Recent Posts

  • The parts of a radon test laid out on a table.

    Earlier this month, on a property just outside the Cumming city limits, a private well used for household drinking water tested positive for radon. Radon is a radioactive gas that forms naturally when geologic deposits of uranium and radium decay. The odorless, colorless, and tasteless gas can be released from underground rocks like granite.

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  • A detailed drawing of the elements around a typical home;

    Although it’s still cold outside, seed and garden catalogs are showing up in our mailboxes. The photos of blooming flowers and prize-winning vegetables are tempting, but to get the best performance out of our spring and summer gardens, we need to do some planning and prep work.

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  • a tan spring peeper frog

    Have you ever wondered what makes that high-pitched whistle during winter nights? It’s the Spring Peeper (Pseudacris crucifer). This tiny, nocturnal tree frog is one of 14 species known to live in Forsyth County.

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  • The Art of Pruning

    A smaller branch being cut from the trunk of a tree.

    Heather N. Kolich, ANR Agent, UGA Extension Forsyth County Many people approach pruning with confusion, dread, or a chainsaw. I suggest approaching the task with a little knowledge, patience, and artistic vision. Appropriate pruning maintains plant health and promotes flower and fruit production. Timing, tools, and technique are important. Timing People often call the Extension…

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  • A huge pile of trash and a rear view of a dump truck.

    As the county’s population continues to grow, residents grapple with some serious issues. Nearly 6,000 tons of trash rumble down county roads to the landfill six days a week. Land disturbance for road expansions and new buildings causes widespread soil erosion. Home and business owners struggle to grow lawns and landscape plants on construction damaged…

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  • A kitchen facet slowing dripping water.

    Winter weather can cause water pipes to freeze and bust. Take these precautions to protect your pipes:

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  • A dark image of dark green leaves with dark purple berries, Chinese privet.

    Chinese privet has held the #1 ranking for worst invasive plant in the Georgia Forestry Commission’s Dirty Dozen list since 2009. In use since the mid-1800’s as hedges and ornamental plantings, the shrub escaped cultivation during the 1930s and had colonized forests across the southeastern U.S. by the 1950s.

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  • Circle graphic with a city skyline at the top and two cows at the bottom.

    Although we may not see them, farmers are part of nearly every aspect of our daily lives. Farmers produce the raw materials for the food we eat, the clothes we wear, the wood that supports and furnishes our homes, the grapes in a celebratory bottle of wine, and even the cork that stoppers the bottle.…

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  • Setting is a Christmas Tree Farm. A person is squatting at the base of a tree sawing it down.

    Heather N. Kolich, ANR Agent, UGA Extension Forsyth County The tradition of bringing greenery into the home during winter has a history that spans many centuries and several cultures. For most of them, evergreen branches symbolized renewal of life and anticipation of the fresh fruits and vegetables that spring brings. So how did the tradition…

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  • A bunch of red and green apples.

    Did you know that once an apple tree begins to bear fruit, it will do so for a century? Today, there are over 2,500 varieties of apples grown in the United States. Fall weather brings the best fresh apples in bushels. While we are in a season of peak apple production in many states, you…

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