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Bermudagrass tolerates foot traffic and drought but does not grow well in shade.
Most vegetables that we grow are annuals in our climate, but there are some exceptions.
Ornamental plants that bloom in late winter and early spring generally bloom on shoots that grew in a previous season. These should be pruned after flowering.
Tips on staking plants, removing suckers, and avoiding blossom end rot, leaf diseases, and caterpillar damage.
The snap bean is another warm-season vegetable that can be planted relatively early in the year.
April is late enough to avoid most frosts and early enough that plants are unlikely to experience excessively warm temperatures.
Late winter and early spring, as the aboveground parts of plants start growing again, are good times to fertilize perennial plants in landscape beds.
Updates for horticultural crop growers.
Late winter or early spring, around the time plants begin to put out new growth, is one of the best times of year to fertilize fruit trees.
A Louisiana Master Gardener training course is scheduled for Washington Parish on Tuesdays, from August 12 through November 18, 2025.
Good bed preparation is important, especially when planting trees, shrubs, and herbaceous perennials that we want to live for many years.
One of the main perks of growing transplants is that you can choose from a more diverse range of vegetable varieties than those offered locally as transplants.
Yield data was collected from 31 blueberry varieties at the Hammond Research Station in 2024.
For woody plants and palms, waiting is advised.
If you’re going to use an herbicide, it’s important to do it while weeds are small.
Here are some gift ideas for gardeners.
Muscadines fruit on shoots that come from the previous season’s growth.
Updates for horticultural crop growers.
In 2024, we harvested from the end of April till early July.
Rabbiteye blueberries can produce for many years and with relatively little care if a good site is chosen and the soil is prepared well.
Updates for horticultural crop growers.
The sweet potato production cycle begins when sweet potatoes from the previous harvest season are planted in the spring, to produce slips for transplanting.
Each year, we face situations in which some of our plants could be injured by cold weather.
The LSU AgCenter will hold a meeting for current and prospective growers of watermelons and other crops.
Hawthorns and crabapples native to Louisiana tend to grow into small trees, have thorny branches, flower in spring, and have fruit that is consumed by wildlife.
Updates for horticultural crop growers.
Fall is one of the best times to plant most types of trees and shrubs in Louisiana.
Garlic and most types of bulb-forming onions need to be exposed to cool temperatures followed by longer days to form bulbs of the desired sizes.
Lettuce is not a very demanding vegetable, but it needs to be grown at the right time of year, and some types are easier to grow in our climate than others.
Tawny crazy ant colonies grow to contain very large numbers of ants with multiple queens, and people often find piles of dead ants
Composting is a way to take yard, garden, and kitchen “waste” and turn it into something useful.
If you want long-term control of fire ants but also need to get rid of them quickly in one or more spots, you can take a two-step approach.
Sooty mold grows where insects have secreted a sugary substance called honeydew.
The best option will depend on several factors.
Besides the amount of rainfall that we get and the intensity of rainstorms, a number of other factors affect how much erosion occurs on a site.
Leaves and roots of plants play major roles in reducing erosion.
Updates for horticultural crop growers.
Figs are one of our more easy-to-grow fruit plants, although at this time of year, leaf diseases are often observed.
Most of our blackberry and blueberry plants have finished fruiting, so it’s time to think about pruning them and making a final fertilizer application.
The LSU AgCenter has a lot of resources that address a variety of topics.
Plants injured by synthetic auxin herbicides often exhibit distortion of leaves and other plant parts.
Updates for horticultural crop growers.
Several types of insects make highly noticeable webs in trees.
While tropical milkweed is most readily available in garden centers, a number of milkweed species are native to Louisiana.
There are websites that can help you find local produce.
There are vegetables that tolerate hot weather.
Updates for horticultural crop growers.
It’s helpful to know what poison ivy looks like.
It’s important to start spraying for Virginia buttonweed during the spring, since this is when the weed is more tender and susceptible to herbicides.
Easter lilies are perennials in the landscape in most parts of Louisiana.
Updates for horticultural crop growers.
Annuals can quickly provide a splash of color – due to their flowers, foliage, or both – in the landscape.
It's recommended that the warm-season turfgrasses commonly grown in Louisiana be fertilized between April and August.
Kirilow’s or Chinese indigo is sometimes cultivated under tree canopies in Louisiana. There are also wild or false indigos that are grown as ornamental plants.
Alternatives to the more invasive wisterias include American wisteria and evergreen wisteria.
Sweet corn can be planted earlier than many other warm-season vegetables.
Apple trees are usually trained in the central leader form.
Apple varieties recommended for the Florida Parishes area of Louisiana include Anna, Dorsett Golden, and Ein Shemer.
Late January to mid-February is the primary time of year to prune everblooming roses in Louisiana.
The LSU AgCenter will hold an Agritourism Education Meeting for people involved or interested in agritourism.
LSU AgCenter will offer a rose pruning demonstration at the Franklinton Branch Library
If you wait until March or April to plant a vegetable garden, you will have missed the window for planting some of our cool-season veggies.
Updates for horticultural crop growers.
Chinese privet is, unfortunately, a common plant in the southeastern US.
A primary criterion for choosing pecan varieties for yards and home orchards is resistance to pecan scab.
This meeting will be held from 6:00 to 8:15 PM on Tuesday, January 30, 2024, at the LSU AgCenter’s Washington Parish office (1104-B Bene St., Franklinton).
Updates for horticultural crop growers.
Despite having ornamental qualities, tung oil trees are not the best choice for all locations.
Several yucca species and at least one agave are considered native to Louisiana.
Dwarf palmetto, saw palmetto, and several species of prickly pear cacti round out the discussion of prickly plants native to Louisiana.
Distyliums are evergreen, tolerate Louisiana's climate, and can be used as hedge or foundation plants.
While they’re sometimes thrown out after their fall flower display, garden mums are perennials and can be planted in the landscape.
Viburnums, as a group, have long been a bit nebulous to me.
Some of the plants most closely associated with the holidays are daylength sensitive. Exposure to long periods of darkness is a key to getting them to bloom.
The forest products industry contributes to each parish economy in several ways, including jobs, wages and purchases in the local economies.
Updates for horticultural crop growers.
Birds need food, water, and shelter. Gardens can provide all of these.
Muscadines are well-adapted to our climate.
Drift roses are groundcover roses. Like Knock Out roses, they bloom over a long period, but they remain smaller than Knock Out roses do.
Plums have many of the same disease and insect problems that peaches have, which is to say a lot.
After planting, the first several weeks are the most important for weed control.
Herbicides, tillage, blocking light from reaching the soil for a sufficiently long time, or a combination of these can be used to kill weeds before planting.
Some heat-tolerant vegetables can still be planted, and it won’t be long before it’s time to plant many cool-season crops.
Updates for horticultural crop growers.
As of August 24, the US Drought Monitor showed all areas of Tangipahoa and Washington Parishes in severe drought.
Many of our cool-season vegetables can be planted in September and October.
Herbicides are important tools in some cases, but they should not be relied upon alone to manage weed problems.
The LSU AgCenter is offering five classes covering a variety of garden- and landscape-related topics in Washington Parish.
It was a bad year for blueberry production, but it was a good year for learning what varieties are more likely to produce in spite of late freezes.
