WEEK 1

Japanese beetles are tough to control so try a variety of methods: hand picking, insecticide sprays and lawn treatment for grubs. You'll have success in a couple of years.

WALTER REEVE/Special to the AJC (ENLARGE)

Japanese Beetle

RELATED LINKS: Female ginkgo seeds can have rancid odor  Beautyberry safe to plant anywhere  Fern shares Boston name, but not the cold  Trim odd growth; weed killer likely cause  Wick waterer keeps plants hydrated  Get more Home & Garden news Listen to Walter Reeves Saturday mornings on NewsTalk 750 WSB-AM from 6 to 10. Call 404-872-0750 to ask questions. His Web site, walterreeves.com, contains thousands of answers to lawn and landscape questions. Watch "Gardening in Georgia" each week on GPB. Details at gardeningingeorgia.com.

Enjoy rabbiteye blueberries but remember that Southern highbush blueberries also grow well here.'O'Neal,' 'Cape Fear,' and 'Summit' bear fruit in May.

Pull seedlings of morningglory, mulberry weed and mimosa weed whenever seen. The seeds remain viable in the soil for years.

Prune bigleaf hydrangeas NOW if they are too big. Even though you'll lose a few current blooms, you won't have ANY next year if you wait until after late August to prune .

WEEK 2

Squash and cucumbers that don't develop past "baby" stage are suffering from lack of pollination. Plant blooming salvia, zinnia and marigold nearby to attract bees.

Keep the roots of container-grow tomatoes cool. Pots on a sunny deck can get so hot that tomato roots die.

Raise the height of your mower one notch (or 1/2 inch). This is a good idea for any turfgrass because it helps shade the soil on dry sunny days.

This is a good time to air layer (propagate) camellia, rose, hydranges, blueberry, etc. Details at http://xrl.us/AIRLAYERTX.

WEEK 3

Red-leaved Japanese maples often turn green in summer. If the tree seems healthy, it is probable that it will turn red again when cool nights return.

Don't use gasoline to control fire ants or yellow jackets. Gas does kill them, but it also kills the grass around their hole, while water-based insecticides kill the insects just as well and don't hurt grass.

Plant a summer cover crop to enrich vegetable garden spots that are empty. More at http://xrl.us/COVERCROP.

To treat a gasoline spill in your lawn remove a 2-inch layer of soil, replace with an inch of planting soil and lay sod on top.

WEEK 4

Clean out your pond or water feature. Plants should cover half of the surface, no more. Remove excess water lettuce, water hyacinth and string algae.

Trees don't get much water when grass above the roots is irrigated. The best way to hasten a young tree's demise is to have grass underneath. Remove the grass under your trees and put down mulch.

Huge, yellow, hornet-looking creatures buzzing over your lawn are not to be feared. They are male cicada killer wasps, which cannot sting. The females are up in nearby trees, looking for cicada prey.

Tomato leaves disappearing overnight? Suspect the tomato hornworm — a big green caterpillar camouflaged among the plant stems.