Gardeners Corner
Get timely tips from Extension horticulture experts to keep your garden happy.
Gardeners Corner is a quarterly newsletter from the Illinois Extension team of horticulture experts. Each issue highlights seasonal recommendations and how-tos that will make your houseplants, landscape, or garden shine in any season.
- Gardening for a hummingbird's travels
- Provide resources to pollinators in any space with container gardens
- To survive the summer heat, choose plants built for the sizzle
- Tips for getting landscape plants through summer
- Bring birds close to home by gardening for feathered friends
- Protect trees and their roots during construction projects
- Consider adding periodical cicadas to summer list of favorite ice cream toppings
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Explore past Gardeners Corner issues
- The cicadas are coming! Periodical cicadas in Illinois in 2024
- Explore the 2024 All-America Selection flower and vegetable variety winners
- Spring into composting by reviving a compost pile after winter
- Discover added benefits to planting windbreaks
- Six replacement trees for invasive Callery pear
- Add a dash of herbs to spice up floral bouquets
- Recognizing heat-related warning signs for gardeners and landscapers
- Bloom in the winter with the gift of an amaryllis bulb kit
- Protect your pets, keep paws off overwintering indoor house plants
- Cutting back branches leaves trees with healthier outlook
- Did you forget to water your plants? Try low-maintenance succulents
- Use weed clues to dig up environmental issues like fertility, soil compaction, and moisture issues
- Build drought-tolerant gardens this fall for next summer's blooms
- Butterflies can eat to live, live to eat in a balanced garden
- Tips for extending the garden's growing season
- Consider pollinators during fall garden cleanup
- Keep growing with herbs indoors this fall, winter
- Go Green with eco-friendly lawn care
- Reduce storm damage by looking for tree defects before bad weather strikes
- Care for perennial gardens with 3 proven pruning methods
- Elevate your expectations with raised-bed gardening
- Want more from your garden? Plant a fall crop of cucumbers
- How to grow tropical ginger for at home-spice
- Make flowers and memories last forever with drying for design
- Build privacy with plants for secret gardens
- Grow the best new flower and vegetable varieties with 2023 All-America Selection Winners
- Make the most of mulch by choosing from living, synthetic, inorganic, or organic
- Grow confidence when choosing seed packets for your garden
- Sustainable community gardens benefit local growers, ecosystems, and communities
- Plant trees for every season
- Plant top annuals of 2023 to create craveable container gardens
- Bugged by houseplant pests? Give carnivorous plants a try
- What’s in a name? The roots of fruit and vegetable names are long and intertwined
- Identify, avoid, and manage troublesome wild parsnip
- Protect trees from winter’s wrath with a few preventive steps
- Indoor gardening can brighten winter doldrums
- Burning local firewood this winter can save forests
- Give someone a green holiday season with the gift of plants
- Planning a new perennial garden? Plant for the whole garden ecosystem
- Fruit trees need an annual trim to bear best fruit
- Flowers are a forgotten love language
- Tree bark adds visual bite to winter landscapes
- Sow seeds of change, learn how to save garden seeds
- Grassy weeds becoming more common in lawns
- Keep plants hydrated going into fall
- Extend the season with fall flowers
- Plant fall salad greens
- Prepare trees for severe weather
- Store summer-blooming bulbs overwinter
- Try growing a loofah sponge
- Create a sensory garden
- Microclovers making a comeback as lawns grow in biodiversity
- To outsmart weeds in the garden, take multiple approaches
- Support pollinators with cheerful viola flowers
- Feed your community by safely donating homegrown fruits, vegetables
- Tips for harvesting garden vegetables
- Create backyard paradise with tropical plant garden
- Overwhelmed by garden produce? Pickle it!,
- Leaves of three? Keep poison ivy out of the home landscape
- Taking time to select plants for difficult growing conditions helps long-term success
- Native prairie grasses create distinct, breezy aesthetic in home landscape.
- Plant with confidence with 2022 All-America Selection Winners
- What is pelleted seed
- Start an indoor kitchen garden
- Flavor your meals with low-maintenance homegrown herbs
- Scale up your garden’s health with fish emulsion fertilizer
- Early blooming spring ephemerals flowers welcome warmer weather
- Give caterpillars a chance with soft landings under trees
- Grow curly willows
- Magnolia blooms
- Beetles are nature’s spring flower odd couple
- Prevent floods with rain friendly landscaping
- Keep worms warm for winter vermicomposting
- Watering trees, shrubs in the fall and winter is a balancing act
- DIY bottle terrariums make great holiday gift
- Low-maintenance, winter blooming holiday cacti are gift that keep on giving
- Poinsettias add a rainbow of color options to holiday décor
- Give Christmas trees a second life after the holidays
- Use DIY kokedama moss balls to grow houseplants
- Plant cover crops at home for healthier soils
- Garden catalog season gives gardeners chance to explore, shop for next year's seeds
- Trim trees, shrubs in the dormant season for stronger, healthier plants
- Plant asters for unique display of fall color
- Small bees attracted to small flowers
- Tips for planting balled-burlapped trees for long-term health, success
- Some trees weather wet soils, floods better than others
- Fall is for feathered friends, fireplaces
- Healthy gardens start with sensible soil testing
- Proper maintenance extends lifespan, save money on garden tools
- Don't rake fall leaves, recycle them
- School gardens
- Watering summer lawns
- Plant a salsa garden
- Large yard not required to support pollinators
- Prevent tomato blossom end rot
- Get to know Illinois milkweed
- Irrigate gardens to beat summer heat
- Our love-hate relationship with dandelions
- Hire tree care professional with confidence
- Create a bird-friendly yard
- Make way for 2021 award-winning All-America Selections plants
- Gardening benefits body, mind, wallet
- Tips for starting your spring garden off strong
- The time is right to plant cool season vegetables
- Callery pear have no home in landscape designs
- Refresh your raised bed soil
- Heirloom flowers provide fragrance, beauty, pollinator support
- Small-space containers big with new gardeners
- Small-batch culinary herbs add flavor to the gardening menu
- Planning and designing a native garden
- Create a moonlight garden
- How to care for a living Christmas tree
- Grow a living Christmas tree with Norfolk Island Pine
- Picking the perfect Christmas tree starts at home
- Perennial plant of the year Calamint, a perfect pick for pollinators
- Blooming plant ideas for Valentine’s Day
- How to create a fruit garden
- Preventing fruit tree diseases starts in the dormant season
- Winter pruning boosts blackberry and raspberry harvests
- Small but mighty microgreens are easy to grow indoors
- Keep houseplants happy with simple solutions
- Keep poinsettias plentiful long after the holidays
- Prolong the shelf life of garden-fresh produce with good harvest habits
- Benefit your health and environment by growing your own vegetables
- Harvest abundant squash for food, decoration
- Hold on to summer with home hydroponics
- Harvest milkweed pods; plant Monarch butterfly garden
- Bring houseplants indoors before the first frost
- Select and plant spring-flowering bulbs now
- Plant native perennials in the fall for healthy spring growth
- Planting trees boosts curb appeal and benefits the urban environment
- Fall flowering witch hazel charms home gardens
- Exfoliating bark trees add great appeal
- Fall is a great time for planting trees
- Select the right tree for fall planting in Illinois
- Put fall leaves to work as compost
- Fall garden cleanup lays groundwork for a successful spring
- How to pick the perfect pumpkin
- Growing a rainbow vegetable garden
- 5 ideas to add shade to your backyard
- ‘Annabelle’ hydrangea: A showy shrub with historic roots in Illinois
- Drought tolerant plants for the landscape
- Growing irises: How to plant, grow and care for iris
- When to prune hydrangeas
- Perennial Favorite Named Plant of the Year
- Why You Should Think About Sequence of Bloom
- Designing a Sensory Garden
- Wildlife-Friendly Gardens
- Soil Temperatures for Spring Planting
- Protecting Tender Plants from Spring Frost
- Growing Ferns Indoors
- Ice Storms and Tree Damage
- Pantry Pests, Maintaining Garden Tools
- Make a Statement with Succulent Cacti
- How to Manage Winter Houseplant Insects
- Summer Bulbs: Care and Overwintering Tips
- Crop Rotation in Home Vegetable Gardens
- Establishing Perennials in the Early Fall
- Chrysanthemums Add Fall Color to the Garden
- What Can a No-Till Garden Do for You?
- Signs of a Dead or Dying Tree
- Fruit Tree Planting
- Install a Rain Barrel This Summer
- Garden Design with Native Plants in Mind
- Beauty For a Day
- Living with Japanese Beetles
- The Versatile Elderberry
- Spring Tree Planting
- Tips for Growing Ginger
- Add Beauty to the Garden with Cool Season Annuals
- Spring Lawn Care
- Annual Flowering Vines
- 2019 Perennial Plant of the Year
- Try Worm Composting This Winter
- Caring for Amaryllis
- Norfolk Island Pine
- Winter Watering of Trees and Shrubs
- Who is Spending Winter in Your Garden
- Houseplant Expectations During Winter
- Fall Seeding of Lawns
- Ornamental Kale At-Home Tissue Culture
- Top Perennials for a Fall Cutting Garden
- Five Valuable Tips for Fall Lawn Care
- Overwintering Tender Plants Indoors
- Fall Browning of Evergreen Foliage
- Taking Care of Spring-Planted Trees, Shrubs, and Evergreens
- Pineberries: Pineapple-flavored Strawberries
- The Basics of Straw Bale Gardening
- Be on the Lookout for Ticks
- Conserve Water this Summer
- Gardening with Reptiles
- The Sweet Story of Strawberry Success
- Growing Vegetables in Raised Beds
- Organic-Based Soil Fertility: A Primer, Kitchen-Scrap Gardening
- ‘Millenium’ Allium—2018 Perennial Plant of the Year
- The Super-Cool Leaves of Vegetable Greens
- Choosing and Caring for Your Christmas Tree
- Please Help with BMSB Identification in Illinois
- Keep Gardening All Winter Long
- Understanding Photoperiodism
- One Key to Plant Flowering Propagating Houseplants to Expand Your Collection
- Caring for Your Houseplants in Winter
- Meet Me Under the Mistletoe
- Keeping Your Vegetable Garden in Shape in the Offseason
- Making Your Own Tissue Culture Medium
- Soil Testing: A Key to Good Gardening
- Garden Preparations for Winter
- Tulips: Worth More than Gold!
- Consider Edibles for Fall Container Gardens
- What’s the Buzz About Illinois Bees?
- Identifying and Managing Your Garden Weeds
- Beware of Dangerous Carrots!
- Butterfly Weed: Perennial of the Year
- School Gardens: Cultivating Produce and Passions
- Spice Up Your Landscape with Ornamental Peppers
- Tree Foliage Diseases May Look Bad, But They’re Rarely Fatal
- Top Five Cool-Season Annuals for Containers
- Fire Blight of Apples and Pears
- How Can I Support Pollinators?
- Accessible Edible Gardens
- Moss Gardening
- Corriandrum: 2017 Herb of the Year
- Don’t Toss that Poinsettia: Try a Little After-Holiday Care
- Grow Tillandsias for the Holiday Season
- Choosing Plants with Winter Interest
- Living with Your Houseplants and Their Insect Relatives
- Orchids Are Elegant Houseplants
- Grow Your Own Birdseed
- Key Garden Tasks for Fall
- Fantastic, Funky Spring-Blooming Bulbs
- Daffodils, Narcissus, or Jonquil?
- Ready Garden Tools and Equipment for Winter
- Why Not to Cut Your Perennials This Fall
- Handling Your Fresh-Picked Produce
- Fall Preparation for Vegetable Gardens