(bright music) >>We really try as much as possible to make sure that this landscape looks just like it did during the Dooleys' time.

And so if we lose a tree in this portion of the property, we replace it with something that was exactly the same, if we can trace back the fallen tree to the time of the Dooleys.

>>This is a place that is irreplaceable, in our history, it's part of our culture, it's part of our economy.

And it's really a special place, and getting people into it to see it, we can all be part of nature.

>>Production funding for "Virginia Home Grown" is made possible by: Strange's Florists, Greenhouses, and Garden Centers, serving Richmond for over 90 years, with two florist shops, two greenhouses, and a garden center.

Located throughout the Metro Richmond area.

Strange's, every bloomin' time!

And by.

(birds chirping) (bright music) (bright music continues) (bright music continues) >>Welcome to the 25th season of "Virginia Home Grown."

We're so excited to be back gardening together.

Today we're highlighting trees, with a focus on large and old trees.

We're going to learn what makes a tree grow to a majestic size while others fail and become a tree cookie.

Before we get started, I want to remind you to send in your questions on our website, vpm.org/vhg.

We'll be answering those a little later.

In the second half of our show, we will tour the Dragon Run watershed on the Middle Peninsula to learn about bald cypress trees and old growth forests.

But first, I visited Maymont in Richmond to talk with Sean Prioetti about the many state and national champion trees growing in the historic park.

Let's get going.

>>Maymont was originally the home of James and Sallie Dooley.

This was their home and estate from 1893 to 1925.

Then that's when they established this arboretum.

Sallie May Dooley was an avid horticulturalist and when they purchased the land, it was farmland, which they began cultivating into beautiful English-style park, and that parkland includes the arboretum.

We know they went to Europe many times, and we see that reflected in their Italian gardens, but they clearly had an interest in Asia as well, which we also see, in their trees as well as our famous Japanese garden.

>>Sean, I do love this tree.

It's so beautiful.

It's so big and majestic.

>>This is one of my favorites, too.

This is the Blue Atlas Cedar, and it's from the Atlas Mountains of Northern Africa and was therefore part of the Dooleys' program of bringing in trees from all over the world.

>>You know, they picked some amazing specimens.

They really did.

This tree is so big though.

>>They don't start that way.

Blue Atlas Cedars look a little scraggly, you know, for the first 30-35 years of their life.

And then they really come into their own much later.

But this is one of our champion trees here, meaning, of all the Blue Atlas Cedars in the entire state of Virginia, this one is the biggest of all.

>>That is so cool.

So what makes a tree a champion tree?

>>Pure size.

You have the diameter of the trunk of the tree.

You have the height.

And then you have the width of the crown.

And then each of those three categories is given a point number.

And then those points are added together, and that makes the overall score.

>>So the highest score wins.

>>That's right, the biggest tree.

>>Well, this certainly is deserving of that.

>>Yes, but you don't have to be a huge tree to be a champion.

You just have to be the biggest yourself that you can be, so you know, some of our champion trees, like the Tigertail Spruce by the fountain or the Japanese tree lilac, they're not necessarily impressive trees that anybody would come and notice that it could be a champion.

They're just really doing the best that they can to be themselves.

>>Yes (chuckles), the biggest of their kind.

>>That's right.

>>Within these beautiful 100 acres, how many champion trees are there at Maymont?

>>It changes all the time.

We have about 15 to 18 right now, and even I have to go on the Virginia Tech Big Tree Database website to find out exactly how many we have, because, sure, one of our trees could fall down and lose its champion status, but equally, somebody else could realize that they have a champion in their own yard.

And then ours gets bumped down the list, which has happened many times before.

>>Yes, and it's variable.

>>Yes, and it's fun because it makes it a competition, right?

I personally love the fact that, if somebody looks at our Deodars, and goes home and thinks, "You know, I think mine's probably bigger," and measures theirs... Let 'em have it.

>>Let 'em have it.

At least, they're becoming tree-aware.

>>Exactly.

>>So tell me, what is a Dooley tree?

>>A Dooley tree here at Maymont means a tree that goes back to the original estate, and we kinda go back and forth on the definition sometimes for purposes of data collection, like in the case of this Blue Atlas Cedar.

This tree was here when the Dooleys were here.

But behind you, the elms, those trees weren't there when the Dooleys were there, but the Dooleys did have elms there.

So depending on kind of what function we're trying to express, like, either of those may be considered Dooley trees.

>>These trees were planted on a private estate, but now they're growing in a public park.

So what are the challenges they face with that new...

I'll say, "Use of the property."

>>Violent.

(Peggy and Sean laugh) You know, sometimes, it's, like, little boys hitting them with sticks.

They can't really do that much damage, but you know, we've also had people just rip branches off of them.

You know, I think people just are not as in touch with the natural world anymore and they don't really realize that these are fragile organisms.

>>And that they're living organisms.

>>Exactly, yes.

>>So how do you take care of these majestic trees?

>>There's all kinds of ways.

With old trees, the main thing is to not do anything that shocks them.

We often use compost as, like, a low-grade fertilizer.

We use wood chips to, basically, help the soil biome and keep all those microorganisms in there and keep the soil healthy, but you never wanna fertilize a tree and shock it by putting a lot of growth on it.

So we just, you know, kind of try and keep them happy.

The other thing that we do is trying to preserve the structure that's there, as opposed to doing, like, radical pruning, so we will use cabling, which allows the tree to move in tandem with wind shear, instead of having certain segments of the tree be exposed to wind shear individually.

Similarly, you can use brace rods, and that does the same effect, to not stress some of these limbs.

The larger trees may have overextended limbs that hold quite a lot of mass far away from the trunk, so we wanna try and keep all of that mass centered.

>>Well, speaking of mass, we all know that some big trees are actually like big sails.

What else can we do to help- >>That's right.

>>with that situation with these crazy storms that we're getting?

>>That is one example where pruning is kind of beneficial.

What you can do is do crown thinning to take out portions of the interior of the tree, and that allows the wind to pass through the crown of the tree without catching so much of that surface area of the leaf.

>>So you're not just scalping off the tree.

You're going in and making judgment calls as to what pieces to remove.

>>Yes, and it really... You never wanna remove 20-25% on, like, young trees, and on old trees, significantly less than that, so it really requires having an experienced arborist be a guide.

>>Yes, and I'm sure there's many arborists that help here at Maymont.

>>With the significance of these trees and the significance of the property, we try to never make decisions just one person making that decision.

We try and have it be a team of specialists.

>>Yes, so careful.

So important.

But when a tree does start to decline, are there any action steps that you go, "Oh my gosh, what can we do?"

>>There are.

So, we have a couple of trees that are suffering from bot canker, which is really, really common with cherries.

Many cherries will get it over the course of their lifetime.

But one thing that we've done recently is we AirSpaded the roots and reintroduced biochar into the soil, and that's something that we're starting here, and we would love to make it kinda more of our program, so we're trialing that a little bit right now.

The first year that, you know, you've disturbed that soil, you're gonna wanna make sure that that plant stays nice and watered, same as you would any new planting.

Basically, what we do is we take a 250-gallon tank and bring the tank there and just kinda run a hose to the base of the tree and let it soak that entire area.

You can use a sprinkler system as well.

>>Do you water any other big trees around here?

>>Rarely.

Usually, once a tree is past two years of its establishment, you don't normally need to water it, but during really prolonged periods of drought, we will water some of the more... Prized specimens let's say.

>>Well, Sean, I applaud you on everything you're doing here, taking care of all of these specimens and just keeping 'em alive and strong and healthy for people to come and enjoy now and in the future.

>>And thank you for all the work that you've done for the same program.

>>You're welcome.

We make a great team.

>>That's right.

>>Mrs.

Dooley was very interested in making sure that she bought the best, (laughs) so whenever she was seeking out new plantings for her estate, she was buying the best ones she could find from all over the East Coast.

Our current philosophy is that we do try to replace in kind whenever something is lost of the original collection.

You will continue to, hopefully, see Maymont just as they saw it 100 years ago 100 years from now.

(bird chirps) >>25 years ago, I was a guest on the debut episode of "Virginia Home Grown" when Richard Nunnally interviewed me about restoring garden beds at Maymont.

Little did I know, I'd become the host one day.

The other guest on that first show was my friend Bill Poad of Bartlett Tree Experts, who discussed pruning trees.

Well, today Bartlett is back on the show.

So, Dr. Glynn Percival, thanks for joining us today to help kick off our 25th season.

But we're going to talk more about how some trees are able to live so long and new research on the life inside of trees.

But before we get started, remember to send in your gardening questions on our website at vpm.org/vhg or through Facebook.

Well, Glynn, I've not really had many guests who brought Petri dishes and tree cookies and dirt, so this is gonna be interesting.

So, wow.

I mean, I took care of beautiful, majestic trees my whole career and I always wondered, why are they bigger than the others?

>>Okay, well, thanks for inviting me.

It's a real pleasure to be here and it's great to kind of talk about some of the research I was doing in the United Kingdom.

And we have a lot of big old trees in the UK.

>>Yes, you do.

>>And what we tend to find is really one of the major obstacles, as it were, can be like diseases.

So, for example, elms are big trees, but if you get Dutch elm disease, you've got a lot of problems.

In the UK, we have a disease called acute oak decline, which is killing a lot of our oak trees.

>>Wow, yeah.

>>And we decided to do some research and try and work out if there was maybe a very different solution to managing this disease.

And what we did find was that some trees were very heavily infected and had lots of bleeds, bleeding cankers, and other oak trees at the side of it were showing no symptoms at all.

So, for example, what not many people realize is when you actually look inside a tree, they think it's sterile.

They think there's absolutely nothing living within the tree.

>>Just a bunch of wood.

>>But in reality, I mean, trees are absolutely rammed full of bacteria and fungi, which don't do the tree any harm whatsoever.

>>Interesting.

>>And we call them endophytes, as in endo within and phytes within the plant.

And what we decided to do was, when we actually had these diseased trees, was we wanted to look at was the endophytes living within a diseased tree different from a non-diseased tree?

And I just wanted to show you just what I mean by this.

>>That's amazing.

>>Where we can literally, I mean, this is just some, very few, of those thousands of different types of living organisms.

>>Absolutely amazing.

>>And then one of the great things about research is you suddenly find a result which is absolutely incredible.

And one of the fungi we actually identified which were present within the non-diseased trees was it was penicillin.

>>Oh my golly (chuckles).

>>I mean, Sir Alexander Fleming, penicillin antibiotics.

And we actually found that the non-diseased oaks had, we identified six different species of penicillin and two we couldn't even identify.

>>Oh, wow.

>>And if we actually look at the top here, this looks like one of the species of penicillin.

And then what we also then decided to do was we took all these good endophytes, as it were, and we had a diseased tree and we literally infused them into the diseased tree and the diseased tree started to heal.

>>Oh, that's fantastic.

>>And we just suddenly thought, "Wow, you know, this is great."

You know, this potentially opens up, and we see this time and time again where we have a population of trees, same species, some are heavily diseased and some have very little disease.

And we're now learning more just about the incredible important role these endophytes play in longevity, in, like, some trees can, species, will do well on soils contaminated with heavy metals and the endophytes have been shown to play a crucial part in their survival.

And it's something we never think about.

>>No.

>>We just think trees, perfectly sterile.

>>Right.

And we think if the tree has a problem, that it has to be something either abiotic or biotic.

Meaning is this a fungus?

Is there disease?

You know, is there insects?

We don't think about the makeup of the tree itself.

But what does the role of soil play in all of this?

>>Well, you see, that's the other, there's two major factors that kind of really influence longevity and one is what we've just spoke about, is obviously preventing the disease ingress, is really soil.

90% of all tree problems we see above ground are caused by problems below ground.

Now, as you can see, this is a nice, healthy- >>Yeah, that's gorgeous.

>>Soil I took from one of our forests close by.

Lots and lots, plenty of root growth.

Now, that's great in the forest environment, but we like to grow our trees in urban landscapes, our towns, cities, car parks.

Sadly, it's a very different type of soil.

And with all due respect, I mean, trees would find it incredibly difficult to live that longevity growing in soils like this.

It's very cloddy.

It gets compacted, dries out, et cetera, >>Et cetera.

>>So we like to do a lot of work at remediating the soil.

>>Yes.

>>And one of the things we try to do is even though we have these urban soils, you know, we'll apply these different types of- >>Mulches.

>>Mulches.

And this is a very common one, whoops, which is used, which is the- >>Pine tags.

Pine needles.

>>The pine needles.

>>Yes.

>>Now, personally, I don't think this is really a very good one.

I think they are better ones.

And what I would actually more recommend if you are to apply the woodchip mulch is use maybe something more that has, like you can see here, like more the leaves.

And the advantage of if you apply a woodchip mulch high in leaves, it degrades quicker, you get the benefits quicker, but you'll have to replace it, in essence, after a year.

>>Quickly.

Yes.

So?

>>So you can use one that, again, which is really more just heavily- >>It's more woody >>As you can see, it's more woody.

It has the same benefits.

It just takes a little bit longer.

But it lasts longer.

You maybe need to replace it every two years.

And really to me, applying a woodchip mulch is really a fundamental factor in achieving longevity because in urban landscapes, we have a very bad habit of raking up all the leaves and leaves obviously in a woodland environment rot back down.

So we can counteract that by using these woodchip mulches.

>>Well, Glynn, this is fascinating.

It's fascinating to learn about penicillin within the tree and it's also fascinating to, I'll say, reemphasize the importance of mulch, and not just any mulch, but mulch with leaves.

So I thank you so much.

>>Yeah.

>>Yes.

And now we're going to get ready to answer your questions, but first, Serome Hamlin has tips to share on understory plants that you can grow if you're lucky to already have a big tree in your garden or some shade.

(jaunty music) >>So I've heard the best time to have planted a tree was 20 years ago, and the next best time is today.

So today I'm here at Colesville Nursery to think about trees, but also thinking about the understory.

These plants really need to be able to take some shady and possibly some dry conditions.

I've got a variety of plants that I've found here, so we can start here with this beautiful Camellia japonica.

We've got this white one here blooming, and everybody loves Camellias, it's a very popular plant.

And one of my favorite plants though is our native hydrangea quercifolia.

This one is still holding onto its leaves from last season, but as you can see, during the fall season, you get this beautiful red-purple tinge to the leaves before they drop, and then in the spring you get a white cluster of blooms throughout the shrub.

Here we've got a nice evergreen shrub, this is our native Rhododendrons.

This one is Florence Park.

Boasts nice purple blooms for you in the season, and it is a evergreen, so you can have a four-season shrub.

Over here we have Leucothoe, again another native plant, but look at the different varieties.

So we have this one here that turns purple in the winter, but look at this foliage here.

Nice variegated foliage.

This one is called Leucothoe Rainbow, and it gives lots of interest for four seasons.

Moving along here, we have Illicium.

Another native.

Wow, it just seems like to be running a trend here.

But Illicium, common variety, you can see is green, but through breeding we have different cultivations where you could get a varied variety here or even a chartreuse or yellow foliage.

Now we've got the shrub layer done, let's move on to ground cover.

Now over here we've got an array of Hellebores.

Very easy plant to grow, so many different colors and varieties.

Cast-iron-plant.

This is a very tough, tough plant, evergreen.

It can take really dry, shady conditions, it can take really deep shade and still be happy.

Here we have a selection of Carex.

These two here are Asian varieties, but you could see that they're a nice chartreuse color, or a variegated form, and interesting blooms early in the season.

This here with this limey green is our native, and this Carex will start spreading and getting a nice mass, and you can actually even use this one for a lawn replacement.

So if you're planting big trees or you have established big trees, don't forget to think about the understory.

You can have an array of plants that provide nice shelter for wildlife and nice views for yourself.

So get out there, let's get our hands dirty, and plant the understory of our trees.

>>And now it's time for our favorite part of the show, when we get to hear from you.

So send us your gardening questions through our website, vpm.org/vhg, or on our Facebook page.

If you visit us on Facebook, you can also see our first episode from March 2001.

It's fun to look back.

Many thanks to Sharon, who was the first person to call in that day with a question.

She kicked off 25 years of providing answers to your gardening questions.

Well, Shana Williams is here to join us and to talk about the questions you might have here today.

So, welcome, Shana.

>>Thank you.

>>Yes.

So what do we have?

Can we get started with good stuff?

>>Well, Glynn, first of all, your presentation was fantastic and I've learned so much about the life of the plants, I mean, the trees themselves.

Is there anything else that you would like to add?

>>I think one of the areas of research we are doing, I can only touch on it, is we know we make these woodchip mulches, but we often forget that many of our pharmaceuticals, our medicines, are actually derived from trees.

So we've been doing a lot of work with what we call a single-species mulch.

So is a mulch made purely from apple better than a mulch made purely from oak?

And that's actually giving us some really, really interesting results.

So, for example, we find some species of tree are very good at, like, enhancing tree defense systems, where other trees like fruit trees, for example, are very high in sugars and when we apply them, we can stimulate root growth and a lot of below ground activity, a lot of biological activity, which is really good when trees have maybe been damaged through construction work.

So we feel there's a whole area of research within there just looking at individual trees and how we can use them for different purposes that's all to protect the tree against the disease.

So, for example, eucalyptus.

A mulch made purely from eucalyptus has been shown to be excellent at suppressing the Phytophthora disease.

So it's used extensively in the avocados in Australia, et cetera.

>>Wow.

That's very interesting.

>>So it's just opening up new ideas.

I think it was Socrates who said, "All answers lie in nature," and I think there's a lot of truth in that.

So we kind of developed this technology, yeah.

>>I mean, one thing that I find is extremely interesting that it seems like the systemic system of a tree is similar to our human bodies.

>>You know, there really are similarities.

I mean, believe it or not, trees have immune systems.

And one question I always like to ask my students is, what makes a successful disease successful?

Why does Dutch elm disease only kill elms?

Why doesn't it kill anything else?

And one of the reasons why is a successful disease is a disease that can attack a tree without the tree realizing until it's too late.

And what we can do is we can, again, by using these types of, like, biochar, which is a very common soil amendment now, and using, again, these single-species woodchip mulch, in essence, prime the tree immune system, you know, boost it, so when these pests and diseases arrive, it's in a far better state to kind of handle them, that's all.

And we always forget that pests and disease ingress is normally associated with stress, periods of drought, water logging.

So I've always had a heavy focus on to treat the patient, do everything possible to make the tree healthy.

Forget about the disease.

Healthy trees look after themselves.

>>Mm-hm, mm-hm.

>>It's so interesting he just said that because, you know, I was just thinking about my own trees, and earlier today, I literally just put leaves and woodchips around this huge tree, these elm trees that line our street.

And it just makes me smile knowing I'm doing the right thing.

>>You're doing the right thing, Shana.

(all laugh) Because the other thing about trees, though, people need to realize is that even when it's young, you know, an old tree, as we had talked earlier, to me is like a freight train and putting chips around it's the best thing you can do.

By the way, Shana lives on this beautiful tree-lined street.

It's all willow oaks and it's gorgeous.

But these old trees I'll say process things slower and react slower, where a young tree has a bit of a faster reaction time in as a reaction to stimuli or any of the influences.

So I mean, people need to understand, too, that it's not apples to apples from a young tree to an old tree.

>>That is so true.

I mean, we can treat a young tree and you do see a rapid response, but in many cases, you can treat a tree, an old established tree one year, but you see the benefits the following year.

And as I always like to say to my students when I'm trying to explain it to them, you know, like on "The Lord of the Rings" with the tree Ent and they're all very, very, very slow.

Trees take time to turn around, yeah.

>>Mm-hm, they do.

They really do.

And I know that air spading is very popular and putting compost and biochars, but when you do that, you have to understand you're going to see it a year later.

>>Yes, yeah.

>>The benefit.

It's not (fingers click) like that, so.

>>I actually think what you just said kind of answers our question, 'cause one of the questions was, "When a big tree starts to decline, at what point is it difficult to arrest the decline?"

>>Yeah.

>>You know, that is a great question.

And to me, what I like to do is leaves are what really produce the energy through photosynthesis.

So to me, when I look at a tree that's going into decline, I personally look at the leaf area coverage and how green the leaves are.

The more leaf canopy you have and the greener the leaves, the more the tree is able to make energy.

And if a tree can keep producing energy through these periods of stress, it just allows 'em to recover quicker.

Same with us.

They always say, when we're ill, you've gotta eat a lot of food, you've gotta keep your calorific intake high.

And to me that's the same with trees.

So I always kind of have, once you start to maybe have lost something like, you know, maybe 50% of the canopy, then I would really start to be concerned, because we always forget, you know, all the wood inside the tree, the sapwood, the roots, it's all alive, it's living tissue.

And the tree needs to keep it alive by giving it energy, and trees get their energy from the leaves.

So to me, I always focus on the canopy coverage and how green the leaves are.

>>And I think also it's important to just mention that that canopy cover, the root systems also expand that far into your yard as well.

So it's not just around a root of the tree that you need to apply mulch and the leaves and everything else.

>>Yeah, yeah.

>>And actually, that even goes beyond the canopy.

>>Further, yes.

>>It changes, but sometimes it's two times the height of the tree.

I mean, you've got roots way far out.

We have seconds before.

Do we have a quick question there?

>>When is a big tree actually, oh, yeah, basically, I already did that one.

"How do drought conditions affect big trees?"

>>Really what it does, it kind of affects what we call the hydraulic conductivity.

Leaves are, sorry, trees are constantly pulling up water and it's being evaporated out through the canopy.

But once you start to get that, you know, there's not enough water in the soil, you kind of get that, it starts to pull in air and oxygen, you get like the cavitation.

And that's really what it causes.

It causes like the hydraulic system inside the leaf, you know, inside the tree trunk, to basically start to collapse, that's all.

>>That's fascinating.

>>Is that where some of the hollowness inside the trees might develop?

>>No, that's from the rotting wood.

>>Yeah, yeah.

>>But, anyway, that's all the time we have right now though.

Oh gosh, Glynn, I could ask you a hundred questions.

>>I know, I know.

(Glynn laughs) >>But we look forward to answering more questions later in the show.

So please keep them coming.

And Glynn, thank you so much for joining us.

>>Thank you very much.

>>Yeah, thank you.

>>And next, Serome traveled, sorry, and next, Shana traveled to Mascot to tour the Dragon Run.

The watershed has been designated by the Smithsonian Museum as the most pristine site in Virginia and one of the most ecologically significant areas on the Chesapeake Bay.

So let's take a look.

>>We have over a dozen species of trees here at Teta Kain Nature Preserve.

And of course, we have our beautiful bald cypress.

>>Wow, they're huge.

>>We have American beech trees, and we also have very large swamp chestnut oaks here, which have a invaluable food source for wildlife in the acorns that they provide.

>>They're absolutely beautiful.

And what do we have here?

I see some seed pods.

>>So this is the American hazelnut, and right now, the catkins are forming, it's releasing pollen, and several months from now, we'll start to see fruit form in the form of tasty little nuts that you can snack on as well.

They're the same nut that you see in the grocery store.

>>So, something to look forward to when I come back.

You were telling me earlier that you identified over 1,600 species of flora and wildlife?

>>Yeah, so our Citizen Science team has taken the time to identify all these wonderful species in the watershed, and have identified almost 100 different species of plants that previously weren't known to occur here in the watershed.

>>So, as we walk through here in different parts of the season, I should see various types of wildlife and different flora growing up.

>>Mm-hm.

>>I see some woodpecker damage here?

>>Yeah, so this tree, whether it's dead or in the process of dying, is hosting a larval species of insects that are boring in the tree, and that the woodpeckers are taking advantage of that available food resource by, you know, pecking, sloughing off the bark to get to those insects.

>>And it's interesting that we see so many things that look like damage, but it's actually the forest replenishing itself.

>>Yes.

>>And the wildlife.

In the distance all around us, I see pawpaw trees, a pawpaw grove.

>>Yeah, so this is the perfect environment for a grove of pawpaw, these really rich riparian soils.

And we have a really nice population of zebra swallowtail butterflies, because the caterpillars host on the leaves, but then there's also a lot of wildlife, like raccoons and deer, that will eat pawpaw as the fruit matures in the fall.

>>And over in the distance here, I see almost like a little valley and a body of still water.

>>Yeah, so what we have here is a vernal pool.

So these changing water levels are really beneficial to species like salamanders and frogs.

In the late winter and early spring, these pools fill up with water, and it provides habitat for these different species to breed.

But then also in periods of drought, these water levels recede, and it provides the opportunity for species like bald cypress to germinate, and you know, recruit into the next generation of trees to fulfill in the ecosystem.

>>What you guys are doing in here is amazing.

I would love to learn more about the Friends of Dragon Run.

>>Yeah, our president, Jeff Wright, will definitely be able to answer any more questions you have and tell you more about the organization.

>>All around us, I see these cypress knees.

Can you tell me what their purpose is?

>>Their purpose, they provide amazing support to these enormous trees that get over 100 feet tall, because the tree is set in water, and as the water's moving fast, these are the stability that keeps the trees in place, help prevent erosion, a lot of other things.

And you'll see the top of these here have been chewed on by beavers, and that's normal in the course of events in here.

>>Jeff, in the distance over there, I can see a huge bald cypress tree.

Now, what I wanna know is this looks like it's a couple hundred years old.

What are some of the ages of the trees in this forest?

>>It is.

We have trees of every age.

That's what's magnificent about old-growth forest.

But we have trees over 100 years old, hundreds and thousands of trees over that.

Some over 500.

But we have some select trees in here that are estimated to be over 1,000 years old.

So the bald cypresses really go on.

They've been hit by lightning.

You'll see some of the tops taken off 'em.

But that's a multi-century tree there.

And as you go up the Dragon, you're gonna see many, many more trees of 100, 200, 500 years old.

It's amazing to know how old these trees have been here and what they may have seen in Virginia's history.

>>Now, you are the president of the Friends of Dragon Run, as well as the president of the Old-Growth Forest Network.

What are you trying to accomplish?

>>Very similar missions, but a little bit different.

The Friends of Dragon Run, we're trying to protect this incredible swamp that is renowned, documented by the Smithsonian Institution as one of the key places in Virginia that needs to be protected.

This is our 40th anniversary, and this group started out in 1985 as a few people that wanted to protect that piece of land over there.

Now we're up to about 600 acres.

But we'd like to add more volunteers, more acreage, 'cause we're really focused on protecting lands along the edge of the Dragon for generations to come and generations forever.

>>So, the Dragon Run actually is bordered by four counties.

>>Correct.

>>And the stream is approximately 40 miles long?

>>It's about 40 miles long.

It twists and turns.

It starts out, really, on the border of Essex in King and Queen County, and then works its way down Middlesex, Gloucester, and then into the Piankatank.

So this is the headwaters of the Piankatank, which then flows into the Chesapeake Bay.

>>And you mentioned that you have two segments that are classified as the Old Forest.

>>The Old-Growth Forest Network is trying to protect a property in each county around the United States so people can have an accessible experience in old-growth.

And one of the properties that you're looking at over here is actually in the Old-Growth Forest Network.

So we are very proud of the Friends of Dragon Run that two of our properties are in the Old-Growth Forest Network.

The Old-Growth Network is looking at forests that have reached past the maturity level, are not of uniform age, single species, and have the wonderful complexities you see here.

You see hardwoods, you see softwoods, you see all kinds of understories.

So depending on what the species are in your area of the country, kind of defines old-growth.

But the big thing that defines old-growth today is mature trees and a commitment that you're not going to take those trees and harvest them.

So, to get into the Old-Growth Forest Network, it's that protection of a mature forest and making it accessible.

>>Jeff, why is it so vital that we conserve this beautiful natural resource?

>>The big thing is what you see here.

The big commodity that everybody needs is fresh water.

And it's a challenge because the aquifer is drying up in this section of Virginia.

This water is very important for irrigation for agriculture, very important to protect all these natural species and systems out here.

As we get more people living close to the water and everything, and we have industrial concerns that may want to use water, particularly data centers and everything, there's a challenge to try to make sure somebody's raising their hand and saying, "What about nature?

What about future generations?

>>And that's what you're doing.

>>And make sure we continue to do that.

We like to be a voice to speak for the forest and for the Dragon.

>>Jeff, in meeting you, what I've observed in this short period of time is that your love and your passion for this place.

>>It's fabulous.

>>And the one thing that I know is just a short period of time, I have a better appreciation for old forests and groves.

So I really appreciate everything that you've done and what you've shared with us.

>>We have a great team out here.

We do have a great team.

>>I had the joy of taking a tour of Dragon Run a few years back and was amazed by everything I paddled by.

I applaud the Friends of Dragon Run for all the work they do to manage and protect this delicate ecosystem.

And now we are joined by Greta Hoyt from Manchester Gardening to talk about another type of plant we frequently encounter when looking at big old trees, vines.

Well, Greta, you're another Virginia Home Grown alumni, and we welcome you back to help celebrate our anniversary season.

But before we begin, remember to send in your questions through our website, vpm.org/vhg, or through Facebook.

Well, Greta, you've got a lot of sticks and stuff here.

(laughs) >>I do.

But I want to first talk about how can these vines climb up trees?

>>Yes, and these big old trees that we have.

>>These big old trees.

And what makes it possible is all of these nicks and crannies that they can sink their tendrils and suckers and roots into.

So, if you can see these examples show that it makes it easy for them to climb up.

>>Yes.

They have things to hold onto.

>>So, things to hold onto.

We have English ivy and poison ivy here.

And I wanted to bring this to the attention because a lot of people get them confused for number of different reasons.

But one of the big reasons, English ivy is evergreen.

So, you can see that.

They're in the trees now all over, you know, the James River.

>>Highly invasive.

>>Highly invasive.

And then poison ivy are native, which has dense, matted roots that are much darker than the kind of scat- yeah, short little nubby roots of the English ivy.

This is harder to get off trees.

I mean, they're both hard to get off trees, but this is much easier to get off trees.

>>Yes.

And when that, sorry, when that poison ivy gets really large, it becomes a mass of roots.

Very, very fuzzy.

So it's easy to ID that, >>Yeah.

All the way, fuzzy all the way around.

Whereas English ivy, it's really kind of fuzzy kind of on the bottom of them.

So, for English ivy, when people are trying to get rid of that, we like to cut, you know, a foot or two foot between the trunk and the base of the ground.

And then once it falls off the tree, it kind of gives you this kind of neat little architectural like look.

And it does not have any roots on it.

So, this is English ivy, not poison ivy.

>>Yes, definitely.

Kind of architectural.

>>I think so.

>>Yeah.

Make a nice art project.

But what's one of your favorite vines?

>>One of my favorites is crossvine.

I just love the fall and winter color because it keeps its leaves during the winter, and it gives us these beautiful orange tubular flowers that hummingbirds love in the spring.

>>Yeah.

>>It can be a little aggressive, but it's one of our natives that is beautiful.

>>It is.

I grow it on a fence at my house and I love it.

>>I love it too.

>>And I've grown it, you know, for years at other places too.

So, but then there's this one, this is a very well known one.

>>Yes.

This is our Virginia creeper.

And this little guy grows with tendrils but has like a little sucking disc on it that allows it to really easily grab onto any surfaces, like houses or anything, really.

(chuckles) >>Really anything.

>>Yeah.

Because it can grow on the ground as ground cover and it gives you a beautiful fall color.

So in addition to the beautiful fall color of the poison ivy, we have the beautiful fall color of the Virginia creeper.

>>Virginia creeper.

You know, this one here, a lot of people are saying, you know, we should, you know, use a little more because many of our pollinators love the flower of this plant.

And our birds enjoy the seed as well.

So this and the, you know, crossvine, our Bignonia, are good plants to have.

>>Yeah.

We should use more.

>>In the right spot.

>>Yeah, yeah.

As long as we can kind of keep them under control.

>>Yes.

But this one prunes well.

>>Yes.

>>Very, very well.

So you've got some other ones here.

And this one here, you know, what I really like is the difference in the textures.

And here it is winter time, and we're talking about different vines because vine ID is so tough in the winter time.

It's much easier to ID plants with the leaves.

>>When they're in flower.

>>Yes.

>>Yes, of course they are.

>>But here you've got some characteristics of these two vines that will help you identify them.

>>Yep.

This is our native coral honeysuckle.

As you can see, it's got like striations in the bark.

But this guy is climbing hydrangea, and it's got nice little flaky bark, kind of like river birch, that gives you really interesting winter interest.

It blooms in the summer, kind of like a lace cap hydrangea bloom, almost.

>>It's very pretty.

>>It is very pretty.

And it can grow on trees, much like the form of poison ivy, where it kind of grows up and then kind of sends shoots out like that.

So it looks very similar in that fashion, too.

>>And I find it can grow in shade very well, but it takes a little while longer to bloom.

It has to become established.

>>Yeah.

Well, it takes a long time for it to become established as well.

>>It's a slow grower.

>>It's a slow grower for sure.

>>Unlike the honeysuckle one.

>>Yes.

Where the honeysuckle will grow, I don't know, probably 20 feet in a year, in a season, but give you some beautiful spring and summer blooms for all those little hummingbirds and little pollinators.

>>All those fun little things.

And there's different cultivars that you can buy with different color flowers.

>>Yep, yellow and pink and, yep.

>>It's a favorite of mine.

(chuckles) >>It is for me too.

And I like it when it grows together with roses.

I think that's really fun.

>>Very attractive, which, you know, we need to think about, we're talking here about vines on trees, but many other uses for them as well.

>>Sure.

To provide portals into the next garden space, you know, to make that exciting entryway, you know, transition, that I really like to incorporate into designs.

>>And as a landscape designer, yes, you would.

So, Greta, thank you.

>>Thank you, Peggy.

>>Thank you so much.

And next, we're going to answer more of your questions.

But first, Dr. Robyn Puffenbarger has a tip to share on how you can start growing your own big tree at home.

It starts with the roots.

(upbeat music) >>So how do you get a big tree?

Well, you can start by collecting seeds and nuts.

So here are a couple that you might find around your yard.

And the acorn though, as you can see, has this tiny little hole.

A worm has already gotten in here and eaten the nut.

So this is not gonna sprout to give you an oak tree later.

So if you're not able in fall to collect nuts, what might you do to get your big tree?

Well, you might think about riding down the road to the local nursery and buying a tree.

And what you're going to find, beautiful trees, great looking trunks, awesome looking branches and leaves.

And what may be a little bit off in the nursery is this ratio of three part root to one part stem.

And if you go to the Virginia Department of Forestry, you can find lots of native trees, and they grow over 5 million trees in Augusta County at their Crimora site for Virginians.

And they have a host of native trees that you can find.

I have two species with me today.

I have the northern red oak, which is a tree of our forest all across the state of Virginia, and then I also have with me sycamores.

These might be trees that you have seen on your stream or creek or riverside that has the beautiful white bark.

Really beautiful tree that will tolerate having its feet wet, so it will grow in more marshy, wet spots.

And both of these are available through the Department of Forestry.

And what they are doing is they are gonna grow the tree, and when they're pulling them out for you, you're gonna get this really nice root mass and a much smaller trunk area.

That's so that the tree is going to establish, because it's this root system that's going to get the nutrients and the water out of the soil for this upper canopy.

So what you wanna do is if you are planting this in your yard, if you're putting it in a spot with turf grass, make sure you cut a very large circle, about three feet in diameter.

You're gonna want the tree right in the middle.

You're gonna wanna loosen the soil up and so that you can get these roots all spread out.

You're gonna wanna dig the hole a little bit deeper, several inches at least, deeper than the roots, and then of course, that nice three foot circle.

You're gonna put them into that hole up to this point where the stem meets the root.

And you don't have to amend the soil at all.

These are native trees to Virginia.

So whatever we've got, red clay, nice loamy soil, they'll take it, they're adapted, so don't try to amend your soil.

You just wanna keep the turf grass away, because turf grass, your lawn, and trees are competitors for all kinds of things, especially water.

Once you've got the tree in and up, you may wanna stake it just to kinda keep it straight, and then water it really thoroughly, mulch it, you could use wood chips or other mulch that you have on hand, and just keep the grass away as the tree gets established.

And over the years, you will see that you have a beautiful specimen coming up, and so you can enjoy your tree for years to come.

Happy gardening.

>>As Robyn shared, big trees start with small seeds.

And during this show we're learning other factors play a pivotal role in the process, as well.

And now we're going to take more of your questions, so go ahead and send those in at vpm.org/vhg.

So let's see what we have here.

Well, we've got one here that's, you know, we were talking about favorite vines.

So what are more favorite vines, like Shana, what's your favorite vine?

Do you have one?

>>Yeah, the honeysuckle.

I love pulling it up.

(Shana and Peggy laugh) Get it out of my fence.

>>I get that.

Well, Greta, do you have another favorite?

>>I love Clematis.

I think it's just, it comes in so many different varieties and different temperaments, you know, having to know when to prune which different kind.

It's a challenge for me, so I like that.

>>Yes.

Well, I still love my honeysuckle, 'cause again, it's our native coral honeysuckle.

But on the other hand, I have to admit, I do like a good vining climbing rose still.

I'm sorry, it's my Victorian background, but anyway.

But the next one is how do we remove vines?

And you know, we talk about vines and some we can touch, some we can't.

And you know, so many people have problems.

So Shana, you were saying when you were walking through the woods the other day, when you're at Dragon Run.

>>Yeah, when I was at Dragon Run, I'm looking at a beautiful birch and I go to touch it, but I didn't pay attention to the vines that were wrapping around it and it turned out to be poison ivy.

>>Oh, I'm so sorry.

>>So, no, I was, thankfully I quickly washed my hands.

>>Yes.

>>But still, what if I would've touched my face and the oils and started a crazy reaction?

>>It's kinda like pulling taffy, you know.

>>Yeah, so it's so important for people when they walk through the forest.

Just be careful, you don't, you can't identify it, don't touch it.

>>Exactly, yeah.

Well then how do you suggest people remove poison ivy?

>>We remove a lot of poison ivy and English ivy at Manchester Gardening.

And what we stress to everyone that is in this area is to wear proper protection.

So we provide latex, you know, nitrile gloves, we can do Tyvek suits and Tyvek booties.

And we also stress, you know, not touching your face when you're gardening, period.

You know, you got, use the back of your hand, don't touch your face.

And then when you're taking off, you know, your gloves, taking inside out and taking the Tyvek suit inside out.

So that's how we address that.

>>That's excellent advice.

You can even get a face shield.

>>You can, yeah.

Always wear safety glasses.

Even if you're pulling weeds.

I've gotten so much dirt deflected by safety glasses just from pulling weeds.

>>Absolutely, absolutely, oh my gosh.

>>I just gotta ask a quick question.

>>Sure.

>>Is there an aging thing?

Because I know that now when I'm starting to pull ivy, I'm starting to have a reaction to it, which I didn't have in the past.

>>I don't know.

I notice that my skin's more sensitive, but I, that's just.

>>Okay.

>>I don't know if that's true.

>>I was just wondering, just 'cause I'm getting older.

>>No, I was told that the more you're exposed to poison ivy, the higher, the more that you have a chance of starting to get it, okay?

>>So, yes.

>>Okay.

>>So, sorry, just try to do your best to avoid it.

>>I'll try.

>>We have another question here about tree plantings.

And I'm gonna jump to, you know, our favorite trees.

We're talking about trees and you know, everybody has a favorite tree.

Mine's a sourwood.

I love our native, you know, sourwood tree.

So, do you have a favorite tree, Shana?

>>Yeah, the Georgia Peach.

(Peggy laughs) >>Yeah, I like the product.

>>You like the product.

Talk about true vegetable gardeners.

(Shana and Peggy laugh) (laughter drowns out Shana) >>It's beautiful pink.

Well, how about our landscape design here?

>>My favorite is Southern Magnolia.

>>Ah, the big one or Little Gem?

>>Oh, the big one.

Don't give me a cultivar, I want the straight species.

No, I grew up in a magnolia.

I mean, my next door neighbor, Mrs. Howell, had a magnolia tree.

And as kids, she allowed us to play in it and you know, just grow up in it.

And it's that smell.

It just reminds me of summers in Wilmington.

>>That's excellent.

>>Yeah.

>>Oh wow, she just brought this memory back to my mind, the weeping willow.

>>Ah, yeah.

>>The huge weeping willow that was in my grandmother's yard.

>>Did you hide under it and play?

>>Hide, play, climb, swing.

>>Ah.

>>Thank you.

>>You all were under trees, I was under a forsythia bush.

I was under Augusta on my side, but Mrs. Hal had magnolia.

>>It was a massive 12 foot forsythia bush.

And we cut rooms and we had our little house under there that we played in until Mr. Smith got upset and cut it down 'cause he didn't want us on his property.

We had a blast before that.

But aren't plants wonderful?

Bringing back memories, but also creating memories.

>>[Shanna and Greta] Mm-hmm.

>>Yep.

Every house I have lived in, I've planted one, so hopefully my children will be able to climb in ours.

>>I have to admit, I have, too, I have to admit, I have planted a Southern Magnolia in every house, too.

But when you design and plant, do you specify your plants as individuals?

Or do you put them in groups?

>>Well, it kind of depends.

I mean, if you're trying to foster a lot of habitat for plants, you wanna do groupings of plant materials and layering of plant materials.

But if you have that one client that's like, "I really want a cherry tree," you know, that's fine, we'll do a specimen of that, you know.

But if we're fostering habitat, we would wanna group things together.

>>Yes, how do you address, I mean, I've planted so many trees over the course of my career, you know, just so many.

But I've always put 'em on a public property, you know, public park at Maymont.

But I was just wondering, how do you tell a homeowner, here's this tree, it's gonna be big and beautiful one day, you know, you probably won't see it.

>>But I think that's what, why people plant trees because they have hope for the future.

You know, they have hope that that's gonna provide shade maybe for that next family that moves into that house.

That's what my hope is.

I don't know if that's true or not, but.

>>Or the cherries that I planted, the cherry trees, they'll feed the birds and they'll feed the next generations that come behind me.

>>Mm-hmm, that's very true.

That's very true.

But I think of next generations, too.

People moving into a house, you know, Stephanie Martin has asked, hi Stephanie, my dear friend, how can, you know, what are the best resources to use for people to come and have the trees identified on their yard so that they can then learn how to properly prune.

Which is, pruning an oak is very different from a cherry, even the timing and such.

So what do you suggest, Greta?

>>I mean, you know, we provide, you know, consulting services, but also so does Master Gardeners.

They can come and identify plant materials for you, as well.

I don't think they charge, as well.

>>Yeah, and also your local certified arborist, you know, find my arborist online can hook you into certified arborists that are professionals in their field who would love to come and be able to share information with you, so.

Well, we're out of time.

And Greta, you know, I just thank you for being with us.

>>Thank you, Peggy.

>>Yes, thank you.

And Shana, thank you as always, it's a joy.

>>It's fun, thank you.

>>Yes.

And thank you for watching.

We hope we've inspired you to plant the Champion Tree of the Future.

But remember to sign up for our monthly newsletter at vpm.org/vhg for gardening information and advice from me and other members of the team.

Our Facebook page is also full of gardening tips, so be sure to visit us there, too.

I look forward to being with you again soon.

And until then, remember, gardening is for everyone, and we are all growing and learning together.

Happy Gardening.

(merry upbeat music) (merry music continuing) (merry music continuing) (music fades) >>Production funding for "Virginia Home Grown" is made possible by Strange's Florist, greenhouses, and Garden Centers, serving Richmond for over 90 years with two florist shops, two greenhouses and a garden center located throughout the metro Richmond area.

Strange's, every blooming time.

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