Italy Trip Report – 2013
In May of 2013 I led a group of adventurous and inquisitive gardeners (and their spouses) to the southern coast of Italy and the island of Sicily. We had a wonderful time: lots of great food, beautiful gardens, historic sites and good companionship! Following is my report on the trip,...
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 – 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...
Leaflets versus Leaves
Q: I hate to quibble but shouldn’t you have said “leaflets of three” for poison ivy and “leaflets of five” for Virginia creeper in your recent article about the poisonous vine? A: I thought long and hard about the reaction...
Seashore Paspalum
Q: I am interested in a new grass developed by University of Georgia researcher Dr. Ronnie Duncan. It is called seashore paspalum and is relatively new. I am considering it for a front lawn with little shade. A: A great...
Scale – On Boxwood
Q: Down deep on my boxwood stems I have found white-looking things that are very rounded in shape. When I pull them off their underside is blood red. I can squash them between my fingers and they crunch a bit....
Chinquapin – Care
Q: I purchased four ‘Georgiana’ chinquapin trees from a nursery in south Georgia. Can you tell me when is the best time to plant them and any special care instructions? I would like to give two of them to my...
Jade Plant – Propagation
Q: I have a jade plant that is top heavy. Is there a way to replant some of this plant to start new plants or is there a seed on the plant? A: Jade plants do have seeds but getting...
Vegetables – Heirloom
Q: Do you know of any groups around Atlanta that are involved in raising heirloom varieties of vegetables? I received the book “Heirloom Vegetables” by Sue Stickland as a Christmas gift and am interested in looking into this further. A:...
Camellia – Gibberelic Acid
Q: Can you repeat your radio comments concerning the enhancement of camellia blooms? I believe you said to add a chemical of some sort. A: “Gibbing” camellias is the process of placing a drop of gibberellic acid growth hormone on...
Tree – Determining Age
Q: I am trying to find out the age of several live oak trees at my father-in-law’s house in north Florida. Is there some general way to determine their age based on their diameter? A: According to Certified Arborist Brian...
Devil’s Backbone – Care
Q: Please advise how I might save what is left of my poor Devil’s backbone plant (Pedilanthus tithymaloides). During my wife’s fight with cancer it was totally forgotten in a dim room with no water for fifteen months. It has...
Watering – Before a Freeze
Q: When you know the temperature is going to be way below freezing one evening and your plants need watering (especially tender perennials), is it better to wait? Or does watering do more harm than good? Is dry soil a...
Amaryllis – Pollination
Q: My boss bought a dozen amaryllis for the office for Christmas. We now have six in a sunny window. My question has to do with pollination. Before the first flowers started to fade, I cut a stamen from a...
Broom Sedge Identification
Q: We are building a rural homestead display at Rock Eagle 4-H Center and using broom sedge for thatch and for brooms. Can you give me the scientific name of broom sedge? A: It’s a grass, not a sedge, but...
Termites – Planting Too Close to Foundation
Q: I have planted a vine close to the foundation of our house. I want to train the limbs into a pattern against the blank brick wall like I’ve seen done in garden design magazines. Now that it is in...
Pre-emergent – Failure
Q: I have a bermudagrass lawn, about two and one-half years old. I put down pre-emergent in the fall and even used the weed killer hose spray for weeds. I had the lawn aerated also. Presently, I have numerous henbit...
Fruit Tree – Grafting
Q: In the Sunday paper there was an ad for a “fruit salad tree” which they claim can grow five different kinds of fruit. I was considering buying one, but first I wanted to find out what you knew about...
Centipede – Overwatering Problems
Q: I bought a house a year ago and had it sodded with centipedegrass. Since the sod was put down in October some parts never took firm root by winter. When spring arrived some areas never greened up. Then came...
Southern Blight – On Black-eyed Susan
Q: Can you identify this disease and tell me how to control it? It started in several of my black-eyed Susan plants which made the stems turn black and completely die. A: Looks like Southern blight (Rhizoctonia solani) . It’s...
Gooseneck Loosestrife
Q: We found this plant in our yard and don’t know what it is. Can you help identify it? A: You have gooseneck loosestrife, Lysimachia clethroides. This is another in the list of plants I’ve put in my garden that...
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...
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...
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...
