From the tick-free studios of Univest, at Lehigh Valley Public Media in Bethlehem, PA, it is time for another disease-fighting episode of chemical-free horticultural hijinx You Bet Your Garden.

I'm your host, Mike McGrath.

What's the scariest pest waiting for you outdoors?

It has to be the terrible tick.

On today's show, we'll explain how wearing the correct kind of clothing can protect you from this awful arachnid.

Plus, your fabulous phone call questions, comments, tips, tricks, suggestions and artfully articulated assignations.

So stay right where you are, cats and kittens, because it's all coming up faster than you passing your tick test every time.

But first, I am happy to announce that I will appear live and in person to entertain and enthrall all you cats and kittens at the Exeter Public Library in Reading on Wednesday, June 7th at 6pm You'll find more information at the events section of our website, but that's not all.

I am also happy to announce that I will appear live and in person down the shore this summer.

Specifically, I'll be appearing for the Avalon Free Public Library at Surfside Park in Avalon, New Jersey, on Monday, July 31st at 7pm.

It's an outdoor event, so bring blankets, chairs and maybe even a dinner-time picnic basket.

The event is free and we can skedaddle indoors if weather is less than clement.

Again, you'll find all the information you need at the events section of our website.

And now on with the show.

Marian, welcome to You Bet Your Garden.

- Hi, Mike.

How are you?

- I am just ducky, Marian.

How are you doing?

- Very good, thanks.

- And where is Marian doing very good?

- I'm in Glenmore, Pennsylvania.

- OK. And what can we do you for?

- I've got some boxwood shrubs, about six of them.

And they were planted about five years ago.

They looked fine for a while.

And then I noticed they started having these bumpy spots.

And over the years, they're gradually thinning out and leaves are turning brown and dropping off.

What I'm worried about is that I'm not sure if it's boxwood blight or what it is that's causing this.

And I don't want any of this to spread to my pachysandra or anything else.

So I need your help trying to figure out what this is.

- Hmm.

OK. Boxwood blight is a thing.

Generally...

I've not...

I'm looking at pictures that you sent us.

I'm not used to hearing those little dots.

The kind of raised surfaces inside of the leaf.

Have you ever sliced one open with a razor blade to see what's in there?

- No, I haven't.

- Well, you know, there could be...

It could be a bug.

It could be a bad bug.

But you also do have some symptoms of blight.

Now, are these boxwoods planted in full sun?

Part shade?

- Part shade.

- Are they in a wet area?

- Um... No, regular.

Regular moisture, I would say.

- Are they near... ..or in a treated lawn?

- No, I don't put anything on the lawn.

- OK, good.

Boxwood blight is a disease of moist and humid conditions.

So I'm presuming most of what you're talking about was from last year.

- Yes.

- How do the leaves look this year?

- I'm seeing it kind of spread over more of the bushes.

And I'm getting... And they're falling off.

- Yeah.

OK. Yeah.

That's a symptom of the blight.

Do you prune these shrubs?

- Since they were small, I haven't.

I just started doing it just recently and that's when I really got concerned.

- OK. And what time of year did you prune them?

- I just was going to do it like a week or so ago.

- So you haven't pruned them yet?

- Just slightly.

And then I stopped because it worried me.

- OK. No.

A good pruning to let air in might be helpful.

What's it like underneath the shrubs?

Is it crowded down there?

Is there grass or are there old leaves, car batteries, you know, anything like that?

- No.

It's a nice area with a walkway that's been mulched.

- Bom bom bom bom... Mulched with what?

- Um.

Just a regular... What I've gotten from a mulch company.

- A mulch company!

- I have it delivered.

- Mulch does not mean wood.

Mulch is anything that covers the surface of the soil to control weeds and retain moisture.

What color is your mulch?

- Um, It's pretty black.

- Oh.

Get it out of there.

Get it out of there.

This stuff comes contaminated with all sorts of chemicals and diseases.

It's trash wood.

They're not allowed to landfill it anymore.

So they take it to a chicken chipping plant, color it with some awful substance, and then sell it to you.

Getting rid of the wood mulch will get rid of the provocateur and then applying real good yard waste compost underneath will actually treat them.

- OK. Gotcha.

Thank you.

- All right.

Good luck to you.

Marlene, welcome to You Bet Your Garden.

- Well, thank you, Mike, and thank you for taking my call.

- Well, thank you for making it, Marlene.

How are you doing?

- Oh, I'm just fine.

I'm over here in the Skippack Township near Collegeville, Pennsylvania.

- All right.

What can we do you for?

- Well, basically, I'm calling to thank you today for the great advice you gave me last fall.

I had contacted you probably in October last year.

I have these lilac bushes, and every spring I trim off the blooms and I prune them back to the size that I want.

And it goes along fine.

And about late September or October, - they burst into bloom again.

- Ah.

- And I was really... Yeah.

I was really concerned that maybe I wouldn't get any blooms in the spring and I didn't know if I should cut them because I know you always say don't be pruning and neatening up or anything in the fall.

So I contacted you and you told me to go ahead and cut the blooms and bring them in the house and enjoy them.

And with the way Mother Nature is, with climate change and everything, you can never be sure what's going to happen.

But I wanted you to know I have so many lilacs that my bushes are just weighed down out there.

- That is fabulous.

I'm looking at a photo that apparently you sent us of your lilac this spring, and it does.

It looks exceptional.

Now, that was... - It worked out very well.

- That was a guess on my part because when you only remove the flowers, there's a very good chance you're not going to stimulate new growth.

So I thought, OK, you know, no matter what, it would be fun to have lilacs, fresh lilacs in the house in the fall.

I mean, your house must have smelled amazing.

- Oh, it was wonderful.

- And a lot of times these... We're getting double blooms from plants that only are supposed to bloom once.

My forsythia have been blooming every fall and every spring.

It's crazy.

It's crazy.

But, you know, if you feel the need to do something during one of these weird experiences, just remove and enjoy the flowers.

But again, you're absolutely right.

It's so important not to prune anything in late summer or fall.

And... - I've been listening to you for years and hearing you say that.

So that's what I did.

- And... Well, thank you for listening and thank you for sending us the photos.

A lot of times we send this advice out there and we don't know what happens.

But I'm so thrilled it worked out well for you.

- Well, thank you.

And I just wanted you to know that your advice worked great.

- That means a lot to me.

Thank you very much.

Wally, welcome to You Bet Your Garden.

- Well, thank you, Mike.

- Well, thank you, Wally.

How are you doing?

- Oh.

So far, so good.

- That's what the guy said who jumped off the Empire State Building as he passed the 35th floor.

Oh, dear.

Where are you, man?

- I am in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

- Oh, right.

A pleasure to hear from you.

What can we possibly do for you?

- So I moved here last year.

I decided I wanted more snow in my life.

But I finished my second summer and we have at my house a large sidewalk area and I want to plant some trees there, and I was looking, and with the Parks Department, I am allowed to plant trees between the sidewalk and the street kind of as a buffer, if you will.

The trees have to be 30 feet apart.

So I measured my sidewalk.

I can get up to four trees.

But the Parks Department only approves certain trees.

So I just kind of wanted to get your opinion on what type would be best.

- Good.

You got a list?

- I sure do.

So I'll just start rambling them off if you are ready.

- I am ready.

All right.

You're going to have to go slow.

I'm going to do this one at a time.

No to black walnut.

What's next?

- Uh, shagbark hickory.

- It's a great tree.

- OK. Black cherry.

- You'd have beautiful displays in the spring.

I wouldn't say no.

- OK. All right.

The next is a cork tree.

- Cork tree.

That's kind of an interesting tree.

Let's hold that off to the side.

- OK. American linden.

- I'm going to say no, even though people are going to yell at me.

- All right.

Same for the other lindens?

Little leaf and silver, then?

- Well, silver is.... is a beautiful tree.

- OK. - I might go for that.

- OK. And then hackberry.

- No.

- All right.

Elm hybrid.

- You know, we're trying to bring the American elm kind of back to life.

And I want to see better results before we start going deep into that.

- OK. All right.

Ironwood.

- Fabulous tree.

Can't go wrong.

- Oh, right.

American yellowwood.

- It's another very good tree.

- All right.

Black locust.

- Black locust is a very interesting tree in that it is a legume, like peas and beans.

So if you were interested, you could allow this tree to grow and it would absorb nitrogen from the air.

And you could use parts of the canopy as a fertilizer for any food crops you would grow.

It is also a highly rot-resistant wood.

So if you wanted to, you could cut it down to like a foot or two off the ground and make compost bins and raised bedsides out of it for a very natural, rustic look.

And it would grow back.

This is the preferred tree for planting in areas like the Sudan, where firewood is scarce and people collecting firewood is a real source of deforestation.

But black locust is considered to be one of the solutions because you can use the leaves and stuff like that for cattle feed, for fertilizer, and you can use the bulk of the tree for firewood or building material.

- Oh, interesting.

- Oh, it's a great tree.

It's a technique called alley cropping, if you want to read up on it.

- Let me write that down real fast.

Perfect.

All right.

Next on the list is Kentucky coffee tree.

- It's a great tree, man.

- All right, then.

Still on the list, honey locust.

- I don't have a lot of experience.

I'm just going to pass on that one.

- OK. Burr oak.

- Burr oak is a fabulous tree.

Is it going to stay small enough for that area?

- I'm guessing so, since it's on their approved list.

But that I don't know for sure.

And then, yeah, there's two other oaks.

We've got heritage oak and northern pin oak as well.

- Well.

Huh?

Yeah.

Yeah.

You're in an area for pin oaks and they are not exactly deciduous.

They maintain their leaf canopy.

So, you know, you've got a lot of interesting trees.

But I mean, are you going to plant four the same or are you going to have a variety pack out there?

- Um.

I was thinking maybe two different species, kind of alternate them.

- Shagbarkhickory and Ironwood.

- Shagbark and ironwood.

OK. Those do work together pretty well?

- Yes.

And unless you want to go for the black locust and play around with the sustainability angle of that.

- Sounds good.

I'll definitely do that.

- All right, man.

- All right.

Thank you so much.

This gives me a great starting off point.

- Thank you.

It's a great question.

You take care now.

Bye-bye.

- Same to you.

Bye.

- As promised, it is time for the Question of the Week and a very timely question it is.

We're calling it How to Outwit Terrible Ticks.

Slater in Williamsport, PA, which he describes as being on the fringes of reception from Penn State's fabulous WPSU, writes... Well, you are correct, Slater.

One of my favorite people, Marty Singleton, who was co-chair of the Security Committee at the Philadelphia Folk Festival, contracted Rocky Mountain spotted fever while out target shooting one day.

This once giant and gentle bear of a man became unrecognizable during his months-long hospital stay, never recovered and died of the disease.

The CDC has identified eight different specific pathogens and diseases spread by ticks with Rocky Mountain spotted fever considered the deadliest and Lyme disease the best known.

Now, I have held bees that have stingers in my bare hands.

I have picked up a large snapping turtle by its tail, which makes them go into "play dead possum" mode.

Hopefully!

And I've used spiders and snakes as my beloved garden protectors.

Yeah, turtles too.

But who doesn't like turtles?

And yet, a photo or a video of a tick always sends me right into squirmy mode.

If they serve a purpose in our ecosystem - we still have one of those.

right?

- I'll be darned if I can figure out what it is.

Mosquitoes keep many species of songbirds and dragonflies well fed.

But ticks?

Come on.

Damn you for being thorough, Noah!

Anyway, Slater is also correct that permethrin is the number one answer.

DEET and many non-chemical botanical alternatives are effective against mosquitoes if you cover every exposed area of your body, but DEET is absorbed through your skin and exits your body via your liver and kidneys, perhaps making it the next draft choice for the Roundup award of "But You Told Us It Was Safe".

DEET also has no effect on ticks and may actually attract them.

Permethrin is a synthetic form of the botanical insecticide pyrethrum, which is made from the dried flowers of a certain species of daisy.

The natural form works well, but degrades quickly.

The synthetic form is designed to remain active despite exposure to air and sunlight and is deadly to ticks in a manner that no other compound can approach.

Virtually all studies agree that ticks cannot survive on permethrin-treated clothing for more than a few minutes.

More intriguing studies suggest that the little bloodsuckers might begin to die when they're less than a foot away.

And, yes, I said clothing.

Permethrin is meant to be applied to your clothes.

You should not apply it directly to your skin.

Not because it will harm you in any way, but because your body temperature would aerosolize it away.

The air between you and your clothes helps prevent this.

There are few 100%s in gardening, but I have never been bitten while wearing my protective pants, socks and hat.

Brrr!

Yes, they can drop down on top of you from trees.

But I have been bitten when I was lazy and didn't wear my tick-proof clothes.

Many people spray a set or two of their own clothes monthly.

These sprays are available at any store with a camping or hunting section and, of course, online.

You hang the clothes outdoors, spray all sides thoroughly, and let the laundry dry for several hours before wearing.

Be sure to purchase sprays that contain only permethrin.

DEET is useless against ticks.

Ah, but permethrin does repel mosquitoes as well.

In an abundance of caution, I recommend you have a fan blowing the mist away from you while you're spraying and keep cats out of the area as they are very sensitive to permethrin.

You can also buy clothing that has been professionally treated from several sources, including LL Bean and a company known as Insect Shield.

The repellency factor of pretreated clothes last much longer than clothes you treat yourself.

Insect Shield, for instance, claims its treatments will outlast 100 washings.

You can also send some companies your own clothes to be professionally treated.

Hey.

And I want to thank Slater for his compliment.

It was a difficult decision for me to recommend permethrin, as it is not organic.

But he's right.

I made that choice because I recognize the dangers that ticks present.

Also, the material doesn't enter the environment.

It stays on your clothes and doesn't get into our food, bodies or soils.

This is what the great Bill Quarles, PhD, calls common-sense pest control, in which you use the safest materials possible.

Thanks again, Slater.

Of course, there are other preventions you can employ.

Chickens, ducks, geese and especially guinea hens are alpha predators of ticks.

Controlling mice on your property can greatly reduce the number of ticks.

And be sure to keep any tall, grassy areas in your landscape as neat as possible.

Ticks love the moist cover they provide.

So don't you go strolling through that meadow of yours without protection.

Well, that sure was some helpful information about how not to get bit by ticks this season, now, wasn't it?

Luckily for you, the Question of the Week appears in print at the Gardens Alive website.

To read it over at your "leezure" or, of course, your "lehzure", just click the link for the Question of the Week at our website, which is still and will forever be... Gardens Alive supports the You Bet Your Garden Question of the Week and you will always find the latest Question of the Week at the Gardens Alive website.

You Bet Your Garden is a half hour public television show available for viewing on PBS39, PBS39 Extra, PBS Passport and our website.

It is also an hour long public radio show and podcast, and all of this wonderful stuff is produced and delivered to you from the Univest Studios at Lehigh Valley Public Media in Bethlehem, PA. Our radio show is distributed by PRX, the Public Radio Exchange.

You Bet Your Garden was created by Mike McGrath.

Mike McGrath was created when he traded the family's magic beans for a cow.

Yikes.

My producer is threatening to poach my permethrin if I don't get out of this studio.

We must be out of time.

But you can call us anytime at... Or send us your email, your tired, your poor, your wretched refuse teeming - teeming - towards our garden shore at...

Please, please include your location.

I'm an old man.

My heart can't stand it!

I'm your host and executive producer, Mike McGrath.

And... What's this now, huh?

This piece of paper says, I'm supposed to tell you that the Lehigh Valley chapter of the American Rhododendron Society will be having their annual plant sale on Saturday, 13th May from 8am to noon at the National Museum of Industrial History in Bethlehem, PA. OK, so have fun.

Stay safe, and I'll see you right here next week.