Lawn and Garden Tips for July

Cobb County Extension staff member Louise Weyer assembles a list each month of tips for keeping your lawn and landscape in good order. As summer heads into high gear, following Louise's checklist of tasks can  improve the odds of your yard's shining through to fall.

Louise's Tips for Trees and Shrubs for July includes this information:

• Spring-planted trees and shrubs need an inch of water each week. Irrigate in dry weather.
• Mature trees need deep watering; they can lose leaves if they have inadequate water.
• Prune Knock-out roses.
• Remove dry flowers from butterfly bush to encourage more blooms, and remove flowers from shrub roses as they fade.
• Remove suckers from the base of cherry, apple, crape myrtle, dogwood, and crabapple trees.

For annuals and perennials:

Upcoming Events and Classes

Celebrating National Pollinator Week

Thursday, June 18, 10:00 - 11:30 a.m. Family fun learning about pollinators will include a butterfly craft, bug hunt, and education stations, at the Wildlife and Rain Garden of the Cobb County Water lab, 662 South Cobb Drive (at the intersection with Atlanta Rd.). Free.

4-H Story Time

Wednesday, June 24, 3:30-4:30 p.m. West Cobb Regional Library, 1750 Dennis Kemp Lane NW, Kennesaw, 30152. Free.

Recycling in Cobb County

Do you have a pile of assorted metal, paper, old computer equipment or other electronics, fluorescent bulbs, plastic containers, motor oil, batteries, or other items that you would like to have recycled?

Keep Cobb Beautiful maintains a list of local recycling centers and the materials they accept on its Recyclable Items webpage.

Upcoming Events and Classes

Common Lawn Diseases

Tuesday, May 26, 6:30-8:00 p.m. County Agent Neil Tarver will present information that will help you identify and control common lawn diseases that may be affecting your lawn, at UGA Extension/Cobb County, second floor, 678 South Cobb Drive, Marietta, GA, 30060. Free and open to the public.  Preregistration is requested – call 770-528-4070, or email uge1067@uga.edu.

Bluebird Trail Tour

Saturday, May 30, 10:00 a.m. to noon. Free and open to the public. Cobb Master Gardener and Bluebird expert Jim Bearden will conduct a guided walk of the 2.3-mile Bluebird Trail at Green Meadow Preserve Park, at 3780 Dallas Hwy., Powder Springs, GA, 30127. Follow the Bluebird Trail blog at bluebirdtrail.blogspot.com.

Compost How-to

Tuesday, June 2, 6:30-8:00 p.m. County Agent Neil Tarver will present the benefits and how-to of creating and using compost in your home garden and landscape, at UGA Extension/Cobb County, second floor, 678 South Cobb Drive, Marietta, GA, 30060. Presentation is part of the Healthy Soil Initiative of FoodWell Alliance. Free and open to the public. Preregistration is requested – call 770-528-4070, or email uge1067@uga.edu.

Cobb County Watering Restrictions

Area weather has turned from cool and wet to warmer and drier, which means newly planted gardens and landscapes may need some additional water to help establish and maintain good root systems and healthy growth.

County watering restrictions currently in place allow the watering needed, but there are limits to other uses of water outdoors. The Cobb County Water System Outdoor Watering Restrictions webpage includes a brief description of the restrictions:

"You may water landscapes any day between the hours of 4PM and 10 AM. The odd /even schedule is currently still in place for other outdoor uses such as car washing or at home pressure washing. Even addresses may use water for purposes other than landscape watering on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays, Odd addresses may use water on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays."

School Garden Teacher Training this Summer

Learn how to establish and use a beautiful, productive school garden to its full potential as an educational tool with new UGA trainings that are being offered this summer.

The classes provide flexibility for busy teachers by including self-paced, online work to complete prior to an in-person session that will teach hands-on, practical skills to use in the garden.

Interested teachers can choose the location most convenient for them for their hands-on day:

• June 23rd at the Research and Education Garden on UGA’s Griffin campus
• June 25th at the UGArden in Athens
• June 30th at the North Fulton Government Annex on Roswell Road, Atlanta

Green Industry Update - Recertification Credits Offered

A Green Industry Update, offered through UGA Extension in Cobb County, is scheduled for Tuesday, May 19, 2015, from 8:30 a.m. - noon. Recertification credits are offered in the following categories:

Commercial Pesticide Applicator Licenses 21, 23, 24, 27 - 3 credits

Private Pesticide Applicator License - 1 credit

ISA - 2.5

8:30 - 9:00 a.m.- Registration
9:00 - noon - Presentations

Leaves of Three...Poison Ivy in the Landscape

Poison ivy             PHOTO/Amy W.

Greenery is popping up all over our landscapes, and, for anyone who has ever developed a blistery rash following a day of work in the yard, some of that greenery may look like bad news.

One common cause of such a rash is poison ivy, which spreads underground and through seeds that are dropped by birds and small animals that have eaten the berries.

For people who are unsure how to identify poison ivy and are counting numbers-of-leaves to determine which plants to pull or spray, it may be best to take or email a photo of any suspicious plant to your local Extension office for identification.