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...
Timing and Choosing Pre-emergent Weed Preventers, Spring and Fall
Pre-emergents (weed preventers) are applied to the landscape to prevent seeds from germinating. The key is the timing. Pre-emergent herbicides MUST be applied BEFORE summer weeds (crabgrass, etc) seed germinate. In general, to get good summer weed control in Atlanta you should apply a pre-emergent on March 1. For winter...
Walter’s Books Make Great Gifts!
Whether it’s a birthday, anniversary, or Christmas coming up, a gardener in your life would surely appreciate a book that describes exactly how to be successful. Consider giving a signed copy of one of Walter’s books! Click here to go to book sales...
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...
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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...
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Dawn Dish Soap (Detergent) – Not Recommended
Q: Why don’t you recommend using Dawn dish soap to help kill bugs and weeds? A: The number one reason I don’t mention Dawn for garden use is that it doesn’t have a pesticide label that permits it. Strictly speaking,...
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Crane Fly – Looks Like Huge Mosquito
Q: We have a lot of these bugs flying around, mating and getting into everything. The research I did points to it being a crane fly. A: You are exactly right: it is a crane fly. It looks very much...
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Large Patch Disease – Zoysia Lawn
Q: When would it be best to put down fungicide for large patch disease on my Emerald zoysia? I want to do my app for spring, but with this variable weather I don’t want to wait to long for large...
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Japanese Maple – Swollen Graft Union
Q: I have this really cool Japanese maple but the trunk is very “swollen”. Is this something I should be worried about? A: As you probably know, most dwarf Japanese maples a grafted onto another vigorous, but not so pretty,...
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‘Cleveland’ and ‘Bradford’ Flowering Pear – Not Recommended
Q: Four of our fourteen Cleveland pear trees have been attacked by the Asian ambrosia beetle (toothpicks of sawdust). The trees are ornamental and do not bear fruit. Should we pull them up to keep from spreading? Can we replant...
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Flea Beetle – On Tatsoi
Q: What’s shotgunning my tatsoi? I’m trying to get an early start to the season. These are in a hoop house. A: This looks like damage from flea beetles. They are common in summer gardens, particularly on eggplant. It makes...
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Pine Trees Severely Pruned on Right-of-Way
Q: This is what it looked like after some right-of-way cutting. The trees were cut at sharp angles like tools for torture instead of being cut off at ground level. Is this normally allowed? Will the trees recover? A: The...
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Fruit Bags – Protect Peaches from Insects and Disease
Q: What do you know about bagging fruit? A: I know that Clemson University is promoting it as a way to grow peaches organically. There are three steps to bagging: Properly take care of your trees to minimize tree stress...
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Slug – on Broccoli
Q: I found these bugs on my broccoli plants. What’s the best way to control them? A: You have a slug, not a bug. A common online remedy for slugs and snails is to press a saucer into the ground...
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Apple – Burr Knot on Trunk
Q: I have black warty growths all over my Fuji apple tree. I think it’s “burr knot”. I’ve removed most of the knots with chisel. Can I save my apple tree? A: I think you have diagnosed the problem exactly...
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Ground Bees – Natural Control
Q: These bees that come out of the ground and make our yard ugly in the spring. What can I use to kill them? A: Wow, that’s a lot of ground bees! I have them too, but I like mine...
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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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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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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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Timing Spring Pre-emergent Herbicide Application on Lawn
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...
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...
Dawn Dish Soap (Detergent) – Not Recommended
Q: Why don’t you recommend using Dawn dish soap to help kill bugs and weeds? A: The number one reason I don’t mention Dawn for garden use is that it doesn’t have a pesticide label that permits it. Strictly speaking,...
Crane Fly – Looks Like Huge Mosquito
Q: We have a lot of these bugs flying around, mating and getting into everything. The research I did points to it being a crane fly. A: You are exactly right: it is a crane fly. It looks very much...
Large Patch Disease – Zoysia Lawn
Q: When would it be best to put down fungicide for large patch disease on my Emerald zoysia? I want to do my app for spring, but with this variable weather I don’t want to wait to long for large...
Japanese Maple – Swollen Graft Union
Q: I have this really cool Japanese maple but the trunk is very “swollen”. Is this something I should be worried about? A: As you probably know, most dwarf Japanese maples a grafted onto another vigorous, but not so pretty,...
‘Cleveland’ and ‘Bradford’ Flowering Pear – Not Recommended
Q: Four of our fourteen Cleveland pear trees have been attacked by the Asian ambrosia beetle (toothpicks of sawdust). The trees are ornamental and do not bear fruit. Should we pull them up to keep from spreading? Can we replant...
Flea Beetle – On Tatsoi
Q: What’s shotgunning my tatsoi? I’m trying to get an early start to the season. These are in a hoop house. A: This looks like damage from flea beetles. They are common in summer gardens, particularly on eggplant. It makes...
Pine Trees Severely Pruned on Right-of-Way
Q: This is what it looked like after some right-of-way cutting. The trees were cut at sharp angles like tools for torture instead of being cut off at ground level. Is this normally allowed? Will the trees recover? A: The...
Fruit Bags – Protect Peaches from Insects and Disease
Q: What do you know about bagging fruit? A: I know that Clemson University is promoting it as a way to grow peaches organically. There are three steps to bagging: Properly take care of your trees to minimize tree stress...
Slug – on Broccoli
Q: I found these bugs on my broccoli plants. What’s the best way to control them? A: You have a slug, not a bug. A common online remedy for slugs and snails is to press a saucer into the ground...
Apple – Burr Knot on Trunk
Q: I have black warty growths all over my Fuji apple tree. I think it’s “burr knot”. I’ve removed most of the knots with chisel. Can I save my apple tree? A: I think you have diagnosed the problem exactly...
Ground Bees – Natural Control
Q: These bees that come out of the ground and make our yard ugly in the spring. What can I use to kill them? A: Wow, that’s a lot of ground bees! I have them too, but I like mine...
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...
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,...
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...
Timing Spring Pre-emergent Herbicide Application on Lawn
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...
