Shortly you will begin to see Christmas trees sitting by the curb, waiting for the assigned pick-up date to be collected and mulched. This is one way to be sure your holiday tree gets recycled. If you get your tree composted in a community program, don’t...

Many of us gave our houseplants a vacation all summer long to recharge and recover from being...

Rabbit damage In a typical year, this column in the middle of December would focus on how to deal with wildlife damaging valuable landscape plants. This year, the ground is clear, and lawns are still green. While the weather remains favorable, rabbits will feed on the diversity of plant material...

Part of holiday tree history Decorating evergreen trees at Christmas is an old German custom that originated in the region along the upper Rhine River. The Christmas tree was first brought to America by Hessian troops during the Revolutionary War and, another early account tells of American...

Seasonally, questions to Extension though phone calls, visits to the office, and via email naturally slow down. It has consistently been colder so virtually all outside activities are done for the season. We do get some late season questions and the start of winter indoor related questions coming...

By now, most of the outdoor gardening to-do list is completed, or nearly so. However, there are always things to continue or to help us prepare spring.  Finalizing There...

We winterize everything else, why not the home orchard? Now is the time to prevent problems later by spending some quality time with your fruit trees. Rodent damage to the trunk at the soil line happens when grass is left to grow tall next to the trunk. Remove the grass and weeds using hand...

November gardening in the home landscape is always a mixed bag of tasks (and weather). Some jobs are timely and appropriate, and others we may just need to catch up with. Here’s a few to make sure are on your to-do list: Vegetable gardens We have had some pretty cool weather, so end-of-season...

Caterpillars are frequently collected by students for science classes, or by parents to show their little ones the amazing change from caterpillar to butterfly or moth. You may have done this before with a...

Fall foliage colors have not been exactly what we have grown to enjoy in previous years. The...

Are we still in droughty conditions here in northern Illinois? As of October 5 – the day before we started to get all the rain – we sure were. Are we good now? We are better off, but not “out of the woods.” The rains we got were most welcome, yet the drought monitoring sites still show DuPage,...

As autumn progresses, gardeners begin wondering what to do with all the plant parts that need to be pruned off, and later, all the leaves that will fall. A great alternative to those landscape waste bags is to recycle right in your own yard and benefit from all that free organic matter....

Imagine a podium or soapbox and me standing in a town square. Got that image? Ok, here goes my “sermon.” As of Sept. 16, the U.S. Drought Monitor reports our area as “abnormally dry.” Have you been watering your...

One activity that seems to get “put off” until the last minute is bringing in the houseplants that have vacationed outside for the summer. It is not uncommon to find ourselves out...

Some of our late summer and early fall garden tasks can take more time than others. Making a “to do” list can help us get them done in a timely manner and not forget anything. (For example, hurrying to get the houseplants in just after dark and before that predicted frost is never fun.) Here’s a...

Our Master Gardener Help Desks routinely get calls or emails about bees, wasps,...

Many families tend to “give up” the vegetable garden once school starts, yet you do not have to. Vegetables can still be productive for a couple more months, depending on what you have been growing. Certainly, long season crops like tomatoes and peppers, are there now and will continue to produce...