The full pdf copy of this edition is available here. PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE – by John Atkinson EVERY DAY IS A GIFT! Where do we go from here? What do we do with this gift? First: Let me say “thank you” for a remarkable year! My commitment to Gwinnett County Master Gardeners will continue, but it is time for me to “move ahead” to a different area of service. We have a new crew coming in that will keep the boat afloat and steer us on a course that will move us in new directions. We have a bank of talent in our current membership. Help your leadership tap into your interests and talents. Try something new! This may be your year to take the opportunity you had put aside. Master Gardeners are especially equipped and motivated to train and share their skills with their neighbors about plants and growing things….
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Cogongrass: An Invasive Weed In Georgia
– The Bugwood Network, The University of Georgia Cogongrass (Imperata cylindrical) is a perennial colony-forming grass that grows up to 3 feet tall. Leaves have an off-center and whitish midrib and rough edges. Sharp, branched, white rhizomes help identify this plant. It is best identified by the large fuzzy panicle of flowers and seeds, giving the plant a cottony or silky look. Flowering occurs in late spring. A native to Southeast Asia, it was first introduced into the southeastern Untied States in the early 1900’s. It was initially planted for forage and erosion control; however it is unpalatable for livestock and not well suited for erosion control due to its aggressive behavior. Currently it is found in the southeastern United States and is sparse in South Georgia. It is an extremely aggressive invader with the capability to invade a range of sites. It forms dense mats that exclude all other…
Hemlock Wooly Adelgid Alert
from the Lumpkin Coalition (Ed. Note: Lumpkin Coalition is a non-profit organization in Lumpkin County.) Our forests are threatened with the loss of our native hemlocks, eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis) and Carolina hemlock (T. caroliniana). They are being decimated by the hemlock woolly adelgid (HWA), a tiny, aphid-like insect accidentally introduced to the east coast from Asia in the 1950s. The HWA attaches to the stems at the base of the needles making an incision and draining the tree of its sap. The tree often dies within just a few years. The devastation from this tiny parasite has spread from Virginia, north to Maine, and then south to Georgia. Infestations of the HWA have already reached Rabun, Towns, Habersham, Union, White, Fannin, Whitfield, and Lumpkin Counties and are traveling fast. If nothing is done to combat HWA, more than 80 percent of our hemlocks may die in the next six…