In the southeast, this has been one rough year, especially for farmers.  First of all, we started out with a terrible freeze at Easter which killed many crops.  Large portions of the corn crop, most vegetables, and many nursery crops had to be replanted at the farmers’ expense.  Parts of the wheat, rye, and oat crop yields were decimated.  The next blow came when the rain stopped in early summer.  After putting in all the effort, time, and money to grow a crop, farmers saw their plants wither in the field.  And to end up the year, we still are faced with a terrible drought.  If it doesn’t start raining soon, there will be no crops next year.
   It would be easy to become an old Scrooge and say “Bah, Humbug” to Christmas, farming, and feeding this world.  However, I just returned from a farmers’ conference where they were excited and looking forward to next year.  Yes, Santa Claus, there are still Virginias in this world.  Thank goodness, there are still folks with a childlike faith that tomorrow will be better.  Sure, we may hear farmers bellyaching about how it is too dry or too wet, too cold or too hot, or prices are too low.  But even after all their complaining, they still put their time, effort, money, and lives into feeding this world. You might complain, too, if you had no control over things that totally manipulate your life and future.
   Farmers believe in you; they put everything on the line to give you the cheapest, safest, purest, and highest quality food supply in the world.  Do you believe in farmers or are you quick to complain with your mouth full?  Do you say, believe, or even imply that they are poisoning the world with their fertilizers or chemicals, especially when you collectively as homeowners are far worse polluters?  Who is the Scrooge?
    Yes, we have problems to solve in agriculture.  Answers quickly fly from our lips but answers are free; however, right answers are costly and in-depth, researched-based solutions are priceless.
   To learn more about decorating, gardening and country living watch both of our Emmy Award winning TV programs, Making It Grow (MIG) and Down Home with Tony and Amanda.  MIG can be seen at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday nights on regular ETV.  However, at present Down Home can be seen on digital cable and some satellite systems on the SC Channel (channel 802 on Time Warner Cable). Also, you can view both programs on the web at www.mig.org.
    The Clemson University Cooperative Extension Service offers its programs to people of all ages, regardless of race, color, gender, religion, national origin, disability, political belief, sexual orientation, marital or family status and is an equal opportunity employer.

    I have a new grandbaby.  In fact, I have taken off a few days to teach and help my daughter to take care of her baby.  Most people are surprised that when needed, I can flip a baby in my lap, remove a dirty diaper, and slap on a new diaper in a skinny minute.  However, I have got sprayed down a few times.  Babies need a lot of care.
    Plants that are newly planted also need a lot of care just like little babies.  Fall is the best time for planting trees and shrubs.  This gives the plant time to develop a root system before next summer’s heat.  Our soil is warm enough for roots to grow and develop all winter long.
First of all, proper care begins with proper planting.  Dig a $50 hole to go with a $20 plant.  Take the time and effort to dig a hole 2 or 3 times larger but no deeper than the rootball.  Remove the pot, wire-basket, and all wrappings around the rootball.  If the roots are crowded, crossing, or circling simply cut and brake-up the rootball. Make the roots go outwards so they will grow into and beyond the soil you loosed when you dug that large hole.  Plant so that the root- flair is at or above the soil line.  The root-flair is simply where the trunk of the tree flairs and the roots grow out from the trunk.  To find the root-flair dig into the soil until you see roots growing from the trunk.  Fill-in half the hole with the excavated soil, tap or water-in to remove air pockets.  Finish filling the hole and water-in.  If you have taken a soil test and know what you are doing you can amend the soil with lime and phosphorus if needed.  However, only add organic amendments like compost to the soil when the soil in a large area or bed is be amended.
    Next, do not fertilize now with a complete fertilizer.  Wait until next spring when the soil is settled, it is warm enough for top growth, and the plant has developed roots.
    Next, water when the rootball and soil is dry.  In normal years when we are not in a drought, we get enough rain in the winter for a newly planted tree or shrub.  However, in these drought conditions you may need to water the rootball on a periodic basis this winter. Remember, too much water will drown those new roots but no water will cause them to dry-out and die.  Test the amount of moisture present by sticking your hand in the soil, filling the moisture content, and squessing a hand-full of soil to see how firm of a clump it makes. If the clump crumbles water is needed.  Next summer, you will need to water more frequently about twice a week because of the drying summer heat.
   Finally, proper care is long-term care.  In fact it takes from 6 months to 1 year per each inch diameter of a trees trunk when planted to get it properly established.  In other words it could take 4 to 6 years to get a large ball-and-burlap tree properly established.
   To learn more about decorating, gardening and country living watch both of our Emmy Award winning T.V. programs, Making-It- Grow (MIG) and Down Home with Tony and Amanda.  MIG can be seen at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday nights on regular ETV.  However, at present Down Home can be seen on digital cable and some satellite systems on the SC Channel (channel 802 on Time Warner Cable). Also, you can view both programs on the web at www. programs to people of all ages, regardless of race, color, gender, religion, national origin, disability, political belief, sexual orientation, marital or family status and is an equal opportunity employer.mig.org.

   I wish I had a dollar each time someone has asked me “What is wrong with my Leyland Cypress.”  Leyland’s are looking rough this year.  However, it is not something new, not something that happened just this year, and is most likely past problems just becoming apparent this year.  Most of the dead limbs and trees are a result of fungal cankers such as Botryosphaeria, Seiridum, and Monochaetia.  These are big words but are simply funguses that grow inside and clog-up the tissues within the plant that transport water and nutrient.  This year’s drought with the reduced water supply to plants simply exacerbated the problem and caused the limbs to die an early death.
    These cankers usually begin there attack at the tips of the branches, grow down the branch, and if the branch is not removed will continue to grow into the main truck of the tree.  If you look closely and quick enough after infection only part of the branch is dead, it abruptly changes from live to dead tissue, and the dead part of the stem is sometimes shrunken indicating the growth of the canker. Also, if the branch is not removed before the canker grows into the main truck the entire top of the tree may die.  Therefore, the main way of controlling these cankers is by removing the entire limb before the canker reaches the main trunk.  Remember to rinse your pruning shears in alcohol between each cut to help prevent the spread of the funguses.  Certain fungicides will help control these cankers but have to sprayed on a regular basis, Leyland’s grow fast, and Leyland’s get mighty large.
   Sorry but the Leyland Cypress has gone the way of the Redtip. In fact I have been telling folks about these problems for many years; however, it takes massive problems like we have this year to get folk’s attention.  Many times when certain plants like Leyland Cypress and Redtips are grown in large numbers we tend to get problems.  The more people that grow a certain plant the closer the plantings, the larger the total number of plants, and the easier for an epidemic to get started.  Consider this when you make a replacement planting, “Diversity helps keep problems from reaching an epidemic level.”  In other words, if everyone replaces the Leyland’s with the same plant and a problem arises a new epidemic has started.  Some of the plants that can be used to replace Leyland’s are Arborvitaes (Green Giant, Emerald), Anise, Crape Myrtles, Cytomeria, Hollies, Magnolias, Tea Olives, and etc.  Always pick the right plant for the right place.
   To learn more about decorating, gardening and country living watch both of our Emmy Award winning T.V. programs, Making-It- Grow (MIG) and Down Home with Tony and Amanda.  MIG can be seen at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday nights on regular ETV.  However, at present Down Home can be seen on digital cable and some satellite systems on the SC Channel (channel 802 on Time Warner Cable). Also, you can view both programs on the web at www.mig.org. programs to people of all ages, regardless of race, color, gender, religion, national origin, disability, political belief, sexual orientation, marital or family status and is an equal opportunity employer.

     Man what a hot summer.  It is like I have been stuck in a Marcel Marceau (mime) box of air conditioning.  I keep pressing against its imaginary sides and venture outside but the heat keeps pressing inward.  Surely we will all “fall” out in October.  Let’s put the “O” back in October by coming out of our air conditioned boxes with a renewed vigor.
     First of all, it is Fall Flower Festival time at the Pee Dee State Farmers Market.  The Festival will flower from October 5-7 and 8:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 1:00 until 6:00 p.m. on Sunday.  Beautiful plants and flowers, scrumptious fruits and vegetables, and lovely items for fall decorating will flood the market landscape.  The Master Gardeners and I will have our usual booth in the middle of the Festival to answer all your plant questions.
     Next, fall is for planting trees, shrubs, and perennials. Planting in the fall gives the root system time to grow and develop before it gets hot the next summer.  Next summer your well established plants will make a show to make you proud.  I have already made that call to “Call-Before-You-Dig” to get those utility lines marked.
     Next, fall decorating is so easy even a caveman can do it.  A few mums, pumpkins, corn stalks, and some straw will turn almost any yard into a harvest celebration.  I better get to work since the Clarendon County Master Gardeners are coming next week to tour my home.
     Next, plant some greens in the garden.  My turnips and mustard are almost ready for the pot, but you have plenty of time to size up a mess for Thanksgiving.  They are easy to grow just make sure your soil pH is right ( 5.8 to 6.5) and sidedress with a fertilizer containing nitrogen every 3 to 4 weeks.
     Next, it is time to get that soil sample tested.  Without the proper pH nothing will grow properly.  A soil test sample should be a representative sample of your entire area you are testing.  To accomplish this, take many sub-samples (3 inches deep in the lawn and 6 inches deep in the garden and shrub beds) throughout the entire area and mix them together in a bucket.  After mixing collect a pint of soil and bring it to your Clemson University Extension Office. In Florence the Extension Office is located in the back of the Social Services Building at the corner of Third Loop Rd. and Irby St.  It costs $6 and you will get the results in about 2 weeks. A real bargain because of all the effort, fertilizer, lime, and plants you may be saving.  Take separate samples for your lawn, shrub beds and vegetable garden.
     Finally, put your pre-emergent herbicide out “NOW” to prevent those weeds from taking over your lawn in the spring.  The old sayings “An Ounce of Prevention is Worth a Pound of Cure” and “Timing is Everything” work when it comes to keeping weeds out of your yard.   Some pre-emergent herbicides you can find locally include Atrazine,  XL, Team, Balan, and Surflan.  Always follow all label directions because they are the law.
    To learn more about decorating, gardening and country living watch both of our Emmy Award winning T.V. programs, Making-It- Grow (MIG) and Down Home with Tony and Amanda.  MIG can be seen at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday nights on regular ETV.  However, at present Down Home can be seen on digital cable and some satellite systems on the SC Channel (channel 802 on Time Warner Cable). Also, you can view both programs on the web at www.mig.org. programs to people of all ages, regardless of race, color, gender, religion, national origin, disability, political belief, sexual orientation, marital or family status and is an equal opportunity employer.

            First of all, do not take the advice of the commercials telling you to fertilize your lawn in the fall.  Fall fertilization will kill your lawn.  Fertilizing with a fertilizer containing nitrogen will cause your lawn to start to grow and to green-up. This will make it very susceptible to winter kill.  Fall fertilization is a practice used in the up-state of SC and other parts of the country where cool season grasses are used in lawns.  Also, fall fertilization is not a good practice for shrubs and trees. Again it will cause them to start growing and the young tender tips of branches will be killed by cold winter temperatures.
            Secondly, do not continue to water your lawn frequently.  Your lawn needs less water during the fall because the grass is going into dormancy and evaporation is less because of cooler temperatures.  A devastating grass disease called, Large Patch (formerly known as Brown Patch), is encouraged by cool temperatures and by keeping the surface of the lawn wet.  Therefore, irrigating frequently in the fall will cause you to have dead spots in your lawn next spring.    Water a lot or deeply when you water, but water less frequently.  I believe that light frequent irrigations are the #1 cause of lawns to die in our area.  In fact light frequent irrigations should only be used when you are trying to get a recently planted lawn or plant established.  After a lawn or plant is established, less frequent deep irrigations should always be used in yards.  This will encourage deep root growth and more drought resistance.    
            Finally, for the healthiest centipede lawn, do not over-seed your lawn.  The over-seeded grass competes with your permanent lawn for water, nutrients, and sunlight.  The theft starts in the fall as the seedlings tends to send your permanent lawn into early dormancy.  The theft continues in the winter especially if we have a drought situation like many past winters.  In the spring, the over-seeded grass restricts growth, shades out, and encourages diseases in your permanent lawn.  In other words, when over-seeding your lawn you will have to replace your permanent lawn quicker.  However, at present over-seeding is our only widely available way to have a perpetual year-round green lawn.  Believe it or not many golf courses are now painting their grass to keep it green.  This gives them green grass without the problems and hassles of over-seeding.  In the future, I see this new technique coming to a lawn near you.
To learn more about decorating, gardening and country living watch both of our Emmy Award winning T.V. programs, Making-It-Grow (MIG) and Down Home with Tony and Amanda.  MIG can be seen at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday nights on regular ETV.  However, at present Down Home can be seen on digital cable and some satellite systems on the SC Channel (channel 802 on Time Warner Cable).  Also, you can view both programs on the web at www.mig.org. people of all ages, regardless of race, color, gender, religion, national origin, disability, political belief, sexual orientation, marital or family status and is an equal opportunity employer.


            Labor Day is a day off for the “working man.”  So I guess it is a day for the rich people to work.  However, some of the richest people I know are the hardest working.  Maybe that is why they are rich.
First of all, many people regard Labor Day simply as a day of rest.     However, many people have very different concepts of rest.  I am amazed at the number of people that tell me that getting out in their yards and working is one of their favorite means of rest.  People love the freedom the outside gives them, especially people who are locked-up inside all day.  I guess it is restful for anyone to look at beautiful flowers, plants, and grass.  Even if the only outside activity you partake in is barbequing, plants make the setting and make your specialties taste even better.
            Also, Labor Day marks the symbolic end of summer for many. It does seem like it is getting a little cooler and this year it might just be the break of our oppressive summer heat.  A lot of people including myself are giving a shy of relief.  How do you spell relief “FALL.”  Also, I am sure many plants are relieved.  The similarities of plants and people amaze me sometimes.  If the heat is tough for you most of the time it is tough for your plants.  People are sometimes amazed when I tell them that just about any plants would grow better in our excessive heat with a little light shade.
            Finally, I hope Labor Day is an end to our drought.  I am tired of my high water bill due to irrigation.  But, September is traditionally a dry month except when we get hurricanes.  In my opinion a hurricane is a dangerous way to end a drought.  However, remember as fall falls the need for water lessens in any plant but especially in deciduous plants.  So, one way or the other my water bill should drop.  Also, many folks in the Pee Dee have a tendency to irrigate too frequently.  Until plants become established they require frequent light irrigation because they have not developed a root system, but when well established water plants deeply but less frequently.  
To learn more about decorating, gardening and country living watch both of our Emmy Award winning T.V. programs, Making-It- Grow (MIG) and Down Home with Tony and Amanda.  MIG can be seen at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday nights on regular ETV.  However, at present Down Home can be seen on digital cable and some satellite systems on the SC Channel (channel 802 on Time Warner Cable). Also, you can view both programs on the web at www.mig.org. programs to people of all ages, regardless of race, color, gender, religion, national origin, disability, political belief, sexual orientation, marital or family status and is an equal opportunity employer.



            I have received literally thousands of calls about thousand legs or millipedes.  Yards, houses, and peoples lives have been invaded by this mostly beneficial arthropod.  Count your blessings if your yard has not been invaded.  Some yards have been invaded with not only thousands but millions of millipedes.  I have seen crunchy driveways, skimmed over pools, and wiggly walls.  And to add insult to injury they love to crawl  into houses, this really freaks out homeowners. We really don’t know why they prefer one yard over another, but since they eat decaying organic matter old decaying mulch, rotting wood, a thatchy lawn, or etc. maybe lure them into a yard.
            In the woodland situation millipedes are beneficial and help with the degradation and decomposition of fallen leaves and trees. However, when they invade our homes they become pests and we look for ways to exclude them from our property.  Often times our definition of a pest is “A problem that leaves my neighbors yard and invades mine.”  However, this problem has no simple solution and requires many steps to reduce the pest pressure to a livable level and total control may not be possible.
            First of all, remove any source of decaying organic matter.  If the mulch in your shrub and flower beds is old and decaying, rake it out and replace with new mulch.  Also, the millipedes will lay their eggs in the mulch and it will be a source of them next year.  If your lawn has a lot of thatch, dethatch it immediately.  Thatch is a layer of rotting grass under the surface of your lawn.  Also, thatch is detrimental to your lawn and can be removed by renting an using a dethatcher then raking and removing the thatch  from your lawn. If you have fire wood or any decaying wood near your house remove it or get it up off the ground.
            Next, using a shop-vacuum remove as many of the millipedes as possible.  This will concentrate the millipedes so you can kill them easily.  After vacuuming kill them with an insecticide, with a soap solution, or by putting them in a plastic bag in the sun.
            Finally, spray a barrier of insecticide around any area you want to protect.  A ten or twenty foot wide insecticide treated area will provide a barrier to keep them from invading your privacy.  The barrier needs to be wide enough for the millipedes to have time to die after first coming in contact with the insecticide and before reaching the other side of the barrier. Many different insecticides can be used.
To learn more about decorating, gardening and country living watch both of our Emmy Award winning T.V. programs, Making-It- Grow (MIG) and Down Home with Tony and Amanda.  MIG can be seen at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday nights on regular ETV.  However, at present Down Home can be seen on digital cable and some satellite systems on the SC Channel (channel 802 on Time Warner Cable). Also, you can view both programs on the web at www.mig.org. programs to people of all ages, regardless of race, color, gender, religion, national origin, disability, political belief, sexual orientation, marital or family status and is an equal opportunity employer.