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...
Kiwi – Hardy Types
Q: I recently purchased a pair of hardy kiwi, that have a smooth skin, which appealed to me for my experiment in making jam from them. How are they grown? A: Hardy kiwi is different from the fuzzy kiwifruit, Actinidia...
Deer – Repelled by Pine Cones
Q: I have listened for some time to your listeners complaining that deer are chewing up their landscape. I believe I found the one thing that keeps deer from foraging on plants. Several years ago we built a house on...
Pepper – Fused Fruit
Q: I planted three banana pepper plants (grown from seeds) this spring. While harvesting the remaining peppers from the one surviving plant a couple of days ago, I found this little oddity. I found it so unusual, I thought I...
Holly – Swallowing Azalea
Q: I have some holly shrubs in front of my townhouse that are swallowing a blooming bush. My question is: should I cut back the holly bushes to stumps? Will they bud in the spring? A: I attended a lecture...
Juniper – Too Large for Pot
Q: My juniper is slowly turning brown and I’m not sure what to do for it. A: It looks like a juniper that became too dry after planting. The container is pretty small for that size plant (double the current...
Rose Rosette – On Floribunda Rose
Q: Our roses were installed four years ago. The floribunda roses have what we been told is rosette virus. We have been told to uproot these roses and discard. Would we have to do anything special to the soil before...
Brown Rot – On Peach
Q: My six year old peach trees had a devastating bout of brown rot last summer . Can you assist me with getting a better understanding of the general care these trees require? A:Brown rot can indeed be devastating. Its...
Muscadine – Pruning on an Arbor
Q: I was sick for two years and this arbor of muscadine and muscadine grapes is way out of control. When should I prune and what should I prune? A: You have some major jobs ahead: If you want a...
Golden Euonymus – Turning Green
Q: Do you have any idea why my Golden Euonymus is green, not yellow? It seems otherwise healthy. A:You are just seeing a reversion of the golden leaves back to their green parentage. First noticed many years ago, all golden...
Dihydrogen Monoxide – Using on Plants
When I mentioned on radio that I had found nothing better than dihydrogen monoxide to keep my Christmas tree fresh, I was deluged with requests for a source. Fortunately, there are several vendors of this miraculous liquid in the metro...
School Garden – Resources
If you’re a teacher or parent involved in setting up a school garden, you know there’s lots more to it than digging the dirt and planting some seeds. Do you have a good garden spot? When will you plant? What...
Pieris – Lacebug Damage
Q: I have been losing some Mountain Fire pieris. They start off fine but then the color of the leaves change from a dark green to green with lighter “splotches”. A: Excellent pix of lacebug damage! Azaleas get these most...
Tree – How to Plant on Slope
Q: From the street to my house is a pretty steep slope. I want to plant a Yoshino cherry as a feature there. Rather than planting it on the hill, I wanted to do an island that has a small...
Marlberry (Ardisia) – Growing
Q: I am trying to find a local source for Chirimen Marlberry to use as a ground cover. I found two at a nursery several months ago but cannot find any more Any ideas? A: I haven’t grown marlberry but...
A Gardener’s Thanksgiving – Prayer
Q: Any chance you could repost the “Gardener’s Thanksgiving” from your radio show? I loved it! A: Your wish is my command! A Gardener’s Thanksgiving (pdf file) A Gardener’s Thanksgiving Let us give thanks for a bounty of people: For...
Mulch Leaves – Don’t Rake
Q: I am tired of raking! Is there any reason I can’t shred lawn leaves with my mower and not rake them into piles for removal? A: There are two good reasons to let your mower do the work. One...
Polyphemus Moth – Cocoon
Q: I found this “nest” attached to a branch of a crape myrtle. I thought at first that it was some type of hummingbird nest, but my research doesn’t substantiate that. A: University of Georgia insect expert Lisa Ames says:...
Flowers – Cold-Hardiness
Frost resistance of annual flowers. * Very hardy flowers can withstand freezing temperatures and hard frosts for short periods without injury. They may be planted as soon as the ground can be prepared, usually 4 to 6 weeks before the...
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...
