WSB-TV Channel 2′s David Chandley interviews Deb about Atlanta’s warm winter

This morning, Meteorologist David Chandley of Channel 2 interviewed me about how the current un-wintery weather might affect plants and turf in the spring. I told him our biggest concern is the potential for an immense insect population explosion. Here in the South, we really count on repeated cold snaps to assist in controlling pests, both personally irritating ones like mosquitoes as well as harmful garden insects. Today I saw an active leaf miner on a boxwood. This is something I have never before witnessed on a January day. This means we will advance our shrub care program by 4-6 weeks in order to control these pests. Also, although soil temps are below the “active” temperatures for turf and turf weeds, they are inching closer. I foresee a more active, prolific weed infestation in Atlanta this spring so our turf programs will also need to be advanced to control unwanted turf weeds. Finally, we have all witnessed plants blooming out of season – I saw a viburnum in full, glorious flower on January 1^st. I hope its owner enjoyed the occurrence because it won’t happen again in early March when it should. I have seen maples in flower and swollen buds on trees that should bloom in April. Despite the unseasonable blooming we've been experiencing, I still believe there is no more beautiful a spring than in Atlanta and we are looking forward to a great gardening season. We'll be hosting our Spring Open House on Friday evening, March 30th, from 6-9pm and would love to see you there. Find David Chandley's blog post here.