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two small pies with full pastry tops and a large pie with a lattice work top cooling on a wire rack
Celebrate pie all summer long: Plant a pie garden 
From tried-and-true favorites to exciting new possibilities, the season of pie has begun. There are few things tastier than a freshly baked pie. As...
Apple hanging from an apple tree
Growing apples in your home orchard
There is a lot of interest by home gardeners to raise and produce organic fruit. The good news is it can be done! Home growers...
Managing fire blight at home. Apple tree shoot infected with fire blight. Shot is brown and the tip has curled down forming a shepherds crook.
Managing fire blight in apples and pears at home
Apples and pears are popular trees to grow for people interested in growing their own fruit. However, they aren't without any problems. A variety of...
Dark blue-purple elderberries hanging on pink stems
Ward off the winter blues with plant propagation
In a season of chilly air and cold soil, gardeners cannot help but catch “spring fever”. The remedy for most is trays of soil and tiny seeds – a...
A cluster of green pawpaws in a tree
Love tree fruit, love the planet: Enjoy a fruiting plant for many years
Imagine a warm summer’s evening in the not-too-distant future. A glance out the back door reveals something exciting: the fruit trees, shrubs, or...
Use terminal bud scars to gage growth rate of trees
Watching how plants grow is just fascinating. Like when a terminal bud begins growing in the spring after being dormant, it leaves behind a bud scale...
Interesting and Brief: A History of Apples & Their Uses
When local orchard branches are laden with delicious jewels of fruit, the apple season has arrived. Before sinking your teeth into this year’s...
Managing brown rot of peaches and other stone fruit in the garden. Peach fruit infected with brown rot. Fruit is covered in brown fuzzy mass.
Manage brown rot of peaches and other stone fruit in the garden
Have you ever gone out to pick a peach only to find they have a large brown, mushy spot? Or perhaps you've brought some peaches home from the farmers...

News Releases

4 seasons gardening winter webinars
Get the dirt on growing healthy plants
URBANA, Ill. – Become a better gardener and find success nurturing plants indoors and out. Learn best practices for home gardening from University of Illinois Extension horticulture educators in the Four Seasons Gardening webinar series that begins...
Fruit trees need an annual trim to bear best fruit
URBANA, Ill. – Most deciduous trees are best pruned while they are in full dormancy. This happens to be February or March for this part of the country.  While many of our landscape trees don’t necessarily need yearly pruning, the same can’t be said for fruit trees, especially if you want...
Build confidence in fruit tree pruning with free educational workshop
CLINTON, Ill. – Want to make an apple or peach pie, but your fruit tree isn’t bearing enough fruit? Pruning may be the answer. Pruning can improve tree vigor, encourage flower and fruit production, and attain the desired shape. Learn about this and more in a hands-on workshop hosted by...
Southern Illinois growers rely on Extension's sound production advice
URBANA, Ill. – When downstate peach growers need a new cold-hardy variety, or when pumpkin fields are threatened by pests, growers rely on the experts at University of Illinois Extension. Extension educators have hosted in-person specialty crop schools in Southern Illinois for decades,...

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