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News from the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences

Gavin Shytle CAES News
Game Changers
It’s a special moment to step inside Sanford Stadium and walk across that sprawling green field between the hedges. While the grass beneath your feet may not always be your first thought at the Freshman Welcome or Commencement, it is for Gavin Shytle. Keeping the turf safe, healthy, and aesthetically pleasing is the sworn duty of Shytle and his fellow turfgrass management majors. Before athletes even hit the ground running, he makes sure the ground is prepped for them.
Although it may not fit the traditional image of a well-kept lawn, this landscape is the result of careful planning and a deep commitment to ecological stewardship. CAES News
Rewild Your Lawn
On a tour of her Blairsville, Georgia, home, Becky Griffin navigates a swaying maze of perennial grasses interspersed with pussy willows, switchgrass and boneset. Although it may not fit the traditional image of a well-kept lawn, this landscape is the result of careful planning and a deep commitment to ecological stewardship. As a native plant enthusiast and coordinator of the Great Southeast Pollinator Census, Griffin hand-selected each of these native plants for the countless ecological services they provide year-round.
Launched in 2021 by Camden County Agriculture and Natural Resources agent Jessica Warren and Martin Wunderly, area water agent for UGA Extension’s Northeast District, the program provides fact-based information to help property owners implement sustainable practices in their landscapes. CAES News
Georgia Green Landscape Stewards
Three years after its debut, the Georgia Green Landscape Stewards program is expanding throughout the state with the assistance of University of Georgia Cooperative Extension Master Gardener volunteers. Using a points-based system, the program has certified more than 200 private properties, public spaces and pollinator gardens in 47 counties as Georgia Green Landscapes, with new applications coming in every month.
Demonstration gardens provide examples of things people can create in their own gardens. CAES News
Open Garden Days
Looking for great garden inspiration that you can implement at home? Consider visiting a University of Georgia Cooperative Extension Master Gardener demonstration garden during Open Garden Days throughout the month of June. The Georgia Master Gardener Extension Volunteer program has created a comprehensive garden guide, including a 2024 garden passport, to help visitors plan garden stops around the state.
A Master Gardener with UGA Extension teaches a class at the GROWL Fulton County Demonstration and Teaching Garden. (Submitted photo) CAES News
Extension Volunteer Appreciation
University of Georgia Cooperative Extension depends on thousands of volunteers who give generously to extend program impact and reach in support Extension missions. During Volunteer Appreciation Week April 21-28, UGA Extension celebrates the many volunteers who donate their time to facilitate 4-H, Master Gardener and Family and Consumer Sciences programming. Volunteers across Extension contributed over 324,200 hours in 2023, the equivalent of more than 155 full-time employees.
University of Georgia Athletic Association Endowed Professor Gerald Henry leads a research team in the Department of Crop and Soil Sciences committed to creating sports fields that can limit the occurrence of injuries for the athletes playing on them. (Photo by Jason Thrasher) CAES News
Gerald Henry
When the two-time reigning national champion Georgia Bulldogs step between the hedges at Sanford Stadium this fall, Dooley Field needs to look the part. More importantly, though, it needs to help safeguard the health of athletes who compete on it. Gerald Henry plays a big role in the latter.
UGA Extension coordinator and census creator Becky Griffin holds a commendation from Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp honoring the Great Southeast Pollinator Census citizen-science initiative, which is in its fifth year. CAES News
Census Commendation
The Great Southeast Pollinator Census, which will be held Aug. 18 and 19 this year, received a commendation from Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp in advance of the annual event’s fifth anniversary. The governor honored the contributions of the citizen-science project to the continued health of pollinators in the region.
The Extension Master Gardener program celebrates 50 years of cultivating green thumbs. CAES News
Master Gardeners Golden Jubilee
What began decades ago as an experiment in horticultural education is still going strong — and celebrating 50 years of public service. Offered through local Extension offices all across the country, the national Extension Master Gardener program brings together local gardeners with a passion for educating others and land-grant universities to help spread the most up-to-date research and information on gardening and horticulture.
Most of the time, covers are used to reduce frost damage, while freeze damage depends on the plant species. CAES News
Cold Protection Options
Whether you’re a home gardener or a production farmer, Georgia’s mild climate allows for a variety of fruits and vegetables to be grown throughout the year. However, with erratic weather events and broad temperature swings during the winter and early spring months, having a few cold protection resources on hand can help you weather the unpredictability.
Apples grow at the Georgia Mountain Research and Education Center in Blairsville, Georgia. In Elijay, the “Apple Capital of Georgia,” orchards accumulated more than 700 chilling hours between Oct. 1 and Dec. 30, 2022. (Photo by John Amis) CAES News
Effects of Cold
With an October freeze followed by a relatively balmy December capped with several consecutive days of subfreezing temperatures, Georgia weather has experienced a few unexpected weather events from autumn into winter. Temperatures at both ends of the spectrum can affect the development of fruit crops during the dormant season, including blueberries and peaches, which are economically important crops in Georgia.