Gardening Q and A
Lawn – Proper watering
Q: This morning my lawn service man told me to water in the middle of the day instead of early morning because water was standing too long, creating mold and mildew and allowing the weeds to grow better. Do you...
Summer vegetable gardening – information
Q: I’m new to gardening in Georgia so I’m curious. Many gardens are planted so early in the spring, compared to my New York State home, that sweet corn and tomato plants are already harvested and being cut down by...
Orchid – Caregivers
Q: I was recently in Charlotte and my niece told me about a service she uses for her orchids. After the blooms are gone, she takes the orchids to someone who tends them until they bloom again. They call her...
Weeping Cherry Tree – Propagation
Q: I have been digging up the seedlings under a weeping cherry tree and giving them to friends and family for a couple of years. Am I wasting my time? Will the seedlings be weeping cherry trees or just plain...
Herbicides – Marking lawn with dye
Q: I have a problem spot-spraying herbicides in my lawn. It is difficult to keep up with what I’ve sprayed and what I haven’t sprayed. I have seen a professional lawn care company using a spray that marks where it...
Slime flux – On Elm
Q: We planted two specimen Chinese elm trees early last spring after finishing our pool. One appears to have died. I noticed in the summer that bees appeared to be swarming around the base of the tree. Now they seem...
Willow Tree – Giant Aphids
Q: I am a Barrow county resident and I have a giant Willow tree in my yard that is starting to look “sick.” Now maybe it is because fall is approaching, but maybe not. When going out to inspect it I...
Camellia – Leafspot
Q: I have two camellias that were planted last May. They got brown spots on the leaves and now the spots are turning white. Do you know what’s wrong with them? A: This is a good example of what happens...
Blueberries – pruning
Q: When do you prune blueberries? I have had a full month of fruit! It is about to end, so I need to know how to keep it this good for next year. A: Immediately after harvest is the best...
Cherrylaurel – Leaf Spot
Q: We have a Carolina cherrylaurel in our backyard. It has some brownish-gold spots as well as some small holes in the leaves. It gets early morning and afternoon sun with spotty shade most of the rest of the day....
Fescue – Resisting brown patch
Q: I am tired of my fescue lawn dying every summer. It always starts with brown spots, then progresses to just dead patches all over. I am looking for the highest-rated fescue that has the best resistance to brown patch...
Tomato – Acid Taste
Q: I grow a few tomato plants each year with limited success. I have spent years trying to produce fruit which has an acidic taste–a bit of a bite. Bland tomatoes are edible, but just barely so. Is the acidic...
Creeping Charlie (Ground Ivy) – Control
Q: I have a pesky weed which I don’t have any idea what it is or where it came from. I feel like it showed up because of my poor soil. I have dug up this weed, made sure no...
Pansy – Disappearing Flowers
Q: Something is eating the blooms off of my pansies. It must visit at night because I see the blooms during the day but they’re gone and just the stems are left when I next check on them. A: Why...
Sweet Autumn Clematis – Seed
Q: In September, while visiting a garden in north Georgia I saw an interesting vine. The flowers looked like what we called “monkey’s fist” in the Navy. Do you know what it is called? A: I believe they are the...
Confederate Rose – Identification
Q: This plant was given to me by a friend whose house was about to be torn down and he called it a “Cotton Rose” but wasn’t sure. The first day the bloom is white with a yellow center, the...
Elephant Ear – Blooms
Q: This is an elephant ear blooming in the front of my house. It also bloomed last year. Can you tell me how often to expect this? I have others that haven’t bloomed at all in 9 years!! A: Elephant...
Caterpillar – Predicting Winter Weather
Q: Please help me with folklore predictions of how the weathers will be. One of the things I’ve always heard about are the black woolly caterpillars, but don’t know which one means that the winter will be bad. I saw...
