“Gardening in Georgia” premieres April 9

By Kristen Plank
University of Georgia

(Just a bit of Fayette County trivia... Walter Reeves is the son of well-known Fayette Countian Frances Reeves.)

Birds sing. Bees buzz. Flowers bloom. A new spring arrives in Georgia and so does a new season of “Gardening in Georgia with Walter Reeves,” premiering April 9 at 7 p.m. on Georgia Public Broadcasting stations.

The show is hosted by Georgia gardening guru and retired University of Georgia Cooperative Extension agent Walter Reeves.

Guests will explain how to choose potting soil, propagate begonias or correctly plant trees, Reeves said. The segment on tree planting may or may not include a mud fight.

“We are going to have a lot of interesting guests on the show,” he said.

From creating a waist-high raised bed for those who cannot bend down, to building a rain barrel, Reeves will demonstrate a wide variety of do-it-yourself projects.

“There will be a bunch of hands-on sessions as well,” he said.

Reeves will work his way around Georgia and surrounding states to explore a variety of gardens this season. He will ward off “haints,” or lost souls, too, with bottle trees and risk his life felling a tree. It’ll be a colorful season.

Viewers can check out the show’s archives or find publications referenced on the show at the Web site www.gardeningingeorgia.com. Students and adults can learn about interesting careers in horticulture there, too.

Shows will air each Wednesdays at 7 p.m. on GPB. Beginning April 19 shows will repeat Saturdays at 12:30 and 6:30 p.m. through October.

“Gardening in Georgia” is coproduced by the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and GPB. It's underwritten by McCorkle Nurseries and the Georgia Urban Agriculture Council.