Pressing Flowers
Pressing flowers is a great way to preserve beautiful blooms and create
works of art. Master Gardener Mary Heim shows how to do it. She says
thinner flowers work best. She shows how to arrange the items in a
flower press and then apply pressure. After several weeks the flowers
will be flat and dry and can be removed and mounted for display. She
shows several pressed arrangements she has done with flowers from her
yard.
Related Videos: Fall and Winter Flowers Basic Ikebana Flower Arranging Related Resources: How to Press Flowers Drying Flowers and Foliage for Arrangements |
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Included Tree Bark
This week in the garden Certified Arborist Wes Hopper shows how included bark in a tree crotch can create a stain on the trunk. >>Watch
Autumn joy sedum and asters are some of the last flowers to bloom in the fall. Joellen Dimond says that not only are they beautiful, but they also provide food for pollinators right before winter. >>Watch |
How to Make a Lasagna Garden
Preparing a garden the traditional way – with herbicides, a shovel, and a rototiller – is hard work. Starting your beds with a lasagna garden is much easier and doesn’t require any power tools. Master Gardener Ginny Fletcher demonstrates how to build a lasagna garden. Essentially, a lasagna garden is a large compost pile built on top the ground.
You can sprinkle bone meal, wood ash, or other amendments on the pile to contribute other nutrients. The best time to do a lasagna garden is in the fall when the layers will have time to compost over the winter so in the spring you can plant directly into the lasagna. If you build the lasagna garden in the spring, cover the layers with garden soil so your plants will have something to grow in while the rest breaks down. >>Watch |
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Planting Pansies and Tulips for Winter and Spring Color
Even though winters are cold it is still possible to have color in your flower beds. Joellen Dimond, Director of Landscape at the University of Memphis, shows how to prepare a bed and plant pansies and tulips. She first removes all the plants and turns over the soil to break up any clods. In the process she digs up the daffodils that were planted last year and sets them aside to replant. She then turns her attention to planting the bulbs. For fertilizer, she spreads bone meal on the soil and then plants the tulips about 6 inches deep. The bone meal is incorporated into the soil as the bulbs are planted. She also replants the daffodils. Once the bulbs are planted, she spreads a slow release fertilizer and mulch. She then lays out and plants the pansies through the mulch. The bulbs are deep enough they are not disturbed by planting the pansies. The pansies will give a splash of color in the winter and the tulips and daffodils will pop up in the spring. >>Watch
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Lucas Holman talks all about garlic. There are two major types of garlic: soft neck and hard neck. Soft neck garlic is what you usually find in the store. It does not have a flower stalk through the middle of the bulb. It grows best in zones 8 and warmer. Soft neck garlic stores for up to a year. Hard neck garlic has a flower stalk and only keeps for 5-6 months. It grows best in zone 6 and colder. Both kinds can be grown successfully in zone 7.
Garlic is easy to grow. It should be planted in the ground in the fall and harvested early the next summer. It will grow a green stem in the fall and then not do much in the cold of winter. It will begin growing again in the spring. It should be fertilized, but not with nitrogen after April as that will encourage green growth not bulb formation. Lucas harvests his garlic when the bottom leaves have turned brown but there are still 5-6 green leaves on the plant. >>Watch |
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Building a Hoop House
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Viewer Questions
Will my apricot tree ever bear fruit?
This is likely a pollination problem. University of Memphis Director of Landscape Joellen Dimond says apricots are self-pollinating, but they need bees to knock the pollen around in the flower. She says it could also be a problem with the weather. She recommends reading the Extension publication on New England tree fruit management available here: https://netreefruit.org/stone-fruit/apricots. >>Watch
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Can I prune my azaleas back in the fall?
Azaleas are best pruned a couple weeks after they bloom. Master Gardener Ginny Fletcher says if you prune them in the fall, you will be be cutting off the buds that are forming for next year’s blooms. UT Extension Agent Chris Cooper gives a rule of thumb that if the plant blooms before July 1 then prune it after it blooms. If it blooms after July 1, prune it in late winter or early spring. >>Watch
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Should I remove the pups from my bromeliad that has root rot?
Bromeliads often get overwatered and that causes root rot. Master Gardener Mary Heim says if the pups are at least a third the height of the plant they can be removed and planted. She gives some tips on planting them. Master Gardener Ginny Fletcher recommends trying to save the mother plant by immediately repotting it in new soil that is not so wet. >>Watch
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Do I need to be concerned that my oak tree started dropping leaves early?
You don’t need to be worried now. The last half of this summer was very dry, and the oak trees are dropping their leaves early as a way to preserve energy and water. Trees may also throw their leaves early to defend against an insect infestation. In both cases it is not something to be concerned about. It will probably be okay. If the tree does not get buds and leaves next year then something happened. >>Watch
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