The full pdf copy of this edition is available here. PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE By Glenn Parsons Hello all my Master Gardener friends and Happy New Year. I am honored to have the opportunity to deliver this message in our quarterly newsletter. The newsletter is something all of us enjoy reading since it keeps us in touch with what Master Gardeners are doing in Gwinnett County. I encourage any Master Gardener who wants to share gardening knowledge or experiences to submit an article for publication in our newsletter. Today I walked in my garden and found things to be rather desolate on this winter day in Georgia. I did find a Daphne odora beginning to flower, a few Hellebores buds forming under the cover of fallen oak leaves, and, popping out of the ground, Cardamine diphylla (grandma called it “Tooth Wort”). We gardener’s can find wonderful things on the bleakest of days….
Mycorrhizas: The Underground Internet
Most people are familiar with fungi that cause itchy toes and moldy bread. What if I told you that there are a multitude of fungi in an “Underground Internet” that wraps around the roots of almost every plant in the your landscape? Not only that, but also these fungi thrives by sucking energy from the plants to sustain themselves? Yes, these fungi are lurking in the soil of your landscape right now! Is this some Friday the 13th scary story intended to raise the hair on the back of your neck? No! These fungi are real and they are everywhere! They are mycorrhizas (pronounced my-CORE-rye-zuhs). This not-so-glorious association between plants, soil, and fungus is fundamental to plant establishment and growth. There are about 5,000 different fungal species that form a mycorrhizal relationship with over 300,000 plants. This association is an absolute necessity for the establishment of many plants. The absence…
ST. AUSGUSTINE GRASS
It is August and we are still experiencing drought conditions. As I walk the neighborhood, it is no surprise to find a lot of ugly lawns. Obviously, some of my neighbors have been watering and trying to keep their lawns healthy, while others seem to have given up and accepted the fact that mankind was not really meant to be surrounded by a green carpet of thousands of little high maintenance plants. My biggest surprise has been discovering how the various types have faired. As expected, most fescue looks pretty bad at this time of year, especially those lawns that were planted in the spring. Centipede and Zoysia have held up pretty well when in full sun, and only seem thin and weak as they experience shade and competition from trees. Bermuda can take the drought but seems to have taken a beating from diseases this year. The surprise has…