Illinois Extension

A Note to Readers: This summer, we are excited to announce we will be joining our two horticulture blogs – "Down the Garden Path" and "Over the Fence" into one convenient place. "Over the Garden Fence" will still feature timely topics and helpful hints you expect from expert Richard Hentschel, and you can sign up for email alerts so you won't miss a post. Just click over to go.illinois....

Now that the vegetable gardens have been planted for a few weeks, questions to the Master Gardener help desks have switched over from "How do I?" to "What's going on with my vegetable plants?" Here are a few commonly asked questions: Q: My spinach and lettuces are sending up flower stalks before I really got to harvest as much as last year. What is the deal? A: Spinach and lettuce are both cool season, early spring crops. Most gardeners did not get to plant them early and now they are...

So many things, only so much space to get them down. I think the weather has been both good and bad, depending on your perspective right now. Lawns usually begin to slow down a bit, as the natural spring flush begins to pass, but as long as the rains continue, grass will continue to grow at an above average rate. The good part is I have not seen a bad looking lawn, park, cul-de-sac or parkway yet. The bad news is keeping up with the mowing is tough between the rain and attempts to follow that...

By this time of the year, there has already been a lot of landscape mulch applied for the summer. Landscape mulch can provide more benefit than just how nice a freshly applied layer looks. When applied around young trees, we know that it reduces the competition from grass and makes it easier for the tree to establish in the new location. The tree gets more water and has no competition for soil nutrients. A big plus is there is no need to trim grass away from the trunk saving the tree from the...

Mosquitos are adjusting to our ever-changing weather patterns just like our plants in the home landscape this season. May into June would be our traditional time mosquitos start show up for the summer. This season, April had the rain and not May, so mosquitos can be behind a bit. Mosquitoes favor warmer temperatures and the right kind of water – permanent, floodwater or stagnant, depending on the species. Permanent bodies of water include ponds and lakes. Floodwaters are retention ponds that...

Right now, there is plenty of soil moisture with all the recent rains. Even when the top of the soil seems dry, dig down just a little bit, and the moisture is there. Established plants are doing well as is the lawn. Gardeners will still be watering in any new transplants, trees, shrubs or evergreens; not because the soil is dry, but rather to settle the soil around the plants so roots do not dry out. All the soil moisture that has the home landscape looking so good right now also encourages...

Here we are, nearing the end of May. Maybe the beds in the backyard look OK, or maybe not? We love our lawns, yet grass can move into our landscape beds in a stealth-like manner while we are waiting for better weather for weeding and edging. Putting a strong clean line on the landscape beds really makes a difference in how they look. It brings out the strong curves that make the bed flow through the yard, and that edge is the important transition from bed to lawn. Grass will grow towards and...

Master Gardeners and Extension offices are getting many calls on lawns right now, especially when it comes to weeds. Dandelions and other broadleaved weeds are easily identified in the lawn. Some that are harder are the grassy weeds; those that look similar to our desirable grasses, just a bit different. Here are some common questions and answers from our Master Gardener Help Desks: Q: I have patches of stringy straw- or tan-colored grass in my lawn that is not greening up...