How to Use Walter’s New Website
Welcome garden friend! I’m sure you’ve noticed some big changes on my website! My old one was familiar to us all…… but it was based on extremely outdated software and it didn’t give me the options I need to be more interactive with you. And frankly, the old one was...
Why Register on Walter’s Website?
FIRST, AND MOST IMPORTANT: My site is always free and open to anyone to use….but in order to keep the bad guys at bay, if you want to send in a picture or make a comment or list a garden event, I need an email address to make sure you...
How to Use Name That Plant
If you want a plant (or an insect or an animal) identified, you can submit it with the link over there on the right side. You can upload pictures and your notes on where you saw it. Then EVERYONE can take a stab at figuring out what it is. I’m...
Make Suggestions for Walter’s New Website
I hope you’ll feel free to explore here! Play with the tabs, submit some unknown plants and use the Search line. You can email me your comments and suggestions by clicking this link: Walter, here’s what I think about your...
Join Walter on Facebook
See that little blue Facebook icon over to the right? If you click on it you will be taken to the Facebook homepage. I’ve found Facebook to be a great way to send quick garden tips during the week. I try to send one every day or so. If you...
Robotic Lawnmower (LawnBott)
Recently the nice folks at Kyodo America loaned me a robotic lawnmower, a LawnBott, to use on my lawn. In a word, it is fantastic! A small wire is buried around the perimeter of the lawn. When the mower begins...
Deadheading
Since a plant’s goal is simply to reproduce itself, once it has produced mature flowers, it will often stop producing any more. You can eliminate the signals telling the plant to stop flowering by regularly removing faded flowers. Petunias, cosmos,...
Sumac – Leaf Galls
Q: Please help me identify this tree/shrub/plant that we have allowed to grow on our property. This year it has produced a fruit or seed pod. A: Naturalist Shannon Pable says you have a sumac shrub with leaf galls. It’s...
Cypress Vine – Not Blooming
Q: In the past I have collected cypress vine seeds and re- planted each year to have beautiful vines and flowers. This year I wanted to planter boxes and plant so they would grow up a spot where I had...
Buffalobur Nightshade – Identification
Q: I have a plant growing beside my patio that looks like a watermelon plant but has briars. It is a plant not a vine, has small yellow blooms and has small briars on the stem. Has not borne fruit...
May Beetle – Identification
Q: A strip shopping center near my house has been invaded by beetles. They are around a half inch long and hundreds of them are piling up around the base of the walls in giant piles. They seem to be...
Walnut Caterpillar – On Walnut Tree
Q: My husband and I found these worms/caterpillars eating the leaves of a black walnut tree at the edge of our pasture. Later we found the same type of critters devouring the leaves of a black cherry tree. Could these...
Leaf-footed Bugs – On Tomato
Q: Our tomato plants and garden are infested with stink bugs and leaf-footed bugs. Is there an organic pesticide, safe for the environment and pets, that we can use to eliminate these insects? They are ruining our garden. A: Both...
Tomato – Two Toned
Q: I noticed last week that one of my few tomatoes growing on my tomato plant in a pot was two-toned. I’ve never seen one of these before. A: Very odd! My guess is that incomplete pollination caused it. Tomatoes...
Army Worms – Control
“An army travels by its stomach” according to military lore. When a homeowner discovers an army of caterpillars marching across his lawn, devouring the bermuda grass, this aphorism is proved true for the insect world as well! Armyworm caterpillars are...
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. Websites The University of Georgia...
Seasonal Calendar – August
FIRST WEEK Water figs deeply now as they begin to ripen. Harvest every morning, before the birds can do their damage. More details: Growing Figs in Georgia The soil in outdoor clay pots dries out quickly. Poke holes in it...
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 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...
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...
Paulownia (Princess Tree) – Identification
Q: This plant popped up (and how!)and is still growing. What in the world is it? A: In a “Biggest Leaf” contest, the prize almost always goes to either your tree, the paulownia (Paulownia tomentosa) or the Chinese parasol tree...
Yellowstriped Armyworm – Identification
Q: I’ve had great success with my tomatoes this year. Lately we’ve had tomatoes with holes in them and one that I cut open had a green worm on the inside! I believe it to be an Army Worm. Is...
Seasonal Calendar – September
FIRST WEEK Fertilize salvia and chrysanthemums with liquid plant food. They will reward you with lots of blooms later this fall. see Fertilizing Annuals Examine your flower beds for tired out perennials like Shasta daisy, black-eyed Susan and purple coneflower....
Orange-striped Oak Worm
“Here today – gone tomorrow” is an apt description of oak tree branches having a population of orange striped oak worms. These caterpillars are basically a “stomach with legs”, so leaves disappear rapidly during the weeks they feed. The caterpillars...
