Remember, though, that there are few, if any, plants that are TOTALLY RESISTANT to deer damage. Deer tend to feed on ornamental plants more if populations are high, they become overly tame or if food is scarce.

The plants below marked with an asterisk (*) are particularly resistant, though the degree of resistance for all listed may vary with the season or age of the plant.

Also marked are species that are considered invasive by the Georgia Exotic Pest Plant Council.

• All Palms
• Abies spp. – Fir
• Acer rubrum – Red Maple
• Aesculus parviflora – Bottle Brush Buckeye
• Ajuga spp. – Bugle Weed
• Albizia spp. – Mimosa (Category 1)
• Aspidistra elatior – Aspidistra
• Berberis spp. – Barberry
• Betula nigra – River Birch
• Buddleia davidii – Butterfly Bush *
• Buxus spp. – Boxwood *
• Caloceddrus decurrens – Incense Cedar
• Cedrus spp. – Cedar
• Cephalotaxus spp. – Plum Yew
• Cercis canadensis – Redbud
• Cotinus coggygris - Smoke Tree *
• Cornus florida – Dogwood
• Cotoneaster spp. - Cotoneaster
• Crataegus spp. - Hawthorn
• Cupressus spp. – Cypress
• Cupressocyparis leylandi – Leyland Cypress
• Cycas spp. – Cycad
• Cytromium falcatum – Holly Fern
• Cystisus scoparius – Scotch Broom *
• Daphne spp. – Daphne
• Diospyros virginigana – Persimmon
• Eleagnus pungens – Eleagnus (Category 2)
• Eucalyptus spp. – Eucalyptus, Gum
• Ficus spp. – Fig *
• Forsythia x intermedia – Golden Bells, Forsythia
• Gardenia spp. – Gardenia
• Ginko biloba – Maidenhair Tree, Ginkgo
• Ilex spp. – Holly (except thornless)
• Ilex cornuta ‘Rotunda’ – Rotunda Holly
• Ilex opaca – American Holly
• Ilex vomitoria ‘NanaMimosa’, ‘Pendula’, ‘Stoke’s Dwarf’ – Dwarf Yaupon, Weeping Yaupon and Schellings Dwarf Yaupon Holly
• Illicium anasatum – Anise
• Juniperus spp. – Juniper
• Kerria japonica – Japanese Rose *
• Lagerstroemia indica – Crape Myrtle
• Gordonia lasianthus – Gordonia
• Leucothoe spp. – Leucothoe
• Ligustrum lucidum – Ligustrum
• Maclura pomifera – Osage Orange
• Magnolia spp. – Magnolia
• Mahonia spp. – Mahonia *
• Michelia fuscata – Banana Shrub
• Myrica cerifera – Wax Myrtle
• Nandina domestica – Nandina * (Category 2)
• Nerium oleander – Oleander *
• Parkinsonia aculeata – Jerusalem Thorn
• Paulownia tomontosa – Empress Tree (Category 1)
• Picea spp. – Spruce
• Pinus spp. – Pine
• Pittosporum spp. – Pittosporum
• Podocarpus macrophylus – Podocarpus
• Prunus caroliniana – Cherry Laurel *
• Pyracantha spp. – Pyracantha

We know that without water, plants will die.

We also know that with too much water, plants can die.

So how much should you water?

Depending on what type of plants (grass, new plantings, established plantings, containers) you’ve got, the requirements may be a little different.

Here are some general guidelines:

Water in the cool of the morning. The water will have time to soak in before it gets too hot and evaporation starts.

Water at night for the same reasons, BUT avoid watering disease-susceptible plants at night. The damp, dark, overnight hours are great for breeding bacteria and disease.

New plantings need to be watered deep and slow at first. You want the water to get down in the roots. For new trees, you can use a product like the Hippo Bag to allow the water to be released slowly. For smaller plants, you can use a product like the Aqua Cones to release water slowly.

Once plantings are established, water on an as-needed basis when the ground is dry. Water heavily and less often.

When watering container plants, check the soil about 3″ deep with your finger and if it’s damp, you don’t need to water. If it’s dry, give it a good drink. (Make sure your container has good drainage holes so water doesn’t puddle in the bottom.)

Avoid watering the foliage and flowers when watering annuals, flowering perennials, and container plantings. The blooms will get damaged and the excess moisture on the leaves can cause disease.

Grass can be watered at a rate of about an inch a week. Set up a rain gauge to accurately measure!

What great tips do you have for making sure your plants get watered properly? 

Photo credit: Phil Wood Photo via flickr 

Our partner, Georgia Piedmont Land Trust, has shared a list of Category 1 and Category 2 lists of exotic invasive plants for Georgia. From their Q&A blog post on Gardeners Helping Gardeners:

The official definition of invasive species was established in an Executive Order in 1999: “Species that are not native to a given ecosystem and whose introduction to that ecosystem causes or is likely to cause economic or environmental harm or harm to human health.”

Invasive species, whether deliberately or accidentally introduced, gain a competitive advantage because natural predators don’t exist; most thrive on disturbed soil; and the climate resembles their area of origin.  Such plants proliferate excessively to the extent they outcompete our native species.  This interferes with and degrades native habitat by reducing natural plant diversity.  The result is reduced wildlife support and impaired recreational benefits.  The economic and aesthetic impact to residential landscapes can be considerable, as well, as gardeners struggle to contain and eliminate out-of-control invasives.

This list comes from the Georgia Exotic Pest Plant Council.

Category 1 - Exotic plant that is a serious problem in Georgia natural areas by extensively invading native plant communities and displacing native species.

Category 1 Alert - Exotic plant that is a not yet a serious problem in Georgia natural areas, but that has significant potential to become a serious problem.

Category 2 - Exotic plant that is a moderate problem in Georgia natural areas through invading native plant communities and displacing native species, but to a lesser degree than category 1 species.

Today, though, we have a special guest to introduce you to. Our new Grayson location mascot, Buckley Whitetail. Buckley has recently found his way to our nursery, making trouble and making friends all at the same time.

I sat down with Buckley yesterday and asked him a few questions.

So, Buckley, how did you find your way to Buck Jones Nursery? I was hanging out around the Mall of Georgia and hopped on the back of a landscaper’s truck just to see where it would lead me. Next thing you know we were slap in the middle of a nursery with food galore plants everywhere. It looked like a great place to hang out so I interviewed for the job of Grayson Mascot. These jobs are hard to find in this economy, you know.

What was your first job in the green industry? Well, I was born in the industry, one would say. I seek out plants of all kind to dine on and, as you humans say, destroy.

What’s the biggest challenge in your career been? Some humans want to protect their pretty flowers, but it’s hard for me to find food sometimes. It makes me frustrated when I can see a plant I want to eat and then I smell this terrible smell and can’t make myself get past it to get to the plant. So I usually just hightail it to another yard or part of the forest. It’s really frustrating, y’all. Why do you put that stuff out so I can’t get in your yard.

Also challenging was interviewing for this job at Buck Jones. I’m not a good speaker.

What do you consider your biggest career success to date? Eating that entire bed of pansies that Mrs. Turner had in her front yard. It was pretty, but I’m a sucker for purple flowers.

If you had to do it over again, what would you do differently? I would have probably eaten the bed of pansies on the side of Mrs. Turner’s house. They were yellow. That’s my second favorite!

Toot your own horn for a minute. What’s the one thing most responsible for your success? My persistence. Also, my fashion consciousness. Aren’t these overalls just to die for?

If you could change careers for a month, what would you do? I would probably trade places with the dinosaur at Fernbank, Giggy. He’s got a cool gig and gets to see dinosaurs all the time.

What really annoys you? When my handlers don’t take me outside a lot.

What are some things that you like to do when you’re not working? Hmm. I sleep a lot. I also watch movies. My favorite is the Planet Earth series. I like seeing my old friends that are still living out in the woods. Sometimes I sneak out of the office and snoop around the nursery. That usually gets me in trouble, though!

Give me a bit of trivia about yourself that most people probably don’t realize. I can sprint up to 30 mph and jump 10 feet into the air.

What do you like to eat? Do you like chicken or are you a vegetarian? I’m a vegetarian.

Where do you live in the nursery? Do you have a room? I live in the office. Though on pretty nights, I like to sleep in the hosta house. There I can eat AND lay and gaze up at the stars.

Do you chase squirrels? Of course I do!

What’s your favorite holiday? Arbor Day, which is today. You should go grab a few trees but remember to check first to see if my deer friends are going to want to munch on them or not!

Have you ever seen Bambi? Yes. And it makes me cry every time. YES, even bucks cry.

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Buck Jones Nursery’s Grayson location is open from 8a – 5p Monday through Friday. Contact them at 770-963-8227.

Here in Georgia our typical cool weather annuals that thrive from October through mid- April are pansies, ornamental cabbage, kale, violas, and snapdragons. These flowers and foliage plants tend to peak at the end of March and into early April.

Hard as it may be to rip them out when they are looking good, if you want a nice flower bed to get you through the summer, swap them out with warm season color late April to early May.

The choices for warm season annuals in Georgia is fantastic. We have lots of traditional annuals we can use such as petunias, marigolds, begonias, zinnias and lantana, and our summers get so hot we can throw in tropical shrubs to use as annuals such as banana, tropical hibiscus, and purple fountain grass.

Flower growers are always working on new and improved flowers, too, such as Angel Wing Begonia which has such interesting foliage you hardly care if it flowers! This is a great summer flower for part sun (morning is best) that gets nearly eighteen inches tall and comes in different foliage colors from red to dark green with speckles.

If you have a really hot site, you can wait until May to plant some heat lovers like Vinca and Portulaca. These are easy care plants that thrive in dry conditions once established. Because they require heat, soil temperatures need to warm up so they are better planted later in the season.

Lantana also does well in hot, dry beds and comes in many colors and sizes from trailing lavender, gold, red, and orange that stay low to the old standby shrub sized Miss Huff with yellow, orange, and pink all on the same plant.

For shade areas, in addition to Angel Wing Begonia, you can use traditional green leaf begonias, coleus, impatiens, elephant ear, and feel free to mix with perennial shade plants such as ferns, hosta, creeping jenny and heuchera that will return year after year. Looking for something a little different for sun, use Angelonia also known as Summer Snapdragon and a Georgia Gold Medal winner in 2009. For punches of foliage color, there are creeping and trailing Sweet Potato Vine that comes in chartreuse or purple leaves. Sun coleus is another option that ranges from greens, pink, red, and white variations. Ornamental peppers are a great conversation starter with orange, yellow, and red pops of color!

Always amend your flower beds with a quality soil amendment if the soil is poor and mulch after planting. Make sure to water all plants during establishment phase and through the summer as needed. Don’t kill with kindness, waterlogged roots will rot, so be sure your beds are draining and are allowed to dry between waterings!

Since annual flowers have a short lifespan and work so hard to bloom prolifically, feed them every 4-6 weeks with a light application of 10-10-10 throughout the growing season to keep them looking their best.

If your flowers become leggy and flop over in late summer, simply cut back and keep up with your regular water and fertilizer schedule and they should flush back out for round two!

Originally published on the Buck Jones Nursery website, April 2012.

Buck Jones Nursery is dedicated to providing quality service

in helping our friends in the green industry to be successful.

Employee: Jessica Hughes

Location: Grayson

Position: Account Representative

Number of years at Buck Jones Nursery: 15 months

What’s the biggest challenge in your career been? Trying to establish credibility being so new to the industry.

Who are some of the people who have influenced your career? Dr. Ponder, one of my professors at Auburn University. He influenced my decision to change my major to Horticulture and enter the green industry.

What do you consider your biggest career success to date? Balancing family and career.

If you had to do it over again, what would you do differently? I would do everything the same, but possibly stay and finish my Masters at Auburn. 

If you had to pick the part you love most about your career, what would it be? Educating others. 

How about your least favorite part? Stress! 

If someone you know was going to be entering the green industry today, what advice would you give them? Attitude is everything. Always stay positive!

Toot your own horn for a minute. What’s the one thing most responsible for your success? Hard work and a good attitude. 

If you could change careers for a month, what would you do? I would work in the veterinary field. 

What really annoys you? Disrespectful people.

What are some things that you like to do when you’re not working? I like to go to the lake. 

Give me a bit of trivia about yourself that most people probably don’t realize. I have three sisters. 

GPLT and Buck Jones Nursery have established a strong pattern of collaboration over the past few years. Buck Jones Nursery sells both natives and plants not native to the Georgia Piedmont. However, Christian Roberson, Nursery Manager, notes that Buck Jones Nursery strives to educate the industry about the habits and environmental impacts of exotic/invasive plants.

What is the GPLT and what do you do?

The Georgia Piedmont Land Trust, believing that healthy communities are founded on a healthy environment, protects green and open spaces in the Piedmont region to ensure water and woodland quality; and for farmland and historic preservation.

GPLT, a fourteen-year-old 501(c)(3) private nonprofit, undertakes land protection through direct ownership and by means of legally binding agreements called conservation easements with willing landowners. In addition to informing people and communities about the value and means of conserving land, we spotlight the importance of native plant species in furthering essential pollination and preserving habitat diversity – whether in a residential landscape or in a natural area available for peaceful enjoyment by surrounding communities.

You talk a lot about Native Plants. Why are they so important and why should people use them in their landscapes?

Plants are not optional on this planet.  Neither we nor any other living organism, with few exceptions, can live without them.  However, humans have profoundly altered landscapes where plants and area wildlife — pollinators, birds and other wildlife – co-evolved in an ongoing dance of mutually supportive life.  While such alteration has disrupted the dance, we can help ensure the continued survival of many species of wildlife we value and take for granted by installing in our landscapes the plants these critters depend upon.  This preference also can help reduce the continued introduction of exotic invasive plants which are responsible for significant habitat reduction as they overtake natural areas.

Check out a brochure of the Georgia Native Plant Society for a listing of native plants.  For more detailed information, an outstanding and thorough compilation of information, titled Native Plants of Georgia, is available from the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences in three parts: Trees, Shrubs and Woody Vines, Ferns, Wild Flowers.

Talk about invasive plants and the danger they present to our area. 

The official definition of invasive species was established in an Executive Order in 1999: “Species that are not native to a given ecosystem and whose introduction to that ecosystem causes or is likely to cause economic or environmental harm or harm to human health.”

Invasive species, whether deliberately or accidentally introduced, gain a competitive advantage because natural predators don’t exist; most thrive on disturbed soil; and the climate resembles their area of origin.  Such plants proliferate excessively to the extent they outcompete our native species.  This interferes with and degrades native habitat by reducing natural plant diversity.  The result is reduced wildlife support and impaired recreational benefits.  The economic and aesthetic impact to residential landscapes can be considerable, as well, as gardeners struggle to contain and eliminate out-of-control invasives.

Is there a place I can find out whether my yard has invasive plants?

The Georgia Exotic Pest Plant Council is a nonprofit organization recognized as a leader in identifying and providing information about invasive plant species in Georgia.  Find Georgia’s list here.

If people are interested in volunteering with the GPLT, are there opportunities? 

The Georgia Piedmont Land Trust welcomes volunteers and members who share our belief in and commitment to conserving green and open spaces in our region.

We sponsor periodic events with opportunities to volunteer, including stream cleanups, trash pickups, invasive plant removal and, at the Mary Kistner Nature Center in Snellville, maintenance and improvement of the property’s woodland gardens.  Check us out at www.gplt.org and contact us a info@gplt.org.

For $40, you can have this unique elm.

The Bosque Elm was founded by Moon Tree Farms in Loganville and has established itself as a very drought- and heat-tolerant specimen tree. It features an upright oval shape, exfoliating bark and a wonderful yellow fall color.

The Bosque Elm will tolerate narrow street planting areas, containers and parking lots.

Details: No tagging or delivery. Must be purchased on April 4, only. 

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Buck Jones Nursery’s Grayson location is open from 8a – 5p Monday through Friday. Contact them at 770-963-8227.

Keep an eye on the Grayson website and Facebook, the Woodstock website and Facebook, monthly newsletters, the Blog, and Twitter to stay up to date on sales and special promotions.

Don’t forget to check our online store for great new products!

Enter code BJNONLINE001 for 15% off your order!

Image source

Buck Jones Nursery is dedicated to providing quality service

in helping our friends in the green industry to be successful.

Employee: Steven Roberts

Location: Grayson

Position: Logistics Coordinator

Number of years at Buck Jones Nursery: 8.5 years

Steven Roberts

What was your first job in the green industry? It was with a small landscape company in Monroe, GA doing landscape installation and maintenance.

What’s the biggest challenge in your career been? The transition into an office. I’ve always had outside jobs. 

Who are some of the people who have influenced your career? My father. He taught me to be at work every day, on time, and ready to face any situation. 

What do you consider your biggest career success to date? Implementing DOT guidelines for Buck Jones Nursery to make our transportation departments safer and more efficient. 

If you had to do it over again, what would you do differently? I would have finished college the first time. It may have led me to a different career, but I could have started my career earlier. 

If you had to pick the part you love most about your career, what would it be? The people I work with and the people I help serve. 

How about your least favorite part? Working on Saturdays!

If someone you know was going to be entering the green industry today, what advice would you give them? Be willing to make adjustments. We are constantly changing the way we do things to stay successful.

Toot your own horn for a minute. What’s the one thing most responsible for your success? Details. I give as many as possible to my guys and communication makes us all successful. 

If you could change careers for a month, what would you do? I would hunt alligators with one of the guys on Swamp People.

What really annoys you? Traffic!

What are some things that you like to do when you’re not working? Spend time with my family and work in my yard. 

Give me a bit of trivia about yourself that most people probably don’t realize. I completed my internship at Buck Jones Nursery in 2001.

The Woodstock location of Buck Jones Nursery is celebrating Fridays (and the Pantone color of the year) with super specials throughout the nursery!

This week’s specials include the following

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Buck Jones Nursery’s Woodstock location is open from 8a – 5p Monday through Friday and 8a – 2p on Saturdays. Contact them at 770.345.5506.