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...
How to Choose a Landscape Maintenance Company
The slips of paper with scribbled phone numbers are passed from hand to hand surreptitiously at neighborhood gatherings. Phrases like “He’s fast and he’s good.“, “She really knows what she’s doing.” and “I trust them explicitly.” are whispered into attentive...
How To Use 1-800-ASKUGA-1
As far as I’m concerned, it’s magic. For years, I struggled with telling radio listeners how to telephone their local University of Georgia Extension office. With 159 counties in Georgia, each one having an Extension office and each one having...
How to Mulch Correctly
Though occasional rain is reassuring, the hot weather always reminds us that drought is persistent. I’ve gotten many questions recently about drought-proofing plants for the summer but one of the common themes has been inquiries about mulch A DeKalb gardener,...
How to Build a Simple Compost Bin
Composting your yard waste is simple if you have an enclosure of some sort to hold the trimmings. You can purchase ready made bins from hardware stores and home centers. You can also build a bin from stiff fence wire....
How to Make Compost
“I am trying composting for the first time so I bought one of those compost enclosures in August. At this point it looks more like a garbage pile than what I expected compost to look like. Any suggestions?” A: New-born...
How to Build a Propagation Soil Warmer
My father straightened nails and re-used them. Some nails on our chicken farm had first been bought during the Hoover administration and had been used over and over since. Innumerable gallon cans full of nails, bolts, screws and washers were...
How to Make a Clay Pot Man
Gardeners have a wide variety of “tastes” when it comes to landscape decorations. If you are looking for directions to make a garden buddy out of flower pots, here’s a good link: Pots With Personality. Also Terra Cotta Pot...
How to Dispose of Old Chemicals
If you need to clean out a storage room on my carport that has many old containers of weed killer, bug spray and fertilizer. Here is the safest way to dispose of them. Pete Dasher, Unit Coordinator with the Georgia...
Why Soil Test
My twelve-year old nephew has been named “Ultimate Geographer” by his school system in Arkansas. Now he will compete with others in his region to attend the National Geography Bee in May. Last year’s national winner was only ten years...
Rain Barrels – Building and Buying
A rain barrel is an excellent way to collect water in times of drought. Just a thousand feet of roof area can collect 625 gallons of water in a one inch rain. You can either build or buy a rain...
Growing Palms in Georgia – June 9, 2010
Growing Palms in Georgia Wednesday, June 9 Rockdale Extension Office, 1400 Parker Road, Lobby B 6:30-8pm cost $3.00 RSVP to (770)278-7373 by June 7 Dr. Gary Wade, UGA Horticulture Specialist, will be joining us for an evening educational presentation on...
How to Make Homemade Bird Suet
Some time ago my newspaper colleague Charles Seabrook wrote about the many species of ducks that overwinter at the E. L. Huie/Newman Wetlands Center in Clayton County. Bird watching enthusiasts have found that the protected aquatic habitat attracts many other...
How to Make a PVC Hoop Greenhouse
Here’s an idea that strecthes the seasons a little, for bedding plants and early veggies: Get several pieces of 1/2 or 3/4 inch diameter PVC tubing from the hardware store, the kind used for indoor plumbing. Also get a few...
How to Rekindle Romance in the Garden
George Ball, the proprietor of Heronswood Nursery (a part of Burpee)in Pennsylvania , writes a weekly blog about all things horticultural. Recently he took time to reflect on how gardening could enhance romance: “How to rekindle the fires of romance?...
Chinese Cabbage
Brassica rapa var. pekinensis Chinese cabbage is another of the cole crops, cultivated in China for 1,500 years. Its mild taste (compared to regular cabbage) makes it excellent when eaten fresh, steamed, or as “stir fry.” • More detailed information...
Kale
Brassica oleracea Kale is a cool-season cooking green used similarly to collards (most Southerners prefer collards in taste). Seed in late summer or very early spring. • This information can be found in The Georgia Fruit & Vegetable Book by...
Rhubarb
Rheum rhabarbarum Rhubarb is not a “traditional” Southern vegetable, though many cooks look forward to harvesting the leaf stems from this cool-season perennial plants for making pies, sauces, custards, and Because of its intensely bitter flavor, they usually combine it...
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...
