WDUN News/Talk 550 - North Georgia's Talk Station

Hall County Extension Director Billy Skaggs and Kellie Bowen, owner of Full Bloom Nursery take your phone calls to help keep your lawn and garden beautiful and healthy. Think of them as your personal gardeners.

Call Billy and Kellie at
770-535-2911, or
toll free at 1-800-552-WDUN

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MAY GARDENING TIPS

Mulch around newly planted trees and shrubs. This practice reduces weeds, reduces fluctuations in soil temperature, retains moisture, prevents damage from lawn mowers, and looks attractive.

Apply post emergent weed controls now to combat summer annual weeds. It is much easier to control them when they are young than to wait until they mature.

Some common ground covers suitable for sunny locations include Ajuga (Ajuga reptans), Moss Pink (Phlox subulata), and Creeping Juniper (Juniperus horizontalis).

Lightly sidedress perennials, including spring bulbs, with a 5-10-10 or 10-10-10 fertilizer, being careful to avoid the center or crown of the plant.

Caladiums need generous amounts of water and fertilizer to encourage continuous production of new leaves during the summer. Apply a light, side dressing of 5-10-5 fertilizer every two weeks, and water thoroughly to encourage bright-colored foliage.

If you are looking for plants that flower each year, require little care, and are rarely bothered by pests or disease, try some of these perennials: coneflower, bleeding heart, coralbell, daylily, geum, hosta, bergenia, and veronica.

Potted plants, when placed outdoors, may need to be watered more frequently than if they were inside. If you place plants in clay pots inside larger plastic pots or cover clay pots with aluminum foil, you will reduce the frequency at which you must water.

Thin peaches to 4 to 6 inches apart for large, high-quality fruit.

Continue spray program on fruit trees to protect the developing crop. The drought we are experiencing should actually help disease susceptible trees such as peaches.

Silver Choice is a cultivar of white corn that is 15 to 20 percent sweeter and matures two weeks earlier than Silver Queen, according to Today’s Garden. The ears are 8 inches long, with 16 rows of tender kernels.

Successful eggplant development is dependent on a span of temperatures (80 to 90 degrees F) and plenty of water. Water well when the plants are young. Water at least two times a week when temperatures are high and there is no rain.

To get early germination of okra seeds, try increasing seed moisture by placing seeds and dampened vermiculite in plastic bags at room temperature for 3 days before planting in cold soils. Early harvest and increased fresh-pod yield per plant are more likely in plants grown from seed treated this way.

When crops like squash or cucumbers are planted in a circle or hill, place a stick upright in the middle of the circle and leave it there. Later on, you=ll know where to water the main roots hidden among the vines.

When planting large-seeded lima or butter bean seed in heavy soils, it may help germination to plant the seed on edge, facilitating the emergence of the large cotyledons, or seed leaves. On light sandy soil, this is of little value because such soil offers little resistance to sprouts.

WEATHER CENTER

RECIPES

Squash Recipes

HELPFUL TIPS

August Gardening Tips