gone about that process Dr. John: By terracing the area with the walkways in between.

It allows both the raised beds to be unique unto themselves.

And they can then the water will travel them down the pathways.

Each of the beds for the roses tend to hold water into as a large container type thing.

And with the clay, you tend to be able to then take for hold a week or two of heat, have no problem with the moisture.

Amanda: Because you you water by hand and you do not have automatic irrigation.

And in the front, oh, it just I just wish I could come up and have supper in about a month.

Because the vegetables look like they are just off to a wonderful start.

Dr. John: They are part of that early greenhouse growing that makes that part fun.

And then you see the what the seeds do.

They reward you with these plants, be it the tomatoes, the melons, the peppers, the beans, the squash.

Amanda: And you can try different varieties and see which ones you prefer.

Dr. John: probably 8 or 10 Different tomato types out here.

Or there's four or five different cherry tomatoes out here.

Just to be able to, if you'd like them find you don't next year find something different.

Amanda: Oh my goodness, the roses.

And you've been doing roses for about 20 years is that a relatively new passion and they are exquisite.

But they do take work.

And you first start with pruning I believe, at a somewhat unusual time of the year.

Dr. John: By the end of the year, many of the bushes are six to 10 feet tall.

So in January, I will come and try to bring them down to about five feet with a pruning do that that also helps to protect them from high winds.

And then when first of March comes around, I will come back and reprune down to the level that to allow the early spring flush to come out as it has tried to open up the centers and everything.

Amanda: You do not use insecticide and Hello little pollinator on the rose, but you do because it's South Carolina, but necessary to use fungicides.

Dr. John: Yes.

I don't know that there really is an organic way in South Carolina to grow roses like this.

So we use a mixture of a contact and then a systemic fungicide that we will put on guard every two to three weeks.

Amanda: But then that time comes when those darn Japanese beetles come and you really come out and hand work on them and try to keep the numbers limited.

Dr. John: Yes, we'll make two, three rounds a day, we'll get hundreds of the Japanese beetles knocked off, they tend to all fall straight down.

So I'll hold a soapy water container under, they fall down.

Amanda: And then after they've stayed in that water for a little while, they're no longer living and you can dump them out and come back two hours later and start over again.

Dr. John: It almost seems it when you finish the end, you can almost start over again sometimes, but.

Amanda: I love the way that you've used all this granite and native rock that you found in the woods surrounding.

And we were just talking about the fact that my back hurts sometimes that you told me that you could have gotten tired of bending over all the time.

So the miniatures, I think you've kind of created an up bed for them.

Dr. John: Got to the point that I hadn't was neglecting the miniatures, because it ment you had to get down on your knees.

So I said with you, I've got these areas that are into the bank areas, I'll just go ahead and use that natural slope.

So using the granite block on this one, using the field stone on that one we've raised area now for about 25 miniatures that we have lined around, and I'm enjoying them a lot more.

Amanda: One miniature you said is kind of specially known for South Carolina, and was developed by the very famous Rosarian we had here.

Dr. John: Michael Williams was a his with a world class hybridizer of miniatures, many flowers.

In fact, this is one of his roses, too.

But the Palmetto sunrise is a fantastic miniature that I'm enjoying over there.

But he was he was a much of a person who had gotten me to do roses and to do them better.

Amanda: There's some fun things here.

One of them is called ketchup and mustard which is just kind of a curiosity bundle.

But one rose has a lovely story with it and really is I think should get credit for the huge interest we have in all the reblooming roses.

Would you share that story with us please?

Dr. John: Whole blush, the pink China rose over here was the first repeat blooming re-montrant rose.

It was brought from China into the Western world back in the 1750s.

There was no repeat blooming roses before that time in the Western world.

But since then, the hybridize is able to bring deck trait into so with the hybrid teas the flourabundas and miniatures so many flouras, things that we take for granted or repeat boomers all have that ability because of a China rose that was brought out of China back in the 1750s Amanda: Reminds us that we should respect our ancestors and that that is even on its own without the remarkable story.

Still a lovely rose for people to include in their gardens.

Well this has been such a joyful day for us.

Thank you so much for sharing your expertise and beauty with us.

Dr. John: My pleasure.

♪ Amanda: We just love to go to Newberry is just a great little town on hurry up Liz McDonald and find another place that we can come up and share with our viewers.

Well it doesn't seem like it's ever going to be fall but it will be what can we do to get ready to have some things to put in our garden.

Brad: So looking at you know, starting to think about our fall vegetables, I would recommend just start getting your your planting beds ready.

Yeah, you know, doing, maybe you need to do another soil test, maybe you need to add some some organic matter stuff like that, start getting the beds ready, start looking at your planting dates, maybe get to get you a table together.

That way you can understand if things need to be to be planted a seed first or and also start sourcing your, your your plants for that for that fall garden.

And if you're doing it in containers, start getting those, you know, clean, sanitized, that sort of stuff.

If your summer stuff is going away you can go and start preparing all those items for the fall and just having a good plan together.

That's gonna make it so much easier.

Amanda: And also everybody wants to garden now sometimes you need to go ahead and get your seed kind of earlier thing.

Brad: Yes, definitely, definitely go and get your seed early.

And like I said, look at those look at those planting dates and figure out how how far in advance those seeds need be.

Amanda: And once again at H-G-I-C we have a very good fact sheet called not planting but planning your garden.

And I think that gives us depending on what part of the state you're in.

Brad: Yes ma'am.

That is a excellent resource.

It has most of our vegetables on there and when to plant.

Amanda: Okay, so we'll have Kale okay.

Okay.

Well thank you for being with us, and we hope you'll be with us next week with lots of kale in the future night night.

♪ Narrator>>: Making It Grow is brought to you in part by Certified South Carolina is a cooperative effort among farmers retailers and the South Carolina Department of Agriculture to help consumers identify foods and agricultural products that are grown harvested or raised right here in the Palmetto State.

The Boyd Foundation, supporting outdoor recreational opportunities, the appreciation of wildlife educational programs, and enhancing the quality of life in Columbia, South Carolina and the Midlands at large.

McLeod farms in McBee South Carolina family owned and operated since 1916.

This family farm offers seasonal produce, including over 40 varieties of peaches.

Additional funding provided by the South Carolina Farm Bureau Federation and Farm Bureau Insurance and BOONE HALL FARMS