GEORGIA

If your peach tree put out red, puckered leaves last spring, you know how ugly leaf curl can look. Many of those leaves likely dropped early, weakening the tree for the season. The disease tends to come back every year once it finds a tree. That happens because the fungus overwinters on the bark and…

A box turtle in your yard is easy to miss, especially once it tucks itself under a layer of leaves. As the weather cools, these turtles start looking for a spot to settle in for winter. Many of them dig into loose soil or leaf litter right in residential yards. They stay there for months,…

An overgrown azalea by the front steps can make fall feel like the right time for a trim. With the weather cooler and the blooms long gone, cutting it back seems like a way to get ahead. The problem is that many spring shrubs have already set next year’s buds. Those buds are tucked along…

Spreading fresh mulch usually feels like the easy part of fall yard work. You grab a handful, toss it around the shrubs, and move on without much thought. That habit can lead to a painful surprise if a certain ant has already moved into your garden beds. This one does not build the tall mounds…

After a summer of brutal heat and rough storms, your lawn may look worn out. A few spots may never have bounced back from July. It is tempting to throw down seed and fertilizer right away and hope it works. That rush usually backfires, because stressed grass cannot use much of what you give it…

If your backyard feels quieter than it did in spring, the birds may be spending time somewhere else. Songbirds roam more once nesting season ends, going wherever food and cover are easiest to find. A yard that was busy in May can feel empty by October. Part of the reason comes down to routine chores…

A forecast calling for a soaking rain can look like perfect timing for putting new plants in the ground. The thinking makes sense, since fresh transplants need water and the sky is about to supply it. In red clay, though, that timing often works against you. Clay holds water much longer than looser soil, and…

Dragging a hose around the yard every August evening gets old fast. By the end of summer, you probably know which plants depend on you most. Those needy beds are often full of plants that were never suited to local heat and heavy clay. Native plants handle things differently, because they grew up with drought…

Fescue seed usually sprouts fast in fall, and those first green blades are a relief after a patchy summer. Once the new lawn starts filling in, it is easy to relax. The next few weeks matter more than the day you spread the seed, though. Young fescue has shallow roots and little stored energy, so…

Plenty of backyard raised beds were built from leftover deck boards or lumber that sat behind a garage or in a shed for years. Reusing that wood seems like a smart way to save money, especially when new lumber keeps getting more expensive. The trouble is that older pressure treated boards were made with a…

Fresh mulch makes a yard look finished, so it is tempting to pile it high around every tree before winter. You have probably seen those tall mounds in parking lots all over town. They look neat, but the tree underneath often pays for it. Bark on the lower trunk is meant to stay dry, and…

Most spring flower plans get made in March, which is a little late for one of the best native bloomers. Eastern red columbine does its most important work underground in cooler weather. Plants that go in this fall can settle their roots before sending up a flower stem. That head start pays off when the…

Once the heat breaks, most homeowners put the hose away and assume their new trees can handle things from here. That feels reasonable, since the leaves stop wilting and the soil no longer bakes by midafternoon. Underground, though, a young tree is still working to spread its roots. Those roots keep growing well after the…

A mimosa in full bloom is hard to ignore, which is why so many end up planted beside homes and driveways. The trouble tends to start after those pink flowers drop. By late summer, the branches are loaded with flat pods that later scatter everywhere. Each of those pods carries seeds that sprout easily almost…

A small, olive-colored bird picking at your coneflower seed heads might not look like a goldfinch at first. By fall, many of the bright yellow males have traded their summer color for a duller coat. That change makes it easy to miss how many of them are visiting your yard. Goldfinch numbers often climb as…

A small, blotchy snake slipping under the porch steps can make your heart jump, especially in a Georgia yard where copperheads live. Your first thought might be that it is dangerous, and that caution makes sense until you know more. Young rat snakes have a patterned look that can resemble a copperhead at a glance….

Once the leaves start dropping, those round green clumps high in your oak or pecan are hard to miss. Many homeowners first notice mistletoe in late fall, even though it has been there a while. Mistletoe is a parasite that pulls water and nutrients from the branch it grows on. A few clumps may not…

A camellia that has grown tall and leggy can look like it needs a good trim before the weather turns cold. Look closer, though, and you will likely see small, round buds packed along the branches. Those are next season’s flowers, and many of them formed months ago. Cutting back now removes those buds right…

Stepping outside after a heavy rain and nearly landing on a toad can startle you, especially with several more nearby. A garden that seemed quiet a day earlier can look busy after dark. Across Georgia, storms tend to bring toads out of hiding in a way that dry weather rarely does. During dry spells, many…

A tall plant with magenta stems and drooping clusters of purple berries can seem to appear from nowhere along a fence. Pokeweed grows fast, and by fall it can stand taller than you. Those berries look striking, but they are toxic to humans and pets if eaten. Birds do not seem to mind, and they…

Plenty of side yards between houses end up as a strip of bare dirt and struggling grass that nobody enjoys. That narrow space gets very little direct sun, so plants that thrive out front often give up there. It can also stay damp after rain, and the soil in Georgia neighborhoods is often packed hard…

Plenty of Georgia gardeners have scattered coffee grounds around a hydrangea, hoping for bluer flowers next summer. When the blooms return the same shade, it is easy to wonder what went wrong. Coffee grounds add organic matter, but on their own they rarely shift bloom color much. Bigleaf hydrangea color depends mostly on soil chemistry,…

Kudzu creeping over a back fence can look harmless in late summer, like another patch of green at the yard’s edge. Give it time, though, and it can smother shrubs and small trees. That fast growth is why so many homeowners feel like they are always one step behind. Your timing matters as much as…

A red tip photinia hedge covered in dark red spots can look a little worse every time you walk by. Those spots come from a fungal disease that has hit these hedges hard across much of Georgia. Once it settles in, leaves drop early and the hedge thins from the inside out. Spraying can slow…

A single hummingbird hovering at your feeder in early October can surprise you after the summer crowd thins out. That visitor is often a migrant passing through on its way south. Many of these birds travel long distances, and they need reliable places to rest and feed along the way. Your yard can be one…

Shady beds under big trees can look bare once the hostas fade back for the year. By midwinter, that ground may be little more than fallen leaves and exposed soil. One native fern stays green through those months, so it stands out when nearly everything nearby has faded. Its fronds hold their color even after…

Painting a fresh pruning cut with black sealer can feel like the responsible thing to do after removing a big limb. It looks like a bandage, and the cans at the store are clearly marketed for that purpose. Many tree professionals, however, skip that step when they finish a cut. That choice has nothing to…

A young oak planted ten feet from the house looks reasonable when it is barely taller than the gutters. At that size, it is hard to picture how far the branches and roots will spread. Many shade trees grow for decades, and the space they need grows with them. That gap between planting day and…

Spotting a snake near the garden shed can send you straight to the hardware store looking for a quick fix. The shelves there hold plenty of products that promise to keep snakes away for good. Many of those products have little solid evidence behind them, though. Snakes tend to show up for simpler reasons that…

Those shiny, grass-like patches creeping through your lawn right now may not be grass at all. Doveweed blends in surprisingly well with warm season turf, which is why it often spreads unnoticed. By early fall, a small patch can cover far more ground than it did in June. It spreads by creeping stems and by…

After a heavy rain, you may notice what looks like pepper sprinkled along your foundation or sidewalk. Look closer, and some of those specks start jumping. Those swarms can be unsettling, especially when the specks begin showing up on your porch and near your back door. In most cases, those bugs are drawn by moisture…

That neat layer of mulch hugging your front steps looks great, but during a dry spell it can carry more risk than you think. One of the most popular mulches in local landscapes dries out fast once the rain stops. Its loose, airy texture lets flames move through it faster than denser materials. Most days…

Finding a small brown scorpion in the bathtub can make you rethink every corner of your house. In north Georgia especially, that surprise is more common than many newcomers expect. Southern devil scorpions are native, shy, and usually smaller than your thumb. Their sting is often compared to a bee sting, though that is little…

Blowing leaves against the house might seem like a quick way to clear the lawn without hauling it away. The trouble is that a damp pile pressed against your foundation makes a comfortable home for roaches. It holds moisture, stays dark, and gives them something to eat as the leaves break down. Once they settle…

Watching a hawk swoop down near your bird feeder can be startling, especially the first time it happens. It is easy to assume the bird showed up by accident, but hawks rarely hang around without a reason. Most of the time, your yard is offering something it wants, and food is usually part of it….

A fresh pile of loose dirt next to your porch steps usually means something has been busy overnight. If the hole underneath is about the width of a football, an armadillo is a likely suspect. Armadillos dig burrows for shelter, and the space under a porch or slab gives them cover right away. They also…

Not every yard has room for a full garden bed, but most have a sunny patio or a spot along the driveway. That little bit of space can grow more food this fall than you expect. Many cool season crops stay compact, so they settle into pots without needing much room. Containers also let you…

Finding a neat little tunnel at the base of your compost pile is not the kind of progress you were hoping for. Rats are drawn to compost for the same reason you started one, since it is full of food scraps. A few items in particular give off smells that pull them in fast. Once…

Cypress mulch has been a go-to for a long time, mostly because it looks clean and holds its color well. Many homeowners buy the same bags every spring without giving it a second thought. Lately, though, more gardeners are asking where that mulch actually comes from. The answer has made some of them rethink the…

Tiny weeds are easy to ignore in fall, especially when they barely rise above the mulch. One of the smallest ones is also among the fastest to spread come spring. It sprouts in cool weather and quietly settles into beds and pots while everything else in the yard slows down. By the time you notice…

Your blueberry bushes may have turned a deep red lately, and it’s tempting to simply enjoy the show. In most Georgia yards, that color is normal as the plants head toward dormancy. Sometimes, though, the red shows up too early or looks patchy in a way that fall color usually doesn’t. That’s when it’s worth…

You probably chose your foundation shrubs for how they look in spring, not for how they smell in January. Most of us do the same, so plenty of Georgia yards go quiet once the last roses fade. That gap is easy to ignore until a sweet scent drifts over from a neighbor’s hedge on a…

If your tomato leaves curled into tight, twisted cups this summer, you probably blamed the heat or a virus. That guess makes sense, since both can cause odd growth in a Georgia garden. The real cause, though, often goes back to something you did to the bed months earlier. Fall is when many of us…

That butterfly bush by your mailbox probably pulled in more swallowtails this summer than anything else in your yard. So it feels strange to hear that it may not support those insects as completely as native host plants do. The problem is that butterfly bush feeds adult butterflies but gives their caterpillars nothing to eat….

A struggling plant near a large tree can leave you searching for answers. You water it and check the leaves, yet the problem keeps coming back. If a black walnut stands nearby, it is worth paying attention to where those problems appear. These trees have long been linked to poor growth in certain garden plants….

Spotting a fox along your back fence at dusk is a surprise the first time. Seeing it again with a smaller one close behind usually means there is a den nearby. That can feel exciting and a little unsettling, especially if you have pets. Foxes are common across Georgia, and many live closer to neighborhoods…

Walk into a garden center a few weeks from now, and the benches will look much thinner than today. Nurseries bring in their best fall stock early, and popular plants sell through quickly. Once those tables empty, many shops do not reorder until spring. That timing surprises plenty of homeowners, especially since fall is one…

Almost every yard has one shrub that ended up in the wrong place. Maybe it outgrew its window or keeps struggling in too much shade. You have probably thought about moving it and then put the job off. That delay can work in your favor over the next few weeks. Shrubs handle being dug up…

Reaching into a dark corner of the shed without looking is a habit worth breaking once cleanup season starts. Black widows prefer quiet, undisturbed spots, and a yard left alone all summer offers plenty of them. By now, many of those hiding places have had months to collect webs. The spiders are shy and rarely…

Flipping on the kitchen light and seeing a palmetto bug dart under the fridge can ruin an evening fast. If that happened to you lately, the timing is probably no coincidence. These roaches spend most of the summer outside in mulch and other damp spots around the yard. Once nights start cooling off, they look…

There is something deeply satisfying about standing in a pumpkin patch on a cool Georgia morning with a thermos of something warm and a very serious mission. The orange globes are glowing, the vines are sprawling everywhere, and every single one of those pumpkins is calling your name. Before you grab the biggest one and…

A gardenia that has grown wide and shaggy by fall can make you want to grab the pruners right away. That urge is understandable, but this is not the best time to start shaping the shrub. Gardenias should generally be pruned after they finish flowering rather than in fall. Cutting them back later in the…

One week your feeder is busy with hummingbirds chasing each other, and the next it sits almost untouched. That sudden quiet can make you wonder if you did something wrong. Usually, the change has less to do with your feeder than with what the birds are doing. Many hummingbirds start heading south around now, and…

Burning bush earns its name every fall, when the leaves turn a red so bright it looks almost fake. That color is why the shrub became a standard pick along foundations. The problem is what happens after birds eat the berries and drop the seeds elsewhere. Those seedlings sprout in nearby woods and crowd out…

If you keep spotting gray, speckled bugs with flashes of red on a tree trunk, take a closer look. Those could be spotted lanternflies, and finding more than one usually means they are settling in nearby. This insect is still fairly new to Georgia, so every sighting matters more than it might seem. Officials are…

Slugs chewed through your hostas while you slept, and they plan to return tonight. Those silver trails on your porch steps are mucus highways, not decoration. After September storms, Georgia soil stays damp, and slug activity spikes hard. Rain softens leaf tissue and lets these pests travel farther without drying out. You face a creature…

Fire ant mounds seem to appear overnight, usually in the one spot where you least want them. Knocking them flat with a shovel only sends the colony a few feet over. Most of the ants, including the queen, stay underground where you cannot reach them. What gives you an advantage right now is how the…