Do's and Don'ts of Paulding County Gardening

It's time to garden! Here is a list of “Do’s and Don’ts” to help you along with some common questions that Paulding County gardeners often have. 

Don’t bend over in the garden, them taters have eyes! Do start a compost pile for the tater peelings and other stuff, though. Composting is a simple process that every good Georgia gardener practices. 

Don’t sprinkle grits around fire ant mounds. It’s a waste of perfectly good grits. The ants will not explode even if they eat it. Do treat for fire ants in the spring and fall. Many products are available.

Don’t use pesticides within 100 feet of the well even for fire ants. Do store your pesticides in a safe, secure manner well out of the reach of children. Research shows 50 percent of households with children under the age of 5 store pesticides improperly.

Don’t think if an ounce of pesticide is recommended, 2 ounces is better. Dead is dead. Research and development has provided the legally approved manner in which to use pesticides…so then DO READ THE LABEL!

Don’t fall for lime or sulfur repelling snakes. We do have snakes in Georgia, lots of ’em, but only six poisonous varieties and one of them only lives in the coastal plain. We are not coastal. 

Do mulch and know that during drought the best thing to do is put mulch over plant roots, which aren’t right at the trunk. Don’t make mulch volcanoes—we true southerners will know y’all ain’t from around here and laugh at you.

Do some selective pruning to a drought-stressed landscape when plants begin to wilt, show leaf scorch and branches start dying. Pruning in this case will reduce the water demand the foliage places on roots. Don’t prune your azaleas after June 1, as you will be removing next year’s blooms. Don’t continue routine pruning in dry times. This encourages growth during a time when survival is the goal. Boxwoods, hollies, and hedges…stuff you want to prune each week for some insane reason.

Do give watering priority to trees and shrubs planted within the past four months (actually 12 for trees).

Don’t bag those clippings unless you’re actively composting. Do raise the mowing height on your turf during dry periods. Do know the recommended mowing height for your grass. You do know what kind of grass you have?

Don’t be surprised when our white tail deer find y’alls landscape. A well maintained, fertilized, watered landscape is deer smorgasbord and all these subdivisions are built in their habitat…what are they supposed to do? Do use the plant list for deer tolerant shrubs and if you can tolerate the plants on the list, the deer may not.

Don’t be surprised when all the deer repellants fail. You can buy, make it, urinate it, take it off your head or out of the soap box. Deer will adjust and sometimes are just too hungry. Do know the right height fence will keep the deer out and your view in.

Don’t buy the flashiest bag of fertilizer on the shelf. Plants can’t read, don’t listen to the ads and only want the right amount of fertilizer given to them at the right time in the right amounts, which is usually small doses. Do learn how to take a soil sample and how to interpret the results, or don’t lose the county agent’s phone number.

Do know that the numbers on the fertilizer bag tell you how much nitrogen (N), phosphorous (P), and potassium (K) is in the bag on a percent by volume basis.

Don’t fertilize during long, dry periods. Fertilizers are chemically salts and can dehydrate soils further. It also leads to new growth that the root system is unable to support due to no moisture, and the new growth requires more water.

Don’t plant kudzu (we don’t need anymore), privet, wisteria, or Bradford pears…do see the Georgia Invasive Plant List.

Do get a copy of Georgia Gardeners Q&A: 501 Answers to Common Questions by Walter Reeves. Available at most reputable bookstores or online at walterreeves.com.

Do support your local 4-H program.

Do learn proper planting procedures including, but not limited to, right plant in the right place for now and the future, planted at the proper depth into an amended BED, not planting hole. Don’t think you or the County Agent can save a dead plant, tree or shrub. Dead is dead and even County Agents can’t reverse that, although sometimes we might be able to tell you the cause of death.

Do trust University of Georgia Extension to provide unbiased, research-based information on many subjects: Not only horticulture but urban agriculture, youth, families and consumers. We are a wealth of information.

Do visit www.ugaextension.com/paulding or call our office to get answers to your lawn and garden questions at 770-443-7616.