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...
Farmer’s Markets – Finding
Nothing beats meeting the person who picked, baked or preserved the food you’re about to buy. Farmer’s markets are located throughout Georgia. I found large compilations that list produce markets across the state. Check out: Pick Your Own.org and North...
Oddly Shaped Vegetables
Hometown newspapers once featured large or oddly shaped vegetables every summer. From my own childhood, I remember a squash shaped like a duck and a tomato that resembled Richard Nixon. Do you have vegetables that veer into weird shapes? Check...
Pick-Your-Own Farms
This is not intended to be an all-inclusive list. I got it originally from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and have updated it when folks contacted me. Be sure to call first: several of these places might have closed or changed their...
Fruit Plants – Good Sources
In my experience, it is common in “big box” stores for fruiting plants to be mis-labeled. I’m sure it’s not purposeful, but a store that sells lumber, plumbing, paint and light bulbs can’t be expected to pay close attention to...
Fruiting Plants – Propagation
When you enjoy a juicy peach or crisp apple, it is tempting to try to propagate the plant for your own garden. This publication from the University of Georgia gives all of the options you might consider. Propagating Fruit...
Ecinacea – No Remedy for Colds
Study: Echinacea no cold remedy Alicia Chang – Associated Press Thursday, July 28, 2005 Being sick with a cold is nothing to sneeze at, but new research finds that taking the popular herbal remedy echinacea does nothing to treat or...
Vegetables – Pollination
One of the most delightfully informative garden books I’ve ever read is “Sex in Your Garden” by Angela Overy (Fulcrum Publishing, $19.95). Ms. Overy (yup, that’s her real name!) describes how plants use false advertisements, bribes, perfume and sometimes pseudo-copulation...
Growing Seedless Watermelons
If you’ve enjoyed a delicious seedless watermelon, you might wonder how they are grown. It starts by treating watermelon seedlings with a chemical that makes the plant have 4 times (4X) the normal number of chromosomes. After planting, when this...
Vegetables – When to Harvest
For a blueberry, it’s easy to tell when it’s ripe: deep blue means it’s time to harvest. But for corn or Irish potatoes or watermelons, it’s not that easy. Fortunately, horticulturists Willie Chance and Darbie Granberry have authored a very...
Seasonal Calendar – January
FIRST WEEK: • Prepare beds for bare-root roses that will soon arrive in nurseries. Dig an area four feet wide and twelve inches deep for each plant, adding plenty of soil conditioner to the soil. see Rose Buying and Planting...
Seasonal Calendar – February
FIRST WEEK: • Prune apple and pear trees now – but postpone peach pruning until mid-March. see Home Garden Apples • It’s dangerous to spray glyphosate (Roundup, etc) on bermudagrass, even if you think it is completely dormant. Make sure no...
Seasonal Calendar – March
FIRST WEEK: Fertilize pansies. Since the soil is warming, use any water soluble houseplant fertilizer, one half pint to one pint of solution per plant. see Success With Pansies Cut most of the green foliage off of tattered liriope. A...
Seasonal Calendar – May
FIRST WEEK: • No matter which grass, your turf will look its best if you follow a calendar of maintenance tasks. Download your lawn calendar at Lawn Care Calendars. • Treat for azalea lace bugs if you’ve had problems in...
Seasonal Calendar – June
FIRST WEEK: • How much water should you apply? Each week a shrub needs one gallon per foot of height. Visit Shrub Watering • Low limbs in the way when you mow? You can safely remove one fourth of the...
Seasonal Calendar – July
FIRST WEEK: Choosing a watermelon for the Fourth? Slap it to determine ripeness. Good ones sound hollow; unripe ones sound like you’re hitting solid wood. Regularly remove faded flowers from salvia, zinnia, coneflower and especially petunia. This will encourage bushiness...
Seasonal Calendar – August
FIRST WEEK: Water figs deeply now as they begin to ripen. Harvest every morning, before the birds can do their damage. More details: Growing Figs in Georgia The soil in outdoor clay pots dries out quickly. Poke holes in it...
Seasonal Calendar – September
FIRST WEEK: Fertilize salvia and chrysanthemums with liquid plant food. They will reward you with lots of blooms later this fall. see Fertilizing Annuals Examine your flower beds for tired out perennials like Shasta daisy, black-eyed Susan and purple coneflower....
Seasonal Calendar – October
FIRST WEEK: Fall fescue planting season officially begins! Watering restrictions are still in force in many places so make SURE you have good soil-seed contact. Aerate before seeding, roll afterwards, water when you can. see Fescue Planting 1-2-3 Last chance...
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...
