Landscaping | Walter Reeves: The Georgia Gardener

Sassafras – Planting

I personally wish more gardeners would plant sassafras in their landscapes. I don’t think I have ever seen it offered at a nursery. If several were planted together, the fall color would be spectacular. The tree is touchy about being...

Repairing a Broken Tree

When storms break tree limbs it can be heartbreaking to survey the damage. Trees, however, are remarkably able to recover from damage if given a little help. This article from Michigan State University gives some great hints: Repairing Storm Damage...

Pine Needle Cast Disease

When pine needles turn reddish-brown in early summer, several things could be the cause. It could be beetles in the trunk, compaction damage to the roots or, occasionally, a needle disease. In the year after a wet summer, the disease...

Pine Beetle Identification

Pine trees are always subject to insect attack and should be examined periodically to determine if insect problems are developing. Several species of small brown or black beetles are common pests of pine trees. They are often referred to as...

Osage Orange – Uses

Garden friend D.G. has had much more experience with osage orange than most. His comments on the tree are below: “I grew up on a small general farm in west-central Illinois, where my father had about a quarter-mile row of...

Osage Orange (Bodark) Tree

I was visiting with a group of Master Gardeners recently when I asked them: “Has anyone here ever heard of the bodark tree?” Wrinkled brows and perplexed looks spread across the room. Master Gardeners pride themselves on knowing obscure plants...

Oak Scale – Eaten by Fungus

Sometimes I get to be in the audience when smart people really show their stuff. Recently Frank Hancock, the University of Georgia Extension agent in Henry County had a citizen visit his office with a perplexing problem on his pin...

Oak – Slime Flux

“My oak tree is oozing beer!” Homeowners often follow their noses to the base of an oak tree to find a puddle of yeasty smelling liquid. The ooze is usually surrounded by insects, some of whom seem inebriated! The condition...

Magnolia – Transplanting from the Woods

One plants magnolias grown from seed only after deciding if it is really worth the effort. It is possible that the seedling came from an “ugly” magnolia. You won’t realize this, of course, until a decade has passed and the...

Magnolia – Care

Magnolias are fast growing trees and grow well in Georgia in full sun. They are also more tolerant of heavy shade than are most evergreen trees. If you expect maximum growth, prepare the soil well before planting. A hole approximately...

Living Christmas Trees

Several kinds of evergreen trees can be bought as live Christmas trees and then planted after the holidays. It is important to remember that live trees take much more care than cut trees. Live trees should be kept inside no...

Leyland Cypress – Diseases

Two diseases commonly cause brown branches on Leyland cypress: seiridium canker and botryosphaeria canker. Notes from Dr. Jean L. Williams-Woodward Extension Plant Pathologist – Ornamentals The best way to tell the difference, aside from examining the branches and looking for...