Lifestyle Gardening Program 305

Brad Mills Author

02/03/2016 Added

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Backyard Farmer presents: Lifestyle Gardening program 305

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[00:00:05.450](beeping)
[00:00:15.994](energetic music)
[00:00:42.506]Hello again and welcome to Lifestyle Gardening.
[00:00:45.303]I'm Kim Todd and we have another
[00:00:46.905]great half hour of gardening tips to share with you.
[00:00:49.902]Today we'll be focusing on the garden as art.
[00:00:52.640]We've got features on using boulders
[00:00:54.486]to make an interesting retaining wall.
[00:00:56.483]We'll look back at the planning and installation
[00:00:58.445]of our pond in the courtyard of Keim Hall
[00:01:00.639]here on east campus,
[00:01:01.962]and we'll take some time to help you
[00:01:03.425]understand seed packet instructions.
[00:01:06.025]Let's open today's show by taking a tour
[00:01:08.382]of a landscape here in Lincoln.
[00:01:10.228]The property is owned by a local artist and her husband
[00:01:12.770]and you'll see plenty of things that we hope
[00:01:14.825]will inspire you to take a fresh look
[00:01:17.251]at what's possible in your own home garden.
[00:01:20.045](relaxing music)
[00:01:36.668]The home of Charles Wegner and Barbara Matley
[00:01:38.990]is the epitome of the garden as art
[00:01:41.370]and art in the garden.
[00:01:43.204]The house was designed to take advantage
[00:01:45.212]of the spectacular views of this beautiful space,
[00:01:48.451]which like all gardens is a work of art,
[00:01:51.389]progressing over time, changing with time,
[00:01:54.569]reflecting the lifestyle and the characteristics
[00:01:57.286]and the feelings of the owners themselves.
[00:01:59.782]It is the kind oasis space where there is whimsy,
[00:02:03.009]beautiful plant materials that are used as pieces of art,
[00:02:06.527]art itself that is sculpted, and it's the kind of place
[00:02:10.044]where you really don't wanna leave,
[00:02:12.029]once you've entered the property.
[00:02:15.384]The intrigue of a garden is in the paths
[00:02:17.682]and the way they lead people into and through the spaces,
[00:02:21.003]and then what you might discover at the end,
[00:02:23.022]if indeed there even is an end.
[00:02:25.100]The journey is wonderful and along the way you find
[00:02:27.701]all sorts of things in this garden
[00:02:30.069]that were created by Charles and Barbara working together.
[00:02:33.076]We have such interesting things,
[00:02:35.085]as benches, and bird baths, and bits and pieces
[00:02:39.043]of sculpture that are leaf castings.
[00:02:41.791]Charles does these out of concrete.
[00:02:44.267]So the material is solid and strong
[00:02:47.402]and the paint and the finish are delicate and beautiful.
[00:02:50.282]They will hold up forever and there's something
[00:02:53.183]to be discovered along the way.
[00:02:55.424]There's succulence all over the garden.
[00:02:57.826]Some of them want to live here,
[00:02:59.638]kind of during the winter, many of them
[00:03:01.785]spend their afternoons and evenings
[00:03:04.246]in those long winter days in the sunshine
[00:03:06.568]in the house, in the atrium,
[00:03:08.333]or tucked into the garage.
[00:03:10.028]And then we find things along the way,
[00:03:12.269]like chimney pots or large containers like this
[00:03:15.356]that have unusual annuals in them,
[00:03:17.806]tiny little fairy gardens with all sorts
[00:03:20.510]of bitsy little pieces of furniture,
[00:03:23.516]little tiny animals that just make it so much fun
[00:03:26.526]to visit this fabulous space.
[00:03:29.661]The garden was designed with a whole series
[00:03:31.844]of paths and they're different materials
[00:03:34.854]and they lead to different places and spaces.
[00:03:37.049]Some of them end in sunshine,
[00:03:39.325]where you can see through
[00:03:40.427]to the other side of the property.
[00:03:42.389]Others have an unusual plant, they have a piece
[00:03:45.385]of sculpture, they have something that you would
[00:03:47.881]normally think of as growing low to the ground,
[00:03:50.747]staked vertically into a canopy,
[00:03:53.545]so you get all of these great experiences,
[00:03:56.262]of course in this wealth of plant material.
[00:03:59.245]Different textures, different colors,
[00:04:01.742]things that are evergreen, plants that are deciduous,
[00:04:05.250]plants that are going to change with the season,
[00:04:07.445]so as you walk through the garden,
[00:04:09.490]whether it is winter or spring,
[00:04:11.370]you get a totally different experience.
[00:04:13.867]People look at a garden like this
[00:04:15.108]and they think the management of it is just
[00:04:17.163]going to take forever and be overwhelming,
[00:04:19.544]but Charles and Barbara love it,
[00:04:21.482]and if you love it you're going to take great care
[00:04:23.339]of it and that is exactly what they do
[00:04:25.301]in this beautiful garden space.
[00:04:28.751]One of the things that really works
[00:04:30.502]so well in this garden space is how hard materials
[00:04:34.403]meet soft materials in really different combinations.
[00:04:37.932]Who would ever think to use monster big ol' boulders
[00:04:41.183]and then combine everything from rhubarb
[00:04:43.854]to dinosaur kale, to a monster old banana,
[00:04:47.720]with the fine texture of an evergreen on standard,
[00:04:51.353]so if you look at how this would change,
[00:04:53.710]or think about how this would change,
[00:04:55.543]in the winter months,
[00:04:56.949]the banana disappears, the rhubarb goes to bed,
[00:04:59.549]the kale is maybe still there, depending
[00:05:02.127]on whether they have eaten it,
[00:05:04.343]and then the evergreens make it a little bit
[00:05:06.503]more of a quiet space.
[00:05:08.289]This is a great garden, the reflection
[00:05:10.740]of the people who live here and love this space,
[00:05:13.643]and invite others to enjoy it as well.
[00:05:15.824]You can't ask for anything better than art
[00:05:18.588]meets the home, meets the people, meets the garden.
[00:05:22.105](relaxing music)
[00:05:26.138]The surroundings around your home
[00:05:28.432]really are a reflection of yourself
[00:05:30.382]and there's really nothing wrong with a nice
[00:05:32.112]green lawn with a few shrubs and shade trees
[00:05:34.968]but with a little creativity and imagination,
[00:05:37.092]you can create something that makes a bolder statement,
[00:05:40.145]and brings out your inner artist.
[00:05:43.152]Nebraska is well know for being flat,
[00:05:45.903]but many homes have natural bumps and slopes
[00:05:48.342]that can create problems with run-off
[00:05:50.547]or are just too dog-gone hard to get a mower up and down.
[00:05:53.971]One good way of solving that problem
[00:05:55.887]is to build a retaining wall.
[00:05:57.466]Either out of pre-constructed concrete blocks
[00:06:00.066]that you can get from your local big box store,
[00:06:02.272]or something more natural, like boulders.
[00:06:04.711]Here to tell us how to get the most
[00:06:06.104]out of a natural boulder wall,
[00:06:07.752]is our graduate student, Josh Reznechek.
[00:06:11.183](light music)
[00:06:27.070]Using boulders or large rocks
[00:06:29.008]in the landscape can be both aesthetically pleasing
[00:06:31.771]as well as beneficial for soil erosion in creating
[00:06:36.067]difference in grades and elevations in landscape.
[00:06:39.201]We use these large rocks, to create
[00:06:41.836]changes in elevation through either large
[00:06:44.040]steep slopes, or even slow gradual slopes.
[00:06:47.513]There's two solutions to creating walls
[00:06:50.379]in your backyard or your landscape,
[00:06:52.260]use of large boulders, or the segmented wall block
[00:06:55.278]that you see in a lot of places
[00:06:57.776]There's two different insulation patterns
[00:07:00.610]and techniques as well as different selection of block.
[00:07:04.036]The segmented block becomes a little bit easier
[00:07:06.751]because it's already cut, pre-set, lot of them
[00:07:10.129]are interlocking so it locks in it itself,
[00:07:13.495]compared to boulders, or larger rocks,
[00:07:17.131]that have many different sizes, shapes,
[00:07:20.230]faces, cuts on them, making a lot more difficult
[00:07:23.549]and a lot more time consumption
[00:07:25.849]in setting those larger walls.
[00:07:28.287]The selection of the larger rocks,
[00:07:30.306]you're gonna be looking for different sizes
[00:07:31.909]and shapes, as well as colors, even in the selection.
[00:07:35.216]With those different sizes and shapes,
[00:07:36.853]you're gonna create a wall that's not as boring
[00:07:39.408]to look at aesthetically, as well it's gonna be
[00:07:42.752]a lot more, difference in the lines
[00:07:45.248]and you're not gonna have lines
[00:07:47.105]throughout the wall that line up.
[00:07:48.845]It's gonna be a lot more natural looking wall,
[00:07:51.586]as well as aesthetically pleasing.
[00:07:53.744]When you start to stack these,
[00:07:55.289]a rule of thumb is to bury these rocks
[00:07:57.251]about two-thirds of their shape into the ground.
[00:07:59.852]When you do that, it becomes a little bit
[00:08:01.871]more natural looking,
[00:08:03.554]not many rocks are just set right
[00:08:05.447]on top of the soil surface, so burying
[00:08:07.106]these rocks slightly into the ground,
[00:08:10.032]you make a more natural look.
[00:08:12.771]From starting from the bottom up,
[00:08:14.362]you're gonna be starting with your bottom course,
[00:08:16.708]not in a directly straight line,
[00:08:18.647]but maybe patch-working here and there,
[00:08:20.990]so that way you don't create level lines
[00:08:23.302]all the way up your wall.
[00:08:24.751]You can do this by using different sizes of rocks,
[00:08:26.946]as well as burying larger rocks at different depths.
[00:08:29.722]Once you get your bottom course set,
[00:08:31.823]it's kind of just a Lego game,
[00:08:34.226]trying to work your way up the hill,
[00:08:36.812]as well as, making sure you don't have
[00:08:39.877]any solid lines or seams so to say,
[00:08:42.396]through your wall, as the concept of right plant,
[00:08:45.252]right place, larger rocks and boulders,
[00:08:47.875]have that concept that applies to them as well.
[00:08:51.218]Though segmented wall block can be a little
[00:08:53.494]bit easier to use and somewhat easier to set.
[00:08:57.638]The larger boulders and limestone
[00:09:00.006]have a more natural and a softer face to them.
[00:09:03.384](gentle music)
[00:09:06.354]Using these large and medium sized rocks
[00:09:08.550]can create a much more natural look to your slopes.
[00:09:11.835]They have the added bonus of using the soil
[00:09:13.855]and the nooks and crannies to plant interesting plants.
[00:09:16.711]Of course we want you to be safe when you're
[00:09:19.125]loading, unloading and placing these large rocks.
[00:09:22.027]So unless you're Hercules, get some help,
[00:09:24.245]which will only make it easier when it comes
[00:09:26.184]to deciding how this rock puzzle
[00:09:28.087]fits together on your slopes.
[00:09:30.677]We thought we'd dig a little deeper
[00:09:32.139]into the landscape we showed you
[00:09:33.602]at the start of the program,
[00:09:35.343]the home of Barbara Matley and Charles Wegner
[00:09:37.398]didn't just spring up overnight
[00:09:39.419]but it took years of planning, planting, trial and error.
[00:09:42.860]We wanted to take a few minutes
[00:09:44.626]to talk to Charles to hear how it all came together.
[00:09:48.041](lighthearted music)
[00:10:09.012]This is going to be an amazing experience
[00:10:11.346]because we are at the home of Charles Wegner
[00:10:13.308]and Barbara Matley and this is not
[00:10:15.409]your regular, just house in the middle of the city
[00:10:18.834]of Lincoln, or anywhere else for that matter.
[00:10:21.109]This is a home that was built for the garden,
[00:10:24.209]it is a garden that is not only a piece of art itself,
[00:10:27.191]but it is filled with artwork,
[00:10:29.427]so Charles, tell us how this incredible
[00:10:31.592]property came to be.
[00:10:33.502]Well we just, my wife and I had a vision,
[00:10:36.212]of how we wanted to live, we like to live
[00:10:38.488]the artistic lifestyle, so we surround ourselves
[00:10:42.353]with lots of beautiful and unusual living plants.
[00:10:45.267]If you had to tell your audience
[00:10:47.682]one thing about it that is really incredibly special,
[00:10:51.269]is it the partnership, is it the people,
[00:10:54.369]how did you get this going, from the standpoint
[00:10:56.749]of designing the house to match the garden?
[00:10:59.767]Gladys Lux who started the Wesleyan Arts Department
[00:11:04.921]and taught at Wesleyan lived across the street
[00:11:07.348]and she had her studio on this property.
[00:11:09.948]She did some gardening along with
[00:11:11.991]some of her relatives
[00:11:13.767]and so we feel like we're carrying on
[00:11:16.507]the tradition of the family,
[00:11:18.608]having kind of an urban farm here.
[00:11:21.705]You've mentioned the history
[00:11:22.960]of the place and the space and how special it is
[00:11:26.037]to both of you, how does that figure
[00:11:28.498]into everything that you do here?
[00:11:30.854]Well we planned extensively,
[00:11:33.442]and worked out many details,
[00:11:35.021]we wanted to have viewing points
[00:11:36.601]throughout the house to view the garden
[00:11:38.818]and we specifically plant certain things
[00:11:40.860]to be viewed from each place,
[00:11:43.218]we just feel that having lots of living things around us
[00:11:48.081]enhances our life and that of others,
[00:11:51.099]and we welcome a lot of people in to see the garden.
[00:11:54.779]And what happens with all these plants?
[00:11:57.146]This is only a six year old landscape,
[00:11:59.620]which is just amazing, many of these things
[00:12:02.023]don't want to live in Lincoln, Nebraska
[00:12:04.705]and you mentioned earlier that you
[00:12:06.783]like to change them out.
[00:12:08.988]We coax them along the best we can
[00:12:11.147]through the extreme times and then
[00:12:12.945]we take a lot of plants in,
[00:12:15.025]we have storage areas and window areas.
[00:12:18.008]We've learned that some of the cactuses
[00:12:19.843]really enjoy a lot of sun in the wintertime
[00:12:22.628]and that helps them bloom during the summer.
[00:12:25.310]But uh, we crowd everybody in,
[00:12:27.272]with hopes of keeping them alive till next year.
[00:12:31.121]Charles, talk about the partnership
[00:12:32.446]that you and Barbara have, both in creating
[00:12:34.663]the garden itself and the art that is, enhances the garden.
[00:12:38.691]Well it's very good,
[00:12:39.667]because we both have different talents.
[00:12:42.011]I have a lot of physicality that I can bring
[00:12:44.310]to the situation so I can do some of the larger projects.
[00:12:47.606]Barbara is very in tune with doing
[00:12:49.510]some of the fine detail, so that combines
[00:12:53.212]very well and we both enjoy it.
[00:12:55.813]We do things that don't always appeal to the other,
[00:12:59.285]but then, it grows on you,
[00:13:01.455]and then you learn to enjoy it.
[00:13:03.695]Charles and Barbara, this was absolutely
[00:13:05.542]a fabulous invitation.
[00:13:07.585]I will tell you that if you see a person
[00:13:09.825]kind of creeping around on occasion
[00:13:11.706]kind of looking at things, that might be me.
[00:13:14.202]You wouldn't be the first. (laughing)
[00:13:16.077](lightheartedmusic)
[00:13:19.305]It's inspiring to see these beautiful landscapes,
[00:13:22.247]we realize that art is first and foremost a personal thing,
[00:13:25.800]a reflection of yourself, and your choices
[00:13:28.086]of what you think is beautiful and worthwhile.
[00:13:30.686]Of course it doesn't happen immediately,
[00:13:32.579]so it's going to take a little vision,
[00:13:34.425]planning, and patience.
[00:13:36.084]For more inspiration on this topic,
[00:13:37.965]you might want to check out our first season
[00:13:39.881]of Lifestyle Gardening, where we have several features
[00:13:42.598]devoted to art in the garden, as well as your garden as art.
[00:13:46.522]You can find those programs
[00:13:47.938]on our Backyard Farmer Youtube channel.
[00:13:50.956]About this time of the year,
[00:13:52.603]gardeners are starting to get itching
[00:13:54.462]to get back out into the soil,
[00:13:56.598]but this is Nebraska after all, and we're all
[00:13:59.024]going to have to wait a few more months.
[00:14:01.416]That doesn't mean you can't start planting
[00:14:03.283]what's going into the ground when things start warming up.
[00:14:06.536]For this week's landscape lesson,
[00:14:08.381]we're going to help you decipher
[00:14:10.017]what to look for on the back of your seed packets
[00:14:12.038]and in those catalogs.
[00:14:13.592](gentle music)
[00:14:22.484]Gardeners love to start seeds inside.
[00:14:25.093]It gives us hope that spring is on it's way.
[00:14:27.706]It lets us grow some plants that may not
[00:14:29.714]be available at the garden centers.
[00:14:32.012]The first way that you get your taste of spring,
[00:14:35.193]is those catalogs start arriving in the mail
[00:14:37.991]and then gardeners go ahead and order seeds,
[00:14:40.708]the seeds come in packets, the back of the packet
[00:14:43.157]is supposed to have all that great information
[00:14:46.457]about how you get the seeds to germinate,
[00:14:48.221]how you transplant, how you grow them on,
[00:14:50.473]maybe even when you harvest.
[00:14:53.271]One of the things you make sure that you do though,
[00:14:55.720]is look at the catalog first, and a lot
[00:14:58.820]of the really good suppliers will give you
[00:15:01.223]a lot of information about whether
[00:15:03.208]you're going to be successful with those seeds.
[00:15:05.397]You'll see things like, sowing and growing.
[00:15:08.157]You'll see days to germination,
[00:15:10.194]which is a really important thing.
[00:15:12.286]Part of the reason for that is we tend
[00:15:13.640]to get a little antsy, we sow those seeds,
[00:15:16.044]nothing comes out of the potting media,
[00:15:18.353]or the seed-starting media,
[00:15:20.418]we think maybe they've rotted,
[00:15:22.523]or the catalog will say such things
[00:15:26.735]as you have to provide light for these seeds,
[00:15:29.808]don't cover them.
[00:15:31.445]You'll see what the preference for light is,
[00:15:34.347]the spacing of the plants, once you get them outside.
[00:15:37.852]Whether they are tolerant of sun or shade,
[00:15:40.511]whether they're good for cutting,
[00:15:41.765]whether they're great for pollinators,
[00:15:43.912]so catalogs themselves can have
[00:15:45.608]a lot of information in them.
[00:15:47.651]Then what you have to, what you also then
[00:15:49.787]have to look for, and this is where it gets fun,
[00:15:52.445]if you're going to a garden center
[00:15:53.989]and plucking them off the shelf,
[00:15:55.928]and a little more difficult if you're not for sure
[00:15:58.772]whether the company from which you're ordering
[00:16:01.167]the seed does this,
[00:16:02.558]is to look on the back of the package,
[00:16:04.782]and make sure that on that packet,
[00:16:06.790]the information you need about when and how
[00:16:09.030]to germinate those seeds, how long they're going to take
[00:16:12.467]to be able to come out of the ground,
[00:16:14.568]and provide fruit or flowers,
[00:16:16.542]if they need any specific conditions,
[00:16:18.910]such as bottom heat,
[00:16:20.349]which can be pretty important for some plants,
[00:16:22.880]if they need consistent moisture,
[00:16:25.620]if they need to dry out as they're germinating,
[00:16:28.406]how much light they need,
[00:16:30.101]whether you move them from light to dark,
[00:16:32.702]all sorts of different things,
[00:16:34.106]whether they transplant well,
[00:16:35.462]because we do have a lot of different seeds
[00:16:38.497]that if you disturb the roots when you are transplanting
[00:16:42.312]chances are you're not going to have
[00:16:44.065]a great plant once you put it in the garden.
[00:16:46.886]So start by looking in the catalog,
[00:16:48.754]get as much information as you can.
[00:16:50.949]Continue by looking at the back of the seed packet.
[00:16:53.689]Have fun, enjoy, and we hope you get
[00:16:55.673]a great crop for the season.
[00:16:57.357](light music)
[00:17:00.009]The easy way out of all that fun
[00:17:01.773]and hard work is to just head to the nursery
[00:17:03.805]or garden center and pick up the plants you need
[00:17:06.429]around planting time,
[00:17:08.031]but for a lot of our audience,
[00:17:09.645]starting plants indoors is part of the fun
[00:17:12.210]and perhaps you just can't find
[00:17:13.650]what you're looking for at the store.
[00:17:15.692]So if you do plan on starting plants indoors,
[00:17:18.289]make sure you pay close attention
[00:17:19.891]to the germination times and the frost dates
[00:17:22.503]to have the best chance at success.
[00:17:25.684]Let's take a few minutes now to answer our viewer email
[00:17:28.748]We'd love to hear from you and perhaps you can
[00:17:30.490]share a picture or two with us as well.
[00:17:32.706]Just send us an email to byf@unl.edu.
[00:17:37.445]Our first question comes from eastern Nebraska actually
[00:17:40.912]and it's about Goji berries.
[00:17:43.281]That is one of those new super-foods
[00:17:45.347]that has actually been around quite a while,
[00:17:47.668]but a lot of people in our part of the country
[00:17:50.339]have really not paid much attention to it yet.
[00:17:53.079]Goji berries are in the same family as peppers
[00:17:55.703]and tomatoes, so that gives you a little bit of a clue
[00:17:58.906]on the kinds of conditions they need.
[00:18:01.146]They actually grow as kind of this wild, viney
[00:18:03.922]looking thing, that can get long straggly canes
[00:18:07.764]that really should either be trained up
[00:18:09.946]into a big sort of an awkward shrub or pruned back.
[00:18:13.765]One of the reasons you want to take those tips off,
[00:18:16.874]is because they do bloom on current years wood,
[00:18:19.791]which means that you can do that,
[00:18:21.730]pretty much any time right now,
[00:18:23.668]until they begin to break dormancy
[00:18:25.549]and that will cause laterals to form
[00:18:28.274]and you're gonna get a better fruit crop.
[00:18:30.352]In addition, you're also going to have a plant
[00:18:32.197]that is a bit more under control.
[00:18:34.973]We have actually installed a Goji berry
[00:18:37.236]or two in our backyard farmer garden,
[00:18:39.349]this is the first season,
[00:18:40.974]but we noted pretty immediately,
[00:18:42.530]that kind of a trellising up and some pruning
[00:18:45.176]is going to be to the advantage of us and to the plants.
[00:18:48.729]The Goji berries themselves are a brilliant red.
[00:18:51.933]They're always hand picked because they bruise
[00:18:54.650]and turn black and they lose their juice
[00:18:56.647]if you crush them or you're too hard on them.
[00:18:59.154]Most people actually consume them
[00:19:00.791]in sort of a dried form, they're beautiful
[00:19:03.414]on the shrub, however,
[00:19:04.645]so you can leave them be,
[00:19:06.270]which is what we did for this first season.
[00:19:08.546]We're really looking forward in the coming seasons
[00:19:11.309]to seeing exactly how ours performs.
[00:19:14.246]They are self fruitful, so you actually don't need
[00:19:17.385]more than one plant to be able to get a decent crop,
[00:19:20.100]and ours are really, and probably,
[00:19:22.648]the ideal conditions, they're well drained,
[00:19:25.497]they have a bit of protection from the west,
[00:19:27.633]but they're in quite a bit of sun.
[00:19:29.432]The soil is really well drained,
[00:19:31.615]and there are actually some good cull of ours
[00:19:34.110]on the market, some good selections.
[00:19:36.316]You might see the life berry series.
[00:19:38.777]You can also plant Goji berries from seed
[00:19:41.413]and that would be a way for people
[00:19:42.759]who really don't, they like to do that seeding,
[00:19:45.429]or they don't want to pay the price for a bigger plant.
[00:19:48.575]They just want to have a bit more fun with it.
[00:19:50.410]So take a look at that,
[00:19:52.209]we'll watch out Goji berries during the rest of the season
[00:19:56.016]and hopefully be able to have some more advice
[00:19:57.932]for our viewers on those.
[00:20:00.811]The second question is one that (laugh)
[00:20:03.574]occurs always in the winter and typically
[00:20:06.813]it is either right after a snow or right before snow,
[00:20:10.853]or kind of all winter long and that would be,
[00:20:13.651]those wascally wabbits have really caused
[00:20:16.112]all sorts of damage to shrubs.
[00:20:18.573]This one actually comes from kind of the DeWitt area,
[00:20:21.313]and it is a couple of different plants.
[00:20:24.272]One is, Euonymus or burning bush,
[00:20:27.337]the viewer sent pictures that are the shrub itself,
[00:20:30.158]and you can see kind of the tips of the branches,
[00:20:32.955]that have kind of an angle to them
[00:20:35.533]and they're white, and then one of those
[00:20:37.878]stems is pretty obvious that the rabbit
[00:20:39.816]has gone in and actually sheered off the branches on that.
[00:20:43.636]And the other plant that they sent pictures of,
[00:20:45.714]was a Huronia, which again is one of those superfoods,
[00:20:49.080]it's in the rose family, rabbits absolutely love
[00:20:52.331]both Euonymus and things in the rose family,
[00:20:56.277]and you'll notice that there still is quite a bit of growth
[00:20:58.971]left in both of these plants.
[00:21:00.910]Now what will happen, or what you need to watch for,
[00:21:04.195]as spring approaches, is you might wanna go
[00:21:07.137]back in and cage the rest of that plant,
[00:21:09.477]so the whole thing is not stripped of it's bark,
[00:21:11.439]especially the Euonymus because that one's
[00:21:13.203]a little bit bigger and a little bit more, perhaps,
[00:21:15.885]in dire straits if too many rabbits come to visit for lunch,
[00:21:19.577]but the other thing you wanna look at,
[00:21:21.424]is where are the new buds on the remaining stems,
[00:21:25.138]maybe clean up those cuts before spring arrives
[00:21:28.643]so that you don't have a shrub that is going to have
[00:21:30.617]one very long cane and two or three others
[00:21:33.775]that are kind of short and down
[00:21:35.423]in the crown of the plant,
[00:21:36.863]and again, Dennis would tell you
[00:21:38.441]that the best way to control rabbits,
[00:21:40.983]is by exclusion, so if you have to put fences
[00:21:44.037]around all of those, especially new shrubs,
[00:21:46.719]or even the big ones if we get really serious snows.
[00:21:49.621]That's really the best way to protect shrubs
[00:21:52.779]that are sort of prone to rabbit damage
[00:21:55.716]from that kind of damage.
[00:22:00.299]This is a viewer in York, who sent us a picture
[00:22:04.128]of what he thinks is a grass or a grass-like plant
[00:22:09.355]That is in his landscape,
[00:22:11.576]It is a grass, it's a beautiful grass
[00:22:14.118]It's called northern sea oats,
[00:22:16.521]and it falls onto our list of use at your own risk,
[00:22:20.515]because you can see those, the flat little seeds,
[00:22:24.415]each one of those has the potential
[00:22:26.772]to germinate, they germinate very rapidly.
[00:22:29.581]They are capable of coming up in full shade,
[00:22:32.623]in full sun, in wet, in dry, in gravel,
[00:22:36.245]and they then become pretty difficult to control,
[00:22:39.066]so people who do have sea oats as an ornamental
[00:22:42.200]in their landscape, oftentimes will go ahead
[00:22:45.009]and cut those seed heads,
[00:22:48.086]just as they are beginning to turn tan in the fall,
[00:22:51.641]bring them in for winter arrangements,
[00:22:53.939]but not let them escape all over the landscape.
[00:22:56.795]You could also control them with a pre emergence herbicide.
[00:23:01.007]It is a grass so if you are using those herbicides
[00:23:04.141]in your landscape bed, that would be
[00:23:05.848]another option for you.
[00:23:08.749]For our final feature today, we're going to take
[00:23:10.886]a step back and look at our courtyard.
[00:23:13.521]It seems like just yesterday, when we put that
[00:23:16.121]excavator bucket in the ground as the first step
[00:23:18.780]to what our courtyard has become today.
[00:23:21.449]What sprang up as a wonderful, relaxing area,
[00:23:24.283]complete with a pond and a fantastic array
[00:23:27.149]of ornamental shrubs, grasses, trees and flowers,
[00:23:30.028]that everyone can enjoy and learn from.
[00:23:32.641](relaxing music)
[00:24:10.326]Imagine what can happen when you stand in a space
[00:24:13.191]that is filled with construction equipment, dirt piles,
[00:24:16.092]wet soil, a building that is actually under construction
[00:24:19.645]and major renovation, and think about
[00:24:22.095]what could be or what if.
[00:24:24.184]That's what happened with the Keim Hall courtyard
[00:24:26.309]after the building was constructed,
[00:24:28.433]allowing us the beauty of a new entrance,
[00:24:30.883]a great glass curtain wall, and the imagination
[00:24:33.808]of all those things the student, staff, and faculty
[00:24:36.652]came up with to be able to teach,
[00:24:38.986]to look at, and to enjoy.
[00:24:41.911]My landscape design students came up
[00:24:43.722]with the first very creative ideas,
[00:24:46.242]and then I took those and ran with them.
[00:24:48.505]This was a hole in the ground, a big old mud hole.
[00:24:51.349]We had to do a lot of sweat equity to be able
[00:24:53.428]to get the pond to what it is today.
[00:24:55.609]Actually it only took us a single day to do the pond itself,
[00:24:59.290]but everything on the getting ready
[00:25:00.764]was really an interesting experience.
[00:25:03.713]The beauty of what we've done
[00:25:05.235]is that we've captured water off one of the storm drains,
[00:25:08.473]we re-circulate, so this pond runs year round,
[00:25:11.909]we have this fabulous sound of the water on campus,
[00:25:15.311]we get dragonflies, we have bird's nests,
[00:25:18.213]those birds come in, they take a little drink,
[00:25:20.314]they take a little bath, we have turtles,
[00:25:22.775]and we have fish, and we have the beautiful plants
[00:25:25.306]that we use in our teaching environment.
[00:25:27.454]So water always energizes the space
[00:25:30.008]and particularly a space in a place like this,
[00:25:33.067]Where originally all we had was walls
[00:25:35.146]and a little bit of wet paths for turf,
[00:25:37.534]instead we have a true wonderful,
[00:25:39.438]beautiful, living, growing, changeable environment
[00:25:43.303]with our pond in the courtyard.
[00:25:45.907]Keim Hall is the lead certified building
[00:25:47.847]and it was really important to us to be able
[00:25:49.762]to also use locally sourced materials or re-purposed
[00:25:53.199]materials in building the courtyard.
[00:25:55.624]Students put in a lot of sweat equity on this one,
[00:25:58.458]in fact, two of them laid every single piece
[00:26:00.906]of pavement that you see, which again,
[00:26:02.844]is either locally sourced,
[00:26:04.644]or came off the building itself
[00:26:06.433]We have blue stone off the old building,
[00:26:08.499]we have some of the granite, we have limestone,
[00:26:11.077]we have these monster big boulders,
[00:26:13.596]that actually had to come in through
[00:26:14.977]a set of double doors in a big wheelbarrow
[00:26:17.113]with somebody standing guard so nobody
[00:26:19.730]would get killed in the process,
[00:26:21.953]but what we also have done, in laying
[00:26:24.194]out the pavement in the paths
[00:26:25.862]that the way you see them in here,
[00:26:27.295]is let people take a little bit of a stroll.
[00:26:30.012]We have a flight of steps, we have a narrow
[00:26:33.007]sort of sweeping path that goes all the way around.
[00:26:36.687]We have picnic tables and chairs,
[00:26:38.731]so that people can either sit, stroll,
[00:26:41.169]enjoy the pond itself, take a look at the plants
[00:26:44.431]in this beautiful landscape space.
[00:26:47.704]As much as we love the pond, the crowing jewel
[00:26:50.467]in the courtyard's crown is really the plant materials.
[00:26:53.103]It's amazing what can happen in five short years
[00:26:55.830]if you just get them in the ground.
[00:26:58.013]Little bitty ones, some that were a little bit bigger,
[00:27:00.752]a lot of student labor went into this,
[00:27:02.843]and a lot of student labor still goes into it,
[00:27:04.886]to take care of it and to certainly
[00:27:06.685]replace things as they die,
[00:27:08.485]add things as new plants come on the market,
[00:27:11.468]turn this into truly a diverse, dynamic, beautiful space
[00:27:15.485]available to anybody who wants to see it,
[00:27:18.005]365 days a year, at least out the windows,
[00:27:21.347]and of course, when the building is open
[00:27:23.008]you can trot right in, sit on the grass,
[00:27:25.341]sit on the walls, don't feed the turtles,
[00:27:27.569]we feed them the things they should eat,
[00:27:29.880]but enjoy the plant materials
[00:27:31.388]as they change throughout the seasons,
[00:27:33.142]giving you something in flower,
[00:27:34.640]in foliage, in fruit, in all of the wondrous beauty
[00:27:38.180]of trees, shrubs and perennials in Nebraska.
[00:27:40.781](lighthearted music)
[00:28:17.719]What was once a forgotten eyesore,
[00:28:19.636]is now a jewel on east campus.
[00:28:22.132]It's also a great source of education
[00:28:24.314]as our horticulture students not only can enjoy
[00:28:26.636]learning from it, but they can continue to help
[00:28:29.155]plan and plant wonderful plants for years to come.
[00:28:32.498]Our courtyard is open to the public,
[00:28:34.855]so if you'd like to stop by,
[00:28:36.353]take a look for yourself when the building is open.
[00:28:40.428]We've got one more Lifestyle Gardening
[00:28:42.284]program to share with you.
[00:28:43.968]Next time we'll be focusing on pollinators and fruit trees.
[00:28:47.729]We hope you'll join us next weekend,
[00:28:49.587]for our last show of 2016.
[00:28:52.128]Until then, good morning, good gardening,
[00:28:55.125]and we'll see you all next time
[00:28:56.680]on Lifestyle Gardening.
[00:28:58.340](joyous music)

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Lifestyle Gardening Program 305

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