© 2025
In touch with the world ... at home on the High Plains
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
KJJP 105.7 FM in Amarillo will be off air on Dec. 3 from 12:30pm to 4pm for maintenance. You can stream live in the player above or on the HPPR APP.
Planting the Plains
Airs Thursdays at 10:30 am CT and Saturdays at 8:35 am CT

Every week, Anthony Reardon presents Planting the Plains, a weekly feature designed to provide the High Plains with timely, yet timeless, research-based, reliable, horticultural information that can assist in bettering everyday lives by easing the burden of troublesome landscape issues.

Each episode will bring a new horticultural, entomological, or wildlife topic to the forefront, furthering practical knowledge on how that topic pertains to the average person, and how that person may need to address such a topic in their own backyard.

To reach Anthony with questions or comments, please send him an email!

Latest Episodes
  • Just because it's cold out doesn't mean you can't be thinking about your garden...or someone else's garden. Help the gardeners in your life with thoughtful gardening gift ideas!
  • At the end of the season, it can be tempting to clean up your entire garden of all detritus from old plants, but leaving the seed pods, plant stems and other materials can have some benefits, and this week, we'll talk about how to make dormancy work for you!
  • You use them all year long to help tend your garden, so why wouldn't you take care of them, and make sure that they can take care of you? I'm talking about your lawn tools, of course, and this week, we'll talk about how you can clean and store yours for the winter!
  • Most of us like to give our plants a treat during the warmer weather, and so we'll bring them outside to soak up some extra sun. But of course, the weather will cool again at some point, and the process of moving a plant indoors and outdoors should be done with some consideration of how the conditions will be changing. We'll talk about a few things to think about in this week's episode!
  • At the end of the season, it's never a bad idea to spend some time reviewing what worked for you and what didn't, and actually making some notes on which varieties overproduced or disappointed you. You won't necessarily remember in future years, and over time, this practice will give you a fair bit of data points on which to help base your future research. We'll talk more about how to keep track of this information in this week's episode!
  • Well, it's that time again, and while no one loves raking the leaves, they do give you some great organic material for your garden, if you bother to handle it properly. This week, we'll review some easy steps to follow in order to get your leaves to turn into good humus, to make the best fertilizer for your spring garden.
  • We're just seeing our first frosts, and now can be a great time to do a bit of pruning on your fruit trees. While it won't make as much difference this year, you can make a difference in preventing disease, as well as ensuring water for the tree over the winter, and also by helping it to survive over the winter. We'll talk more about what you can do in this week's episode!
  • Frost is heading our way with the recent cooler temps, so don't forget that some of the plants in your garden can be harvested early, and ripened off the vine. The best example of this is tomatoes, and we'll talk more this week about how to keep your bounty by not letting the cold spoil it first!
  • Most of us think of the end of growing season as a time to clear the garden, clean the tools, and prep things for spring. But the brave among us will let things go for a while longer...just long enough to get some overnight frost, just before they harvest the last vegetables from their growing space. This lets nature work its magic, and leads to richer and more flavorful crops...not with all garden plants, but with a few veggies that we'll discuss in this week's show!
  • It may not be the first month that comes to mind, but October can be a great time to plant a tree, as it'll have a jump on building its root system once it's spring. This week, we'll talk about a few special considerations to keep in mind, in order for your tree to get off to its best start.