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...
Crowder Peas vs Purple Hull Peas
Q: Are Crowder peas and purple hull peas one and the same? A: In my opinion, no. Crowder peas are usually “crowded” in the hull but purple hull peas are just that: “purple...
Duck Potato (Sagittaria)
Q: I called your show last weekend and asked about a plant that had “arrowhead” shaped leaves and what to do to control it. It was thought to be “Dutch Potato” or “Sagateria”. I did go to the Cooper Seeds...
Luffa – Not Maturing
Q: Inspired by your luffa segment on one of your TV shows, we decided to try the same. Last year, we tried doing them in containers. Problem was that the gourds were not mature before the first freeze. Afterwards, they...
Calcium Chloride – Dust Control
Q: Since rain has been lacking recently, my fescue lawn has gotten very sparse and the soil is very dusty. When I mow, the resulting dust cloud is truly spectacular. My wife has been trying to convince me to put...
Euphorbia lathyris – Identification
Q: The attached photos are of an odd plant that pops up in different places each year in my backyard. The leaves on the bottom part of the stem are different from the leaves at the top. What is it?...
Zoysia – Planting in Long Island, New York
Q: My parents sold their house that has a beautiful Emerald Zoysia lawn, and the buyer is knocking down the house to build a much bigger one. We can take the Zoysia grass and I want to transplant it on...
Pesticide – Odor
Q: You mention on your website that you became aware of a box of apple pesticide in your Dad’s house because of the “odd odor”. Can you describe that odor to me? I am dealing with an odor best described...
Gecko – Control
Q: I must be living on top of a gecko nest. I have cut the bushes down that are around my house, hoping to eliminate their living area, but to no avail. They are crawling on my brick and have...
Lawn Grass – Selecting in North Carolina
Q: My wife and I are moving to New Bern, North Carolina to build our retirement home in approximately 10 months. We both were raised in the mid-west where grass grows up and down and not side ways and does...
Seemannia sylvatica (Gloxinia sylvativa) – Identification
Q: Just received this plant from a friend with a marker which says seemaniia latifolia. It has no instructions for care. Is it an indoor or outdoor plant? I found that mountain laurels are latifolia. I live in Madison County...
Fescue – Tree Leaves on New Lawn
Q: I over seeded my fescue lawn 10 days ago and now its covered with leaves. How do I clean up the leaves without damaging the plants? Should I leave them for a while, blow them, or vacuum them up...
Dead Tree – Removing
Q: My Japanese Zelkova is dead, and I’m going to cut it out. How can I remove the root?Can I plant another of the same tree at that same spot? A: Personally, I find it easier to dig around the...
Grass Seed vs Fallen Leaves
Q: I know I’m late and gambling, but I laid a ton of grass seed down on Friday because I didn’t spread enough of it a month ago. Now there is a thin layer of leaves covering the lawn caused...
Muscari – Sprouting Leaves Early
Q: When your newsletter calendar came out saying it was time to plant bulbs, I planted Muscari, that was around November 5th. But now it is November 15th and they are shooting up, already 1-inch high through the mulch with...
Fescue – Watering in Winter
Q: In order to abide by the watering restrictions, when I want to water I need to set up my sprinklers the night before I want to water. At our current temperatures, that would mean that the hose and sprinklers...
Zoysia Grass – Installing in Late August
Q: Is it too late in the year to put in Emerald Zoysia? We have a larger than average yard and will be paying close to $20,000 for this sod. I am concerned that the six-month warranty period we would...
Bonsai Tree – Care
Q: A friend was given a bonsai tree as a gift and she does not know about its care. It says to use a slow release fertilizer but what and how much? A: Much of this depends on what plant...
Planting a Tree Near a Sprinkler Line
Q: I am planting a 7 gallon Heritage River Birch tree. I dug out a 4′ diameter hole about 3′ deep (I know its over-kill, but I hope that tree thanks me for it). At any rate, I hit a...
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...
