Hot Weather Garden Maintenance Tips

It is time to review some hot weather garden maintenance tips:

• Watering is the primary caution
• Water deeply or not at all
• Use drip irrigation or soaker hose to make efficient use of the available water
• Sprinklers are the most inefficient method available, but if that is your only choice use it early in the morning with little or no wind blowing
• Hopefully you mulched your beds at the proper time, if not, only mulch after a good rain….otherwise the mulch will absorb the little rain available
• Plant only plants that survive the drought—the right plant in the right place…..
• Do not fertilize in dry weather—just puts extra stress on the roots
• Do not prune (except to deadhead flowering plants) same reason as above
• Water containers consistently and deeply. If your containers are large you should not need to water everyday. Just remember the plants are totally dependent on you to supply water.

(from the Basic Horticulture Newsletter, Redbud District, Garden Club of Georgia, Inc., National Garden Club, Inc.)

Northlake Festival Chick-fil-A Opens May 26

Chick-fil-A will award a one-year supply of free Chick-fil-A® Meals (52 certificates) to each of the first 100 adults in line, age 18 and older with identification, at the new Northlake Festival restaurant located at 3967 Lavista Rd. The line officially opens at 6 a.m., Wednesday, May 25, with the free meal cards being awarded Thursday, May 26, sometime between 6 a.m. and 6:10 a.m. The restaurant will open for business immediately thereafter. If there are more than 100 people by 6 a.m. on Wednesday, May 25, all 100 spots will be determined by a raffle. See http://www.chick-fil-a.com/Locations/First-100 for complete rules.

Working with Volunteers of America Southeast, the Northlake Festival Chick-fil-A restaurant will collect new teddy bears and non-perishable food items to benefit tornado victims. Items may be brought to the new restaurant between 11 a.m. and 7 p.m. on Thursday, May 26. Donors will receive a free brownie or Chick-fil-A® Ice Dream for their generosity.

Life-long Northlake resident, Brad Spratte will operate the new location. A graduate of DeKalb County’s Lakeside High School and Auburn University, Brad is a life-long Northlake resident where he and his wife, Deone, have raised their children Lauren and David. Having relocated from the Chick-fil-A restaurant at Tucker Station a few miles away, Brad and his family look forward to continuing to serve the community at the new Northlake restaurant.

Community Meeting

Time: 7:30 p.m. this Thursday night

Location: Briarlake Baptist Church back lot building

Subject: Illegal street gangs and gang activity

Speakers from The District Attorney's Office and our own DKPD Center precinct. Also, Chief O'Brien and a substantial number of ranking officers and street patrol officers will be present to participate in discusssion and answer questions.

Community Events

Tucker Civic Association Earth Day Give-An-Hour
The Give-An-Hour takes place on Saturday, April 30th, from 9 am - noon at the Tucker Recreation Center, 4898 LaVista Road. Volunteer in The Great American Clean Up Day In Tucker! We will pick up litter, add mulch, and remove invasive plant species at both the Tucker Nature Preserve and the Tucker Rec Center. Be sure to bring gardening tools, wheelbarrows, gloves, and refillable water bottles. Please wear closed-toe shoes, long pants & sleeves, and sunscreen! Attention Students: Receive Community Service Hours! Sponsored by Park Pride, Keep DeKalb Beautiful and The Tucker Civic Association. Meet at Tucker Rec at 9am. Overflow parking available next door at St. Andrews Presbyterian Church.

Northlake Community Alliance Community Shred Day
NCA, Resurgens Bank, Eagle Secure Shredding, and I will host the 3rd Community Shred Day on Saturday, April 30, 2011 from 9:00 am until 12 pm in the Resurgens Bank parking lot (2300 Henderson Mill Rd, Atlanta, GA 30345). Bring any kind of sensitive paper documents for completely secure shredding. There is no charge, but tax exempt donations to support the work of the Northlake Community Alliance, Inc. will be accepted. Limit: 5 copier paper sized boxes or equivalent.

Horticulture Tip: Killing Fire Ant Colonies

This is a new twist to killing fire ant colonies.

For those not familiar with Walter Reeves, he is from the University of Georgia agriculture department, specializing in home gardening. His television show, 'Gardening in Georgia ', is on each Saturday.

I know fire ants are picky eaters and any type poison that is effective takes seven feeding steps before the queen receives it. Plus, if the bait is stored in close proximity to any petroleum or fertilizer products they won't touch it. Contact poisons that are on the market just cause the colony to move away. A well developed colony can be as deep as 30 feet and spread out some 20 to 50 feet from the mound center. This was documented by studies done in the early 60's when they were first sited in South Alabama.

An environmentally friendly cure for fire ants has been announced by Walter Reeves on his Georgia Gardener radio program. Testimonials are coming in that it REALLY WORKS. Simply pour two cups of CLUB SODA (carbonated water) directly in the center of a fire ant mound. The carbon dioxide in the water is heavier than air and displaces the oxygen which suffocates the queen and the other ants. The whole colony will be dead within about two days.

Besides eliminating the ants, club soda leaves no poisonous residue, does not contaminate the ground water, and does not indiscriminately kill other insects. It is not harmful to your pets, soaks into the ground. Each mound must be treated individually and a one liter bottle of club soda will kill 2 to 3 mounds. Spread the word.

April and May Field Trips

Friday, April 15, 2011 – Dogwood Festival @ Piedmont Park – No Charge. We will meet @ 10:30am for Brunch before Festival, which begins @ 12:00 noon.

Saturday, May 7, 2011.The Tucker Historical Society’s Garden Tour will be held on Mother’s Day weekend from 9:00am – 5:00pm. The Garden Tour will showcase 5 beautiful gardens and include the Butterfly Garden at Browning Courthouse. As in years past, select Tucker Arts Guild Members will be displaying and selling their artwork in the gardens.

Tickets will be $10.00 in advance and $15.00 on tour day. The tickets will be available, after April 18 at the following Tucker businesses: Bena’s Hallmark; Custom Frame Shop on Mainstreet; My Friend’s Place on LaVista Road; Starblaze Jewelers on Hugh Howell Road & Tucker Flower Shop on Idlewood Road.

Please sign up at the April Meetings or call Joan if you can join us.

DeKalb Federation News

The March meeting of the DeKalb Federation focused on Awards and the Installation of Officers for the DeKalb Federation year of 2011-2013. Our Garden Club received an Honorable Mention Award for Community Interest and a Certificate of Excellence for Heather’s President’s Report. A delicious catered lunch followed the meeting.

The April Meeting of the DeKalb Federation will be held at Callanwolde on Thursday, April 21, 2011 at Callanwolde at 10:00am. The Program will be given by Mr. Tom Cox of Cox Aboretum & Gardens. Also on this date, our Garden Club is participating in the Mini Flower Show along with Sandy Springs Garden Club. The theme for this event is ”A Time To Dance.”