North Georgia Gardening Symposium, Feb. 26, 2015

The 2015 North Georgia Gardening Symposium is set for Thursday, February 26, at the North Metro Campus of Chattahoochee Technical College.

For landscape professionals, the Symposium provides for 5-hours pesticide re-certification credit for category 24 licenses or 1-hour pesticide re-certification for private applicators. It also has been approved for 5-hours (CEUs) for ISA Arborist and Municipal Specialists.

For everyone who attends, the Symposium offers a great opportunity to enhance garden and landscape knowledge and skills!

This year's offerings will help gardeners and landscapers avoid common mistakes in using broad-leaf herbicides, learn to diagnose common tree disorders in the landscape, and use the best and most innovative sustainable practices in landscape maintenance, and more.

8-8:30 a.m.                    Registration/Check-in 
8:30-9:30 a.m.               Herbicide Effects on Landscape Trees and Shrubs, by Paul Pugliese, Bartow County Extension
9:30 a.m.-10:30 a.m.      Creating Tough Turf, by Becky Griffin, UGA Extension Urban Ag Associate
10:30-10:45 a.m.            Break
10:45-11:45 a.m.           Tree Scene Investigation, Mary Carol Sheffield, Paulding County Extension
11:45 a.m. to 1:15 p.m.   Break for lunch and vendor visits 
1:15-2:15 p.m.                New Diseases, New Products, What Else is New?, by Dr. Jean Williams-Woodward, UGA Extension Plant Pathologist
2:15-3:15 p.m.               Sustainable Landscape Practices, by Dr. Bodie Pennisi, Extension Landscape Specialist
3:15-3:30 p.m.                Break
3:45-4:15 p.m.                The Latest and Greatest Plant Introductions, by Rex Bishop, Chattahoochee Technical College
4:15-4:30 p.m.                Pesticide re-certification/evaluation

The course fee is $35; lunch and breaks are included in the fee.

To register online, scroll down the list of courses for Continuing Professional Education to choose the North Georgia Gardening Symposium class and register. Also, you may call 770-528-4550 for more information or to register for the Symposium.

Azalea Leaves Turning Yellow, Dropping?

Evergreen Azalea in early December.  PHOTO/Amy W.

When leaves of a favorite, beautiful azalea turn yellow and begin to drop, a homeowner might become somewhat alarmed. We tend to think of azaleas as being evergreen, and in our minds, "evergreen" is nearly the same as "never-yellow."

However, the UGA publication Selecting and Growing Azaleas, by Extension specialists Wade, Braman, and Woodward, in cooperation with members of the Azalea Society of America, points out that not all azaleas are evergreen, and for those varieties, total leaf-drop is completely normal.

It turns out that some leaf yellowing and loss is completely normal for evergreen azaleas, too.

In the online article Are Your Evergreen Azalea Leaves Turning Yellow or Reddish-Purple This Fall?, Joey Williamson, of Clemson's Home and Garden Information Center, explains:

"Remember that no leaf lasts forever. The older leaves, further down the stems, will fall off during the late fall and early winter season..." He adds, "White and pale-pink colored azaleas will typically have bright yellow-colored foliage just before leaf drop."

For information about selecting, planting, and care of azaleas in the landscape, along with descriptions of other potential causes of leaf yellowing and lack of vigor in azaleas, read the UGA publication linked above.

For azaleas about which the cause of a problem is unclear, the local Extension office can be contacted to provide assistance in tracking down the cause.