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 links below to check out what others...
Travel With Walter!
I have two garden trips coming up: Cuba in Oct. 2012 and Southern Italy in May, 2013. Both promise to be visually stunning, but most of all, fun! If you want to travel with a group of interesting people who love seeing new things and visiting the world, click these...
Lawn Fertilizing – Summary
The amount of fertilizer to apply to your lawn should be determined by a soil test (www.georgiasoiltest.com or by calling 1-800-ASKUGA-1. If you have not had your soil tested, or don’t have time to do the test, following are some rule-of-thumb recommendations for using lawn fertilizers found at garden centers....
Lawn Care Calendars and Factsheets
Knowing that a piece of paper in your hand is much more helpful than a computer screen in the house, I have compiled basic cultivation information and care calendars for each of the common lawn grasses. You can get and print the calendar for each lawn grass by clicking the...
Join Walter on Facebook
See that little blue Facebook icon over to the right? If you click on it you will be taken to the Facebook homepage. I’ve found Facebook to be a great way to send you quick garden tips during the week. I try to send one every day or so. If...
Holly – Insect and Animal Damage to Trunk
Q: I have been searching the Web for photos or advice from many people and nobody knows for sure what my problem is. I have 8 hollies that line my yard. On the lower trunks there is bark damage. It...
Raccoon Damage to Lawn
Q: A neighbor up here in Cleveland GA asked me if I had any idea what might have torn her lawn up. I guessed a bear, but figured you could probably say for sure. A: My guess is raccoon damage....
Fescue Failure – Using Old Seed
Q: In October 2011, I followed my annual ritual and reseeded my fescue lawn. First used Roundup to kill off heavy weeds. Raked, some top soil, and Scott seed this year, and lots of water. I only got weeds. I...
16-4-8 – Mixed Up Using Common Fertilizer Grades
Q: I recently had a soil test done through UGA. It also recommended 16-4-8 fertilizer. I can’t seem to find it anywhere locally, and it is very expensive to have shipped. Any suggestions? A: Using the UGA fertilizer calculator and...
Spring Cankerworm – Identification
Spring occasionally brings an influx of creatures you hadn’t noticed before. A warm winter can result in thousands of little green caterpillars raining down from oak trees on silk strands. Stnding under an infested tree is distasteful as tiny black...
Vegetable Seeds – For the South
Q: All of the plant catalogs I’ve received so far are from the NE, Midwest, or California. Is there a southeastern seed company you recommend? I would love to buy as local as possible. A: I applaud your support for...
Ice on Azaleas at Masters Golf Tournament – Not True
Michael D. gives an intriguing bit of information: “I was listening to the radio this past weekend, and heard the discussion about early blooming at the Augusta National. Icing azaleas is a rumor that got started years ago when the...
Cottony Cushion Scale – On Shrub
Q: I noticed my bushes were looking scrappy this year so I went out to prune them back. There are thousands of white bugs under the leaves and all over the stems. They are not on any other bushes. How...
Tree Damage – Healing Process
Q: I planned to incorporate this lovely Oak into our new home’s landscape. Last year I noticed splits in the bark and suspected lightning. Now, I suspect a vine, NOT visible at the base…growing UNDERNEATH the tree bark? Do you...
Muscadine – Orange Ooze
Q: After pruning my muscadines a couple of weeks ago, some of the cuts have yellow ooze coming out. What is it? A: It’s the dripping muscadine sap being colonized by orange-colored yeasts and fungi. As you know, sap consists...
Pear – Grafting Using Super Glue
Mike A writes: I met you recently and told you about my experiment of trying to graft Bartlett onto Keiffer pear trees with Super Glue. You asked me to let you know how it worked. Apparently it works very well!...
Fast-sprouting Seeds – For Classroom
Q: I am looking for three plants that my kindergarten class could grow from seeds in small individual pots to compare their growth. A: What a great idea! The following flowers take five to seven days to sprout: bachelor’s buttons,...
Converting a Soil Test Recommendation to Local Products
Q: I had my soil tested by the UGA Soils Lab. They recommended I apply 6 lb. of 15-0-15 to my garden. However, no garden centers carry 15-0-15 in my area. What else can I use? A: With the multitude...
Kudzu Bug – Control
First we had kudzu vine…now we have kudzu bugs! I guess it makes sense. This pest of kudzu plants in Asia somehow travelled to the US and now anyone living near a patch of kudzu often spots the insects on...
What Is a CSA?
According to Local Harvest “Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) has become a popular way for consumers to buy local, seasonal food directly from a farmer. Here are the basics: a farmer offers a certain number of “shares” to the public....
Tomato – Leaf Miner
Q: I had problems with tomatoes last summer. The leaves started looking etched with white, then died and ultimately the plants died. Can you tell me what the problem was and what should be done to prevent it this summer?...
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 The University of Georgia...
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...
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...
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....
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
Ultrasonic – Pest Repelling Devices
It seems ingrained in the genes of mankind to invent ways accomplish a useful task while expending very little physical effort. The TV remote control is the epitome of this enterprise in my home but microwave ovens, automatic ice makers...
