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Crop rotation, cover cropping, and plant and animal-derived materials are used for managing soil fertility when growing organically.
Using organic practices offers certain benefits, including conserving or improving soil quality and reducing the use of some types of pesticides.
Fall is one of the best times to plant most types of trees and shrubs in Louisiana.
Mulching is one of the best tools in the toolbox for managing weeds in landscape beds.
Giant plume ginger and pink velvet banana have a tropical appearance, are cold hardy throughout Louisiana, and provide pink color in the garden.
Birds need food, water, and shelter. Gardens can provide all of these.
Muscadines aren’t the only grapes that we see growing in the wild.
Raised beds are helpful where drainage is poor and can be useful even where it isn't, but they're not always without problems.
This article addresses excessive drainage, low nutrients, and herbicide residues.
Join the LSU AgCenter for a series of five classes designed to help you cultivate a thriving garden and healthy lawn.
If a person is paid a fee for doing landscape work beyond general yard work, Louisiana generally requires a license.
A relatively way to kill many types of unwanted woody vines, shrubs, and trees is to make a “cut stump” treatment with a triclopyr-containing herbicide.
There are a variety of ways that trees can be damaged during construction.
Roughly 99% of insects are not “pests.”
We can take steps in the landscape to reduce the chances of termite infestations.
Bermudagrass tolerates foot traffic and drought but does not grow well in shade.
Zoysiagrass is more drought- and wear-tolerant than centipedegrass and St. Augustinegrass and more shade-tolerant than bermudagrass.
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.
Late winter and early spring, as the aboveground parts of plants start growing again, are good times to fertilize perennial plants in landscape beds.
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.
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.
Each year, we face situations in which some of our plants could be injured by cold weather.
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.
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.
The LSU AgCenter has a lot of resources that address a variety of topics.
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.
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.
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.
Late January to mid-February is the primary time of year to prune everblooming roses in Louisiana.
LSU AgCenter will offer a rose pruning demonstration at the Franklinton Branch Library
Chinese privet is, unfortunately, a common plant in the southeastern US.
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.
Drift roses are groundcover roses. Like Knock Out roses, they bloom over a long period, but they remain smaller than Knock Out roses do.
As of August 24, the US Drought Monitor showed all areas of Tangipahoa and Washington Parishes in severe drought.
The LSU AgCenter is offering five classes covering a variety of garden- and landscape-related topics in Washington Parish.
Bamboos are grasses. There are many species. We generally divide them into running and clumping types.
If you have a stand of bamboo that you want to get rid of, you have a couple of options.
May or June beetles feed on many species of plants.
Of the six springs I’ve been working in Extension in Louisiana, I’ve received more questions about lawn problems this year than any other.
This week, I’m writing about a few more plants – including a shrub and several herbaceous perennials – as well as some native plant resources.
Governor Edwards proclaimed April 2023 Native Plant Month, and I thought I’d write about a few of my favorites.
Some salvias tend to be perennial here, while others don’t.
Individuals in the Louisiana Master Gardener program help the LSU AgCenter provide education about gardening and lawn care.
Many gingers are among the root-hardy tropicals that enrich our landscapes in southeastern Louisiana.
This article wraps up a series about plants for moist or wet sites.
If you’d like a deciduous plant for moist or wet sites, you have options.
The LSU AgCenter will offer a Lawn Care in Louisiana class on Tuesday, March 14, 2023, at LSU AgCenter’s Washington Parish office in Franklinton.
Plants in low areas and on sites with a water table close to the surface need to be able to tolerate a good deal of soil moisture.
Exposure to a sufficient extent of cold temperatures, followed by warm temperatures favorable for growth, is involved determining when a plant "wakes up."
There are simple ways to differentiate among American chestnut, Chinese chestnut, and Allegheny chinquapin trees.
When aphids have been on a plant, we often see skins (the exoskeletons they shed as they molt) and aphid “mummies,” or parasitized aphid bodies.
One way to add cheer to winter and early spring landscapes is to plant cool-season flowering plants.
The leaves of Louisiana irises provide green color in landscape beds through the winter and then flower in the spring.
Raised beds are often the best option for growing vegetables at home.
The phrase “right plant, right place” encompasses much of what people need to know about landscaping.
There's a variety of purple- and pink-flowered perennials that perform well in our climate and attract butterflies and bees.
Few questions come up as frequently as those about lichens.
Some are among the plants that are reliably perennial in Louisiana.
Regardless of whether you seed, sod, plug, or sprig, there are certain things to do before and after planting turfgrass.
First, consider whether turfgrass is the best choice for your site.
Mulch serves important purposes in landscapes and other sites where plants are grown.
General principles for pruning landscape plants will also be discussed.
The dormant period, prior to when new growth begins, is a good time to prune crape myrtles, as well as other plants that flower on new growth.
Seven individuals in Washington Parish recently advanced from being LMG Trainees to LMG Apprentices.
Camellias are popular sources of color in fall and winter gardens in the southeastern US.
To give the plant the best chance for survival, you must make sure that sufficient roots are retained when the plant is dug.
Exclusion should be the primary defense against indoor invaders of any kind.
Fall webworms feed on the leaves of many plants, with pecans, persimmons, bald cypresses, and sweetgums among the trees on which they’re most commonly observed.
Three highly wind-resistant species are among our most iconic Louisiana trees: bald cypress, live oak, and southern magnolia.
