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...
Shrub – Transplanting 1-2-3
Most shrubs and trees should be transplanted when the demand for water is least, in late fall or winter. Since many roots will inevitably be lost, they need many weeks to regenerate themselves before the hot, dry blasts of summer arrive. If you are contemplating moving a plant that would...
Shrub – Pruning Calendar
The Home & Garden section of the Atlanta Journal and Constitution published a very nice pruning calendar several years ago. When viewed on a sheet of newsprint, it was gorgeous. When reduced to fit onto a sheet of typing paper it was impossible to read. I imagine you didn’t keep...
South Africa Adventure – 2014
As many of you know, I led a group of gardeners and spouses to South Africa in 2010. The memories of that vibrant, beautiful, surprising country still linger in my brain! We had such a good time I’ve decided to lead another group trip there in January, 2014. Want to...
New Gardening Books
I regularly receive interesting-looking gardening books from publishers. I don’t have time to read them all or give an intelligent review but I know they would appeal to many gardeners. These are some of the books I’ve gotten recently. You can click the link under the book cover images to...
Ornamental Grass – Pruning
Q: I have two four-year old clumps of maiden grass in an island. Every spring I prune the dead growth and they always grow back beautifully. This summer I’ve noticed they have died out in the center. Is this typical...
Daylily – Self-Cleaning
Q: As I add more daylilies to my garden, I find that I am spending more time removing spent blooms! By doing this am I actually helping the plant or just increasing the aesthetics? A: Daylilies have varying abilities to...
Daylily – Proliferation
Q: There is a clump of what resembles miniature daylily leaves growing half-way up a flower stem on one of my daylilies. I have never seen this before but I want it to keep it alive if possible. What is...
Dogwood- Drought Effects
Q: With the terrible drought, I have several dogwood trees on which the leaves have all turned brown and have begun to fall off. I know they won’t put back on leaves this year, but are they going to be...
Flowers- Protection
Q: I am fairly new to gardening and would like to know if there are certain flowers that can be planted in my veggie garden that will ward off deer and bugs. Any truth to this? A: Flowers in the...
Mosquito – Soapy Water Trap
Q: I recently got an e-mail about using dish detergent in a shallow plate to attract and drown mosquitoes. Is it horticultural pseudo-science or does it work? A: I would not use the word science anywhere near this recommendation. It...
Blossom End Rot – Spray
Q: I have heard that calcium chloride is the fix for tomato blossom end rot. If this is true, could you please tell me the mixture I should use? A: Blossom end rot accurately describes the large tan or black...
Cabbage – Collecting Seed
Q: I have had good luck with gathering seeds from plants in both my flower beds and vegetable garden. I need your help in determining how to get seeds from a cabbage. A: Strictly speaking, cabbage is a biennial which...
Butterfly Bush – Remove Flowers
Q: My butterfly bushes have been blooming wonderfully! Is there anything I can do to make them keep putting out the large flowers? A: Butterfly bush produces blooms on new stems. This means that unless new growth is constantly being...
Petunia – Dying
Q: I am at my wits end regarding “wave” petunias that I have bought. I bought one batch and put them by the mailbox. After about a week they started dying one by one. I bought more and put them...
Japanese Beetle – Milky Spore Disease
Q: Japanese beetles are a big problem for us. One of the people in our subdivision is encouraging us to have a community-wide eradication program using milky spore disease powder. There are 500+ homes in our subdivision and it will...
Willow – Air Roots
Q: I have two willow trees and both are beginning to show some kind of red growth on the trunk of the trees. They look almost like small shoots coming out. A: You are seeing adventitious roots, sometimes referred to...
Canna – Planting Seed
Q: I am a new gardener and planted three canna lilies this spring. When the old bloom died away a group of black pods took its place. They are round with points coming out of them. If these are seeds...
Fungicides – Expensive
Q: Can you suggest any alternatives to the “store-bought” fungicides for bermudagrass? They get awfully expensive when you are trying to control fungus in an acre of lawn! With the wet weather we had earlier I need a maintenance program...
Millet – Ornamental
Q: I’ve recently purchased two ‘Purple Majesty’ millet plants. I was wondering if this plant comes back true to seed and when to collect the seed. They both have several seed heads on them and the kernels are fat and...
Composter – Purchasing
Q: My wife and I are trying to decide on an economical composter. Do you have any suggestions on the best one to purchase? A: It all depends on your sense of aesthetics, your space and your wallet. If you...
Pregnant Onion – Care
Q: My pregnant onion is having babies and I’m not sure how to take care of them. A: Pregnant onion, Ornithogalum caudatum or Ornithogalum longibracteatum, is a fascinating houseplant. The swollen bulb sends forth long green leaves and tall flower...
Strawberry Weevil – On Blackberry
Q: I have found strange bugs eating my blackberry leaves. They are tan, about the size of a BB, and are hard shelled. When I touch one it falls off the plant and acts dead. Damaged leaves have notches along...
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 Preen has terrific weed...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
