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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Snake Skin – Identification
Q: I found this snake skin in my garden. It makes me nervous to be working outside. Any ideas what it is? A: I’m not expert enough to positively identify a snake by its shed skin but because this is...
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Muscadine – Dropping Little Fruit
Q: I was out looking at my muscadine vines this morning and the fruit seems not as plentiful compared to previous years. Looking on the ground, I see these small fruit. Is this possibly a pest chewing the small stems...
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Hosta – Vole Damage
Q: My hostas looked beautiful, until suddenly one totally wilted. Now, ten days later, the affected one seems to have a “phoenix arising from the ashes”! Is this from a vole? A: I think this is a vole damage. Voles...
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Bacterial Wilt On Tomato – Streaming Test
Q: Do you think this is bacterial wilt on my tomatoes? Seemed to be totally healthy and then one by one they just wilt and not come back. I tried your wilt test. A: Bacterial wilt is a soil-borne disease....
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Virginia Creeper Vine – Three Leaflets?
Q: Does Virginia creeper vine always have five leaves? A: Not always! Virginia creeper USUALLY has five leaflets that form leaves along the vine but I have seen vines that sported 5, 4, and even 3 leaflets together. That’s why...
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Coneflower – Aster Yellows vs Coneflower Rosette Mite
Q: I discovered deformed blooms on my coneflower, which I suspect to be caused by aster yellows. I immediately dug up the plant and threw it out. After more research I discovered coneflower rosette mites cause similar damage. Can you...
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Growing Flowers Organically
Q: I want to start a small organic online plant nursery. I have lots of pest insects so I released 1500 ladybugs not long ago. Is my hope for an organic nursery a lost cause or are there other all...
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Large Crapemyrtle – Why Not to Prune Severely
Q: We have several 20-30 ft. crepe myrtle trees that we would like to prune down to 8- 0 ft. They shade much of the surrounding plants and lawn, preventing growth and flowers. A: I understand your reasoning, but pruning...
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Japanese Maple – Leaf Blower Damage
Q: Is this anthracnose on my 5′ tall Japanese maple? It’s in a 24″ wide, foam pot. A: I was puzzled by the pattern of damage, so I sent this to my friend Norm Mittleider at Art-of-Pruning.com. He replied: This...
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Figs – For Cold Climate
Q: What advice do you have for proper varieties and planting of fig trees? A: Figs growing in the open in Dahlonega can suffer lots of damage in a severe winter. But given a sheltered planting spot by a wall...
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Buffalo Grass (Buffalograss) – Growing
Q: What do you think about using buffalo grass in a front lawn? A: You can try buffalo grass in a small area but I think you’ll be disappointed. This native grass doesn’t compete very well with weeds and the...
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Hogweed vs Queen Anne’s Lace
Q: My sister-in-law from Virginia is telling me that the plant I call Queen Anne’s Lace is a poisonous noxious weed called giant hogweed. How do you tell them apart? A: The plants’ flowers are similar: both have white lacecaps...
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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...
Snake Skin – Identification
Q: I found this snake skin in my garden. It makes me nervous to be working outside. Any ideas what it is? A: I’m not expert enough to positively identify a snake by its shed skin but because this is...
Muscadine – Dropping Little Fruit
Q: I was out looking at my muscadine vines this morning and the fruit seems not as plentiful compared to previous years. Looking on the ground, I see these small fruit. Is this possibly a pest chewing the small stems...
Hosta – Vole Damage
Q: My hostas looked beautiful, until suddenly one totally wilted. Now, ten days later, the affected one seems to have a “phoenix arising from the ashes”! Is this from a vole? A: I think this is a vole damage. Voles...
Bacterial Wilt On Tomato – Streaming Test
Q: Do you think this is bacterial wilt on my tomatoes? Seemed to be totally healthy and then one by one they just wilt and not come back. I tried your wilt test. A: Bacterial wilt is a soil-borne disease....
Virginia Creeper Vine – Three Leaflets?
Q: Does Virginia creeper vine always have five leaves? A: Not always! Virginia creeper USUALLY has five leaflets that form leaves along the vine but I have seen vines that sported 5, 4, and even 3 leaflets together. That’s why...
Coneflower – Aster Yellows vs Coneflower Rosette Mite
Q: I discovered deformed blooms on my coneflower, which I suspect to be caused by aster yellows. I immediately dug up the plant and threw it out. After more research I discovered coneflower rosette mites cause similar damage. Can you...
Growing Flowers Organically
Q: I want to start a small organic online plant nursery. I have lots of pest insects so I released 1500 ladybugs not long ago. Is my hope for an organic nursery a lost cause or are there other all...
Large Crapemyrtle – Why Not to Prune Severely
Q: We have several 20-30 ft. crepe myrtle trees that we would like to prune down to 8- 0 ft. They shade much of the surrounding plants and lawn, preventing growth and flowers. A: I understand your reasoning, but pruning...
Japanese Maple – Leaf Blower Damage
Q: Is this anthracnose on my 5′ tall Japanese maple? It’s in a 24″ wide, foam pot. A: I was puzzled by the pattern of damage, so I sent this to my friend Norm Mittleider at Art-of-Pruning.com. He replied: This...
Figs – For Cold Climate
Q: What advice do you have for proper varieties and planting of fig trees? A: Figs growing in the open in Dahlonega can suffer lots of damage in a severe winter. But given a sheltered planting spot by a wall...
Buffalo Grass (Buffalograss) – Growing
Q: What do you think about using buffalo grass in a front lawn? A: You can try buffalo grass in a small area but I think you’ll be disappointed. This native grass doesn’t compete very well with weeds and the...
Hogweed vs Queen Anne’s Lace
Q: My sister-in-law from Virginia is telling me that the plant I call Queen Anne’s Lace is a poisonous noxious weed called giant hogweed. How do you tell them apart? A: The plants’ flowers are similar: both have white lacecaps...
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...
