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.

Fall 2024

Five fall tips for cool-season lawn care
Garden into fall with tips, plants built for seasonal design
Consider plants with winter interest in landscapes
The quest of growing wonderberries
Throwback: Stretch out the growing season with fall-planted salad greens
Blog Features:
- The Garden Scoop: Making a fall gardening checklist
- Good Growing: Pesticide pitfalls: Common misuses and what to do if you've made a mistake

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Explore past Gardeners Corner issues

Summer 2024

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

Spring 2024

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

Winter 2023-24

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

Fall 2023

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

Summer 2023

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

Spring 2023

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

Winter 2022-23

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

Fall 2022

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

Summer 2022

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.

Spring 2022

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

Winter 2021

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

Fall 2021