Over the Garden Fence 2018

Bird feeders are part of many backyards during the winter months. We enjoy the activity around the feeder, both by the birds themselves and the additional wildlife that feed on the leftovers knocked to the ground. We can attract specific birds by choosing an appropriate feeder and feed. One of our...

It has been a couple of years since I used the month of January to address starting a home orchard. The fruit and vegetable catalogs have begun to replace the holiday flyers in the mailbox and January is not too early to begin planning for a home orchard or expanding the one already there. There...

It is early to be starting any flower or vegetables seeds. However, it is not too early to round up those saved seeds and determine just how good they are. As a rule, smaller seeds do not last as long as larger seeds, as there is more stored energy in the big ones. This "rule" is especially true...

University of Illinois Extension offices are already getting calls about needle evergreens that are not looking healthy, and spring has yet to arrive! If you drive your neighborhood right now, you can spot those evergreens that died late last fall. Arborvitaes are standing dead in many locations in...

What a difference just a few days can make in what we need to be doing in the home landscape. Since the rain shut off or slowed, the first part of the landscape with symptoms of water stress is the lawn (even the lawn weeds). If you planned for it, go ahead and let the lawn go dormant even though...

Now that we have gotten a lot of rain, plants are responding and that has been driving questions to Master Gardener Help Desks in all the counties I get to work in. Q: My lawn finally has begun to green up after the drought, what should I be doing to get it back in shape?...

There are signs, despite the weather pattern, that spring will indeed arrive this year. More and more spring bulbs are showing up with flower stalks well above the soil line waiting for a bit better weather to bloom. There is even an up-side to our temperatures. If it remains cooler, those spring...