Gardening

A dense stand of buckwheat emerges in this vegetable gardening bed. Earlier in the season this bed produced lettuce, carrots, raddish and kale. The buckwheat was added as a fall cover crop to boost soil conditions prior to next spring's crop.

Cover crops in the garden

Cover crops have been used for ages in agricultural systems, but their use in a garden setting is on the rise as home and commercial vegetable growers realize their value on the smaller scale. What Are Cover Crops, and How Long Have They Been Used?Unlike traditional crops, a cover crop is...
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A tray of orange pepper plants that was grown indoors sits outside in the sunlight for a few hours as part of the hardening off process.

Is it time to plant?

It’s that time of year again. The time when spring weather is warming, we are all starting to get active in our gardens to plant things. However, lots of folks are wondering if the time is right yet. Last week’s warm weather generated quite a bit of gardening activity, and Illinois...
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A blank checklist on a clipboard next to a pen.

Making a fall gardening checklist

The Garden Scoop
Fall is nearly upon us, and while many gardeners lament the end of the growing season, plenty of work remains to be done before winter sets in. I actually enjoy fall gardening tasks as they are a way to end the year with a bang and get all set to hit the ground running in spring. Here is a short...
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Ants on a Peony

How ants help peonies

The Garden Scoop
In the plant world, insects can be considered either friend or foe based on their status as beneficial partners or pests.  We often think of pollinators as the primary friends plants have in the insect world, but there are certainly other beneficial insects that don’t necessarily pollinate...
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Vegetable Garden Planning

It’s that time of year again – time to start planning for the vegetable gardening season.  The explosion of enticing seed catalogs hitting my mailbox these days has started to get me in gear by dusting off all the tools, looking at our empty garden beds and dreaming of the growing season to...
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Champaign County Master Gardener's Plant Trial Program

Like clockwork, the Champaign County Master Gardeners (CCMG) moved hundreds of plants from the greenhouse out to the Idea Garden on University of Illinois Campus in early May. This annual tradition has been ongoing for over two decades now as part of a plant trial program the gardeners participate...
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Lunar Influence on Gardening

Our sun has special significance in the gardening world.  It offers sunlight, which plants use to generate energy and directly influences plant lifecycles in a variety of ways.  Have you ever considered the role of the moon in plant growth?  Historically, many agricultural and...
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Hand pollination of last year’s hosta flowers produced the seeds used to grow this tray of hosta seedlings. However, it will take a few more years for these plants to mature and truly express the traits gained from hybridization. Photo credit: Barb and Rick Schroeder

Hostas

Plants in the genus Hosta, collectively referred to as hostas, are one of the premier plants for ornamental gardens that lack full sun.  These resilient perennials are a mainstay of Midwestern shade gardens and remain popular in temperate regions worldwide. However, that wasn’t...
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