Upcoming Trips to Ireland and Cuba – 2014
I get real pleasure from travelling with folks who like to see the world. Going to Callaway Gardens was a real trip when I was a kid! Now I get to see the corners of the globe with gardeners (and spouses!) on trips I plan and host each year. We’re...
UGA Vegetable Gardening Publications
With food prices high, folks have been thinking about growing some of their own food. Food gardening is not hard and it doesn’t have to take much room in your landscape. You can even do it in containers! These gardening publications are available on the Internet or ask for a...
Roundup – Using on Winter Weeds
It is tempting to spray glyphosate (click for sources) on green winter weeds when your lawn grass is brown and dormant. However, bermudagrass is the only turfgrass on which I’d recommend this practice – - and with much caution. The bermudagrass must be completely dormant. Get on your hands and...
Crapemyrtle – Pruning
One of the most confounding arguments I face is whether and how to prune crapemyrtles. They are mercilessly “murdered” by unaware landscapers and homeowners each winter… yet they still bloom in summer. Some people even believe a crapemyrtle won’t bloom unless it is severely pruned. Crapemyrtles do not HAVE TO...
Buy Garden Books!
As you probably know, I am the author or co-author of several books about gardening in Georgia. If you’d like to get one of my books for yourself or to give as a gift, click the link below. I’ll get the order immediately and will inscribe it as you wish...
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Camellia – Wires Embedded in Trunk
Q: I have taken on the monumental task of reclaiming my mother ‘s formal gardens because she has developed Alzheimer’s Disease. I’m concerned for some camellias which have been trained to grow up a shingled wall of the garage. They...
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Cherry Tree – Planted Too Deep
Q: I need your advice on a cherry tree that I planted three years ago. The tree trunk has been developing cracks and some branches are now dead. Can I save the tree? A: It sure looks like it was...
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Citrus Tree – Spider Mites
Q: Our orange tree has been indoors for the winter. The leaves now have a rust-looking deposit on them. It feels gritty when you rub the leaf. What can we do? A: I’m reasonably sure the plant is infested with...
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TifGrand Bermuda – Thinning
Q: In November 2011 we cleared out some of the trees in our backyard, brought in top soil, and created an area that looked something similar to an hourglass. There is a gentle slope from the top of the hourglass...
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Imidacloprid Will Not Kill Spider Mites
Imidacloprid will not control spider mites. Why not? The fact that an effective insecticide will usually not harm a mite seems counter intuitive. After all they are both Arthropods i.e. small creatures with exoskeletons and jointed appendages. Although following this...
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Is It Warm Enough to Plant Vegetable Seed?
Warm afternoons in early spring mightily tempt the gardener to get out and plant something. But though the air is warm, the soil is still cold…and seeds planted in cold soil typically rot before germinating. I found a great resource...
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Upside Down Daffodils
I love to experiment with my plants! When I was asked last fall if planting daffodils upside down would retard blooming, I could envision exactly how to test the hypothesis. I planted two beds of daffodils and divided each bed...
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Italian Cypress – Dead Foliage
Q: My Italian cypress has rust spots and I assume that is some sort of fungus. What do you recommend? A: In my experience Italian cypress is relatively short-lived. It grows wonderfully fast for a few years, looks majestic for...
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Rupturewort – Growing
Q: After searching for a grass-like ground cover that doesn’t flower I found Green Carpet Herniaria glabra Rupturwort on-line. Will it grow well in full sun in Alpharetta? A: I’ve not grown it but it’s listed as being hardy in...
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Butterflies – Identification
Q: I’ve already seen my first butterfly. Is there an easy source to use to identify it? A: Butterflies are exciting to see in a garden. They help pollinate plants but they are beautiful in their own right. I found...
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Cleyera – Leaf Spot
Q: I have some shrubs in front of my house that I keep pruned to about 5 feet tall. They’re 12-14 years old and have always looked great, but this year they have some kind of spot or disease. A:...
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Horseradish – Growing
Q: I bought a horseradish root from the grocery and placed it in a jar of water. I got sprouts! How do I separate the sprouts to give me multiple plants? A: I’d carefully slice down the middle to make...
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Weeds – Identification with Pictures
Weed control in the landscape is a tough business. You have to know a lot about the weed in question just to get started! As in most situations, a picture is worth a thousand words. Go through the sites below,...
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Diagnosing Holes in the Yard
Sometimes many heads are better than one when it comes to solving a problem. Wade Hutcheson, my Extension colleague in Spalding county, gets plenty of calls from the citizens of his area asking his help in identifying various holes in...
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Brown Patch – Diagnosing
You have brown patches of dead grass in your lawn. Is it the common lawn disease ‘brown patch’ or is it something else? The answer is important: if it is brown patch you probably need to spray with a fungicide....
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Bermuda – Weed Control
BASIC INFORMATION: Weed Identification Pictures General Turf and Weed Info Lawn Care Calendars THREE METHODS There are three primary methods of controlling weeds. Any one method, when used alone, will not usually control all of your weeds. To consistently control...
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Lawn – Timing Pre-emergent Herbicide
One of the sourest phrases that can be directed at a child or adult is “I told you so!” Whether you touch a hot match, leave tools out in the rain or lift cinder blocks all afternoon, someone is usually...
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Crapemyrtle – Pruning
One of the most confounding arguments I face is whether and how to prune crapemyrtles. They are mercilessly “murdered” by unaware landscapers and homeowners each winter… yet they still bloom in summer. Some people even believe a crapemyrtle won’t bloom...
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Lawn – Growing in Shade
OK. I admit it. I have given up. I came to the conclusion that grass just would not grow in the corner of my lawn near the ornamental cherry trees. The shade there is so dense that my grass, no...
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Bermuda Grass – Disease – Brown Patch
Brown patch is most prevalent on bermudagrass which has been heavily fertilized when night temperatures are above 68 degrees and day temperature are above 80 degrees. Dead patches of grass may start small but can grow and join together to...
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Lawn – Leveling
A new home in my neighborhood had bermudagrass sod planted in March. By May, one area was a perfect checkerboard of straight lines, composed of weedy plants, surrounding the individual squares of sod. Evidently the sod installers were in such...
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St. Augustine Grass Seed – Where to Buy
Q: Please tell me where I can buy St. Augustine grass seeds. Our lawn has some now and we like it a lot, but we’re having trouble finding seeds. A: You can’t buy St. Augustinegrass seed. The plant is very...
Camellia – Wires Embedded in Trunk
Q: I have taken on the monumental task of reclaiming my mother ‘s formal gardens because she has developed Alzheimer’s Disease. I’m concerned for some camellias which have been trained to grow up a shingled wall of the garage. They...
Cherry Tree – Planted Too Deep
Q: I need your advice on a cherry tree that I planted three years ago. The tree trunk has been developing cracks and some branches are now dead. Can I save the tree? A: It sure looks like it was...
Citrus Tree – Spider Mites
Q: Our orange tree has been indoors for the winter. The leaves now have a rust-looking deposit on them. It feels gritty when you rub the leaf. What can we do? A: I’m reasonably sure the plant is infested with...
TifGrand Bermuda – Thinning
Q: In November 2011 we cleared out some of the trees in our backyard, brought in top soil, and created an area that looked something similar to an hourglass. There is a gentle slope from the top of the hourglass...
Imidacloprid Will Not Kill Spider Mites
Imidacloprid will not control spider mites. Why not? The fact that an effective insecticide will usually not harm a mite seems counter intuitive. After all they are both Arthropods i.e. small creatures with exoskeletons and jointed appendages. Although following this...
Is It Warm Enough to Plant Vegetable Seed?
Warm afternoons in early spring mightily tempt the gardener to get out and plant something. But though the air is warm, the soil is still cold…and seeds planted in cold soil typically rot before germinating. I found a great resource...
Upside Down Daffodils
I love to experiment with my plants! When I was asked last fall if planting daffodils upside down would retard blooming, I could envision exactly how to test the hypothesis. I planted two beds of daffodils and divided each bed...
Italian Cypress – Dead Foliage
Q: My Italian cypress has rust spots and I assume that is some sort of fungus. What do you recommend? A: In my experience Italian cypress is relatively short-lived. It grows wonderfully fast for a few years, looks majestic for...
Rupturewort – Growing
Q: After searching for a grass-like ground cover that doesn’t flower I found Green Carpet Herniaria glabra Rupturwort on-line. Will it grow well in full sun in Alpharetta? A: I’ve not grown it but it’s listed as being hardy in...
Butterflies – Identification
Q: I’ve already seen my first butterfly. Is there an easy source to use to identify it? A: Butterflies are exciting to see in a garden. They help pollinate plants but they are beautiful in their own right. I found...
Cleyera – Leaf Spot
Q: I have some shrubs in front of my house that I keep pruned to about 5 feet tall. They’re 12-14 years old and have always looked great, but this year they have some kind of spot or disease. A:...
Horseradish – Growing
Q: I bought a horseradish root from the grocery and placed it in a jar of water. I got sprouts! How do I separate the sprouts to give me multiple plants? A: I’d carefully slice down the middle to make...
Weeds – Identification with Pictures
Weed control in the landscape is a tough business. You have to know a lot about the weed in question just to get started! As in most situations, a picture is worth a thousand words. Go through the sites below,...
Diagnosing Holes in the Yard
Sometimes many heads are better than one when it comes to solving a problem. Wade Hutcheson, my Extension colleague in Spalding county, gets plenty of calls from the citizens of his area asking his help in identifying various holes in...
Brown Patch – Diagnosing
You have brown patches of dead grass in your lawn. Is it the common lawn disease ‘brown patch’ or is it something else? The answer is important: if it is brown patch you probably need to spray with a fungicide....
Bermuda – Weed Control
BASIC INFORMATION: Weed Identification Pictures General Turf and Weed Info Lawn Care Calendars THREE METHODS There are three primary methods of controlling weeds. Any one method, when used alone, will not usually control all of your weeds. To consistently control...
Lawn – Timing Pre-emergent Herbicide
One of the sourest phrases that can be directed at a child or adult is “I told you so!” Whether you touch a hot match, leave tools out in the rain or lift cinder blocks all afternoon, someone is usually...
Crapemyrtle – Pruning
One of the most confounding arguments I face is whether and how to prune crapemyrtles. They are mercilessly “murdered” by unaware landscapers and homeowners each winter… yet they still bloom in summer. Some people even believe a crapemyrtle won’t bloom...
Lawn – Growing in Shade
OK. I admit it. I have given up. I came to the conclusion that grass just would not grow in the corner of my lawn near the ornamental cherry trees. The shade there is so dense that my grass, no...
Bermuda Grass – Disease – Brown Patch
Brown patch is most prevalent on bermudagrass which has been heavily fertilized when night temperatures are above 68 degrees and day temperature are above 80 degrees. Dead patches of grass may start small but can grow and join together to...
Lawn – Leveling
A new home in my neighborhood had bermudagrass sod planted in March. By May, one area was a perfect checkerboard of straight lines, composed of weedy plants, surrounding the individual squares of sod. Evidently the sod installers were in such...
St. Augustine Grass Seed – Where to Buy
Q: Please tell me where I can buy St. Augustine grass seeds. Our lawn has some now and we like it a lot, but we’re having trouble finding seeds. A: You can’t buy St. Augustinegrass seed. The plant is very...
