[speaker001:] Okay. Um, what do you do this weekend?
[speaker002:] Well, uh, pretty much spent most of my time either in the yard or at nurseries buying stuff for the yard.
[speaker001:] Huh. Which is, wh-, d-, what do you plan, have planned for your yard?
[speaker002:] Well, uh, we just bought our house, uh, last July, and it's, it, it, the house is forty years old so there's, there's an established lawn and whatnot, flower beds, things like that, but they've, uh, they've gone a few years of neglect.
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] So, we're in the process of, uh, revitalizing the whole situation. We've got, um, different flower beds in front and, uh, a window box, a built in window box, um, trying to get some color back in those, get the trees trimmed up, uh, get rid of a few weed problems and things like that.
[speaker001:] Huh.
[speaker002:] So,
[speaker001:] What part of the state do you live in?
[speaker002:] Uh, I live in Dallas.
[speaker001:] Oh, okay. Okay. My wife and I, we live in Dallas too, so.
[speaker002:] Okay.
[speaker001:] Yeah, just what that area, we're planning on moving to Flower Mound, and we're going to be getting some wheel h-, we're going to have to do a lot of lawn and garden work there.
[speaker002:] Yeah.
[speaker001:] Seems like it. Uh, the place we've been living at, it's, uh, we're, we're just leasing it. The, in Plano, and the soil has so much, has such a high clay content,
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] that, uh, uh, I went to use my dad-in-law's tiller and it about for my arms off,
[speaker002:] I'll bet.
[speaker001:] sockets [LAUGHTER].
[speaker002:] I'll bet.
[speaker001:] I mean just, just scratching two or three inches was just a chore.
[speaker002:] [LAUGHTER].
[speaker001:] It was, it was and then when it gets wet, you know, you don't even want to get out in the yard,
[speaker002:] Right.
[speaker001:] it's horrible.
[speaker002:] Right.
[speaker001:] It's a nightmare. But, um, I don't know what, what i-, um, where you live is there a real high, uh, alkaline or ash content or,
[speaker002:] Yeah, it's pretty high alk-, w-, ac-, actually it's done, uh, it's in the north end of Oak Cliff in, uh, Kessler Park area,
[speaker001:] Yeah, yeah.
[speaker002:] and, uh, we've got about,
[speaker001:] I know right where that's at.
[speaker002:] yeah, we've, we've got mayb-, maybe eight to eight inches to a foot of soil,
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] and then it's solid rock from then on down, so.
[speaker001:] Really.
[speaker002:] Yeah, it's, uh, a little aggravating, [LAUGHTER], we can't, we can't put in anything too big, um, as far as, uh, shrubs and things like that because they've got to get a chance to find the, find the cracks in the rock.
[speaker001:] Golly.
[speaker002:] But, uh,
[speaker001:] Is it, is it limestone under, underneath?
[speaker002:] Yeah, it is. It's, it's solid limestone.
[speaker001:] How do you put trees in there?
[speaker002:] Uh, you just, we're just happy that there's trees already there so far,
[speaker001:] Huh.
[speaker002:] um, anything like that is, is a, uh, major undertaking I guess, uh, sprinkler systems or anything, uh, start to get real expensive because there's an awful lot of work that has to be done chopping through the rock. But, uh, and it, you know, no-, [LAUGHTER], not even, consider, considering a pool or anything like that, that's, that's,
[speaker001:] Oh.
[speaker002:] practically has to be blasted in I guess. But, uh, and it makes, it makes for a, a different challenge, I've never, well, I, I moved to Dallas about five years ago,
[speaker001:] Yeah.
[speaker002:] and, uh, I never really, messed with anything, uh, gardening or anything like that until now, but, uh, I, I keep hearing all the stories of, of different parts of town. In fact, uh, we even, we were at the farmers market yesterday and bought a few tomato plants and things like that,
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] and the first thing the, the old guy there at the stand asked is what part of town we lived in because he said, uh, I've got, I've got a dozen different varieties and each one works in one part of town and that's it, [LAUGHTER]. That's basically what he was trying to tell us.
[speaker001:] Yeah. Oh, yeah, we, we tried planting tomatoes last year and it, they, they turned out pretty poor.
[speaker002:] Yeah.
[speaker001:] I just, I wi-, I just wish I'd known the, [throat clearing], the variety and everything.
[speaker002:] Yeah it,
[speaker001:] But it, it's amazing we also have roses, and, I mean, they just grow so beautifully.
[speaker002:] Yeah, that wou-, in fact, we put in some, uh, some more roses yesterday.
[speaker001:] Like what, um, what type roses?
[speaker002:] Uh, different, uh, a few different, uh, hybrid tea type varieties.
[speaker001:] Oh, hybrid teas.
[speaker002:] Yeah.
[speaker001:] Yeah, we, we have a few, uh, of the real short stem. They're kin-, they're kind of like the bush roses.
[speaker002:] Okay.
[speaker001:] But, uh, I don't know I think it's, I think it only has about five or six more years to go because it's a, it's a really old bush,
[speaker002:] Yeah.
[speaker001:] and but I, I, I'm amazed because the sun is so intense, and the roses just seem to survive just fine there.
[speaker002:] Yeah, that's, we, that's what we're searching, uh, we've got, we've got all the different lake editions around the house and we're, we're kind of experimenting right now.
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] We do, we've got the direct sun in front and the backyard has two great big, uh, spruce and, and an oak tree all about forty to fifty foot tall so the backyard is just complete dark all day long.
[speaker001:] Huh.
[speaker002:] And, uh, we're [LAUGHTER], we're struggling to find something for those areas.
[speaker001:] Yeah. Have you, have you, uh, done, um, done a lot of tree surgeon work on your trees or not?
[speaker002:] No, they're, they're in pretty good condition.
[speaker001:] Yeah.
[speaker002:] Uh, we've been, we've been pretty lucky on that.
[speaker001:] Yeah, just if you want a lot of, you know, light for underneath,
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] that may be the, all right because we had, because we have some, we have some old fruit trees. We have a plum that's just about ready to go,
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] so we may just be getting rid of that but, but our peaches they, they seem to be doing just fine, but they, they really need pruning.
[speaker002:] Yeah.
[speaker001:] It just seems like they, that, that even, you know, pruning once a year is really not enough but the, the way they behave.
[speaker002:] That's true. That's true.
[speaker001:] I don't know. But, uh, but, uh, what kind of, uh, what kind of, what kind of grass are you growing?
[speaker002:] It's, uh, bermuda.
[speaker001:] Bermuda.
[speaker002:] Yeah.
[speaker001:] Yeah. Oh, I've, I've been trying, uh, uh, a mixture of, uh, the bermuda and the rye,
[speaker002:] Okay.
[speaker001:] but I may be working like a fescue in because of, you know, the type of weather. It seems that, uh, bermuda's, bermuda's fine but, um, it looks like it would hold the soil but it really doesn't.
[speaker002:] Right.
[speaker001:] A lot of, a lot silt that comes in it just doesn't seem to hold it very well.
[speaker002:] Yeah.
[speaker001:] But, uh, but the rye does really well. Especially during the wintertime.
[speaker002:] Okay.
[speaker001:] But, uh, but, boy, once it gets over seventy, seventy-five degrees that, it just dries up,
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] shrivels up and dies. But anyway.
[speaker002:] Yeah, it's, uh, [LAUGHTER] there's such a, there's such a difference,
[speaker001:] Yeah.
[speaker002:] through the year. Uh,
[speaker001:] My, my parents-in-law they're, they're building a house into the side of a hill, um, well, it's already been built and everything.
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] They've been living there for about three months now, but, uh, this is out in west Texas,
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] but the, the wind there, has been so bad that, I mean, they've tried to plant grass and they just, [LAUGHTER], have some problems,
[speaker002:] [LAUGHTER] that's it.
[speaker001:] big time problems they just,
[speaker002:] Yeah.
[speaker001:] so they just washing, uh, watching their lawn just blow away.
[speaker002:] [LAUGHTER].
[speaker001:] But it's, it's quite an undertaking. They have about two or three acres of land on lake front property,
[speaker002:] Oh, wow.
[speaker001:] on a, on the side of a hill. It's beautiful, I mean,
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] you can see the house from, you know, miles away, but it's, you know, it's a pretty neat little job but,
[speaker002:] Yeah.
[speaker001:] they save a lot of, they save a lot of energy but just, uh, you know, for them, I mean, they, they're going to have to start gardening. It's going to be from the ground up.
[speaker002:] Yeah.
[speaker001:] The whole way.
[speaker002:] Yeah.
[speaker001:] And they said, well, we just plan on spending the rest of our lives just, [LAUGHTER], getting this property developed.
[speaker002:] [LAUGHTER].
[speaker001:] It's amazing, I mean,
[speaker002:] Yeah.
[speaker001:] they have, have the, all they have are me-, uh, mesquite and cottonwoods,
[speaker002:] Yeah.
[speaker001:] and, uh, it's, it's all on Lake Greenbelt,
[speaker002:] Okay.
[speaker001:] that property out there. And, uh, I don't know, that what they have, they have all the water they want,
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] they can, they can actually, they can pump water, I mean, they have to get permission but they can pump water up from the shore,
[speaker002:] Okay.
[speaker001:] but, uh, that's for like an additional, they have to pay like some kind of fee per year.
[speaker002:] Oh, okay.
[speaker001:] But, uh, they're, uh, right now though I think they're just, they're trying to get the trees planted and everything.
[speaker002:] Sure.
[speaker001:] But, man, I, I just think of all of the money that they, that they're going to have to spend just getting that. But the taxes alone there, Lake Greenbelt and some places, they, they, they really nail them for tax.
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] And, I mean, your talking what, just several hundred dollars a year in property taxes.
[speaker002:] Wow.
[speaker001:] It's, it's ridiculous.
[speaker002:] That really is, it, it would, it seem like it be just the opposite when you get,
[speaker001:] Yeah. No, no, it's not it's, because even though it's far out there, it's just that Lake Greenbelt, you know, they have to, they, they try to do it just from the, selling the water.
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] But, um, the water usage, you know, they try to limit, even though there's three or four streams that flow into it, people still use it enough in, like in towns like Clarendon and other areas that, where they irrigate.
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] They [LAUGHTER], they, they still haven't gotten used to the dry land farming but,
[speaker002:] Yeah, that's true that,
[speaker001:] the ir-, irrigation because it's gotten so bad the past few years, but I don't know I just came back from there and just the air is so dry. I don't see how anything can survive out there,
[speaker002:] [LAUGHTER].
[speaker001:] [LAUGHTER] for long periods of time. Should say my father-in-law says the mesquite trees are, they're, they're pretty smart, they're smart, they're about the smartest tree around. They don't, they don't even start growing until May,
[speaker002:] Yeah, that's true.
[speaker001:] May or April, like after it's been raining for a few months.
[speaker002:] That's true.
[speaker001:] They say the roots have developed so that's all they work on. Just a leafy, they don't do anything.
[speaker002:] Uh-huh. Yeah, that's something I've been, uh, been looking around and noticed all the flowering trees and stuff are,
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] at this time of the year and, you know, we're trying to decide what, what to, what to put on one side of the house and things like that, but there's so many things that they, they last for just a couple of weeks and then it, then it's just a, a bush there from then on. It's kind of, it's kind of disappointing.
[speaker001:] I, I don't know my, my wife and I, we planted on the, on the south side of our, of our house we planted some gardenias.
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] And they did real fine during the summertime it's just, but during the fall when it stopped, when, uh, the rain let off just a little bit it, I mean, it just dried up.
[speaker002:] Yeah.
[speaker001:] And, uh, so I guess, it, these plants they just, they don't, it's like they remain...