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By Heather N. Kolich, County Extension Coordinator, UGA Extension Forsyth County, October 2022 I had a blow-out on GA-20. Traffic was heavy, and the right shoulder was demolished for road widening. I limped along until I found a mostly level gravel lot on the opposite side of the road and pulled in to change the…
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Bats occupy an important niche in ecosystems around the world, providing mosquito control, eating crop-damaging moths and beetles, pollinating important agricultural crops, and dispersing seeds to aid in reforestation. Unfortunately, this unique flying mammal faces survival challenges from habitat loss, disease, and negative perceptions. Three of the four mammals identified as threatened or endangered in…
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Plants are amazingly versatile and useful. Of course, plants give us food, or, as some people quip, plants provide food for our food. Plants also provide shade over our heads, a soft surface under our feet, and with a little ingenuity, they give so much more.
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Fall has arrived signaling the end flowering for southern landscape staples like roses, gardenias, and azaleas. But fall doesn’t have to mean an end of flowering shrubs altogether. Cold-hardy camellias offer fragrant blooms from September to March in USDA hardiness zones 7 and 6b.
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Working with the Parks and Recreation Department, Master Naturalists built and installed 14 bluebird nesting boxes at Fowler Park. The following spring, all 14 boxes hosted nesting bluebird pairs and successful fledges from each box. Nesting pairs returned each year, and the success at Fowler Park has been replicated with a second Bluebird Trail at…
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Buttercups (Ranunculus spp.) are broadleaf, cool season weeds. They emerge in the fall, usually from seed, although they can persist as short-lived perennials. They grow through the winter months and bloom in spring. Flowers produce seeds, which means that sea of yellow blossoms is laying down a hefty seedbank to germinate next fall.
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Active tree root growth occurs horizontally from the tree trunk at a depth of 18 or fewer inches. Urban and suburban soils are usually not ideal and suffer further from compaction. When soil is compacted, all the little pockets or pores that hold oxygen and moisture are squished flat. Construction, parking or driving on soil,…
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For many of us, spring awakens an urge to grow things. If adding backyard chickens is part of your home food production plan, here’s some guidance for getting your chicks off to a healthy start.
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Did you know that Georgia is home to several species of native trees that produce edible fruit? Chickasaw plums and American plums are two examples of fruit that we can still harvest from the wild. They also have a place in the natural history of North America.
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Identification is the first step in controlling unwanted plants in cultivated spaces. We can narrow the options down with some simple classifications: season (summer or winter) and type (broadleaf or grass/grass-like). Let’s look at some of the common winter weeds out there now.
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