Buy Garden Books for Gifts!
As you probably know, I am the author or co-author of several books about gardening in Georgia. The holiday season is fast approaching! If you’d like to get one of my books to give as a gift, click the link below. I’ll get the order immediately and will inscribe it...
Cuba Trip 2013 – Pictures
I recently returned from my second trip to a country that fascinates me: Cuba. This was a legal “people to people” trip, permitted and sanctioned by the U.S. State Department. Accompanied by 30 equally fascinating travelers, we were able to visit organic gardens, tobacco farms and buildings ranging in age from the...
South Africa and Ireland Trips – 2014
Do you like to travel? Do you like seeing beautiful gardens? Do you like going to awesome places most tourists don’t get to visit? Do you enjoy meeting lively, curious, funny people who enjoy the same things you do? Great! You might be interested in traveling with me and other...
Organic Herbicides (Weed Killer)
Many homeowners want “organic” choices when it comes to selecting weed killers. Fortunately, there are several choices for both selective and non-selective weed control. Vinegar has been touted as a herbicide but the kitchen version is too weak to do much damage. Industrial acetic acid will kill weeds but I...
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...
Evergreen Screen Plant – Fast Growing
Q: A developer is putting multiple homes on the hill across the creek from our back yard. If we are to have any measure of privacy, we need to get something tall and fast-growing planted quickly. A: I visited with...
Canna Lily – Preparing Seed to Sprout
Q: I’m a high school student doing a project for science but I’m having a hard time germinating canna lily seeds. I have tried many things but I did not get any results. A: The seeds will germinate best if...
Red Pine – Growing in Georgia
Q: Will Michigan red pines grow in Georgia? A: Georgia has many microclimates that resemble other parts of the country. Red pine, Pinus resinosa, grows well in Canada and New England so my bet is that it would grow in...
Fescue – Fertilizing Late in December
Q: What is the latest you can fertilize fescue? We had landscaping done in our yard a couple of weeks ago and I wonder if it is too late? A: UGA turf expert Clint Waltz says you need a fertilizer...
Planting Fruit Trees – Too Late in December?
Q: Is December too late to plant raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, and fruit trees? A: You are still well within the time for success in planting fruiting plants. Garden-working weather isn’t great for humans but your plants will have no problem...
Bonsai Soil – Mixing Your Own
Q: Tell me about bonsai tree soil. I’d like to mix my own. A: Bonsai soil is very much different from potting soil. It has much less organic matter and a lot more rock or rock substitutes. Most bonsai enthusiasts...
Buy Garden Books for Gifts!
As you probably know, I am the author or co-author of several books about gardening in Georgia. The holiday season is fast approaching! If you’d like to get one of my books to give as a gift, click the link...
Animal – Making Nest Under Car Hood
Q: Something has used my gardenia for nesting material (which ended up under the hood of my car). What do you think? A: My original answer was: ”It’s gotta be a squirrel! They like twig nests….but I’ve never heard of...
Yoshino Cherry – Repairing Root Damage
Q: I have a Yoshino cherry tree that is showing signs of stress. It’s bleeding amber sap that turns rubbery, goes away, and then returns as a “bubble” of sap. This is in two spots a foot or so above...
Japanese Maple – Leaves Never Turned Red
Q: My beautiful Japanese maple never turned red this year but the leaves turned black. Do you have an explanation? A: My guess is that this joins the phenomenon of “My ginkgo didn’t turn yellow this fall!” I saw brilliant...
Green Material – To Patch Green Lawn
Q: I have seen golf courses use green sand to fill divot holes on their course. How can I make green sand to cosmetically hide small problem areas in my lawn until the grass takes over the spot? A: I...
Engineered Soil – Where to Buy
Q: During a radio show, a caller mentioned his tree was pushing up the brick walk nearby. Walter suggested he might level the walk with “engineer soil”. What is this? I have an area around a long stone walk which...
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...
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...
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...
