Published on 02/18/10

2010 edition of the annual Spring Garden Packet

By Stephanie Schupska

Welcome to the 35th annual Spring Garden Packet from the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. Written by CAES faculty, news editors and graduate and undergraduate students, these articles are provided to help you with timely, valuable gardening information for wherever you live in Georgia.

This year’s edition is split into sections. First, you’ll find articles on general gardening, followed by vegetables, organic gardening, gold medal winners and trees. Happy gardening!

General gardening
1. Spring maintenance in the landscape – Bob Westerfield
2. What's in, what's out for 2010 landscapes – Forrest Stegelin
3. Tips on gardening for Georgia newcomers – Andrea Gonzalez
4. Mulch plants, but not too much – Sharon Dowdy
5. Turn ‘trash’ into plant food and improve garden soil – April Sorrow
6. Propagate your landscape – Westerfield
7. Turf battles reduce pesticide use, pit wasps against crickets – Cheri Abraham
8. UGA offers free gardening publications online – Amanda Swennes

Vegetables
9. Avoiding common vegetable problems takes a little planning – Amanda Tedrow
10. Stop veggie diseases before they start – Brad Haire
11. Save green with bare-root vegetable transplants – George Boyhan

Organic gardening
12. Organic alternatives for soil care and fertilizers – Westerfield
13. Control insects organically – Westerfield
14. Organically control weeds, diseases – Westerfield

Gold medal winners
15. And the Georgia Gold Medal winners are… – Stephanie Schupska
16. Diamond Frost Euphorbia puts on snowy summer show – Gary Wade
17. Herbaceous perennial winner is a butterfly magnet – Wade
18. Evergreen groundcover a cheery garden edition – Wade
19. Hydrangea adds limelight to gardens – Wade
20. Giant tree adds impact to large landscapes – Wade

Trees
21. Risky trees should be removed – Kim Coder
22. Fox-fire makes forests glow – Coder

For more information on gardening in your county, call your UGA Cooperative Extension agent at 1-800-ASK-UGA or visit ugaextension.com.

Stephanie Schupska is the communications coordinator with the University of Georgia Honors College.

Authors:

Stephanie Schupska

Experts/Sources:

Paul A. Thomas

Kim D. Coder

Bob Westerfield

George E. Boyhan

Gary L. Wade

David B. Langston

Paul Pugliese

Butterfly Weed is a native herbaceous perennial that attracts butterflies like magnets with its florescent orange blooms.

Ogon Dawn Redwood has unique golden foliage that glows in the summer sun and is the perfect choice for pond edges, parks and large public spaces.

Fresh woodchips are mostly carbon and will steal nitrogen from the plant's soil in their urgency to begin composting.

With spring on its way, be sure all nuts, bolts and belts are tight and any blades on your mower and other equipment are sharp.

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