We have some real signs spring is going to happen, and the calls, emails and visits to the Illinois Extension Master Gardener Help Desks often start with "What's the best time to…?"
Here are a few FAQs for the start of the home gardening and landscape season.
Q) What is the best...
Plants are beginning to get the right signals from Mother Nature that spring has begun. Foliage and flower buds have begun to swell and expand, and will do so more quickly with the more spring-like weather. Buds have been protected all winter with insulating bud scales that will soften with the...
Vegetable gardening season is nearly here now, and there are several vegetables that can handle cold or cool temperatures, both above and below ground. In fact, our early spring vegetables really need the cooler temperatures to develop properly. Right now, you can sow or plant those very hardy...
Some of our earliest vegetables can be sown as soon as you can carefully work the garden soil and once soil temperatures reach 45 and 50 degrees. You can place spinach and lettuce in the 45-degree group, and peas, cabbage, Swiss chard, radish, and beets in the 50-degree group. Other vegetables can...
This time of year, questions about starting seeds indoors are common. The following FAQs should serve as a helpful refresher for the seasoned gardener and a great resource for all the first-timers.
Q: I have a bag of open potting soil in the garage. Why must I use soilless seed...
The absolutely best place to start for your flower and vegetable seeds this spring is at the seed packet itself. That is just the start of what will be a several week adventure.
Based on the date you expect to eventually plant outside, the information on the seed packet can guide you when you need...
Late February to early March is just about the right timing for household and houseplant insects to show up. Over-wintering outdoor insects in the home become indoor household nuisance pests, and new insects may just be waking up. Plus, houseplants that survived the move in from the patio last fall...
Home orchardists struggle from spring through the summer to make timely cover sprays, hoping to harvest good quality fruit. Several practices can help you grow fruits that are the envy of the neighborhood.
Apples may be the hardest of the tree fruits to manage, as there are a couple of diseases...
When talking about flower buds on our fruit trees and flowering ornamental plants, a couple of plants come to mind.
The first is the peach tree. Like other fruit trees, peaches produce flower buds every year. It is just a gamble whether or not we have severe winter temperatures during the winter....
About this time of year, Extension starts getting calls and emails asking about the right pollinators for the home orchard since it is time to order from the fruit tree catalogs. You may recall that we touched on this a few weeks back, but let's really dive in this time.
Catalogs provide a great...
