Q – New gardener here. I am curious. For my garden can I just dig up any part of my yard and go at it?

Rebecca in Duluth

A - Unless you have some sort of neighborhood covenants I would think you can dig and plant and hoe to your heart's content.

But first – you need to do this. You need to practice safe digging. That means you need to call to have all buried cables marked and mapped before you dig.

You only have to dial 8-1-1 to get hold of the “Call before you dig people” and you will be doing your neighbors and yourself a huge favor.

(8-1-1 gets you the “Call before you dig” people. 9-1-1 gets you the “Call after you dig” people)

Plus, before doing any digging (with a roto-tiller perhaps) in Georgia you have to - it's the law. Did I mention that?

It's not just gardens though - any mechanized digging requires a call.

The 8-1-1 people (for more info check out www.georgia811.com) will tell you to call 48 hours before you plan to dig, but that doesn't mean that you only have to wait 2 days to start your project. Your local utility owners and operators must provide you with the 'green light' before you start.

This encompasses a lot more than gardens - planting trees, installing mailboxes, building a deck, installing a fence - the list is long.

The best part is that you don't need to be present when the marker comes and the even bester part if that the service is free, so you have no real excuses.

April is ‘Safe Digging Month’.

Be a safe digger.