Local lawyer Swan is newly minted Master Gardener

ALBANY — What is the best-kept secret in Dougherty County?

According to attorney and newly-minted Master Gardener Bill Swan, it may well be the Dougherty County UGA Extension office.

Swan spoke to the Kiwanis Club of Dougherty County recently, not about the practice of law but about lawn maintenance practices, particularly those with centipede grass. He began by commending County Extension Agent James Morgan, who has been here for about 10 years.

“Ya’ll remember Glen Bishop who used to be here? James has followed in those same footsteps and does tremendous work. One thing he brought in, and the second thing I want to talk, about is the Master Gardeners program,” Swan said.

“Avail yourselves of the county agent’s office’s information,” Swan advised. “Call them about anything. One aspect of the Master Gardeners program is it’s not just to train people. Part of it is passing that information on and being available (to answer questions). If you call the county agent’s office they may say, ‘Well, you need to call so-and-so, they sort of specialize in this area.’ It’s a multiplier for a state government agency.”

The Extension office is on Pine Avenue, just up the street from the Flint RiverQuarium and across from the former Art Park site.

Swan noted that fall is a perfect transition period between summer and winter gardening, with “hot days but a little drier and cooler nights.” The purpose of fall gardening is to let plants “harden off,” get ready for winter. A lot of what home gardeners do has to change.

Many lawns locally contain centipede grass, he indicated, which tends to do well in hot, dry summers.

“Someone said it’s for a carefree yard,” Swan said. “I don’t think there is such a thing as a carefree yard, but it requires less maintenance” than foysia or St. Augustine grasses, for instance.

By its nature, centipede grass is lighter green in color, said Swan, but “The county agent’s office says a lot of people move into this area and try to make the grass real green, they try to pump in fertilizer to get it to green up. Well, it’s just not going to green up like a lot of grasses. It takes very little fertilizer, less water, less work.”

In fact, Swan added, “The first killer of centipede is over-fertilization. You fertilize with maybe a pound of 15-0-15 in the spring and again in the fall, then skip it until the (next) spring. It will help it over winter. Centipede doesn’t particularly like nitrogen fertilizer and phosphorus, NPK. Phosphorus is a separate item when you see it on a fertilizer bag.”

And, Swan added, “Centipede does not do well with a lot of lime. It actually requires a lower pH than St. Augustine or any of the other grasses around here. From May to November, cut it about 2 inches high. Don’t over-fertilize it and don’t scalp it. Don’t overwater; it needs about an inch of water a week, twice a week, a half-inch each time.”

Watering should be done between 4 a.m. and 10 a.m., after dew sets but is still on the grass. Also, keep watering until first frost because grass continues to grow until first frost.

A lot of people mow early before the high heat of the day sets in. For the health of the grass, Swan doesn’t recommend that.

“(The grass) tends to clump up and form mats, which isn’t good for it,” he said. “Two, it will compact the soil. Letting it dry out is the best thing to do.”