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...
Bermudagrass – How is it Spelled
I have long fought editors of my books and newspaper articles about the correct spelling of turfgrasses. Here are the thoughts of Dr. Clint Waltz at UGA: “Bermudagrass is one word and only capitalized at the beginning of a sentence,...
Thermal Blue – Installation Photos
It’s not often that we get to see the process of renovating a home lawn from start to finish. A garden friend recently sent these shots. See his notes at the end too: ——————— Walter – I completely renovated my...
Violet Control – in Lawns
I have been keeping a secret. I have known for two years how to kill violets in fescue lawns. I just haven’t been able to give you the information – until now. (This was written in 1999) You see, I...
Chamberbitter (Mimosa Weed)
In order to respond to the many garden questions I receive, I’ve assembled a crack team of Master Gardeners to help me. Theresa, Stacy, Caryn and Shannon have myriad different garden skills and interests and I can count on them...
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 – Watering
Plants must have water to survive. Water in a plant is like blood in an animal. Water carries dissolved nutrients, sugars and hormones throughout the plant’s system. Some plants can go for long periods receiving only minimal water. Others require...
Mushrooms – Fairy Ring Disease
Rain in summer is appreciated but some folks receive unexpected lawn visitors as a result. T. S. writes that his lawn is in excellent condition – green, thick and low. “In the middle of my lawn, however, I have a...
Lawns – Diagnosing Dead Grass
I regularly drive by a church that has a nice zoysiagrass lawn in front. Knowing that zoysia is usually the last lawn grass to green up in spring, I use the church’s lawn as my indicator of when to recommend...
Bluegrass – Thermal Blue variety
New varieties of turfgrass come along every year, promising that they are markedly superior to existing grasses. Such is the case with ‘Thermal Blue’ bluegrass. Since I have had no experience with it, I asked Dr. David Han, Extension Turfgrass...
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 – Fall Chores
For the first several months of new fatherhood I frequently felt like an idiot. Every time my son spit up a little cereal his mom and I assumed it was projectile vomiting and fearfully called our pediatrician. If he cried...
Lawn – Beer for Fertilizer
One of the most ill-informed decisions of my life was to major in chemistry in college. Sure, I had excelled in the subject in high school. I could make my own gunpowder from ingredients bought at the pharmacy in town....
Lawn – Basic Maintenance
The sweet young couple seated in front of me at a recent home show appearance wore matching worried looks. “We just moved into a house in a gorgeous neighborhood and we know NOTHING about landscaping. What should we do to...
Lawn – Choices Before You Plant
I was recently asked by a writer for Publisher’s Weekly what trends I saw in the local gardening arena. I replied that I sensed homeowners are beginning to realize that they don’t have to have the biggest lawn in the...
Reveille bluegrass
When a radio listener asked me about a new bluegrass for Georgia, I had to admit I’d never heard of it. Fortunately, I rely on scientists, not marketers, to help me make judgements on whether a grass will grow in...
Take-all Patch – Control with Manganese
Take-all patch has become a problem for St. Augustinegrass, zoysiagrass and bermudagrass lawns. It seems to be related to soil pH (acidity) problems as well as manganese deficiency. I asked Alfredo Martinez, PhD, Extension Plant Pathologist to comment on an...
Importance of Soil Temps
The following is a partial list of soil temperatures (°F) at the 4-inch depth that are associated with certain biological events. Check your soil temperature here Cool Season Grasses: Fescue, Ryegrass 90°F Shoot growth ceases. 77°F Root growth ceases. 70°F...
Brown Patch Control – N.C. State trial plots
Control of brown patch in tall fescue with monthly fungicide applications in Raleigh, NC. L.P. Tredway and E.L. Butler Department of Plant Pathology North Carolina State University Raleigh, NC 27695 Fungicides were evaluated for their ability to control brown patch...
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...
