- Hi, thanks for joining us for The Family Plot: Gardening in the Mid-South.

I'm Chris Cooper.

Pruners, loppers and handsaws are for small branches, but for the big stuff, you need a chainsaw.

Today we're going to learn how to safely use one.

Also, boxwood is an iconic landscape plant.

That's just ahead on The Family Plot: Gardening in the Mid-South.

- (female annoucer) Production funding for The Family Plot: Gardening in the Mid-South is provided by the WKNO Production Fund, the WKNO Endowment Fund, and by viewers like you, thank you.

[upbeat country music] - Welcome to The Family Plot.

I'm Chris Cooper.

Joining me today is Wes Hopper.

Wes is a certified arborist and Joellen Dimond will be joining me later.

Wes, always good to have you on the show.

- Glad to be here.

- Today we're gonna talk about chainsaw safety.

How important is that?

- It's extremely important if you have the need to cut wood.

- Okay.

- And we're in the season for cutting firewood.

- Yes.

- A lotta people are gonna be going to Lowe's or Home Depot or their local hardware store, and they're gonna buy a chainsaw, possibly, and cut firewood.

- And you said something earlier that I must repeat.

- Okay.

- Chainsaws don't come with directions, right?

- Not good directions.

- Not good directions [laughs].

- It says, "Pull the cord and start."

- Oh gosh.

- Yeah.

- Need a little bit more than that.

- Need a lot more than that.

- Okay, well can you get us started then?

- I can.

Here on the table here, I've got a variety of different chainsaws, two older models, and then in the importance of abandoning the use of the older models, because of the lack of safety apparatus on it.

And they're so heavy.

- They're definitely heavy.

- Here is an old, and these saws do run by the way.

This is an old Sears Poulan model.

What you have here is no chain brake.

So in the event that this would kick backwards, and I'll explain that, you don't have any way of stopping this chain, and it could cut you- - Oh, wow, okay.

- If it's used improperly.

- Right.

- Same with this little guy.

This is a 1975 model STIHL, but we don't use these anymore.

Again, no chain brake.

This one here has actually almost cut me before.

I used it, I was using it properly, but I was getting tired.

- Ah.

- And I recognized the fact that I was getting tired.

So I turned it off, and I put it back in the truck.

- And then like you mentioned before, these are heavy.

- They are extremely heavy, but I used these for years.

You know, I was a professional tree climber for most of my career.

So swinging through the trees with a chainsaw was my job.

- Wow, my goodness.

- I never got cut so, bad.

- Thankfully, right?

- Yeah, and listen, you gotta keep 'em sharp, too.

- Okay.

- Okay, you'll see this one here is, it's more like a newer version of these, but here you have a chain brake.

See, if it kicks back.

- Gotcha, okay.

- And there's one thing about this chainsaw.

It's not really meant to be used this way.

This is the way that you properly hold this chainsaw, okay?

[brake clicks] Brake off, brake on.

- Right, okay, gotcha.

- And you'll notice that this has a sleeve on it.

That's not only to protect you or your, but it's to help protect these teeth on this chain.

'Cause you want a good sharp chainsaw.

- Okay.

- Cutting with a dull, it's just like when your grandpa teaches you about using a knife.

He says, "You want a sharp knife."

- Right.

- 'Cause a dull knife'll cut you quicker than a sharp knife, because you gotta put more force into your cutting.

- Okay, makes sense.

- And it kinda be the same way with a chainsaw.

- Okay.

- Okay, again, here is a, more of a homeowner model.

So your homeowners, you know, like the young man that bought a new home, you know, he's got some acreage and he wants to cut some trees down, get some clearance.

- Okay, so that's ideal for that.

- A little overgrown, so this would be ideal for that.

- All right.

- Again, chain brake, and so on.

This one here, we're stepping up a little bit.

- Yeah, that's a big boy.

- This has some high, a lotta power right here.

- Right, I bet you.

- All right, this is not a typical homeowner saw.

It's heavy, and it's meant to work.

[Chris laughs] And it's meant to work all day.

- Okay, I like that, it's meant to work.

So what about the size trees for each one of the chainsaws?

- Oh yeah, this would be more for, you know, this is what, a 24-inch bar?

This is like a 16-inch bar, twelve inch, twelve inch and sixteen.

So obviously, with a 12-inch bar or 14-inch bar, it's gonna be more for a tree like this size here.

- Okay.

- Now, if you don't always have to use the chainsaw, so I always keep a variety- - That's pretty cool.

- Of different saws.

[blade rattles] This is for the professional.

[Chris laughs] I have cut plenty of trees down with this handsaw.

So you don't always have to have a chainsaw to do your job.

And then for pruning, got larger, coarser teeth on this handsaw, finer teeth for fine pruning, and then all the way down to- - Oh yeah, gotta have those, right?

- Don't leave home without 'em.

- Yes.

- Don't leave home without 'em.

Hey, a good master gardener always carries a-- - That's right, that's right.

- Good pair of pruners.

- Got to have that, and make sure they're sharp too, right?

- That's right.

- All right, so any other safety items- - Safety, yes.

- That we need to talk about?

Okay.

- This helmet here comes equipped with a face shield, ear muffs.

- Nice.

- Remember, these chainsaws are loud, and if you're running it for a long period of time, by the end of the day, your ears are probably gonna be ringing.

- Yeah, yeah.

- So, this is an option.

[fingers tapping] This is an option, [Chris laughs] for hearing protection.

These are basic expandable earplugs.

You just wad 'em up and stick, put 'em in your ears, and it helps.

I've had plenty of these types of ear muffs.

I keep breaking 'em, you know, carrying a lot of tools and- - Okay, gotcha.

- Yeah, or these right here, if you lose 'em, it's $2.

- Oh, okay, good investment.

- Yep, and this hard hat here- - Hard hats.

- And back up and, these are all rated for, you know, by ANSI standards, American National Standards Institute.

- Okay.

- And they have to be tested, tried and proven to be used in the field of tree care.

- Gotcha.

- This one here is made out of Kevlar.

This is the same material that, [fingers tapping] the firefighters' helmets are made out of.

- Okay.

- Because this is actually a brush firefighter's helmet.

- Okay.

- I usually always have my hard hat on.

- Always have the hard hat.

- Yes, along with that, I mentioned the face shield.

This is one of my grandchildren's socks.

[Chris laughs] It works perfect- - That's not it, okay.

- For my safety glasses.

- Ah.

- These are clear, and on the real sunny days, I have some darker ones.

So if I'm looking up a lot, the sun's not gonna- - Gotcha.

- Blaze my eyes.

I will mention this.

When you're working outside, it's important to have your safety glasses.

- Okay.

- Especially if you're looking up in the trees a lot, and this is information for maybe a professional tree climber.

Your eyes can get sunburned.

My eyes are permanently sunburned.

- Wow, okay.

- From the, just from looking up for so many years, training tree climbers and you know, rigging and looking up a lot.

- Okay, wow, didn't realize that.

Good information there.

- These, they're wrapped up because if you leave 'em in your truck, you leave 'em on your shelf, then they're gonna get scratched.

- Okay.

These, you notice, are a different color.

- Yeah.

So these kinda, you can see on a cloudy day, but it still reflects the sun from your eyes.

- Okay.

- So.

- Wow, and they look good on you, Wes, it's good.

How 'bout that [laughs]?

- Good, gotta have somethin' to make me look good.

- So now we'll get to the first aid kit, right?

- Yep, almost to the- - 'Cause you gotta have that.

- First aid kit.

- Almost, okay, almost to the first aid kit.

- All right, one of the more important.

- One more.

- I got a chart that will tell you, I didn't make the chart.

but it lists the numbers of accidents annually with professionals- - Okay.

- The number of fatalities with professionals, and it also lists the number of homeowners' accidents, and fatalities as well.

- Okay.

- That's information that's put out by the Safety Institute.

But the two number one places that people get cut with chainsaws is on the thighs- - Ah, I can see that.

- And in the shoulder.

- Okay.

- Or the, yeah, thighs and the shoulder.

This is to protect your legs in the event that you're running this chainsaw.

Now, it's got buckles that go all the way around.

- Right, I see.

- And if we were to cut a tree today, I'd make sure that I got all my safety apparatus on.

- Okay.

- So they're cutting, and the chainsaw goes across the leg, just like so.

Or they're one-handing, drops it, and- - Right.

- Hits the leg, so- - Ah, okay.

- So chaps, this is also made of a material similar to Kevlar.

And sometimes it is Kevlar.

But when that chain gets caught up in here, the fibers get pulled out, and it wraps up inside the sprocket of the chainsaw and shuts it off so it doesn't cut anymore.

- Okay, got it.

- Instead of steadily runnin'.

- Got it.

- It just pulls this apart.

Now once it does that, you gotta toss these and buy another pair.

- Okay.

- But compare a $70 pair of chaps to your leg.

- No comparison, yeah.

- All right, two final things, is one is to keep a cell phone handy.

Say like, if you do twist an ankle or something while you're running a chainsaw, you can make, pick up the phone and call somebody and say, "Hey, I need a tractor."

- Right.

- You know, or, "I'm out in the field."

- Right.

- Water.

- Gotta have a little water, stay hydrated.

- Gotta stay hydrated.

You gotta remember, you're working hard.

You're not keeping up with what time it is, or how long you've been doing it, and go home and your back hurts.

[Chris laughs] You wanna drink some water.

The more water you drink, the better you'll be.

This should be your friend.

- Mm-hm.

- Everybody should have a first aid kit in their vehicle, truck, home, wherever.

But this, you know, I mentioned the ANSI standards.

This is rated by ANSI.

So we have BAND-AIDS all the way up to a stop bleed kit in here.

So if you have to immediately put something on that wound, you'll want to have a bleed kit handy.

- Want that, yeah, definitely need to have that on site with you, right?

- Yes, 'cause remember, this is a very dangerous piece of equipment.

[Chris laughs] The most dangerous hand tool sold on the market.

- Well Wes, we appreciate that good information about chainsaws.

- Yep.

- Thank you much, man- - Absolutely, I think- - Appreciate that.

- It's needed information.

- Oh yes, very much needed.

Well, thank you much.

- Yes.

[upbeat country music] - Fall is here, and the Bermuda grass and zoysia grass is going dormant now.

And people think that's a good time to fertilize your grass now.

But with Bermuda grass and zoysia grass, this first number here, nitrogen, no nitrogen fertilizer this time of the year because it going dormant.

You wanna make sure it don't get no growth on it this time of the year.

Phosphorus and potassium is good for your Bermuda grass now, 'cause it's good for the root system.

And this is a good time to do a soil test to make sure that you need to add these numbers to that.

But for your fescue lawn, fall is a good time to start fertilizing it now, because it begin to grow now.

And on the bag of fertilizer, we see a complete fertilizer, with all three numbers, maybe 13-13-13, 12-12-12, 6-12-10.

But you got a complete fertilizer right there with the fescue lawn now.

It begin to grow now.

See all that green folks' lawn now?

That what they have.

But the grass start turning brown, you got Bermuda grass and zoysia grass.

Hold back on your nitrogen fertilizer.

Give it phosphate and potassium.

And it good for the root system, and also help fight off diseases.

[upbeat country music] - Hi Joellen, let's talk about boxwoods, right?

Popular shrub, it seems like everybody has a boxwood shrub at home, doesn't it [laughs]?

- Yes, everybody's got boxwoods.

- It seems like it.

- The scientific name for the genus is Buxus.

- Uh-huh.

- Of course, you know, the one thing that's great about boxwood is that they're evergreen.

So they stay green all year long.

- Right, that's good.

- And of course they have small leaves, so they're considered a medium to fine-textured plant in the landscape.

- Okay.

- And they've been a staple for many years.

Flowering, they do flower.

Now it's, you don't really see the flowers, but sometimes some of the varieties are fragrant, so you can smell them when they bloom.

And it's usually March to April that you smell that.

- Okay.

- Planting it, how do you plant boxwood?

Oh my goodness.

- Yeah, tell us how, now.

- They like well-drained soil.

- Well-drained.

- Well-drained.

- Not wet feet.

- Not, no wet feet.

- Okay, well-drained.

- They prefer even soil moisture, but after they have been established, they will take some drying out.

Which when you think about it, think of old homes that have huge boxwoods in front of them, you know, around the United States.

They don't really have irrigation systems on those, but yet they are still there.

And some of them are as old as the house.

- Right, okay.

- So, you know, they do well in the landscape.

- Okay.

- But that's, we want to keep that in mind when we talk in another minute.

They like, when I say they like well-drained soil, now that means that they can get some diseases when they get too wet.

- Sure.

- So some diseases that are associated with them are root rot, foliar diseases, spots, cankers, blight, and the new one that's out there called boxwood blight.

Now, there's a way to get around boxwood blight.

They're doing a lot of quarantine now.

So hopefully everything that you find at a nursery has got a certificate with it saying it's boxwood blight-free.

- I hope so.

- So that's the hope that that is.

- 'Cause it has been found here in Shelby County.

- It has been found, yes.

- Right, it has been found.

- But it's been brought in from other areas.

- Right.

- But if you already have boxwood, that's when I would be concerned about bringing new boxwood in, and I might want to quarantine 'em for a little while just to make sure.

But if they have the certificate on hand, that's gonna be the best way.

- Okay.

- They also have insect problems [laughs].

- Well, it sounds like they have a lot of problems there, goodness.

- They have mealy bugs, they have scales, they have boxwood mite, and boxwood leaf miner.

But those are very easily controlled if you get them.

And the most places that I have found the insect problems on 'em are places that are irrigated, just like you have the disease problems.

So I have mine, but mine are not irrigated.

And I don't seem to have- - Neither are mine [laughs].

- Any problem with mine.

- I don't have any problem.

- So, I just prefer that.

But one thing you've got to remember is boxwood are shallow-rooted.

They are surface rooters.

And so you're really not supposed to disturb them.

So if you plant a boxwood, don't put it next to an annual bed that you're gonna continually dig in.

- Right, makes sense.

- Because then that's going to keep disturbing the root system.

They don't like the root systems disturbed.

So that goes back to what I was talking to you about before, the estates.

You know, they have the boxwoods out front.

There's nothing else around them.

They're not having their roots disturbed.

- It makes sense.

- So that's the one thing to remember about boxwood.

- Okay, shallow rooting.

- Now, there's a couple of different types of boxwoods.

There's one called microphylla.

And that's usually considered all of the Korean boxwoods.

The little leaf boxwoods and the the Japanese boxwoods seem to come from that family.

- Okay.

- And that genus and species.

They like, they also are more cold-hardy than some of the others.

They can go down to Zone 4, and 6 and 7 is where it likes to live, but it'll even go to Zone 9.

So, I mean, it's got the widest range of, for a boxwood, for it to live in.

And they, of course, you're supposed to get three to four feet round, but you know, they'll get bigger than that.

But now the boxwood, the sempervirens, this is the one, this is the common boxwood.

It is the one we most think of when we think of boxwood, and it can get 15 to 20 feet.

- My goodness.

But then, there's a lot of the dwarf boxwoods they call English boxwoods, and they come from the sempervirens line.

- Okay, yeah.

- So they're all related.

And that's the ones I have here.

These are mine.

They've been in the ground for 18 years, and they are still under 18 inches tall.

- Okay.

- So they are slow growing.

The sempervirens is a slow-growing boxwood.

And now this particular one here is a upright form.

It grows in a slender column, which I've put in a container.

So it does really well.

And you see how nice and green these are, and they don't have any disease or bug problems because I don't have irrigation.

And I do water them during drought, but I don't, you know, water them continually.

So they don't have- - How about that?

Look at Joellen, look at that.

These look nice.

- Yeah, and see, this one's really- - You're taking good care of your boxwoods.

- Tiny, tiny leafed boxwood here.

- Yeah, it really is.

They do very well.

And I've been very pleased with them.

So I've never had a lot of problem with boxwood.

- Yeah, these look good.

- So I like the boxwood.

- Now I'm gonna ask you about pruning, because of course we know the practice.

Most people like to sheer 'em into meatballs and things like that.

- No, no.

- So what do you think about that?

- Well, like I did with these, you see this, I cut this at where another one of these branches.

See, I would cut this again right here.

- Which is the correct way to do that.

- And I trim mine a lot around the holidays, 'cause I use them for decorations.

Or if I need a flower arrangement, and I'll cut some of these for the greenery in there.

That's the only time I usually prune them.

Now I did, because of the boxwood blight, I was looking at my boxwood and I decided to trim them a little bit.

And I said, "You know, all these nice," and I'm thinkin' this too.

"These are nice cuttings.

What I would like to do is strip these, put some rooting powder on this, and stick it in some moist soil and leave it for awhile, and it will root."

So I have done that too.

And you know, if you have boxwood and you want to propagate them, that would be a way to- - That a good way to do it?

- To do that.

- How 'bout that?

It's good stuff, Joellen, we appreciate that.

We need to come out to your place and see these.

- It's beautiful.

- 'Cause these look beautiful.

- Thank you.

- Thank you again.

[gentle country music] - When you're preparing to cut down a tree, you want to make sure that it goes in the direction that you want it to go in.

So it's real important to understand the lean of the tree.

This tree behind me, this Virginia pine, appears to be standing straight up.

From your angle, from where the audience is, it looks like the tree is standing straight up.

But let's make sure.

I have a method of looking at the tree, and doing a three-point walkabout, and looking at the trunk of the tree to determine which way it's actually leaning.

So I'm gonna step over here and take a look.

First point is looking straight up here.

It just about looks like it's standing straight up from where I'm at.

Come over here on this side, it looks like it's leaning that direction.

So let's look at it from one more direction, back here.

So this tree is definitely leaning that direction.

Now that we've determined the tree is leaning due south, we know that the tree is going that direction, deeper notch, back cut, and we're good to go.

[gentle country music] - All right, Wes, here's our Q&A segment, you ready?

- I'm ready.

- These are great questions.

- They are.

- So let's go, question number one.

"Last year, our 10-year-old Japanese maple "had several limbs that did not leaf out.

"I pruned them off.

"This year several more did not leaf out.

"It sits under a Bradford pear, "and does not get much sunlight.

"I can find no critters on the bark or the leaves.

"Why are some limbs of my Japanese maple not leafing out?

Is this a bad site to plant a replacement Japanese maple?"

This is Robert in Tennessee.

So Wes, a couple of things here.

Let's start with this.

It sits under a Bradford pear.

What do we think about that [laughs]?

- Yeah, well, the Bradford pear probably should be removed.

- Oh, okay.

- Not probably, but should.

- Should, right.

- 'Cause it's an invasive species.

It's the bane of trees that were planted.

- Sure.

- They're here, we have to deal with them, but I'm not gonna have one in my yard.

- Right.

- That's number one.

- That's number one, remove it.

- And number two, I'm not totally sure about this, but that Bradford pear could be producing chemicals into the soil that prohibits other trees from growing around it.

- Right.

- So that's number two.

- It's allelopathic.

- Allelopathic, yes.

- Allelopathic properties, okay.

- The chances are, it's gonna be something more mechanical.

It could be like some girdling roots or something on the tree, and it's just causing the tree to go into decline.

It could be sun scorch, or something else.

So the limbs that aren't leafing out are probably not gonna leaf out, so I think we may have a loss of a Japanese maple here.

- Loss of a Japanese maple.

- Yeah, but do not plant- - So you wouldn't- - In the same spot.

- Right, so I was gonna ask you that.

So you wouldn't plant it, okay.

- No, no, it wasn't successful in that spot.

I don't think I would try it twice.

- Okay, so there you have it, Robert.

I would not try it twice.

Huh, yeah.

[Wes laughs] Japanese maple is a beautiful tree.

I want it to be somewhere else.

- I love Japanese maples.

I have, yeah- - Let it be a focal point, If you could, yeah.

- I have two, in my yard.

- Robert we thank you for that question.

Here's our next viewer email.

"I have a weeping Atlas cedar.

"It is not a common tree.

"I just noticed white sap and stress cracks "while weeding near the trunk.

"I planted the tree 15 yearsmago.

"It is my garden focus.

"I tried looking it up on the internet, "and most said to ask an arborist."

- Mm-hm, I love- - "What should I do?"

And this is Stephanie from Memphis, Tennessee.

So Ms. Stephanie, this is what we're gonna do.

We're gonna ask an arborist.

So, Wes, what do you think about that?

- Judging by the pictures, it looks like I'm looking at compressed wood.

You know, it may be from the, you know, we had a couple winters when the ice put a lot of weight on the trees, all right?

Like the saucer magnolias that are out in front of my office.

It took me a little while to observe it.

But after the tree continued to grow, I could see where that wood was compressed.

And, that's where, it's the damage, the vascular tissue was damaged.

- Okay.

If you notice in the pictures, there's a bend right there.

- Yes there is.

- And there's a bend in the second picture.

So I'm going to make a strong assumption that that's compressed vascular tissue, and it's caused some small lesions in that area.

- Okay.

- And so the sap is gonna try to protect itself and ooze out of those areas.

- Okay.

- Now the two other things it could be, which I don't think they are, one would be disease, which if you look at, if you compare this to a, like a spruce or something, then you'd get that cytospora canker in the lower part of the tree.

- So I was gonna mention canker is one option.

- Yeah, this doesn't look like canker to me.

- Okay, good, good.

- I don't see pustules on here.

- What about any insect damage?

I know- - I don't see any borer holes.

- Okay, I was thinking borers, weevils- - Yeah.

- Something else, okay.

- If I had to look at the history that we've had the last couple of years, I'm gonna go with compressed wood.

- Okay, sure, now is there anything that they can do about that though?

- Not really.

- Okay.

- Not really, just keep an eye on it.

There is a weeping Atlas cedar at the Botanic Garden.

I don't know what happened to it, but one part of it died.

The other half is still living, but I don't have an explanation for that.

- Sure, sure.

- Usually Atlas cedars are pretty tough in this area.

- Yeah, they're slow growers.

- Slow growth, they're beautiful.

- They're beautiful though.

- Yeah, there's some real beautiful ones at the Memphis Pink Palace too.

- Okay, didn't know that.

- Yeah.

- Okay, all right.

So we did ask our certified arborist.

Hope that helped you out.

All right, so here's our next viewer email.

"What is the most I can trim off my crape myrtles without permanently damaging them?"

Thank you, Rob from Johnson City, Tennessee.

And I know you like those questions about the crape myrtle, don't you [laughs]?

- I do, I do, and- - So what do you think?

That's a pretty good-sized crape myrtle too.

- As far as this crape myrtle goes, I'm not a tree topper.

Mr. Hopper ain't a topper.

[Chris laughs] So here's how I treat crape myrtles.

I selectively go in and I take out the stalks that aren't needed.

This one here appears to have a lot of unnecessary growth in there.

So I'd start with the bottom, what I could get with a handsaw, and then step away from it for a minute, take a look at the canopy, and do some little touch-up pruning.

So a crape myrtle's gonna respond well.

- Okay.

- And Johnson City probably has a little bit colder temperatures than we have here in the winter times.

So I wouldn't be trying to take off too much, of the upper canopy.

So I'd just go in and clean it out where you can see through it, and it doesn't look like a bush, but it looks like a tree.

- Right.

- So selectively choose the stems that you want to remain.

- Okay.

- And the ones that contribute to that upper canopy the most.

- And that's what you're looking for, right?

- That's what I did with the crape myrtles at my office.

- Okay, and you did that for us as well.

I remember that.

- I did.

- Yeah, I sure do remember that.

So Rob, there you have it, from our certified arborist.

Hope that helps you out there.

Wes, that was good.

- Thank you.

- It was fun.

Thank you much.

- Always fun.

- All right, thank you.

Remember, we love to hear from you.

Send us a email or letter.

The email address is questions@familyplotgarden.com.

And the mailing address is Family Plot, 7151 Cherry Farms Road Cordova, Tennessee, 38016.

Or you can go online to familyplotgarden.com.

That's all we have time for today.

Thanks for watching.

If you want to learn more about taking care of, or using a chainsaw, head on over to FamilyPlotGarden.com.

We also have more information about boxwood shrubs there too.

Be sure to join us next week for The Family Plot: Gardening in the Mid-South.

Be safe.

[upbeat country music] [acoustic guitar chords]