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...
How To Build a Garden Hose Water Level
The heavy rains earlier this year exposed drainage problems I had forgotten over the last four years of drought. Mounds of pine straw accumulated at the bottom of a sloped trail. Small island-like tufts of grass were left where water...
How To Eat Chitterlings
My grandfather, Walter Cowart, was many things: Mayor of Union City, razor salesman, real estate investor, kudzu promoter and esteemed leader of south Fulton county (which was then Campbell county). But one of my favorite stories about him was his...
Make a Career in Agriculture/Horticulture
Thinking about a career change? Want a second job? Worried about what to study in college? Starting salaries of students in agriculture/horticulture, including bonuses, are second among UGA colleges behind only the Terry College of Business. Ag jobs shine in...
Seeds – Saving
This past spring, a friend gave me three seeds from a giant gourd. He assured me that if I planted the seeds in warm soil I would have gourds like the beachball-sized one he held in his arms. Unfortunately, I...
How to Order Hey Bug Doctor!
I’ve enjoyed reading Jim Howell’s columns on insects in the AJC Home and Garden section for several years. When I heard he was compiling the columns to put into a book, I was excited – and I was glad to...
How to Soil Test
If the word TEST gives you the fantods, contemplate a test that is simple to take, doesn’t reflect on your intelligence and has no wrong answers. Consider performing a soil test on your landscape. Click here to order a soil...
How to Attend Broadcasts at Pike Family Nursery
Pike Family Nursery remote broadcasts are always fun! What could be better than to do a radio show about gardening in the midst of thousands of blooming plants? Not only will you see the broadcast but you can ask questions:...
How to Thoroughly Water
You’d think I would know better but this spring I learned even more about what thoroughly water means. I started two big flats of coleus and aster seeds, first filling the flats with seed-starting soil then scattering the seeds on...
How To Make Well-Drained Soil
I was explaining to someone recently that flowering cherry trees absolutely require well-drained soil to succeed. “Well, that’s not a problem,” they responded, “I’m planting on a slope, so water drains right past it.” “Sloping soil is usually poorly drained,”...
How To Tell Friends About Georgia Gardener Newsletter
If you enjoy receiving the Georgia Gardener newsletter every two weeks, maybe your friends would too. Clicking the link below will open your e-mail program so you can send a note to others. Click here to send e-mail to friends...
How to Grow Kudzu
Tifton B.Merritt is a writer, raconteur and afficionado of all things Southern. Here are his directions on the finer points of kudzu culture. Get a printable PDF file of this HOW TO GROW KUDZU by Tifton B. Merritt All you...
How To Build a School Nature Trail
A school nature trail is a great addition to the educational efforts of teachers, neighbors and parents. Here are some ideas on how to go about the process: Before Work Day 1. Determine an appropriate area of school property for...
Spiced Pecans – Recipe
I occasionally share food recipes on my radio show. When a caller asked for details about spiced pecans, I got three good ones emailed to me. Here they are: Recipe #1 I heard today radio listener who wanted to know...
How To Force Branches to Flower in Winter
In just a few weeks the daffodils and flowering magnolias will bloom, but not many other plants are brave enough to display their blossoms at this time of year. But with just a little patience and work, you can force...
How To Get Rid of Stumps
Mother Nature has been cooking stumps for millions of years. Given moisture and warmth, insects and fungi consume the tissue of the stump, converting it to soil humus. All you need to do is to accelerate the natural process of...
How To be Sherlock Holmes in the Landscape
I receive more than 5000 emails a year asking my advice on solving landscape problems. I can’t keep all that information in my head so I depend on several websites to give me the first clues to identify the problem...
Biofuels – To Meet Energy Needs
The first comprehensive analysis of the full life-cycles of soybean biodiesel and corn grain ethanol shows that biodiesel has much less of an impact on the environment and a much higher net energy benefit than corn ethanol, but that neither...
Asparagus
Asparagus officinalis Asparagus is a cool-climate perennial plant that is fairly well adapted to all but the hottest areas of the South. Its tender spears, which arise from the crowns in the spring, make it an appetizing product of 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...
