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...
Soil Temperature – Measuring
Q: What is the best way to measure soil temperature? A: You’re smart to monitor your soil’s warmth. Soil temperature determines when to do many garden jobs…from putting out pre-emergent herbicides to planting summer bulbs. You can buy a soil...
Spider Mites- Identifying
Q: Last summer we had repeated attacks from spider mites in our bermudagrass lawn and on our evergreens. They were turning brown and dying. We sprayed Kelthane each time. It appeared to solve the problem, but after several weeks the...
Soil Conditioner – Replacing
Q: I added soil conditioner last year on your advice and the soil was wonderful to work with! Do I add more this year? If not, do I add lime again? A: Once the soil is soft you can just...
Landscape Design – Courses of Study
Q: What credentials should one have to be a landscape designer? In college, I considered studying to be a landscape architect, but I chose accounting instead. After twenty years of income taxes, I’ve realized that my true calling is gardening....
Maple Tree – Planting flowers underneath
Q: I have a three-year old red maple tree. I would like to make an eighteen-inch high stone wall five feet out from the trunk, fill this with dirt and plant flowers under the tree. My husband said it would...
Holly – Using soil amendment
Q: I recently planted several hollies. When I dug the holes I removed the old red clay dirt and backfilled the plants with cow manure and enriched garden soil. Now the plants are withering. I remember you saying some original...
Mexican Heather – Alternatives
Q: A couple of years ago I bought some Mexican heather and planted it in front of some shrubs. Although the tag said it was perennial, it died over the winter and never came back. I loved the shape and...
Ornamental Grass – Cutting Back
Q: On one of your Georgia Public Broadcasting “Gardening in Georgia” TV shows you demonstrated a good way to cut back pampas grass. Can you refresh my memory? A: I demonstrated cutting the grass with a carpenter’s saw but I’ve...
Magnolia – Cracks on Trunk
Q: I have a mature magnolia tree that has cracking bark along many limbs. Is this a cause for worry? A: I saw the same thing a few years ago: a huge magnolia with longitudinal cracks along the trunk and...
Stumps – Preventing resprouting
Q: How do I kill very large stumps that have been cut down to ground level? A: If you need to keep the stumps from resprouting, chop into the edge of the stump with a hatchet and spray glyphosate (Roundup,...
Love-in-a-mist – Care
Q: I have a mystery flower, grown from a wildflower seed mixture. I am not sure if the pods precede the flower, but I was hoping you could identify it. A: It’s the fascinating-looking love-in-a-mist, Nigella damascena. The dianthus-like flowers...
Balm of Gilead – Procuring
Q: I’m looking for a Balm of Gilead tree. Over one hundred years ago, a Native American taught my Carolina ancestors how to make a burn salve from wild ginger, Balm of Gilead buds, and hog lard. The batch we...
Fertilizer Capsules – Identifying in Soil
Q: I’d like to know if the tiny eggs that I see embedded in a pot of soil make it unsafe to plant there. I’m assuming that these yellowish eggs are from spiders. I don’t want to simply throw out...
Fly – Control
Q: I was visiting my daughter and she pointed out that the west side of her house was covered with flies. She said it happens every year around this time. Is there a way to get rid of them? A:...
Bulbs – Leaves Emerge in Winter
Many are the anguished cries when gardeners notice that bulb foliage has emerged in early winter. “Get back down in the ground!” they implore. “It’s gonna get really cold soon.” The truth of the matter is that bulb foliage is...
Aztec Grass
My wife is installing a “white area” in front of our house so when she saw plants identical to variegated liriope in a garden center, she grabbed eight of them. I thought nothing about it until I read the plant...
American Agave
I found your newspaper comment on American agave interesting. I took the attached pictures at a home in Lithonia. My husband and our full size extended cab truck are in the picture to show size. This plant has been in...
Insecticide – Homemade Recipe
Q: Is it possible to make your own insecticidal soap spray? Can you provide a recipe? A: I once tried to make soap from lye and lard. The results ruined a boiler pot, melted the hair on my arm and...
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...
