Bed Bug Infestation: Why Professional Treatment Is Essential for Complete Eradication

Q: My son found these bugs in his bedroom. Can you identify? Im sad to say he has bedbugs. If you see one, many more are hiding. Though products are labeled for bedbug control, homeowner control is very difficult. EVERY

Accidental Lawn Fire on Zoysia: Assessing Damage and Why Burning Is Never Recommended

Q: I was burning leaves under a cast iron grate in the driveway, it was windy, I looked away for a second. Have I done permanent damage to my zoysia? Good news... I doubt the grass was harmed. Wind probably made flames t

Mushrooms on Oak Trunk: Sign of Irreversible Internal Decay Requiring Removal

Q: Theres a fungus on our old oak tree. It stands ~20 feet from our two-story ranch and is ~2.5x the house height. The tree was likely there before the house. At some point, soil was pushed up around the base. Excess moi

Managing Aphids on Indoor Citrus: Why Neem Oil Beats Insecticidal Soap

Q: Are these spider mites? Or baby assassin bugs? Or baby cave crickets? At least two different critters here. I spray citrus with insecticidal soap every other week. The white things are shed skins of live yellow-green

'Okame' Cherry: The Early-Blooming Pepto-Bismol Pink Tree Signaling Spring

Q: What are the pink flowering trees that start blooming in late February? The flowers are small. Ill bet youre seeing Okame cherry. The small flowers are Pepto-Bismol pink and blanket trees in early spring. It takes jus

Getting Free Arborist Wood Chips: Tips for Delivery, Quantity, and Best Uses

Q: You mentioned on your radio program that free wood chips are easy to obtain. Whom to contact? Most arborist companies (www.georgiaarborist.org) deliver free. Ask nicely and theyll look for an oak removal job—oak chips

Rejuvenating an Aging Gardenia: Soil Aeration and Slow-Release Fertilizer Technique

Q: I have a 40-year-old gardenia. Past 2 years it produces small leaves, loses branches, and few flowers. Advice? Try to rejuvenate in place. Mix 1 pint Milorganite organic fertilizer with 1 cubic foot soil conditioner.

Filling Deep Raised Beds: Using Subsoil Fillers and Quality Topsoil Blends

Q: I built raised garden beds needing backfill before garden soil. Max depth 20 inches, min 10 inches. How deep to backfill and how deep for garden soil? Plant roots only grow in the top 10 inches of soil. Fill the botto

Multi-Colored Camellias: Achieved Only Through Grafting Multiple Varieties

Q: Id like to buy a camellia that looks like this one I found online. My camellia guru Mark Crawford, owner of Loch Laurel Camellia Nursery in Valdosta says: This could only be done by grafting 3-4 camellia varieties on

Wireworm Damage in Sweet Potatoes: Identification and Cultural Control Methods

Q: Could you tell me what is eating my sweet potatoes every year? The creatures are millipedes but I think theyre enjoying damage originally done by wireworms. Wireworm control is difficult. One tip: till potato beds twi

Black Knot Disease on Stone Fruit Trees: Pruning Out Infected Limbs

Q: We have a fruit cocktail tree (plum, peach, nectarine) planted 5 years ago. It blossomed and had fruit but fruit developed a gum-looking disease and fell off. Many branches are infected with black-looking stuff. I don

Hand-Pollinating Indoor Meyer Lemon Trees for Reliable Fruit Set

Q: I had a dozen lemons the first summer. Last winter it had a few blooms every few days but they fell off quickly and were small. It lost many leaves. Last summer it grew but bore no fruit. I fertilized monthly. Blossom

Top Resources for Organic Vegetable Gardening in Georgia: Planting Calendars and Expert Guides

Q: Ive been all over the Internet and cant find a good resource about organic gardening in Georgia and what to plant when. We want to start an organic vegetable garden now. What to plant in summer and other seasons? Good

Managing Fig Tree Regrowth After Severe Pruning: Thinning Small Limbs for Structure

Q: We pruned our fig severely two years ago, leaving three big trunks. It came back with lots of root sprouts. We removed some, now need to prune better but dont know how or how much. It has room to grow as big as it wan

Reducing Overgrown Peach Trees: A Two-Stage Pruning Plan for Better Fruit Access

Q: Your site says peach trees should be pruned to ~6 ft. Ive never done that; mine are 12-15 ft tall. Can I cut them back to 6 ft at once? Tall center limbs shade others, diminishing fruit production. Fruit that does for

Winter Care for Bamboo Iris (Iris confusa): Why Not to Cut Back Foliage

Q: I have a large, spreading clump of bamboo iris, Iris confusa. Can I remove leaves in winter? Unlike most irises, its better not to remove leaves in winter. The slender, flower-bearing stems emerge from old foliage; re

Termites in Landscape Stumps: Normal Decomposers, Not a Home Threat

Q: I prepared to remove a stump in my parents backyard and found termites. I want to remove and grind the stump; do we need to treat termites first? House is termite-treated and 250 from stump. Termites are perfectly nor

Azalea Dieback from Over-Shearing: How to Restore Interior Growth

Q: I have a shrub with problems in my front yard. Cant tell if dead pattern is due to soil or a bug. This shows why not to shear azaleas. Over years, close pruning creates an outer shell of green leaves but the inner par

Rose Suckers from Rootstock: Why New Growth Differs from Your Grafted Variety

Q: I had a rose bush in a planter for a year but it died. Now I see 4-5 small bushes in the planter. Two appear attached to the original stump; three are separate. Bad news—the sprouts are from the understock of your pre

Juvenile Japanese Honeysuckle Leaves: Why They Look Different from Mature Foliage

Q: This comes up amidst my honeysuckle, but these leaves are not the same! New to my yard this year. Vines were reddish earlier, but color less apparent now. This is Japanese honeysuckle, Lonicera japonica. Although most