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

I'm Chris Cooper.

Everyone loves to have a bed full of happy, healthy plants, but when the soil is heavy and always waterlogged, that can be hard to do.

We have that situation right here and we are going to plant plants that can grow in wet soils.

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 Joellen Dimond.

Joellen is the Director of Landscape at the University of Memphis.

And we also have a number of master gardeners from Shelby and Tipton Counties here to help us out today.

All right, Joellen.

We got our soil tested.

Let's see what those readings are.

- Yeah.

- How about that?

- Well, it came back with the soil pH of 7.72, which is a little high.

- (Chris) Mmm, it's high.

- (Joellen) An d everything else seems to be somewhat okay, but obviously we're gonna need to fertilize the plants.

- Sure, sure.

- And we might want to put some acid, some sulfur down at some point to try to change the pH at the very top of the soil.

- Right, need to lower it a little bit.

- A little bit, just to help the plants out.

But we've got to analyze the site before we could design it, so this was one of the first things we did.

- That's right, 'cause we always tell people what?

Soil test.

- Soil test.

Always soil test.

- It is that important, folks.

- It is that important.

And next thing we gotta do is, I've been told it's notoriously wet here.

So we've done a percolation test.

- Yes.

- And oh my.

- Look at that.

(both laughing) The water's just standing there.

- The water's standing, and I guess it's been there for a day or so, just still standing.

So we have absolutely, it doesn't look like there's much percolation at all in this soil.

- I would say none, how about that?

- Yeah.

- That looks like it's been there for a little while.

- It's been there for awhile.

Well, the next thing we know, we've got a lot of mulch here, and a lot of mulch has been piled up onto the trunks of the trees, which we know is not a good thing because that will end up rotting the base of the tree and then the tree will fall over.

- (Chris) Okay.

- So we really don't want to do that.

But just because the soil is so compact here, let's kind of look and see what we can find, what's going on, because it would be nice to amend this soil, but we need to find out what's going on first, so let's get some of this mulch away from the tree.

- (Chris) All right.

- It's a lot back.

Oh, and look here.

We're already coming up against feeder roots from this tree which are end up being, they're growing not in the soil, but in this large mulch layer, which also means that they're above the natural grade of this tree than when it was originally planted.

The roots are not growing into the soil as much as they are growing on the surface of the soil.

- And those were actually some nice looking roots, but guess what, we don't see any root flares, either.

- No, there's no root flares.

There's nothing.

Well, this takes us to a different level.

If this means that this tree has got a lot of its feeder roots in this mulch layer, we, and the percolation test shows that the soil does not drain, if we actually tilled this bed and incorporated this mulch into the hardpan soil, we would end up creating a swimming pool for the plants.

I don't think we really want to do that.

- I don't think the plants would enjoy that, either.

- No, so we're going to have to find some, use some plants that can take some wet conditions.

- Okay.

- And we're going to have to do something that I rarely do, but in this situation, we're going to try to plant a lot above the soil.

So we're gonna plant some of the plants in the actual soil and not create a trough and we will build up the bed just around each individual plant.

- Wow, okay.

So the planting material that we're talking about actually can survive in wet soils, but not really thrive in wet soils?

Is that what we're saying?

- Correct.

- (Chris) Okay.

- And also wet soils, this isn't a bog.

- Right.

- But yet the soil is so compact and it stays so wet all the time, that it acts like one.

But because it's so dense, it's not really bog soil material because bog soil is loose and this is not.

So this is a completely different situation.

- Right, compact.

(Chris laughing) - Very compact.

- For sure.

- Well, Chris, I've drawn up a plan here for us for the front of this building, and what I've done is given it an evergreen background behind us with using some Illicium floridanum or Florida anise, and some Ilex vomitoria, Shillings Dwarf, or a Dwarf Yaupon Holly.

- (Chris) Okay.

- (Joellen) And then for some color in the front, and to give some more texture, we've gone with some Spiraea japonica Anthony Waterer, the Anthony Waterer spirea.

And then some Stella de Oro daylilies, 'cause daylilies can take water, wet conditions, too.

And we've gone with an Acorus gramineus Ogen, the sweet flag, and some Plumbagos, some perennials.

And of course we've got these wonderful Cannas that have lived and done well, and Cannas can stand wet feet.

So we are going to take those and divide them up and spread them out throughout the landscape.

- Okay.

All right, well I actually know some of that plant material, so this should be fun, don't you think?

- Yeah, this, I'm hoping most homeowners that have trouble like we have here can find these plants very easily, 'cause these are fairly common plants in the landscape at nurseries and out around town in garden centers.

- Right.

And these are the ones that are of course are recommended for areas like this.

- Yes.

- Okay.

- Well, first thing we're going to do is set the plants out according to the plan.

And this is built on a 1/8 of an inch scale equals one foot.

So I have my ruler that measures out how many feet they are in the plan.

And measuring tape to measure out the feet and we are trying to set them out exactly how it is laid out on the plan.

The first plant we're gonna plant after we've laid out all of our evergreen background is this Florida anise.

- Okay.

- And the Florida anise likes, can take wet soil, but it also likes shade.

And since we have these lovely trees here.

- Ah, shade.

- And these, the reason why these trees probably survived is the fact that these are Magnolia virginiana, which is a native Magnolia, but it's also a common name called swamp Magnolia, meaning it can take wet soils.

So that's probably why they have lived.

- Which these are.

- Which is what we have.

So what we're going to do is we've laid these out.

Now we're gonna plant this one Florida anise.

- Okay.

- And what we're gonna do is plant the root ball 2/3 in the soil, in the actual soil, and keep the actual soil the same.

And then we are going to be amending the top third of the soil and making a mound around it so it'll have some nice well-drained soil to grow in.

- (Chris) Okay.

- We'll scrape off our mulch to start with.

- Which there's a lot of.

- Which there is quite a bit of.

- And there are your roots.

- Then we've got roots of the Magnolia that we're gonna have to contend with.

And by us not tilling this ground, we are also not gonna disturb all of these roots.

So that the tree can have as many roots as possible to live in this terrible soil condition.

Well, we've come to some major roots for this tree and we don't want to disturb 'em.

So we're going to move our plant slightly because the plant will grow and fill in the area.

Yeah, you see they fertilized this already, so we don't have to add any fertilizer 'cause they've already done it this season.

And the root ball seems to be very nice.

We've got a few circling roots here.

We might just wanna kind of loosen those up a little bit so it'll stop circling.

We will set this down in the hole.

And make sure it faces out nice.

The nicest part faces out towards the view.

And of course the one thing we gotta remember to do is take off the plant tags.

It's nice for you to remember, but people forget and leave them on there and it will girdle this branch right here if you continue to leave it on.

So we want to take it off.

- And I always like to inspect the plant material for diseased leaves or anything that's broken, anything like that.

- We might need some soil.

Let me put a little bit at the base of this, the existing soil.

So we don't want to change that because of the percolation test.

There we go, and now we'll add some soil.

- Ready for this?

- With our amendment.

And we'll build up around the plant.

Just do one around and then we'll incorporate some of that existing soil in.

Then we will continue to add.

- All right.

- All right, let's see if we can put some more soil around there.

Just another ring like that and that should be enough.

That looks good.

Yeah, you have the whole bag and then people want to put the whole bag down, but you really don't need to.

You just need as much as you need.

So you can use that soil for something else or another plant.

But as you see, we're not really burying the plant.

It's about at the same soil surface.

So we're really not burying the top crown of the plant.

We're mixing, incorporating the soil into the existing soil that's here.

And we'll put just a little bit on top just to cover it up.

Now when you come back and you mulch this, that will seal it up nice.

But you'll see that it's several, a few inches above the existing grade so it will drain, and have somewhere nice to be in.

- All right, so Joellen, why did we choose this particular plant for this site?

- Well, this is a dwarf Yaupon holly.

One way is it will stay short, and is a nice foundation plant.

Also, it can take the wet soils that we have and it's a nice evergreen background to what we're gonna have planted in front of it.

- Okay.

- But it should do very well here.

In fact, the Yaupon holly is one of the most favorite landscape plants for foundation plants.

They just do well here and in so many different wide varieties of sites including the wet soils like we have.

- Okay, okay.

I'll move that for you.

And we're still gonna plant this the same way?

- Same way.

- Okay.

- Yeah, 'cause we want to see, I mean, one shovel and I'm coming into roots.

- Right.

- So that's just what it's gonna be like.

- Okay, let me take that over from you, Joellen.

- (Joellen) That looks good.

- (Chris) Okay.

- So what we'll do is take the plant out of the pot, set it down, and see that we're 2/3 in the ground.

So that's a good depth.

- How does that root system look to you?

- Now this root system is a little more compacted, so this is where I would cut them.

- Yeah, there you go.

Knew you'd need those.

- Thank you.

Yes, and a lot of times I'll just use these, but I'll just make vertical slits in the root system every few inches and just break up those circling roots so that they'll start growing out instead of circling.

Yeah.

- (Chris) Oh, you're mad at it.

You cutting it.

- I usually, you know, I usually try not to use my clippers simply because they, that dulls the blade, but I always sharpen my blades anyway, so but you can use shovels.

- That's always a good practice.

- Some people have different pruning saws.

Sometimes they'll use those to score it.

Anything to get the circling roots from stopping to circle the plant.

- Okay.

- And we'll plant this.

Make sure we have the nice side facing out.

Make sure it's level.

And we'll backfill the bottom part with the native soil.

It's not as porous.

And then we'll put some-- - Ready for your soil?

- Amendment soil, yeah.

I'll put a ring around it and incorporate the native soil with it.

- (Chris) Need a little more or?

- I think that's good enough 'cause again, we don't want to put it over the crown of the plant.

- Okay.

- And we're right up at the top of the plant right here.

As you see it's a little raised area right around the plant.

So it'll have some good air movement for the roots.

- That looks good, Joellen.

- Chris, the next plant we're gonna plant are these Anthony Waterer spirea.

And they like wet feet, too.

But they will bloom nice pinkish-red flowers.

- Nice.

- For the majority of the summer, so it'll be a really nice addition with the green background to this landscape.

- Okay, lovely looking plant, don't you think?

- Beautiful plant.

The one thing is, they will lose their leaves in the winter, they are deciduous.

But that's okay because we've got our green background to take up for it in the winter.

Now we can measure.

You can measure with a ruler, but if you don't have a ruler, you can always measure with your shovel, and the bottom of our hole is there.

The top of it is here.

So we've got enough, it's deep enough.

So now we'll take it out of the pot and plant it.

This must be a little root bound because I've-- - Is it tough to get out?

- I have to squish it.

There we go.

And yes, you can see these roots are quite root bound, so we will have to slice them.

And we'll show them how to do that with a shovel.

- (Chris) Okay.

- It's the same principle.

Vertical slices.

In the sides.

Especially the ones... - Up at the top.

- At the top 'cause that's where it's gonna take hold first.

- Is that good enough?

Do you want the pruners?

- I might use the pruners on this top part.

It seems to be very tough.

That's why sometimes a knife, a garden knife, it's nice to have a garden knife.

There's all sorts of tools you can use.

Now level off the bottom of the hole.

- (Chris) Okay.

- Set it in and we'll make sure it's faced correctly.

And we'll backfill with the existing soil that's got poor drainage.

(Chris laughing) For the bottom of the root ball.

And then we'll add some amendments.

- (Chris) Okay.

- You can use just about any kind of amendment you want to.

We're using bags of topsoil for this.

Organic humus, your own compost, anything will work.

You just have to incorporate it with the existing soil.

And of course we want to check and make sure that it doesn't get too far over the existing soil level and smooth it out.

And that will give this plant a space to grow.

- All right, Joellen, now we have Cannas.

What are we gonna do with these?

- Well, part of them we're gonna leave here.

And the other half we're gonna move down and fill in the next two sections.

- Okay.

And it's gonna be better for us to use the back half, do you think?

- I think we're gonna use the back half of this 'cause it's kind of under, hanging under this canopy, and they like sun, so we're gonna leave the front half.

- (Chris) Okay, good.

- I'm using a digging fork.

We'll start with that.

'Cause we don't want to disturb the roots too much.

- (Chris) Joellen, will this hurt the Cannas, digging them up like that?

- No, they can be divided.

- Okay.

- It might not be the most ideal ti me of year to divide them, but they will be fine.

- All right, okay.

- Now the roots that we've exposed, we need to bury again.

- (Chris) Okay.

- It seems to be just like the tree, growing in the top part of the mulch, so.

There we go.

We were never here.

Now we're gonna go to the next section where we're gonna plant these.

- Okay.

- Okay, now we're gonna have to dig a slight little hole.

Not very deep because these roots are not deep at all.

Then we've got a lot of roots from this tree here, too.

Okay, Chris.

- Okay, you ready?

- Let's set yours in.

- (Chris) How does that look?

- (Joellen) It looks good.

- Okay.

- And we don't want to bury the tubers, just the roots.

So we don't need to add anything to this extra than what we've already got.

And they look nice.

- Oh, they look happy, Joellen.

- Now we're gonna lay out all of the rest of the one-gallon material.

There are different shapes and sizes of it, but it's all one gallon material, and we are going to lay it out to make it look nice.

We have the number of plants that we have on our plan, but we don't have to measure every space that that goes in because we will just set it out and make it look good in real life.

We've got them all set out.

Now we're gonna plant the last three different types of plants that we have in this landscape.

The first is the Stella de Oro daylily.

Daylilies can stand wet feet, so that's why we've picked them.

And the Stella de Oro, except from the very heat of the summer, it will probably get two blooms out of it in the season.

Earlier in the summer and then maybe later towards fall.

- (Chris) Okay.

- Then we've got this blue Plumbago, so that'll be a nice blue against the yellow that we have here.

This will spread out and act as a groundcover and it also can take some wet feet.

- (Chris) Okay.

- The last is the sweet flag.

The yellow.

And this is just a groundcover, nice spiky plant into all of the round leaves that we have.

And will make a nice yellow statement here year 'round 'cause this is evergreen.

These two, the Plumbago and the Stella de Oro, they will die back in the winter, but the Acorus, the sweet flag, that will stay that color all year long.

- How about that?

That's pretty good.

- Now we're gonna plant these just like we did the others.

- Okay.

- We're gonna plant 2/3 in the ground and 1/3 out of the ground, and we'll add a little soil amendment around it for them to have a place to grow.

- Okay.

All right, let's do it.

What do you think about the root systems here?

- Yeah, we're gonna have to tease these a little bit, try to straighten them up just a little bit.

We want to keep that circling pattern, we want to disrupt it so it will stop circling and anchor itself out into the soil.

And if you'll just give me some-- - (Chris) Some soil?

- Just a little bit of soil there to mix with this that we have.

- (Chris) Tell me when.

- (Joellen) That's good.

And mix this with what we've got.

Small raised area.

- (Chris) That looks good.

- And there's the daylily.

- Okay.

- And this we'll start.

- Plumbago.

- (Joellen) You can scrape the mulch back just a little bit.

You don't need to incorporate that in and we can top dress with that.

Still lots of good mulch here.

- How much does this spread?

- Two or three feet.

- Okay.

- It depends on how happy it is.

- A-ha.

Got it?

- And those look nice.

I'm not gonna disturb those.

That's a little low so I'm gonna put some more natural dirt back in.

And I don't want air pockets.

We need to break that up.

And if you'll give me just a little bit of soil just like you did before.

That's good.

There we go.

- Be happy.

- There's the Plumbago.

- Okay.

- Okay.

- What about that one?

- Now this one is pretty good.

Maybe just tease it a little bit.

- Okay.

- But it's not got that many roots that are circling, and that will ensure that they don't.

And of course backfill with the original soil.

And you can add some amendment.

That's good.

There we go, nice mound.

- (Chris) Right.

- (Joellen) Make sure we stay out of the crown of the plant.

There, we've got all three of these planted.

Now let's go ahead and plant the rest of all the plants.

- All right, let's do it.

[upbeat country music] Joellen, this bed looks much better than it did when we first got started today.

- Yes, it does.

And the yellow Acorus and the Stella de Oro daylilies just really make the landscape pop.

- That looks so good.

We appreciate you comin' by, designing this for us and you know, picking out the right plant material that we need for this.

- I can't wait to see it in the next year.

- I can't wait, as well.

We also want to thank our great master gardeners who helped out.

That's all we have time for today.

If you want to get information on the plants we planted or re-watch a section of the show, go to FamilyPlotGarden.com.

Thanks for watching.

I'm Chris Cooper.

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

Be safe.

[upbeat country music] [acoustic guitar chords]