Recent Posts

  • Saving for the Holidays

    one dollar bills in US currency with scrabble tiles spelling SAVE placed on top

    Shorter days and cooler temperatures remind us that holidays are just around the corner. Americans spend an overwhelming amount of money on gifts every year. It is great to shop and find that perfect gift for someone important in your life, but holiday spending habits can be counterproductive.

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  • Country cottage surrounded by diverse landscape

    Landscapes have several things in common with financial portfolios. Both are investments in the future; both require time to yield results; and both benefit from diversity. Financial experts recommend investing in a variety of different asset classes to help protect the overall portfolio when one type of asset suffers a setback. In the landscape, investing…

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  • Water rushing over storm grate

    So far this year, we have seen 14 notable storms come out of the Atlantic, and most areas of Forsyth County have received more than 50 inches of rain. As we see more storms, there is an increase in water runoff from our roads, lawns, and driveways. This results in the movement of fertilizers, pesticides,…

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  • As the weather transitions into fall, there are some things we should – and shouldn’t do – to help our lawns and landscape plants survive the winter and reemerge for a healthy spring green-up.

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  • Tackling Mold in Your Home

    a close-up image of the interior corner of a window with black mold growth.

    On average, people spend approximately 90 percent of their time indoors, where the concentrations of some pollutants are often 2 to 5 times higher than typical outdoor concentrations. Mold is just one of those pollutants that can contribute to poor indoor air quality. Molds are nature’s recycler, so they are everywhere, and there are hundreds…

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  • An Invasive Issue

    In the distance, a large stone home. In the foreground overgrown kudzu.

    We’re all familiar with the vista that kudzu creates: a blanket of green consuming trees, fields, and buildings. Similarly, the sight of dense thickets of Chinese privet that squeeze out any other type of undergrowth is common in forests, parks, and neighborhoods. These are poster children for non-native invasive species in the Southeast, but they’re…

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  • Fall Army Worms

    An army worm on a green leaf

    This has been a problematic year for armyworms in turfgrass. The fall armyworm is the caterpillar of a moth that returns to Georgia almost every year. Although the moths don’t survive winters, they travel north from Florida on weather fronts every spring and summer, laying eggs as they go. After several generations, the moths –…

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  • a pink bathtub and shower with water running out of the tub faucet.

    Wastewater is the “used” water that flows out of homes and businesses through washing machines, toilets, sinks, and tubs. It includes everything carried in that water – soap, grease, hair, feces, toilet paper – as it leaves the building through drainpipes.

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  • A person harvesting vegetables from a lush garden.

    It is the time of year where the fruits of our labor are finally paying off. Berries, squash, zucchini, and beans are ripe for the picking. But sometimes after harvesting your produce and putting it on the counter for later use, it begins to soften before you ever get the chance to use it.

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  • green lichen growing on a plastic storage box.

    We often get calls from concerned residents about a “fungus” growing on trees and killing them. Usually, the growth is lichen (pronounced like-in). While this example of nature’s creativity may be a sign of trouble with the tree, it is not the cause. Lichens are the product of a mutually beneficial relationship between an ascomycete…

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