Landscaping Resources
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This resource provides guidelines for proper pruning that help you grow healthy vigorous plants and create lasting landscape beauty.
Bodie V. Pennisi
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C 774
Fences for the Farm
Fences may be used to protect or divide property, to improve its appearance, to confine animals, or to exclude animals. This publication covers the planning for, type of, materials for, and maintenance of permanent and temporary fences.
John W. Worley
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AP 130-2-12
Green Industry 2024
1. 2023 was a good year for many green industry firms, but not as good as 2020–2022.
2. The unknowns going into 2024 include higher inflation and interest rates, mixed signals within the economy, increased input costs, and variability in the housing market.
3. Green industry sales in Georgia are projected to be lower than 2023 levels.Ben Campbell
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This publication provides guidelines for the planting and care of pansies to ensure success, including planting time, bed preparation, plant spacing, planting procedures, fertilization, freeze protection, and common insect and disease problems. Since seasonal color is a high-cost investment in the landscape, it is important to get the maximum return on your investment by following these planting and cultural guidelines.
Bodie V. Pennisi
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A weather station is a collection of instruments and sensors measuring atmospheric and soil conditions. Commonly measured environmental variables include light, temperature, relative humidity, rain, wind, and soil conditions (soil moisture, soil temperature, and/or soil bulk electrical conductivity). An on-site weather station allows growers to monitor the microclimate in a growing area. Weather conditions can vary over short distances, especially for measurements such as rainfall, which means that off-site measurements—often taken miles away as part of a public weather network—may not be accurate enough for irrigation and/or temperature scheduling purposes. Additionally, cold pockets created by elevation changes can create temperature variability, making local (adjacent to growing areas) weather stations a valuable tool in monitoring and use for irrigation scheduling and freeze protection.
Ping Yu
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Gloomy scale is a serious insect pest that affects maple trees in urban Georgia, but it can go undetected for years. Affected trees can show branch dieback and canopy thinning after 6–10 years, when the population reaches extremely high densities. A waxy shield covering protects females from predators and insecticide exposure, and usually gives them a convex shape.
Shimat V. Joseph and William G. Hudson
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Oak lecanium, Parthenolecanium quercifex (Hemiptera: Coccidae), is a common soft scale insect pest of oak trees and other woody plants. They infest trees under high stress, such as those planted in parking lots, greenscapes, and other urban areas. Like other soft scale insects, oak lecanium scales feed on tree sap, and they excrete the excess sugars as honeydew. Sooty mold fungus grows on honeydew, and its black color blocks sunlight and interrupts photosynthesis. Although lecanium scales have little immediate impact on twigs and branches, extensive infestation and subsequent feeding damage may weaken or kill the tree over time. The problems with lecanium scale are worsened in urban landscapes where local temperatures are generally higher. Higher temperatures decrease the relative number of parasites that feed on scale insects, and the high densities of surviving females continue to produce viable eggs.
William G. Hudson and Shimat V. Joseph
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AP 130-1-12
Green Industry 2023
1. 2022 was a good year for many green industry firms, with many firms
seeing increased profits.
2. There are many unknowns going into 2023 that will impact green
industry sales, including higher inflation and interest rates, mixed signals
within the economy, and the impact of varying strength of the housing
market in Georgia.
3. Green industry sales in Georgia are projected to be similar to 2022 levels.Amanda R Smith and Ben Campbell
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We can positively affect pollinator populations in our region by providing plants that help sustain them. Pollinators face the increasing challenges of habitat loss, parasite and disease pressure, and the unintended consequences of pesticide misuse. Bee forage plants can bloom season-long with careful plant selection appropriate to the region. A combination of herbaceous perennial and annual plants, trees, and shrubs can provide valuable resources to bees and other pollinators. Even grasses can be used by bees as a pollen source, while crape myrtles can provide a later season resource for pollinators. Anyone—from individual home gardeners to commercial and agricultural property managers—can promote pollinator health by selecting and planting appropriate plants. This guide provides options for selecting flowering woody plants that are attractive to bees and butterflies and sometimes have additional wildlife benefits.
S. Kris Braman, Bodie V. Pennisi, Kim Toal, and Elizabeth McCarty
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