The Horticulturati

Here's the July 29 episode of Horticulture Hangover, our radio broadcast on KLBJ. Leah reports on her visit to Braken Cave -- the world's largest bat colony! -- summer home to 15-20 million bats, then we talk about multi-trunked red oaks tendency to fall apart, watering trees, dealing with invasive grasses (KR bluestem and Johnsongrass), and the marvelous mistflowers.

Tune in to Horticulture Hangover live on Saturdays at 8-9 am CST online here, or on the airwaves: 99.7 AM and 590 FM.

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Email: [email protected]

When the phones are down, the show must go on! Here's the July 22 episode of Horticulture Hangover, our radio broadcast on KLBJ. We talk about ants and aphids, when to pick melons, growing grapes, and transplanting stuff when it's not quite the right time.

Tune in to Horticulture Hangover live on Saturdays at 8-9 am CST online here, or on the airwaves: 99.7 AM and 590 FM.

Join our Patreon for early access to Horticulturati episodes, bonus content, and more!

Email: [email protected]

Can a native plant garden be maintained without year-round pruning? In this episode, Colleen articulates her front-yard scheme for a super-low-maintenance native garden design for Central Texas, a cumulative idea inspired by past episodes of this very podcast. Her working title is "The Everything Garden."

First, we introduce a corrections segment called the "Concession Stand," and Leah wonders what the heat dome has to do with the surprising amount of debris in the road.

Mentioned: Native Texas Gardens: Maximum Beauty, Minimum Upkeep by Sally Wasowski and Andy Wasowski.

Past Horticulturati episodes discussed here (scroll down through your podcast player of choice):

• June 12, 2022 "Design for Ecology and Conservation"
• January 7, 2022 "Designing for Maintenance and 'The Soul of a Farmer'"
• May 16 2022 "Pocket Prairies with John Hart Asher"
• Nov 27 2022 "Growing a Vision with Amy Hovis and Willy Glenn"
• January 23 2022 "Plant Communities and Vertical Layers"
• Nov 29 2020 Five Seasons Total Landscaping- also mentioned Four Seasons Piet Oudolf Documentary

Support The Horticulturati by joining our Patreon. Email us at [email protected]

Here's the July 15 episode of Horticulture Hangover, our radio broadcast on KLBJ. We talk about karst ecosystems, ticks in Texas, Navajo or "Indian" peaches, harvesting figs, and a native plant that's on our wish list: velvet leaf mallow (Allowissadula holosericea).

Tune in to Horticulture Hangover live on Saturdays at 8-9 am CST online here, or on the airwaves: 99.7 AM and 590 FM.

Join our Patreon for early access to Horticulturati episodes, bonus content, and more!

Email: [email protected]

Here's the July 8 episode of Horticulture Hangover, our radio broadcast on KLBJ. We talk about measuring a tree's critical root zone, when to cut back canna lilies to keep them blooming, and how to root-prune trees in pots.

Tune in to Horticulture Hangover live on Saturdays at 8-9 am CST online here, or on the airwaves: 99.7 AM and 590 FM.

Join our Patreon for early access to Horticulturati episodes, bonus content, and more!

Email: [email protected]

Here's the July 1 episode of Horticulture Hangover, our radio broadcast on KLBJ. We get calls about planting sweet potato slips; four o'clocks failing to bloom; when to mow wildflowers; and how to collect sunflower seeds. Enjoy!

Austin listeners, don't miss Colleen's free class, Native Plant Maintenance, at the Natural Gardener on July 8 at 10am.

Tune in to Horticulture Hangover live on Saturdays at 8-9 am CST online here, or on the airwaves: 99.7 AM and 590 FM.

Join our Patreon for early access to Horticulturati episodes, bonus content, and more!

Email: [email protected]

Just unearthed from the archives, here's the 5/27 recording of Horticulture Hangover, our radio broadcast on KLBJ. We talk about the difference between Bti (Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis) and Btk (Bacillus thuringiensis kurstaki), propose solutions for invading Bermuda grass, and give a classic answer to a question about the best time to plant wildflowers: It depends!

Austin listeners, don't miss Colleen's free class, Native Plant Maintenance, at the Natural Gardener on July 8 at 10am.

Tune in live on Saturdays at 8am CST online here, or on the airwaves: 99.7 AM and 590 FM.

Join our Patreon for early access to Horticulturati episodes, bonus content, and more!

Email: [email protected]

Here's the June 24 episode of Horticulture Hangover, our radio broadcast on KLBJ. We talk about National Pollinator Week, heat stress on citrus, and the pros and cons of various types of irrigation. We also get two calls about unruly vines driving people crazy. Austin listeners, don't miss Colleen's free class, Native Plant Maintenance, at the Natural Gardener on July 8 at 10am.

Tune in live on Saturdays at 8am CST online here, or on the airwaves: 99.7 AM and 590 FM

Join our Patreon for early access to Horticulturati episodes, bonus content, and more!

Email [email protected]

Why do we mow our lawns? That's the question posed by our guest, artist and urban ecologist Chris Kennedy of the Urban Systems Lab and Central Texas Mycological Society; the answer is a tangle of municipal policy, attitudes toward property ownership, and status anxiety. Chris joins the pod to tell us about his research into city lawn ordinances and weed-control laws in the United States.

In the City of Austin, having "grass and weeds more than 12 inches in height is considered an unsanitary condition and a code violation," and many homeowners' associations mandate that turfgrass must comprise a minimum of 25% of a front yard, despite local water restrictions. We discuss how these strictures are rooted in redlining practices and fear of the natural world, how they stand in opposition to sustainable or regenerative landscaping practices, and what citizens here in town, and around the country, are doing about it.

Mentioned in this episode:

Austin's Tall Weeds and Grass Ordinance; the municipal code; a cringe video about weeds on the city's official YouTube page; "Rethinking The American Lawn" by Will McCarthy in Texas Monthly, about Lewisville, Texas; "Weeding Out Bad Vegetation Ordinances" by Bret Rappaport and Bevin Horn; Sustainable Development Code; updates to codes to allow managed natural landscapes in Minneapolis, Austin; pushback from residents in Ontario and Chicago in 2018 and 2019; a sunflower citation in south Austin in 2021; complaints about how the city fails to follow its own rules; San Antonio DSA's Code Busters; Texas Senate Bill 198 "relating to restrictive covenants regulating drought-resistant landscaping or water-conserving natural turf;" Joan Nassauer's "Cues to Care"; and the "NYC Glyphosate Map" by Reverend Billy.

Music: "Egypt" by Weldon Irvine and "Don't Forget Your Neighborhood" by Cola Boyy and Avalanches.

Support The Horticulturati by joining our Patreon. Email us at [email protected]

Here's the 6/17 recording of Horticulture Hangover, our radio broadcast on KLBJ. We got a little silly this week, and answered questions about pruning boxwoods, how much to water, leaf footed bugs, wild pumpkins, and more.

Austin listeners, don't miss Colleen's free class, Native Plant Maintenance, at the Natural Gardener on July 8 at 10am.

Tune in live on Saturdays at 8am CST online here, or on the airwaves: 99.7 AM and 590 FM.

Join our Patreon for early access to Horticulturati episodes, bonus content, and more!