(guitar music) - [Announcer] Oklahoma gardening is a production of the Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service as part of the land grant mission of the Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources at Oklahoma State University.

Dedicated to improving the quality of life of the citizens of Oklahoma through research based information.

Underwriting assistance for our program is provided by the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry helping to keep Oklahoma green and growing.

Today on the best of Oklahoma gardening, we get some inspiration from gardeners across the state.

First, we head down to Southwestern Oklahoma to see a beautiful, cool season vegetable garden.

We then visit Dee Nash's protege garden in central Oklahoma.

And finally, we head up to Tulsa to look at one of the featured gardens from the 2021 Tulsa Garden Club garden tour.

(guitar music) - Today we are at a home garden just outside of Walters, Oklahoma and Southwestern, Oklahoma.

And joining us is Andrea Ballard.

And Andrea, your garden is beautiful and I have to say, I think this was the year for cool season crops.

What have you found?

- I think you're right.

They're a little bigger than they usually get and everything looks really well and they're growing really well, so.

- So, tell us a little bit about what all you have in the garden here.

- Well, we've got green cabbage and broccoli and some red cabbage, some cauliflower and brussels sprouts, which is a first for me this year.

I've never tried to grow brussels sprouts, but they're doing well.

I've got onions and lettuce and beets and a salad mix.

And then I've started my peppers in my tomatoes for the summer garden also, already, so.

- [Casey] Yeah, so some of your cabbage and broccoli, it looks like you're doing in kind of segments here.

Can you tell us a little bit about your planting methods?

- [Andrea] And I tried the square foot gardening method this year, which is one plant per square foot.

It seems a little crowded to me.

So probably next year I'll spread it out and maybe one per two, just to give the plants a little bit more room.

It seems to be working okay.

As far as size and everything, but I will move my cabbage to the outside rows so it's not shaded over by the leaves of the bigger plants.

- [Casey] Yeah, it's kind of... - [Andrea] Kind of took over there.

- [Casey] A little bit looks like.

So, I mean, you've got, I mean, this broccoli, for instance, right here, it looks like it's ready to harvest and some of your cabbage as well.

- [Andrea] Yes.

In fact, probably tomorrow we'll be harvesting some of the bigger heads of broccoli.

We've got some pretty good sized heads of cauliflower over there that need to come out.

And then some of the heads of cabbage also need to come out and we'll blanch those and freeze those and actually put those in the freezer.

- [Casey] Oh, okay.

- To use all winter.

- [Casey] So a a little bit about...

I mean, a lot of times we think about gardening come April and May, but when did this go on the ground?

I mean, tell us a little bit about all the prep and getting this cool season garden started.

- [Andrea] Well, prep started in February.

I did the first round with the tillers and turn the dirt in February.

Late February, we pushed our organic cal fertilizer onto the garden and then the 1st of March, I had a lady that had a tractor tiller and she came in and laid me some nice beds and tilled the fertilizer in.

And so that was all ready.

Most of the plants went in March 14th.

The onions went in about a week before that, because I got them a week before and they needed to get in the ground rather than stay out, so yeah.

- [Casey] Yeah, yeah.

It's about capturing that sometimes it's not so nice to get out in the garden, but that's really when you got to get these plants out there.

- Yeah and actually we were lucky, you know, whether after the big freeze in February, everything was, the weather was pretty nice to be out in March.

Then of course we had the, the light cold weather, but with cool season, I wasn't worried about that.

- Yeah, that's kind of prolonged, I think, and allowed those heads to develop more, to get more cooler.

- And it's been cooler and we've had a pretty wet March and April so far so and into May.

- Yeah.

- And I think it's fixing to get wetter, but... - So you got your warm season out.

Tell us a little bit, I noticed your tomatoes behind you.

There you've put them in mineral buckets, but they are actually planted in the soil.

- They are.

The bottoms are cut out and then they're stuck down in the soil and the main reason I do it is out here, like you can tell, the wind blows, it's Oklahoma, the wind blows.

So I use it for protection mainly when they're little, when the plants are small.

This weekend, the plan is if we can do it before the rain to get cages put on them and pull the tubs and go ahead and get them caged up and then get them mulched and ready for summer.

But mainly it's for protection.

And I was lucky enough to get mineral tubs with lids.

And during the early spring when I put these in 'cause these went in March 14th also.

So they went through the cold weather and the cold snap in April, all of my plants did.

- Okay.

- Of course, they're getting a little big for it now, but you can just pop that lid and put the brick on it and you have a mini greenhouse so it protects them from cold weather and hail.

I've used it to be hail protection.

Thunderstorm, they're saying hail's coming and I'll run out and grab all the lids and put 'em on top of it to protect it.

- [Casey] So it's not for long-term growing greenhouse but it gets it through that evening hours or a hail storm, yep.

- [Andrea] It gets it through the frost or the hail storm.

- [Casey] That's a great idea.

- [Andrea] And a lot of the times in the dark, I'll come out 'cause I know it's supposed to get warm enough that they'll need to be in the greenhouse through the day.

So, you know, before I got to work in the morning, before daylight, I'll come out and pull 'em off.

- Well Andrea, I know you do a lot of cooking, as well.

Tell me a little bit, though, why you got into gardening and what you do then, with all of this.

You mentioned that you were gonna freeze some of your produce so that you can continue.

I know you do some canning, as well.

But is that why you garden or how did you get started?

- We've always had a garden.

Some of my younger memories are with my Mom's Mom and Dad, my Grandpa and Granny Hooker, they always had a huge garden.

And we would always, there's a big tree that was outside of their house and I remember we'd pick all the corn and everybody would sit around, the Aunt's and all the kids would sit around and we'd shuck corn under the trees.

So we grew up, I swore I'd never grow a potato again after one year one year.

(Casey chuckling) He planted an acre terrace in potatoes and we got to, you know, pick all of those up and put them in the storage.

So, a lot of those-- - A lot of potatoes.

- Yeah, a lot of potatoes, so us kids were like, "No, I don't wanna do potatoes."

But so we've always had a garden when we were younger and then this has been our garden spot here, for a long, long time.

In the '80s it was, pig pens actually was here and then my dad decided that he wanted a garden, so.

And his parents also always had a garden on, so just kinda comes in the family.

And then when dad passed away in '13, I told Mom, I said, "Well, I'll take over the garden."

So I took over the garden and here we are.

And so I do can a lot.

We did a lot of freezing last summer and we did a lot of pickles.

And we did some squash relish and used up the squash and that turned out really well.

And so I do can, but like I said, we froze a lot last year just because it was a little bit easier.

And some things freeze a little better than other things do.

So we used the cabbage that we froze last year all through the winter in soups and stews and even steamed some of it 'cause we, we cut it in wedges and blanched it and then freeze it so it's in, you know,-- - Big chunks.

- Big chunks, so.

And then broccoli, of course, we have a vacuum seal and we blanch it and vacuum seal and put it in the freezer.

- [Casey] So you're able to eat the garden goods all winter long that way.

- All winter long, and the things that don't keep or can well, we supply the, as we call it, the farm hood.

I have lots of little ladies here, and neighbors and so they, you know, we deliver to their porches and that's the kind of Mom's job.

She'll say, "Okay, we need to get rid of some of this."

And I said, "Well, okay, go on delivery."

So she'd take it to the ladies.

We got some ladies in town.

I take it to work and just kinda put it on a table and say it's yours, you know.

- Well your garden is beautiful and obviously very productive.

So I imagine that all of your friends appreciate your talent and your green thumb, as well.

- They do and sometimes it's, "Okay, we're locking the door "'cause we don't want anymore."

(Casey and Andrea laughing) But yeah, they really do, they enjoy getting it, and especially the older neighbors that we have that can't do it anymore.

And they used to garden so they really enjoy getting the fresh produce and things, so.

- Well thank you for sharing your garden with us.

- Well, you're very welcome.

(soft music) - Today, I'm so excited that we are at the home of Dee Nash who's a fellow friend and native Oklahoman.

And if you are in the gardening world, you probably have heard Dee Nash because she is a popular writer, blogger, speaker-- - Podcaster.

- Podcaster, I mean, you're doing it all.

- Well I try.

- (laughing) So you're always capturing everything about your garden and I wanna walk on in here.

And let's look at what you've got going right here with your vegetables because this is just a really an exquisite display, actually, I have to say.

- Well thank you, thank you.

- [Casey] So tell us a little bit about how you came up with this.

I know a lot of people think, "Oh, I've gotta have a garden to have tomatoes," but you don't.

- [Dee] No, you can grow it in pots.

You can totally grow tomatoes in pots.

In fact, I think it's the best way to grow 'em If you grow 'em in pots, large enough pots, with drip irrigation, something to tie 'em to, they do really, really well.

They warm up faster in the spring.

If we have torrential rains like we've had this year, you know, they do fine.

- [Casey] So we've got them on asphalt here actually, too, which I was a little-- - [Dee] Yeah we do.

- [Casey] I Was asking you about this a minute ago, but you haven't seen any problems with-- - No, I did this last year and I did it right up next to the kitchen garden.

And so here, we decided to do it down the middle of the garden so I could reach things in the kitchen garden.

They did great last year.

I grew peppers, tomatoes, potatoes, all in these pots.

I think the secret is to have a big enough pot.

- Okay.

- Big enough surface area.

- So these are kind of those woven fabric.

- These are smart pots.

- Smart pots.

Okay.

- This one is made in Oklahoma.

- And 20, 30 gallons are most of the.

- Yeah, this one's a 20 gallon.

- Okay.

- And then this bigger one back here is a 30 gallon.

And yet you can see, I have drip irrigation on all of them.

I think that's really important too, because if you don't have drip irrigation in your pots, it is really, really hard to grow things here.

- [Interviewer] Well, not only could this work for anybody in a home situation, an easy, you don't have to build much, you just get these and fill them with soil.

- [Gardener] Right.

- [Interviewer] But at the school gardens, I mean, how many times do we see a school gardens have just like asphalt areas or a playground or something?

- [Gardener] Yeah.

And people also grow in their driveways.

That might be the only sunny place you have.

- [Interviewer] That's true.

- [Gardener] You know, and they have to have at least six to eight hours of sun, right.

- Who says you have to put a car on a driveway, right.

Put your tomatoes out there.

- A garden, a garden, always do the garden.

- Well, it looks fabulous and you've got it well trellised up here and I have to say, I mean, we are, we're doing well in this season already with your tomatoes.

- Yeah.

They're doing pretty good.

I think they're taking off really well.

I had the biggest harvest... - [Interviewer] The rain's helped.

- [Gardener] Yeah, they did.

I had the biggest harvest I've ever had last year though.

- [Interviewer] Fantastic.

- [Gardener] So that's an easy thing.

- [Interviewer] And that's what I would imagine.

A little bit of that heat would also help get them established sooner as well.

- [Gardener] Yes, and use good potting soil.

And I, I actually listened to a podcast of a guy out in California who is a really good tomato guy.

And so I, he said use two-thirds of the potting soil and one-third compost.

And I think that's a really good combo.

- [Interviewer] That sort of helps inoculate that potting soil with some of that beneficial stuff.

- [Gardener] With that good stuff.

Yeah.

- [Interviewer] Yeah.

All right.

Well, let's take a look at what's right next to this, is your potager garden and just, I mean, a beautiful garden.

I feel like I just walked into France all of a sudden here.

- [Gardener] Well, I've tried to with the lavender for sure.

- [Interviewer] Yeah.

So tell me a little bit, this has been in, I've been to your garden, but it's been quite awhile.

And I think this is fairly new.

- [Gardener] It was brand new in 2009.

- [Interviewer] You've had this about a decade now?

- [Gardener] Yeah.

- [Interviewer] So tell us a little bit about a potager garden, first of all.

- So a potager is a very stylized garden.

The word potager, if you speak it in French, that's how it sounded.

But in England they say Potager, and it actually means potage, which is soup.

- Okay.

- It's a soup garden.

I wanted a garden close to my, close to my kitchen, which is right over there.

And I just wanted it to be filled with herbs and lots of vegetables.

And then I ran out of room because I grew all this lavender.

So that's why the tomatoes are in the pots.

And it's, it's set up for seating height.

- [Interviewer] Yeah.

- [Gardener] You don't have to have beds this steep, but we did it because we wanted to sit on the edge because I get tired of getting down on my knees.

- [Interviewer] Well, and I'll say, you need to take a break and enjoy your work sometimes.

Right.

- Yeah, sometimes you do.

- So, your lavender is thriving right now.

Tell us a little bit about some of the cultivars that you have in here.

And, you know, we had an epic freeze this year.

- We did.

- Are these all perennials that came back, or?

- Yes.

This all came back.

- Wow.

- [Gardener] This was planted new last year because it took me awhile to border the whole thing.

Cause it's expensive.

Lavender's high.

- [Interviewer] Right.

- [Gardener] This is phenomenal.

This variety.

It does really well.

And the part of the reason I grow it, it's beautiful.

It smells good.

And I'm, I'm a beekeeper.

So I wanted the bees... - [Interviewer] Yeah, I was going to say, you gotta be careful when you're touching your plants around here.

- Yeah, while they're blooming for sure.

And then I also grow several other varieties and I did a big test on it and wrote a blog post on it.

So Munstead is in here, Royal velvet.

There's several different varieties.

- Excellent.

- All different sizes and types.

- So what is your care on these?

Are you going to cut these back, or?

- Yes, as soon as those are finished blooming, I'm going to come into here with my battery operated sheers and I'm going to shear them off because I want to keep that green.

I don't want them to go to the shrubby Woody stage.

I made a mistake with that the first year and they didn't overwinter as well.

- Okay.

- And I think the reason they do well in here is two things.

These are concrete blocks, so it's very alkaline.

And then on top of that, it's got great drainage.

- [Interviewer] Good drainage, yeah.

- [Gardener] Those two things.

I do not put gravel in the hole or anything.

- [Interviewer] Yeah, so have you had much luck with lavender in ground anywhere?

- [Gardener] No.

- [ Interviewer] Just raised beds?

- [Gardener] Just raised beds.

- [Interviewer] Because of that Oklahoma clay, right?

- [Gardener] Right.

And that Oklahoma rain that we got all spring, right?

Yeah.

Cause you just don't know what we're going to get.

- [Interviewer] Well I love your lovely water feature here.

I mean, water is just such a cooling effect in the garden.

Even if you're not splashing in it.

- [Gardener] Even if we're sweating, yeah.

It has a cooling effect and it has a nice sound and I love it.

And then this is not watered at all unless I just hit it with a sprayer.

So I planted stuff that is really, really tough in here.

- [Interviewer] Well it's a nice addition to the garden and it really sets off that formal look, so a lot of people want that formal look, which creates that symmetry.

But having a strong focal point.

- It does help.

It really does.

And I didn't think I wanted red.

I actually thought I wanted blue.

Like you guys have at the garden at OSU, but then I got the bricks in and they had a lot of red and we built this out of two pots.

And so we ended up with red.

- [Interviewer] And you go with what... - [Gardener] You go with what you got.

- [Interviewer] Right, right.

- [Gardener] So now that's kind of a feature of this bed.

There's a lot of red in here, a lot of purple and it all seems to go together pretty well.

- Well, thank you for sharing your lovely potager garden or potager garden, or however you want to say it.

- However you want to pronounce it.

- I enjoy your garden here.

And thanks for sharing it with us.

- Thank you.

(soft music) - Today, we're here at the home of Andrew and Janice Horowitz, and they've opened their backyard to give us a peak of their garden.

Janice, thank you so much for showing us your yard.

I mean, it's just a lovely landscape.

- [Janice] Thank you.

- I love, first of all, as we came by your front door here, the bubbler.

- [Janice] Yes, it was really an important element for me.

I grew up on the ocean and always around water, and I just needed to incorporate a water feature, an element of sound, and it just brings some interest to the front of the house for sure.

- [Host] Yeah, it's so nice to have that right as you come out the front door, and because it is a pondless feature in your front yard, you don't have to worry about it being a problem or anything.

- It's very low maintenance.

Every now and then I add water and forget it.

And what's nice is that I can hear it from inside as well.

- Oh yeah.

- So there's a dual benefit to having a water feature.

It's welcoming too, I think.

- Absolutely.

- A lot of people enjoy the sound of that as they walk up.

- Yeah, and you are, I mean, we're here in Tulsa, in urban Tulsa.

- Yes, correct.

- So you've got a lot of surrounding city noise.

- Yes.

- But being near this bubbler kind of drowns out some of that.

- [Janice] It's nice because it's one of the first things that you hear as you approach the front of the house.

- [Host] Well, and you've incorporated a lot of color.

We have sort of a semi shady front yard here.

- [Janice] Very much.

- [Host] It's anchored by our huge oak that you have here.

- [Janice] That's true, and this beautiful tree, which I really treasure and try to take very good care of, is the only thing that was here when we moved here 20 years ago.

So I've hung onto that and built kind of a garden around that is kind of our anchor.

- [Host] Yeah, I love that.

A lot of people have that same problem.

How do they grow grass underneath a big established tree or a landscape?

- [Janice] True.

And it looks like maybe the soil has been elevated just ever so slightly, - [Janice] Right.

allowing you to plan some hostas and euchres under that.

- [Janice] Right.

You have to be very careful about putting too much soil on top of a tree like this, because obviously you don't want to choke it.

- [Host] Right.

- [Janice] But with the help of stone pedal, we worked very diligently to kind of refurbish the soil and really enrich the soil so that what we put in the ground - [Host] Thrives.

- would thrive and survive and grow, which it has.

So I'm very happy with the result.

- [Host] I love their repetition of the color here on your coral bells too.

- [Janice] Yes, I know.

These are really, these have been very hardy.

They've done really well this year in spite of our crazy weather (host laughs) and COVID and everything else, but they have done well.

And I like the fact that we've kind of mixed the colors together.

So that again, it provides a little bit more interest.

- [Host] And definitely with having color for foliage, you're gonna have that color all year or all season, - [Janice] That's right, exactly.

- [Host] rather just relying on the flowers.

- [Janice] Exactly, exactly.

- [Host] Well, I hear there's more in the backyard.

Can we go take a look at that?

- [Janice] There is, and I'd be happy to show you.

- [Host] Excellent.

- [Janice] So come right this way.

- Wow, this is lovely as you come around the corner here.

- Thank you.

It's the south side of our house.

And a lot of people forget that they can do things on each side of their house in addition to the front and the back.

So what we kind of try to create here, because this is the one place I get a lot of sun, and I wanted to take full advantage of that.

So I had a pergola constructed, and we have a variety of climbing plants that creep up and flower, and they're very pretty 'cause they're sun loving plants.

And so that's created another... kind of another interesting feature.

Why not create something interesting and visually pleasing?

- Yeah.

- So that's kind of what we achieved, or tried to achieve here.

- [Host] The trellis is a nice addition, because again, you're taking advantage of that vertical space - [Janice] Right, exactly.

- and being able to include more plants in this space.

- [Janice] Yes, and flowering plants, so it really provides some sort of a... kind of a picture on a wall, - Yeah.

- but it's on the outside of the house, so it's kind of fun to do.

- And not only identifying the microclimate that you mentioned, - Correct.

- that this is a sunny location here too.

- Yes, correct.

- Well, you've done a phenomenal job with this small side yard.

Can we go ahead to your backyard here?

- Absolutely, I'd love to show you.

Follow me.

(soft footsteps pattering) - Wow, Janice, this is beautiful.

I imagine you spend a few summer nights out here.

- We spend a lot of not only summer nights, but spring and fall as well, because we have that great climate in Oklahoma.

So it's important to create another living space outside.

- Yeah.

- At least for me, I like being outdoors.

- Well, it was a little chilly this morning and I smell - It is.

- your fireplace going.

- [Janice] It is a bit chilly.

- [Host] It's just so inviting and cozy back here.

- [Janice] Yes, it's lovely.

And we have two fire features.

We actually have a fireplace and then we have the fire pit.

And again, I wanted to incorporate an element of water.

So we added this little bubbler water feature many years ago, and it kind of combines all those great elements at the same time, so it's nice.

- [Host] Yeah, the fire and the water is always a nice landscape feature.

- [Janice] Yes, exactly.

- [Host] So I like, too, you have kind of a seating area up there.

- [Home-Owner] Mm-hmm.

- With the step down, again, it defines those spaces.

- Exactly.

I thought it was, you know, this is, this whole yard kind of evolved over 20 years.

- Okay.

- So we've added things as we have decided how to live in the space.

- Mm-hmm.

- Which I think is a smart thing to do, because if you do it all at once, you make a lot of mistakes.

(Host chuckles) So we started with the outdoor space up here, and we just kind of created an outdoor living space.

And that's why we added the fireplace.

And then, we wanted to extend the yard, or the living space, out into the yard.

So we created this area as well.

So it has additional seating, dining.

We also added some shrubs for additional privacy.

I don't know what I'm gonna do next.

(both chuckle) - [Host] I think you've done really well of using both landscape, hardscape seating to sort of create those boundaries.

- Mm-hmm.

- To create those different spaces.

- Right.

Well, I think that's important because, you know, as you live in the space, you wanna feel a sense of privacy, much like you do when you're sitting in your home.

- Mm-hmm.

- So it's tricky sometimes to get that right, because we have to be respectful of our neighbors, but I think we've done a fairly good job of creating a comfortable outdoor space.

It's like framing a picture, you know, you start with a frame and then you work, you kind of work inward and create the picture and the interest.

So that's sort of- - [Host] Yeah, well.

- what we've done.

- [Host] And you have quite a diversity of trees, too.

- [Home-Owner] We do.

- [Host] Some of these native, or are already here as far as when you moved here or?

- No, actually none of them were here when we moved here.

There was not a tree at all in the backyard.

- Yeah.

- And one year for the holidays, it was a gift from my husband, who got 13 trees planted for me, most of which are still here.

So we have a variety of, of Loblolly trees, which are kind of a pine tree.

- [Host] Mm-hmm.

- [Home-Owner] And a beautiful pear, plum tree, excuse me.

- [Host] Uh-huh.

- [Home-Owner] And that's been here for many, many years.

So there is a variety of trees.

Which also lends to interest.

- [Host] Right.

- [Home-Owner] Some of them change colors differently in the fall.

And so it's fun to see the, kind of, the evolution through each season.

- [Host] Yeah.

Both a mix of deciduous and evergreens.

- [Home-Owner] Yeah, yes.

- Well, you definitely have painted a lovely picture in your landscape here.

- Well, thank you.

- And thank you so much for sharing it with us.

- Well, you're very welcome.

It's my pleasure to show you around and we enjoy the space very much.

So thank you for letting me share it with you.

(upbeat folk music) - [Host] There are a lot of great horticulture activities this time of year.

Be sure and consider some of these events in the weeks ahead.

(upbeat folk music) Next week on the best of "Oklahoma Gardening", we remember how harsh the winter temperatures can be on our landscape and what we can do to help them.

(uplifting folk music) To find out more information about show topics, as well as recipes, videos, articles, fact sheets, and other resources, including a directory of local extension offices, be sure to visit our website at oklahomagardening.okstate.edu.

And we always have great information, answers to questions, photos, and gardening discussion on your favorite social media as well.

Join in on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

You can find this entire show and other recent shows, as well as individual segments on our oklahomagardening YouTube channel.

Tune into our okgardeningclassics YouTube channel to watch segments from previous hosts.

"Oklahoma Gardening" is produced by the Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service as part of the Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources at Oklahoma State University.

The Botanic Garden at OSU is home to our studio gardens, and we encourage you to come visit this beautiful Stillwater gem.

We would like to thank our generous underwriter.

The Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food, and Forestry.

Additional support is also provided by Pond Pro Shops, Greenleaf Nursery, and the Garden Debut Plants, the Oklahoma Horticultural Society and Tulsa Garden Club.

(upbeat folk music)