Down the Garden Path Richard Hentschel, Extension Educator July has brought us a mild summer with a fair amount of rain. It was not until the end of July that our yards and gardens began to look more typical – drying ground with some cracking showing up as the soil did begin to dry. If you missed...

We are lucky here in the Midwest to be able to enjoy spring and summer bulbs alike. We plant spring bulbs in the fall and summer bulbs in the spring. We let spring bulbs overwinter in our garden beds and dig up summer bulbs to overwinter indoors. Our spring bulbs need a cold treatment to trigger...

Down the Garden Path Richard Hentschel, Extension Educator January is not too early to start to plan for a new home orchard or to consider replacements for aging fruit trees in an existing orchard. There are several different kinds of fruit trees to consider, including apple, cherry, peach, pear...

The giving of holiday plants has become for many homes an annual family tradition. The one we think of most often of course is the poinsettia, yet mums, azaleas, cyclamen, and Christmas cactus are also given frequently. How well those holiday plants hold up and continue to give us enjoyment depends...

Gardeners would normally see damage from grubs or sod webworms this time of year. With our rainfall this summer, grub damage if they are even out there will be minimal. The winter weather took out a large percentage of the Japanese beetle grubs, so we have not seen that big population we have in...

Down the Garden Path Richard Hentschel, Extension Educator   Spring is a good time to be planting trees, shrubs and evergreens in the home landscape. We have lost so many trees to the Emerald Ash borer, other wood boring insects and diseases lately that some communities look bare,...

We should have been expecting it, but no one is really ever ready for the first really cold weather we get. Our hardy trees, shrubs and evergreens or perennials weren't really impacted by low 30's and upper 30's that areas in the Fox Valley received. Gardeners do plant lots of tender flowers for...

There are some 8000 thousand ant species around and on occasion ants can become an annoyance in the home. Most often they are a bother in the spring of the year when soils outdoors begin to warm again. Right now with our soils next to the home being warmer yet, we can have ants from outside...

Landscapes flower and vegetable beds sure needed some moisture; just getting it all at once is not ideal. Couple the high humidity, temperatures together, and we have great opportunities for disease outbreaks in the yard. Some general precautions would be NOT to work in the beds at all while the...

Just about now, you can see holiday trees sitting in the front or side yard, waiting for the assigned pick up date to be collected and mulched. This is one way to be sure your holiday tree gets recycled to the benefit of the environment. The follow through to getting your tree composted in a...

All the rain and cooler weather has really started a change in the home landscape and vegetable garden. The fall and cooler season vegetables really like this weather and have been growing well. Those warm season vegetables like tomatoes and peppers begin to shut down as night time temperatures...

Down the Garden Path Richard Hentschel, Extension Educator Plants in the garden (and insects too) develop based on something called "Growing Degree Days" or GDD for short. This is an accumulation of heat units using a base of 50 degrees. For every degree above fifty goes towards the growing...

The fall foliage show of reds, yellows, gold have begun to subside and soon enough a night of below freezing temperatures will bring that to a close and all those leaves will end up in the landscape. If you are out there in the country with natural woodlands, leaves play a part in preserving the...

  Squirrels clearly know fall is approaching based on the calls coming into the Master Gardeners help desk telephone line and homeowners bringing in handfuls of small oak twigs. Squirrels will, on an annual basis collect, hide, and eat a great many acorns in anticipation of winter, it is what...

All this cooler weather especially at night is having an effect on all our plants in the landscape. The temperatures we have been having at night especially have caused changes in how the plants have switched from actively growing to getting ready for dormancy. The plants used as annuals or as...

Down the Garden Path Richard Hentschel, Extension Educator Storm damage can now be added to our list of what has happened to our landscape plants. The drought of 2012 started things off creating lots of stressed trees, shrubs and evergreens from recently planted to very mature plants. Jump ahead...

  Bakers in the family and everyone else who enjoy the benefits really like the holidays. Lots of cookies, cakes and pies are baked during the holiday season. It is not the baked goods that will give households any problems, but what comes later with the leftover flour. Pantry pests are...

Down the Garden Path Richard Hentschel, Extension Educator Young fruit trees in the home orchard should begin to fruit once the tree has become established. Several conditions will need to be met before that happens. The four big factors are tree health, weather, typical age for the tree to bear...

Down the Garden Path Richard Hentschel, Extension Educator   The snow continues to melt and rains have begun to rinse away the dirty grunge of winter from the soil that piled up everywhere. While we wait for the last of the snow to go and the ground to warm up before we can plant even those...

Our daily routine during this time of year is often interrupted with time away from home, having family and friends stop by, planned or unplanned. One of those pleasant interruptions is the live holiday tree and the holiday gift plants you give or receive. Taking care of the tree once it is up and...