anything that I can drill a hole in the bottom can become a planter the rhododendrons are great for wildlife the Bumblebees the tiger swallow tails when we did move here this was just a hay field and you're out deadheading it gives you that inner peace if it's a bad day get out in the garden [Music] hello and welcome to another episode of great gardening I'm your host Sharon Young and as usual we have our garden experts with us they are horticulturist and educator Bob Olin in Garden professional Deb Burns Erickson as a note to our viewers great gardening will return on June 8th for an hour-long special so with a couple weeks away coming up we want to answer as many questions from gardeners tonight as we can volunteers from the St Louis County Master Gardeners program are here to answer the phones when you call in dial 218-788-2847 or call toll-free at 1-877-307-8762 or you can email us at ask pbsnorth.org let's take a look at some signs of the season spring has sprung finally finally and look at these the daffodils are magnificent this year and you know if you want to just put something in the ground that's deer resistant that's winter hardy these happen to be some I planted 30 years ago and they give us a tremendous Bloom every single year and they're vibrant right now and of course the first veggie of the Season uh rhubarb is up now when they're buds we had this question last week uh they're vulnerable to Deer pressure right as they're emerging but at this point once we've got leaves up there the deer leave them alone as well and they're just day to day they're just expanding dramatically and they won't be long we've got these are going to be our flowering crab buds they're just beginning to merge you can see the buds there it's going to be magnificent Bloom because all the moisture we had last fall in this spring so we can look forward to that and the blueberry buds are up there too so it won't be long before the pollinators will be out there and doing their thing on on blueberries so their Meg is atnificent everything's coming we're looking forward to a great great growing season good well last summer we visited Mandy McDonald in Hermantown Minnesota she operates Rusty patch nados which grows native plants for pollinators and other Wildlife let's take a look at our garden I'm Mandy McDonald and I live in Hermantown Minnesota I own Rusty patch natives I started the business 2021 and I grow and I sell plants for pollinators and habitat for other Critters to try to restore the habitat for them that's been lost here we have a garden that I planted last summer we have some anise hyssop here or blue giant hyssop one of the favorites for the bees behind that we have early sunflower we have some switch grass this is great habitat for the birds in the winter and they also like to eat the seeds and it adds interest in the winter when everything else is dead this is some beard tongue and the bees and hummingbirds were really loving this the last month it was one of their favorites okay so this is another Garden that I created last year and this is my my wet Garden so the soil here is very wet and heavy and there are certain plants that like that and this is one of them this is um blue verbane this is one of my favorite plants the bees love it right now this is doing wonderful here because it likes that that heavy wet soil this is another B magnet it's called Fringe loosestrife it's a native loose strife some Calico asked are not in bloom yet some orange cone flower just about to bloom and then this one right here is a really good um really good pollinator plant again and it likes the more moist soils also this is Virginia Mountain mint I mean there's a few different Mountain mints this one gets a little taller about like three feet um it's a really great spreading plant and it's again great for the pollinators so I had to add that here I think it's really important now as we're realizing how little habitat is left for wildlife and pollinators I would encourage everybody to incorporate at least some native plants in their Gardens whether they're vegetable gardens or just non-native flower gardens let's start our questions by revisiting a photo question we spoke about last week these are tomatoes from Tom who has been having difficulty with tomato seedlings Bob any suggestions yeah we took a look at that it's a little different and it obviously wasn't insect or disease it's right along the veins and in this particular case it's it's a process we call edema and uh this is just where that plant is pushing so much water up and and it's uh we don't have enough ventilation so we're pleasure yeah the cells are beginning to expand and the lower leaves not a problem but it can break apart at the at the tissue line and then you've got open material that's uh that's really where the cells are going to Decay so the solution really is a little bit less watering and then a fan I think fans are important if you're starting a lot of your own let's get some air movement let's get some evaporation that'll control us edema issue and you can take up a lot of those leaves if you have a lot of fresh growth too because they're going to try to fix and repair and it's just more cosmetic than anything lower leaves you can come off they're not as important right okay thanks well let's get on to some viewer questions Sue um is asking can you grow milkweed in planters oh no it's tough it's tough because of that Tap Root it's really hard it's really hard to even transplant milkweed it's hard to start you should seed it where it would grow naturally otherwise transplanting and wintering over is going to be I would say impossible okay okay Brad and Renshaw and Elaine in Virginia have similar questions they would like to know is it too early to plant potatoes onions and sweet potatoes and where were they at Rachel Renshaw in Virginia so right completely different soil temperatures right now different temperature at Great different plants the onions and potatoes onions definitely can go in because they're Frost resistant the potatoes we'll talk about Irish potato uh the risk of going this early is if they come up we get a frost and then they never really produce like they should so delay a little bit on the Irish potatoes the sweet potatoes really delay they're very very warm temperature and you're going to look at about the third week in June uh very very late they do not like 40 degrees so all different plants different locations but uh other than onions we can wait for all of them the other two all right Kevin and Deer River has a question that many people have asked how do I eliminate potato bugs got any ideas Eric well I know my dad does he goes and picks him off I mean it's laborous it's but that's what he wants to do and to be you know chemical free yeah it's tough It's really tough rotation and even some of the uh the chemical materials there's a lot of resistance so I think a few plants five or ten just pick the pick them as rapidly as you can and get rid of them uh one thing I've done is I've opened up the soil areas where you can get that snow off so maybe while you're snow blowing the driveway this may sound crazy but uh snowball Potato Patch area so that the frost penetrates kills The larva yeah killing two birds with one stone if you can yes Elena in Duluth is asking how do you transplant or get rid of lily of the valley because they are taking over the garden well they're invasive of course and they're beautiful but invasive and um you know you're just going to have to if you're going to do it non-chemically you're just going to have to get a good man out there right some kind of covering and uh just use a carpet or heavy cardboard or something of that nature if not you're going to have to use one of the non-selective herbicides like glyphosate or something like that to control them Dwayne and Grand Marais has some rain barrels developing some brown slime and he's wondering if he can put ammonia in it to stop it okay why wouldn't he just put bleach in there yeah you know like a 10 bleach solution in there and kill that and then a lot of it will dissipate anyway and that kills a lot of the algae and a lot of different things it will I don't know why he'd want to use the other I'm not sure either I think bleach is a better solution and 10 that's not going to be a problem okay uh Marion and Duluth is asking about snow on the mountain how do I get rid of it or control it from spreading boy we got a lot of invasives again oh yeah uh I think that if you get a garden bed and you want to grow it then then a good barrier you know something that uh you know an edging material a good commercial edging material rather than the cheap inexpensive plastic stuff something like that or or a galvanized Corridor or some type of metal to keep it in place it's tough because it will it'll spread very dramatically yeah okay and Scott and Duluth has four by eight beds how deep should my compost layer be before digging into it well topping it I presume that's what he's saying yeah I think he's got I think two to three inches is realistic and then he's going to incorporate it so compost is a good question really because compost can be used both on the surface and then it can be incorporated as an amendment right two to three inches is not too much and then he could demand on top two as a weed barrier too if it's really good clean compost well before we get into more viewer questions Deb you wanted to cover an interesting topic tonight right well going along with the earlier segment on pollinators and you can also have a lot of pollinators and using more of the um some common flowers that you buy at nurseries and things and you can use them as long as they have a really good um physical shape for the pollinators like on the screen a petunia we have a lot of bumblebees and different bees native bees that like to come in the greenhouse and get it on those but as far as planting like whole beds you can group plants together for pollinator protection like those sections she had where they're nice and tight and so they can get in and they have protection from other pests you also need wood for Advent for the advantage of the pollinators leave at least 12 to 18 inches of hollow stems on the natives or whatever other non-native things you're growing add a water feature with rocks and saucers so that the pollinators can get water especially in the spring it's really important right now for them to have a water source and then you really don't need to use a lot of fertilizers because with the Clover they fix the nitrogen and so a lot of clovers is a really good ground cover for a bee garden and then when we're maintaining It Don't Spray that you don't want to spray herbicides besides fungus anything that could contact them and there and there's some left on the plants also so you really don't want to use any kind of spray and then just use more resistant plants and when you're planting don't plant the plants so close that they could get fungal diseases so a little bit of spacing and not too tight avoid pesticides try to use more environmentals like spraying them off hitting if you see a pest try to eliminate it with a sharp Blast from a hose and you can add soap to it you a siphon and then only use it and if you have to have to spray then try to use it only either I would like to use it in the evening when it's cool and they're all in and it can sit on the plant or whatever you're treating longer rather than in the morning and then when you're are growing a garden and you're not sure what to do start small you know we can do all do a little bit and a little bit from everyone would help the all pollinators like those dahlias there with that open face and dahlias are great because they give you the best of both worlds for an annual they bloom all summer and then they also give you a tuber and so then you can have flowers that are there all summer especially during the dearth and then you or you could create a border around your yard and just be patient with it give it some time to mature don't overcrowd and then choose plants and layout carefully in what you use and if you are doing a whole bee lawn please contact the city and make sure they're what the rules are for lawns thank you Deb let's get back to some more questions Petty emailed us in Hayward and is asking about their decision to not completely remove leaves from their flower beds will that be a problem and we also are not mulching either any advice I think that's a good thing to leave the leaves yeah it depends on the amount you know if if you uh if you do not incorporate do not compost a thin layer of leaves no problem a real thick layer of leaves as it begin to break down you get some intermediate material that connects would be Troublesome I'd rather see that composted than the compost return but the thin layer of leaves isn't going to matter and it can be used as a mulch really yeah not applying it but just not removing it right um an emailer is asking where can I get the tree turmeric oh friend's Greenhouse Greenhouse we have them we have some nice ones that we got from Boreal natives Boreal natives comes up and they get our Tamaracks and they get our Joe pie weed so then they bring us Tamarack in the spring we've got some really nice sized ones okay perfect Wendy and Duluth is wondering if the sprays used by local companies to kill mosquitoes are safe for pollinators oh that's a good question it depends on application and when they're applied and what they're really using and how do you know what they're using it depends on the it depends on the product so ask the question of your applicator right okay um Margaret is asking about two pear trees that were planted a few years ago one died and we understand we need two different kinds for fruit we don't remember what kind we planted how can we get fruit Margaret in Cloquet so she doesn't know what she has and she doesn't know what died right I don't think it's going to matter too much because most of those will actually be uh flowering at similar times so I'd say get another one hardiness is the issue when she had one that dies to be very careful again work with your dealer and buy buy materials that are winter hardy for this area because some are excellent but other varieties are not near nearly Hardy enough okay Carol in white Lakes is asking about a soil test report that says they need fertilizer with no phosphate should be 15 0 30. where can I find it that's often the often the problem that people have you get three numbers there they don't need the middle numbers so I would say I always focus on the nitrogen that's the one you can get the most trouble with so do your calculations based on a high nitrogen fertilizer and don't worry quite as much about the potassium that last number we can make that up actually that's something she could probably do with a lawn fertilizer without any herbicides of course because there's nitrogen no phosphorus and then potassium potassium is not going to be as critical as nitrogen work off the first number perfect Doreen from Duluth is asking on a scale of one to ten how invasive is evening primrose one to ten the scale of one to ten let's say one is not invasive ten is highly right well depends you let it go if they're letting it go to seed you know and if they're controlling it do they want it to be invasive or do they not you know because you can do a lot of control with eliminating the seed right you know because that again is a tap right and it even you know it's not going to run as badly so if you get to it before it goes completely to seed that's going to eliminate a lot of it yeah it's not bad advice uh deadhead early and get get rid of some of the seed pods okay so it can be or not it can be managed for sure for sure it can be managed so it you know three four yeah okay oh yeah number yeah at the end International Falls is asking how how do I get rid of wild pee what was it wild pee oh wild people boy we've got a lot of people who want to get rid of everything I think they're they're similar uh once again uh if you've got something that's emerging right now and don't let any sunlight get to it so uh matting of one type or another uh is a choice it's either that or it's some type of a nervous side that you're going to have to use okay well you know last set of questions someone brought up compost and speaking of compost is there something you want to share with us Bob well we're big fans of compost because our soils tend to be low in organic material so consequently we'd like to get as much compost in as we can and mention the fact that really you want to just create conditions that favor the bacteria and the fungi that actually create this composting process now compost can be used both as an amendment and that was the other question we had it ended up on the soil surface it can be used as a mulch when it's on the surface it can be incorporated into the soil and then it's used as Amendment so it's multi multifunctional there's a nutrient component to it as well as this tilt that's there so um you know the big thing again going back to that the basic concept is keeping the uh keeping your workers happy so you want to create an environment where they're happy doing what their their work alone so you can use temperatures as a guide it's very very efficient I'll use a section of rebar in my compost but I'll stick it in there and pull it out after five minutes and if it isn't hot my compost pile isn't working very efficiently so you want to maintain temperatures if you're good compost 130 to 140 degrees you can get an actual compost thermometer they'll give you those specifics and don't be deceived it really does take three to six months to get a mature compost I talked about too many leaves out there that are Incorporated uh you don't want immature compost because the process isn't complete it tends to be acidic so at least minimum three to six months for most most of us about one year and then again think a little bit about the workers what's doing all the work the bacteria as well as the fungi so what do they need you need a good feedstock that's going to be your organic material you've got to have 50 oxygen so what that means is you don't want to pile it's dense you don't want to chop it and refine it too much you don't want to put any soil on there that it compresses it so my advice is lose build a loose pile get some Fiber in there maybe some wood chips or branches so that you get natural incorporation of the oxygen if it's real dry then you're going to have to add some water and just the garden hose is fine how do you know if it's too wet twenty percent water is what we want grab that compost squeeze it hard you should get a drop or two of water that that comes out that's about 20 percent then this part that's a little tricky carbon to nitrogen there's a lot of nitrogen and green material so again incorporating grass clippings which should be mixed in so they don't compress but grass or anything green has a lot of nitrogen component if you have dry material you've got to have nitrogen from some source and you can even use a commercial fertilizer to supply some of the nutrient the nitrogen that's needed so carbon for energy for your bacteria nitrogen for the proteins that they're going to build then their numbers explode and then the process works very very efficiently a lot of fun when it works for you thanks Bob let's wrap things up with a few more viewer questions we have a viewer that emailed asking what is a good fertilizer for raspberry and blackberry bushes once again it's going to be nitrogen it's going to be this time of year they don't need it later in the season so both of those just a high nitrogen again you could use just a lawn fertilizer which is high in nitrogen without in the phosphorus isn't there and the potassium is useful as well Kathy and pequan lakes is growing huckleberries and is wondering how long it takes to germinate huckleberries she's germinating she's going from seed yeah wow that's a challenge cuttings would be much cheesier if she tried to start from cuttings but germinating those seeds it can take a month two months I mean and and you don't even know if you're going to have success it would probably be better if she tried to do a fall seating and um then she might have better luck once it she's they try to break in the spring and get a little um stratification or scarification so that where the heart is going to be another issue so I would say uh consider honey berry if you need something other than our favorite blueberries okay Janet on Park Point wants to know how to get rid of poison ivy in the sand it's a challenge that uh resorting to glyphosate to get it out there for poison ivy of course if you're allergic at all most people are it can be very dangerous so I think getting out it's hard to dig wear the gloves and whatnot but the re-sprouts in the fall for control and this is a situation where they might have to use glyphosate and herbicide to take it out of there marionette and Duluth would like to know how to keep slugs off her hostas oh well yeah there are some materials that can be used big thing I think on slugs is they're you know they're really terrestrial snails so they like moisture so things are pretty moist true so open it up and try to get a perimeter there where you've got uh you can put different types of materials that they don't like to cross including black plastic which will be hot for them so you want a barrier on the outside you want to raise the beds if you possibly can to get better drainage get rid of some of the moisture and that will discourage there's some good airflow in there good airflow and there are some materials that can be used for control but be very careful you don't use any of these materials metaldides the active ingredient you don't want to use any of those materials around edibles okay well speaking of perennial gardens what is this what is safe for the plants in the garden granules or sprays for weed control Jane and Duluth is asking well you can't okay so there used to be a school of thought right for um where you corn glute meal I mean if you're really concerned then really start heavy with corn gluten meal if that's your number one concern and that does help with weed suppression but that can take for really good weed suppression two to three years but there are more you know commercial things available for that too and a number that are sold for the homeowner but she asked granules versus sprays she really wants to know the active ingredient that's the most important one so take a good look read those labels there are products you could use but uh read the label and then the form granddaughter is a Leisure so it doesn't drift off into other locations makes sense Carl and Hayward is asking about coffee grounds can you mix them with compost or mix directly in the soil well coffee grounds are great the feedstock we talked about that for composting it goes in the compost pile first and it is a little acidic but uh heavy amounts of anything directly applied is not beneficial so in the compost pile first and then when it becomes compost then into the garden okay we have someone that emailed and is asking again where was the place that I could purchase a tamarit tree we have it at Bruins Greenhouse in zoom and we've yeah we've got some beautiful they're beautiful they're absolutely beautiful because they're nice and fresh and they're so green and light and Airy they are fantastic Burns Greenhouse all right uh Roberta and Duluth and the Crosby area Buckthorn how do I get rid of it wow getting rid of everything there's an invasive there you go and uh you can pull that if you're really working there are pullers and so you can really work at it but other than that there are some approved materials that can be used where you'll cut them off and then you apply to apply these to the stumps or you can cut everything off and then they will re-sprout for you in the fall of the year the young tender Sprouts you can control again with with glyphosate but there are other compounds that can be used well that's all for great gardening tonight and follow us on our social media channels on Instagram at Great gardeningpbs North and on YouTube at youtube.com greatgarning where you can find tonight's episode posted tomorrow once again we will be taking a couple weeks off but we'll be back June 8th for an hour-long episode thank you so much Bob and Deb you're great tonight so you it's a pleasure Sharon from all of us here at Great gardening we'll see you next time and please enjoy the garden [Music] foreign [Music]