Trip to Italy – May, 2018 – Announcement
I’m hosting a trip to southern Italy on April 14 – 26, 2018! Whenever I’ve mentioned to seasoned travelers a trip to Italy, they get a dreamy look in their eyes and insist “You MUST go to southern Italy in the spring….it is just so beautiful…. and the food is so...
Fescue Planting – 1-2-3
September – October is the BEST time to plant a fescue lawn. I have tips on planting a new lawn or an existing lawn, whether with seed or sod. I also cover what kind of fescue is best. It is not as important as you think it is, but everyone’s...
Plants for Pollinators
Many landscape plants depend on bees and other insects to move pollen from flower to flower. The insects don’t realize they are pollinating the plants they visit – they’re just looking for nectar in the flowers. You can help the flowering plants in your neighborhood by planting a pollinator-friendly flower...
Shrub – Pruning Calendar
The Home & Garden section of the Atlanta Journal and Constitution published a very nice pruning calendar several years ago. When viewed on a sheet of newsprint, it was gorgeous. When reduced to fit onto a sheet of typing paper it was impossible to read. I imagine you didn’t keep...
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...
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Orchid – Scale on Stem
Q: What are these on my orchid? A: They are brown soft scale insects on your plant’s flower stem. Scale insects are typically controlled by three means: killing them with isopropyl alcohol, suffocating the adults with horticultural oil sprays and...
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Cucumber Vine – Flat Stem
Q: This lemon cucumber plant started out with its main stem round. It has now grown six feet long but the stem is rectangular and about 2″ wide. A: Wow…very nice! The phenomenon of abnormally flattened stems is called “fasciation”....
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Pineapple – Dividing and Growing
Q: I have a three year old pineapple plant. It has three babies growing from the bottom of the plant. Should I repot the babies? A: Interesting! A pineapple usually doesn’t make offsets until after it flowers. Despite that, I...
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Coppiced Trees – Weak or Not?
Q: During your radio program you described water sprouts from the base of a ginkgo tree which had apparently perished. Your conversation got me to thinking about a silviculture practice known as coppicing. Coppicing involves the retention and development of...
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Pecan Tree – When to Take Down
Q: During a storm one of the lower limbs broke off my pecan tree. What should I do to save my tree? A: If the tree were out in a field, away from people, I’d say leave it and let’s...
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Can I Prune Loropetalum Bushes Severely?
Q: May we prune our two huge loropetalum bushes severely? They are enormous and I’m ready to have them be short and low to ground. A: Different loropetalum varieties vary widely in size, from eighteen inches tall to fifteen feet...
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Cherry Tree – Should I Prune Dead Limbs Now?
Q: We have two old flowering cherry trees at our church. They have several dead limbs and didn’t bloom very well. Is there anything I should do now to strengthen them before pruning this winter? A: I think no harm...
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Bermuda Grass – Should I Leave It Higher Than In The Summer?
Q: As fall begins, do you recommend leaving the height of my bermuda grass a little higher than how I have cut it all summer? A: Your instincts are good. Giving the grass increased height now will help protect it...
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Japanese Maple – Bulging Area with Suckers
Q: I have a twenty-two-year-old Japanese maple with a bulge on the lower trunk. The tree is lovely but it continuously puts out suckers in this bulging area. Is there any way to stop the suckers? A: You’ve made a...
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Soil Barrier Created By Weed Preventer – Can Rain Dilute It?
Q: Does a large amount of rain dilute the soil barrier created by a weed preventer on my lawn? A: If you spread a weed preventing pre-emergent product before a rain, the active chemical is dissolved by rainwater and then...
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Crinum Plants- When/How Do I Dig Them To Donate To A Habitat House
Q: I have fifteen crinum plants with beautiful foliage but few blooms because they get little sunshine. I really don’t have much sun at all. When and how do I dig them to donate to a Habitat house? A: I...
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Italian Parsley Plant With Black And Green Caterpillars
Q: I found several black and green striped caterpillars on my Italian parsley plant. A: They are swallowtail butterfly caterpillars, sometimes called parsley worms. The butterflies laid their eggs on your plant back in July. Unless you desperately depend on...
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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 (Identifying) 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 Spring Pre-emergent Herbicide Application
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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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...
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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 – 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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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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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...
Orchid – Scale on Stem
Q: What are these on my orchid? A: They are brown soft scale insects on your plant’s flower stem. Scale insects are typically controlled by three means: killing them with isopropyl alcohol, suffocating the adults with horticultural oil sprays and...
Cucumber Vine – Flat Stem
Q: This lemon cucumber plant started out with its main stem round. It has now grown six feet long but the stem is rectangular and about 2″ wide. A: Wow…very nice! The phenomenon of abnormally flattened stems is called “fasciation”....
Pineapple – Dividing and Growing
Q: I have a three year old pineapple plant. It has three babies growing from the bottom of the plant. Should I repot the babies? A: Interesting! A pineapple usually doesn’t make offsets until after it flowers. Despite that, I...
Coppiced Trees – Weak or Not?
Q: During your radio program you described water sprouts from the base of a ginkgo tree which had apparently perished. Your conversation got me to thinking about a silviculture practice known as coppicing. Coppicing involves the retention and development of...
Pecan Tree – When to Take Down
Q: During a storm one of the lower limbs broke off my pecan tree. What should I do to save my tree? A: If the tree were out in a field, away from people, I’d say leave it and let’s...
Can I Prune Loropetalum Bushes Severely?
Q: May we prune our two huge loropetalum bushes severely? They are enormous and I’m ready to have them be short and low to ground. A: Different loropetalum varieties vary widely in size, from eighteen inches tall to fifteen feet...
Cherry Tree – Should I Prune Dead Limbs Now?
Q: We have two old flowering cherry trees at our church. They have several dead limbs and didn’t bloom very well. Is there anything I should do now to strengthen them before pruning this winter? A: I think no harm...
Bermuda Grass – Should I Leave It Higher Than In The Summer?
Q: As fall begins, do you recommend leaving the height of my bermuda grass a little higher than how I have cut it all summer? A: Your instincts are good. Giving the grass increased height now will help protect it...
Japanese Maple – Bulging Area with Suckers
Q: I have a twenty-two-year-old Japanese maple with a bulge on the lower trunk. The tree is lovely but it continuously puts out suckers in this bulging area. Is there any way to stop the suckers? A: You’ve made a...
Soil Barrier Created By Weed Preventer – Can Rain Dilute It?
Q: Does a large amount of rain dilute the soil barrier created by a weed preventer on my lawn? A: If you spread a weed preventing pre-emergent product before a rain, the active chemical is dissolved by rainwater and then...
Crinum Plants- When/How Do I Dig Them To Donate To A Habitat House
Q: I have fifteen crinum plants with beautiful foliage but few blooms because they get little sunshine. I really don’t have much sun at all. When and how do I dig them to donate to a Habitat house? A: I...
Italian Parsley Plant With Black And Green Caterpillars
Q: I found several black and green striped caterpillars on my Italian parsley plant. A: They are swallowtail butterfly caterpillars, sometimes called parsley worms. The butterflies laid their eggs on your plant back in July. Unless you desperately depend on...
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 (Identifying) 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 Spring Pre-emergent Herbicide Application
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...
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...
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 – 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...
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...
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...
