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...
Termite – Inspections
Termite control can no longer depend on the injection of chemicals around your house. It is imperative that your house be inspected each year for signs of termite infestation. The inspection should be thorough. Insist that your pest inspector schedule...
Spider Mites – Control
Spider mites are difficult to control in the landscape. Symptoms include twisted foliage, “speckled” leaves and tiny webs between leaf stems and main stem. Butterfly bush, verbena, foxglove and several houseplants are common hosts for spider mites. There are three...
Eggs – How They Are Made
You look at an egg and wonder…..just how did this get made inside a chicken? And how exactly does a baby chick get inside there? And what’s that yucky white stuff on the yolk? Here are some references to help...
Eggs – Incubating
One of the most memorable experiences I had as a young person was attending the Poultry Embryology class at Rock Eagle 4-H Camp. We opened eggs to study embryos, learned about incubators and even dyed just-about-to-hatch chicks blue and red....
Egg Candler – Building
If you’re incubating eggs…or just want to determine how fresh an egg is, a candler is a useful tool. Farmers once used a candle in a box…but these plans show how you can use a flashlight or a small lamp...
Tent Caterpillars
Tent caterpillars in the wild black cherry trees along the interstate have begun building their homes in the limbs. Like most caterpillars, each of the crawlers is basically a “stomach with legs”. Their existence is dominated by the urge to...
Grub Control – Poor Results in Spring
We do a lot of dirt digging in spring and sometimes discover white grubs in the soil. The grubs are immature beetles (Japanese beetle, May beetle, June beetle, etc) which feed on plant leaves in June. The grubs themselves feed...
Camellia – Cranberry Rootworm
When a gardening friend first described the damage to her camellias on Sea Island, I thought the holes in the leaves must be caused by an insect pest. But when I saw the holes were not round, I shifted gears...
Beautyberry – Mosquito Repellent
Many are the plants and plant oils that are reputed to repel insects! From the citrosa geranium to the lemongrass plant, there are differing levels of insect repellency in their odor. Now comes word that a researcher at the Agricultural...
Chigger – Control
“There was a little chigger and he wasn’t any bigger than the head of a very small pin. But the bump that he raises just itches like the blazes – and that’s where the rubbin’ comes in!” A day in...
Deer Repellents – Scientific Research
There are many repellents for deer; some are sold commercially and some are concocted by homeowners. I found two articles that actually used the scientific process to evaluate deer repellents. Reducing Deer Damage Comparative Analysis of Deer...
No BS! Free HS! – Getting Horse Manure for your Garden
Gardeners have used animal manure for thousands of years to add nutrients and organic matter to their gardens. In metro Atlanta, it has become harder and harder to find a stable because owners have had to move as their land...
Plant Hoppers (Planthoppers) – Roosting on Stems
The fuzzy white powder covering the upper stems of hosta, azalea and many other landscape plants looks just like a fungus. Powdery mildew has disfigured the leaves of crape myrtles and dogwoods for weeks, so this white powdery stuff must...
Sweet Flag (Acorus) – Scale
Former Extension agent Christi Heidt reports an unusual problem: scale insects on acorus (variegated sweet flag). As far as I can tell, this has never been reported before. Here are her comments: “I was really surprised about the acorus. I...
Saddleback Caterpillars
Saddleback caterpillars are one to one and a half inches long. They are distinguished by the large brown spot or “saddle” in the center of their back. Stiff, white hairs cover the sides and both ends of their body. These...
Pine Beetles – Diagnosis and Control
Several kinds of beetles ferociously attack drought-weakened pine trees in summer. The Southern pine beetle is the most feared. In September, homeowners typically notice a brown-needled tree, distinct among the other green pines around. By the time the tree is...
Pansies -Something Eating Leaves
A skill that gardeners could practice more often is observational horticulture. Sometimes you learn more from just looking around than you do from a book. Last week I noticed that my early-planted pansies were severely chewed-upon. Initially, I suspected chipmunk...
White Grub – Control
It’s common to find one or two “C-shaped” white grubs when you dig the soil in spring and early summer. A grub is the immature form of a beetle. Some grubs develop into Japanese beetles, some turn into the brown...
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...
