Costa Rica Trip – 2012
I had a great time with a group of 38 folks, including gardeners, spouses and friends, on a trip to Costa Rica in January 2012. We visited gardens, rode zip lines, stayed in fabulous hotels and saw innumerable bromeliads and orchids plus the jungle-like rain forest. I had so much...
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...
Planting Pansies
Few plants create color in a winter landscape better than pansies. Given a mid-October planting, pansies laugh at temperatures in the ‘teens. They are even known to bloom after a winter snowstorm. Growers produce 50 million pansies each year for the North Georgia market. Now is the time to concentrate...
Fescue Planting – 1-2-3
It is not as important as you think it is, but I know your first thought is what fescue seed to buy. Read this: Choosing a Fescue Variety and then come back. Even in a drought, fescue can be planted IF THE SEED HAS GOOD SEED TO SOIL CONTACT. The...
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 you quick garden tips during the week. I try to send one every day or so. If...
Costa Rica Trip – 2012
I had a great time with a group of 38 folks, including gardeners, spouses and friends, on a trip to Costa Rica in January 2012. We visited gardens, rode zip lines, stayed in fabulous hotels and saw innumerable bromeliads and...
Deer Resistant Vegetables and Herbs
Deer Resistant Vegetables and Herbs taken from NW Farms and Food If you want to minimize deer damage in an open garden, its best to start with plants that deer don’t like. Deer will “browse” on most anything when wild...
Hican – Identification
Q: What is a hican? A: According to Arty Schronce at the Georgia Department of Agriculture, pecans and hickories are closely related and they can hybridize. Both belong to the genus Carya. The nuts of pecan-hickory hybrids (at least...
Mouse – Bot Fly
Q: I am very curious about what the object protruding from this mouse might be. The mouse had been dead for not more than three days when the picture was taken. The strange object does not seem to be coming...
Container Gardening – Vegetables
Though the trend now is to rent rather than own a home, the urge to grow your own food is still strong. Rather than dig a permanent garden plot, you can get great yields from containers on your patio, deck...
Sandhill Crane – Identification
Q: In early January I heard a very strange sound in the sky. Looking up there was a large (More than 50) flock of birds. In looking closer, I realized they were actually split into two groups, each of which...
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...
Kiwi – Hardy Types
Q: I recently purchased a pair of hardy kiwi, that have a smooth skin, which appealed to me for my experiment in making jam from them. How are they grown? A: Hardy kiwi is different from the fuzzy kiwifruit, Actinidia...
Deer – Repelled by Pine Cones
Q: I have listened for some time to your listeners complaining that deer are chewing up their landscape. I believe I found the one thing that keeps deer from foraging on plants. Several years ago we built a house on...
Pepper – Fused Fruit
Q: I planted three banana pepper plants (grown from seeds) this spring. While harvesting the remaining peppers from the one surviving plant a couple of days ago, I found this little oddity. I found it so unusual, I thought I...
Holly – Swallowing Azalea
Q: I have some holly shrubs in front of my townhouse that are swallowing a blooming bush. My question is: should I cut back the holly bushes to stumps? Will they bud in the spring? A: I attended a lecture...
Juniper – Too Large for Pot
Q: My juniper is slowly turning brown and I’m not sure what to do for it. A: It looks like a juniper that became too dry after planting. The container is pretty small for that size plant (double the current...
Rose Rosette – On Floribunda Rose
Q: Our roses were installed four years ago. The floribunda roses have what we been told is rosette virus. We have been told to uproot these roses and discard. Would we have to do anything special to the soil before...
Brown Rot – On Peach
Q: My six year old peach trees had a devastating bout of brown rot last summer . Can you assist me with getting a better understanding of the general care these trees require? A:Brown rot can indeed be devastating. Its...
Muscadine – Pruning on an Arbor
Q: I was sick for two years and this arbor of muscadine and muscadine grapes is way out of control. When should I prune and what should I prune? A: You have some major jobs ahead: If you want a...
Golden Euonymus – Turning Green
Q: Do you have any idea why my Golden Euonymus is green, not yellow? It seems otherwise healthy. A:You are just seeing a reversion of the golden leaves back to their green parentage. First noticed many years ago, all golden...
Dihydrogen Monoxide – Using on Plants
When I mentioned on radio that I had found nothing better than dihydrogen monoxide to keep my Christmas tree fresh, I was deluged with requests for a source. Fortunately, there are several vendors of this miraculous liquid in the metro...
School Garden – Resources
If you’re a teacher or parent involved in setting up a school garden, you know there’s lots more to it than digging the dirt and planting some seeds. Do you have a good garden spot? When will you plant? What...
Pieris – Lacebug Damage
Q: I have been losing some Mountain Fire pieris. They start off fine but then the color of the leaves change from a dark green to green with lighter “splotches”. A: Excellent pix of lacebug damage! Azaleas get these most...
Tree – How to Plant on Slope
Q: From the street to my house is a pretty steep slope. I want to plant a Yoshino cherry as a feature there. Rather than planting it on the hill, I wanted to do an island that has a small...
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...
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...
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...
Ultrasonic – Pest Repelling Devices
It seems ingrained in the genes of mankind to invent ways accomplish a useful task while expending very little physical effort. The TV remote control is the epitome of this enterprise in my home but microwave ovens, automatic ice makers...
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...
Lawn – Growing in Shade
OK. I admit it. I have given up. I came to the conclusion last fall 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...
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...
Millipede – Control
Spring rains often bring creatures which are not seen at other times of the year. The millipede is one of those cyclical pests. Here is a typical question: Q: Last spring We had hundreds of millipedes scurrying through our house...
