
Gardening and Growing
Let us help from planting to harvest.
Growing your own food can be an incredibly rewarding experience. But there’s more to it than tossing some seeds in the ground. Whether it’s your first-year gardening or you’ve been growing for decades a gardener is always learning. Illinois Extension has done the research for you and presents these easy-to-understand steps for planting, harvesting, cooking, and preserving your garden's harvest.
Vegetables | Plants & Flowers | Herbs | Soil | Lawns | Grasses | Info Sheet Collection
Have questions about gardening? We can help.
Our Master Gardener Help Desks are open March to October in DuPage, Kane, and Kendall counties. Each growing season, trained volunteers field questions from fellow residents on trees, shrubs, lawns, flowers, vegetables, and other plant-related topics. In 2022, across the tri-county area, Master Gardeners answered more than 1,000 help requests and logged 16,889 hours through service projects in our communities.
DuPage County Master Gardener Help Desk
Hours: March-October | Monday-Wednesday-Friday | 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
- Call 630-955-1123
- Visit 1100 E. Warrenville Road, Suite 170, Naperville, IL 60563
- Email uiemg-dupage@illinois.edu
Kane County Master Gardener Help Desk
Hours: March & October | Monday-Wednesday-Friday | 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
April-September | Monday through Friday | 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
- Call 630-584-6166
- Visit 535 S. Randall Road, St. Charles, IL 60174
- Email uiemg-kane@illinois.edu
Kendall County Master Gardener Help Desk
Hours: March-October | Monday-Wednesday-Friday | 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
- Call 630-553-5823
- Visit 7775B IL Route 47, Yorkville, IL 60560
- Email uiemg-kendall@illinois.edu
General Help Desk email submission tips
- In addition to your question, please include as much additional information as possible:
- This could include planting date, age of plant, chemicals used, number of plants affected, where found, patterns, when symptoms were first noticed, etc.
- For plant identifications, please include photos of the whole plant AND close-ups of plant parts.
- Parts may include leaves, flowers, roots, fruit, seeds, etc.
- Please check your photos before submitting them. Are they clear and in-focus?
- When possible, please include a size reference in your photos (such as a pen, ruler, or a coin).
- Send a maximum of 10 images per sample/question.
Learn more about our Master Gardener volunteer programs
