• WEEK 1

You may be able to water new landscapes if you complete a short online course. Details at www.georgiawaterrules.com.

Stephen Ausmus / Special (ENLARGE)

Fire ants are annoying and sometimes dangerous pests throughout the southeast.

Special (ENLARGE)

A Camellia in bloom.

Hybrid Bermuda grass doesn't produce seed  For more salvia blooms, trim faded spikes  Mowing won't thicken St. Augustine  Fig vine has drawbacks  Little bugs can be a big nuisance for strawberries

A steep slope is difficult to landscape. If it falls 1 foot for every 1 foot of run (a 1:1 slope), no mulch or plant can hold on. On a 1:3 sunny slope, Bermuda grass can keep the soil in place.

For the northern third of Georgia, 'August Beauty' gardenia is not reliably winter-hardy. Try 'Kleim's Hardy' (also known as 'Daisy') instead.

Most fire ant poisons are effective only against fire ants. Fire ants make distinctive mounds, usually much higher and wider that native ants.

• WEEK 2

The best advantage you can give a young tree is to remove all grass underneath it. Cover the ground with mulch out to the ends of the branches.

Overgrown camellias can be pruned now. Cleanly remove individual limbs as needed. If you need to reduce the height by more than half, make it a two-year process.

Most arborists agree that filling hollows in a tree is not a good idea. All materials inevitably crack and allow water into the space, causing more damage than the initial hole.

Sweet cherries are rarely successful in Georgia. Tart cherries, like 'Early Richmond,' 'Montmorency' and 'North Star' might do well in extreme north Georgia.

• WEEK 3

Leyland cypress can be pruned and shaped to your wishes, but only if you do it regularly each year. Leyland cypress can't produce new foliage from brown stems.

It's fine to use old fertilizer that's lumpy. If it is watery, mix with cat litter until you can lightly hand-apply it beneath landscape shrubs.

Meyer lemons can be moved onto a shady deck now. They are heavy feeders so be sure to fertilize and water regularly.

Day lilies do best when fed regularly. Fertilize three times each year: in April, June and September.

• WEEK 4

Black oil sunflower seed is preferred by most songbirds. Avoid inexpensive mixes that contain wheat, millet and hemp seed.

Potting soil can be re-used if perlite is added to increase drainage. Mix a pint of perlite with a gallon of potting soil.

The easiest way to control moles is also the simplest. Hire an impecunious teenager to carefully walk your lawn and press down all tunnels with their tennis shoes.

Re-pot vigorous African violets every year at least. Remove a half-inch of soil from the bottom of the root ball, put the root ball back in the pot and add soil around the stem beneath the lowest leaves.