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...
Arborvitae – Multiple Leaders
Q: I planted a big ‘Green Giant’ arborvitae this year. It has one tall leader and 3 or 4 shorter leaders coming out of the rootball beside the main one. I would like to have just one leader so that...
Philodendron – Cold Hardy?
Q: I have had this plant on my front porch for thirty years. It started with one sad looking leaf and has turned into what you see. I would love to know exactly what kind of plant this is. It...
Christmas Displays
Each year I try to have a different Christmas display in front of my house. I use lights to make it more festive at night. Compare mine to the display I saw on Peachtree-Dunwoody...
Palms – Transplanting
Q: I’m doing some research for a Sunday sermon which has a short discussion of date palms in it. Can a date palm re-root after being blown over? A: Yes, like most palms, date palm can be propped up for...
Clover – Control in Iris Bed
Q: Is it possible to chemically eradicate clover in a bed of dwarf iris? A: My friend Theresa Schrum points out that irises are monocots (single-leafed plants) and therefore should be immune to 2,4-D, the primary ingredient in broadleaf (dicot)...
PDA – Used for Gardening
Note: this was written in 2003…long before smartphones became so ubiquitous!) The local garden club came to visit last week. We all had a fine time talking with each other and tasting the potluck dishes each person had brought. “Watch...
Rose of Sharon – Mentioned in the Bible
The following came from Consumer Q’s, written by Arty Schronce and published by the Georgia Department of Agriculture Q: Is the rose of Sharon mentioned in the Bible the same shrub we know by that name? The shrub is also...
Formosan Sweetgum – Identification
Q: We found this leaf on the UGA campus last weekend. Any idea what kind of tree? I searched all my tree ID books to no avail. A: Sharp-eyed naturalist Shannon Pable says it is Formosa sweetgum see Formosa...
Milkweed Aphids – Identification
Q: Please tell me what this is! I don’t know if I should spray this or leave it. A: They are milkweed aphids. I see them every year on my milkweed plants , looking like a bright yellow crust on...
Yellowmargined Leaf Beetle – Identification
Q: These bugs are savagely attacking our turnips and other leafy vegetables. What are they and how do you get rid of them? A: They are grubs of the yellowmargined leaf beetle. The adult beetle has an edge of yellow...
Sweet Potato – Curing After Harvest
Q: For Christmas, my eighty-year-old dad wants a bushel of sweet potatoes that have been laid out in the sun to dry after being dug up, like his family in Alabama did. According to him, sweet potatoes are now kiln...
Buy Garden Books for Gifts!
As you probably know, I am the author or co-author of several books about gardening in Georgia. The holiday season is fast approaching! If you’d like to get one of my books to give as a gift, click the link...
Rooting Cuttings – Accelerated by Aerated Water
My friend Kim C. remarked to me that the coleus stalks he’d absentmindedly stuck in an ornamental fountain had rooted much quicker than similar cuttings he’d put in a bucket of water. Eager to test his observation, I clipped 30...
English Ivy – Rooting
Q:We have two large oak tree stumps in our front yard as a result of recent storms. We would like to plant ivy around them to cover. Can ivy be rooted from clippings? A: It’s a simple task to root...
Poinsettia – Pointers for Indoor Care
Poinsettias are NOT poisonous. That old myth was dispelled by a research project at The Ohio State University in 1975. While the latex sap may be irritating to the eyes, the plants are not toxic. All poinsettia flowers are yellow....
Earthworms – Eradicating
Q: I have a photography studio and have numerous earthworm mounds on a grassy spot where I photograph families or people on the grass. My studio is on a wooded lot and this is the only piece of grass I...
Creasy Greens – Identification
Q: My grandmother mentioned eating creasy greens in spring. She said they were a favorite mountain tonic. What can you tell me about them? A: Creasy greens, also called winter cress, are in the mustard family. The botanical name is...
Invasive Plants in Georgia – List
Q: Where can I find a list of invasive plants in our area? Every time I see a plant doing well in the wild areas near me I wonder if it would be a good one in my yard. A:...
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...
