Over the Garden Fence 2015

Last weeks' column briefly mentioned starting seeds for the flower or vegetable garden and that you need to start by reviewing the seed packet instructions. That is just the start of course of what will be a several week adventure. For our area, May 5th has been the average frost free date for...

Experienced gardeners know where poison ivy is likely to be and what it looks like in its various forms and stages of growth. That may not be the case for newer gardeners just getting into their yards or having moved from an area relatively free from poison ivy to a wooded area or neighborhood....

Our growing season has really gotten going finally and with all the good comes some bad from time to time. Gardeners have become much more aware of what we do in our individual home landscapes have a larger impact on the environment especially when you add up the amount of land in our neighborhoods...

The recent issue of the University of Illinois Extension Home Yard and Garden newsletter states that the growing degree days for our area (recorded at St. Charles) have recorded more days than our 11 year average of 865, at 1056. Gardeners then would have expected better plant growth of our...

While it is a bit early yet for home orchardists to begin a spray program, Extension offices have begun to get phone and email inquiries on timing for dormant oil sprays on fruit trees in home orchards and calls on managing Cedar Apple Rust and Apple Scab fungal diseases. Dormant oil sprays are...

In a normal year this column in the middle of December would be talking about how to deal with wildlife in the yard that damage our valuable landscape plants from feeding damage. This year the ground is open and lawns are still green with no frost in the soil at all. While the weather remains...

In the middle of January not a lot is going on outside in the home landscape. The Holiday tree may have been put up for bird shelter and the feeding stations kept full of bird seed and suet, cobs of corn for the squirrels and maybe a salt lick for other kinds of wildlife. Perennial beds covered in...

There are a great many beneficial insects in the home landscape that can help gardeners manage destructive insect populations without ever opening the pesticide cabinet. Common to the yard are insect predators, parasitic wasps and natural pathogens that all work to our advantage. Some insects...

Rain is always a good thing, most of the time, for our landscape and gardens. Right now all the rain has brought us all the weeds we can ever imagine in every bed we have. Ignore those weeds and let them flower and set seeds and the landscape begins to look like a jungle of green really quickly....

Lawns have been turning green since the rains have shown up and some lawns have already been mowed for the first time. The south and west exposures may need to be mowed before the rest of the yard. As you get ready to mow for the first time in your yard, be sure the mower deck is clear of any grass...

Gardeners know about spring and summer bulbs and that we plant spring bulbs in the fall and summer bulbs in the spring. Have you ever considered taking some of those and turning them into "winter bulbs" by forcing them into boom during the winter months when the weather is dark and grey? While this...

Maybe the fireplace has already been used this season or you are about to. The First thing typically to do if you have not had your fireplace chimney cleaned in the last couple of years is to get this done. This is should go to the top of your projects list before you start up the fireplace or wood...

Gardeners have been waiting to see their flower beds, the lawn, the landscape beds and dirt of the vegetable garden for some time now and it has happened or nearly so. After the excitement has faded and another look out in the yard can reveal lots of early spring cleanup. Lawns can look pretty...

Now that the snow is gone and gardeners have left the warm comfort of the house, the impacts of the winter are very evident as we do that "walk about" in the yard and begin to formulate early spring gardening plans. Master Gardeners have begun answering questions coming in on the phone, by email...

Plants have had quite a time dealing with the very cold weather and blustery winter winds. The lucky ones are currently under the snow and well protected. Soil temperatures remain constant and while covered by the snow, temperatures around the stems, twigs, foliage or buds are protected from the...

Successive plantings in the vegetable garden can still be done when home gardeners pick the right vegetables. Late summer into early fall is a great time to make additional plantings of those vegetables that we consume as the whole plant. Mustard greens, a variety of the leaf lettuces, and spinach...

We are having prime time weather right now for the family lawn. Our lawns, known for being nearly completely cool season grasses, continue to grow vigorously. Nearly because one of our pesky warm season perennial grasses is Nimblewill. You will see it as patchy spots in the lawn already going...

Farmers walk their fields, vegetable growers walk their produce fields, have you walked your lawn lately? This time of year is a good time to find out what has been happening to the lawn and what you might want to do yet this season to make your lawn healthier. With all the rain we had earlier in...

This summer has been exceptional for magnolia scale. Master Gardeners at the help desks have constantly been addressing this situation with homeowners for the last 5+ weeks. A typical life cycle of a scale is an overwintering female producing eggs under her protective scale covering. The eggs will...

Reports have been scattered, but throughout Cook and DuPage counties, homeowner's have discovered unfamiliar insects feeding on their viburnums in the landscape. This turns out to be yet another pest from a foreign land, the Viburnum Leaf Beetle. Like many of the insects that are not native to the...