Better Lawns and Gardens · Teresa Watkins

Better Lawns and Gardens - Hour 2 Dr. Gary Bachman in the House Part 2 October 11, 2025

·39 min·3 clips

Discover why some trees cling to their leaves all winter with the mysterious term 'marcescent'.

This episode features horticulturist and garden designer Teresa Watkins alongside Dr. Gary Bachman, an extension specialist and award-winning gardening author. They explore practical gardening advice while critiquing misleading online tips. The hosts introduce the botanical term "marcescent" to describe leaves that cling to trees like oaks through winter. They debunk an online claim that marigolds repel spiders indoors, noting marigolds are not typically houseplants and hybrids vary in effectiveness. Dr. Bachman shares a startling statistic that humans are never more than three feet from a spider. Another questionable tip involves using hairspray to deter deer from eating cemetery flowers, a method they note is temporary and unreliable. They recommend consulting local extension offices or groups like the Garden Professors on Facebook for reliable advice. Dr. Bachman discusses his book, "Southern Gardening All Year Long," which offers monthly plant suggestions for the Southeast. A listener question about fire ants in vegetable beds leads to a recommendation for spinosad products like Captain Jack's Dead Bug Brew. The conversation covers fall plants like coleus and marigolds, contrasting them with shorter-lived chrysanthemums. Dr. Bachman details his processes for making kale chips in an air fryer and dehydrating peppers for homemade spices. They critique an article promoting coffee grounds as fertilizer, calculating the impractical volume needed and advising composting instead. Dr. Bachman reviews a countertop hydroponic herb garden, noting pros like convenience and cons like potential indoor pests. He also recommends a dwarf lettuce variety called Tom Thumb for small spaces. The episode concludes with discussions on container gardening with reservoirs, citrus care, and holiday tree choices. A surprising insight is that fire ants can fully drain a two-gallon reservoir in an Earth Box on a hot day. The claim that no person is ever more than three feet from a spider at any time is presented as a factual statement. The detailed math reveals that supplying coffee grounds for one acid-loving plant would require drinking 28 cups of coffee. Dr. Bachman finds that dehydrated tomatoes, when rehydrated, smell identical to fresh ones. The hosts emphasize that many online gardening articles now appear to be generated by artificial intelligence, repeating the same unreliable information. The tone is conversational and educational, blending friendly banter with expert commentary. The style is advisory, focusing on separating reliable horticultural practices from common myths. This episode is ideal for home gardeners in the Southeast seeking practical, seasonally relevant tips and myth-busting guidance. Listeners who prefer highly structured, formal lectures or topics unrelated to gardening might find it less engaging.

As heard by us

A friendly plant hour that makes fall color and leaf science feel useful.

This hour of Better Lawns and Gardens turns a small bit of plant vocabulary into a wider look at fall color and what holds up in the landscape. Teresa Watkins and Dr.

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You get the word for trees that hang onto their leaves through winter.

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