Browse Home Stories - Page 2

126 results found for Home
Jayden Mulamoottil, a fourth-grade student at Barrow Elementary in Athens-Clarke County, placed first in Georgia's radon poster contest with an illustration imploring Georgians to check their homes for radon gas. CAES News
Radon Action Month
January is National Radon Action month, and each year University of Georgia Cooperative Extension sponsors a poster contest for students across the state to help bring awareness to the importance of radon testing.
Christmas tree close-up CAES News
Christmas Tree Recycling
If you celebrate Christmas, there is nothing like having a real tree to decorate in your home for the holidays. The festive aroma alone provides such a sense of nostalgia. But once the holidays have quickly come and gone, the next order of business is disposing of your tree.
University of Georgia Cooperative Extension horticulturist Bob Westerfield displays several pieces of lawn and garden equipment during a class on the UGA campus in Griffin, Georgia. CAES News
Winterizing Motorized Equipment
As fall temperatures cool down, much of our lawn and garden equipment begins to lay idle. Tillers, lawnmowers and weed eaters are no longer being used with the frequency they were during the warm temperatures of summer. The temptation is to just store them away until we need them later in the spring, but that could cause problems later unless the equipment is properly prepared for storage.
Don't toss your decorative pumpkins and jack-o'-lanterns in the trash this year, use these tips for sustainable disposal. CAES News
Pumpkin Recycling
Every year after the autumn holidays, more than 1 billion pounds of pumpkins are thrown away. National Pumpkin Day, Oct. 26, kicks off a week of multiplying cucurbit decor, so celebrate this year by learning how to dispose of your pumpkins in a more sustainable way.
Uttam Saha displays radon samples in the AESL's liquid scintillation counter, which measures radioactivity in water samples. CAES News
UGA Radon Program
University of Georgia Cooperative Extension’s radon testing program — a holistic program that combines radon education outreach with research, testing and mitigation — has helped optimize sampling and testing methodology for radon in water throughout the U.S. The program has influenced national standards in radon testing.
Paper wasps gather fibers from dead wood and plant stems, which they mix with saliva and use to construct nests resembling gray or brown papery material. CAES News
Bug Lighting
Late summer is a good time to observe many types of insects buzzing around homes and gardens. As we approach fall, the local populations of many types of insects begin to reach their peak.
A water rescue crew searches for survivors in Texas after Hurricane Harvey, a devastating Category 4 hurricane that made landfall on Texas and Louisiana in August 2017, causing catastrophic flooding. CAES News
Flood Insurance Risk
Fifteen million homes in the United States are at risk of flooding, according to the nonprofit First Street. And homes on the coasts aren’t the only properties at risk.
Common seasonal pests like (clockwise from top right) fire ants, houseflies, brown marmorated stink bugs and mosquitos (shown in standing water as larvae) can be controlled with simple tips from UGA Cooperative Extension. CAES News
Summer Pests
As a University of Georgia Cooperative Extension agent, I see a lot of insects. People leave jars of them on my desk, send me photos or call me out to their gardens to identify them and give control recommendations.
Mosquito control is a five-step process that includes education, surveillance, source reduction, larviciding and adulticiding. (Photo by David Cappaert, Bugwood.org) CAES News
Managing Mosquitoes
With summer and the first tropical storm of the season arriving simultaneously this year, we're getting warm, wet weather at a time when more folks are spending time outside. This combination is sure to signal a rise in mosquito interactions, making it a perfect time to think about mosquito control around your home and community.
When using pesticides, remember that the safe and legal use of pesticides requires that the entire label be followed exactly. Contact your local Extension agent if you're unsure about a product. CAES News
Stop, Read, Apply
As we head into summer, we start to see problems with weeds, diseases and insects in the landscape and around vegetable gardens. Some of these pest problems can be solved without the use of chemicals, but if the pest population reaches damaging levels, using pesticides may be warranted. Remember that using pesticides is safe and legal but requires reading and following label directions in their entirety.