Horticulture Resources
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C 1027-10
Growing Fruits
Community gardens designed to provide locally grown food for families can be used to grow fruits in addition to the more commonly grown vegetables. There are many common and lesser-known fruits that are suited for planting in community garden situations.
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C 1013
Shade Trees for Georgia
Shade trees are a staple of Southern landscapes and include a variety of species, forms and seasonal appeal. In the Southeastern U.S., shade trees are used most often to provide relief from the summer sun and heat. Additionally, shade trees can be utilized to channel summer breezes to desired locations, add monetary value to a property, define outdoor spaces, and improve landscape sustainability by reducing soil erosion, decreasing storm water flows, increasing rainwater infiltration and increasing wildlife habitat.The information in this publication will assist homeowners in making informed decisions when selecting fast growing shade trees for urban and suburban environments.
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Roses are one of the most popular plants among Georgia gardeners even though growing roses in the southern climate can be challenging. Knowing which rose varieties to choose is the key to success. This publication discusses selection and techniques for growing roses in Georgia.
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Watermelon is a warm-season crop related to cantaloupe, squash, cucumber and pumpkin. Watermelons can be grown on any well-drained soil throughout Georgia but are particularly well adapted to the Coastal Plain soils of South Georgia. Watermelons will continue to be an important part of vegetable production in the state. Increases in average yield per acre will continue as more growers adopt plastic mulch, intensive management and new hybrid varieties.
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To schedule irrigation for most efficient use of water and to optimize production, it is desirable to frequently determine the soil water conditions throughout the root zone of the crop being grown. A number of methods for doing this have been developed and used with varying degrees of success. In comparison to investment in irrigation equipment, these scheduling methods are relatively inexpensive. When properly used and coupled with grower experience, a scheduling method can improve the irrigator’s chances of success.This publication covers the working principles of currently used methods for scheduling irrigation.
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Annuals are the mainstay color plant of many home gardens. They are also used in increasingly large numbers in commercial and municipal landscapes because they provide landscape color in a very short time with minimal investment. Properly cared for, many annuals will brighten the landscape continuously from spring until frost kills them in the fall.
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Energy inputs for irrigation pumping frequently exceed the energy used for all other crop production practices. This fact, coupled with rapidly increasing fuel and energy costs, causes irrigation farmers to look for ways to reduce energy consumption. Careful consideration should be given to selecting a pump that will deliver water to the system with the greatest possible efficiency. After installation, pump performance should be watched closely and evaluated, with steps being taken as needed to adjust, repair or replace inefficient pumping equipments.
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Excessive fertilization does not equate to greater crop yields. Crop yields are optimized when nutrients are efficiently used, which requires fertilizer applications to be based on the right source, the right time, the right rate, and the right placement. These are referred as the four Rs of fertilizer management, whose purpose is to supply plants’ nutrient requirements, reduce production costs, and mitigate environmental impact.
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Results from this study are preliminary, as only 2 years of data have been collected. Research over longer periods of time will be more revealing about how mechanical pruning will impact the perennial crop yield and health of the vineyard. Mechanical pruning is an option for dormant pruning ‘Carlos’ in situations where labor is unreliable and/or there is a low labor-to-acreage ratio which precludes the ability to finish pruning in the dormant period (December through March).
Concerns remain regarding the inaccuracy of mechanical pruning and the resultant amount of diseased and unproductive grapevine wood that remains in the canopy. It therefore may be a good practice to manually prune blocks of the vineyard on a recurring basis in order to reduce canopy congestion and the potential for disease buildup. Mechanical pruning may not be best practice in fresh-market muscadine cultivars, particularly those that produce bronze fruit that are less tolerant of rots and defects than purple fruit.
Mechanical pruning ‘Carlos’ and ‘Noble’ vineyards is worth consideration as these popular juice muscadine cultivars are vigorous and productive and may therefore sustain perennial health under high bud densities. Because of the preliminary nature of this report, it is recommended that mechanical, or “minimal” pruning, be trialed in vineyard blocks or sections before it is widely implemented with confidence.
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