Gardening and Growing

Website refresh ahead
As we transition from winter to spring, you may notice a few adjustments to our site. We are working to improve your experience as you continue to trust Illinois Extension to provide research-based solutions for everyday challenges. We appreciate your patience during this process.

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.

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: Monday through Friday | 9 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 for March & October: Monday-Wednesday-Friday | 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Hours for 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: 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.