Environment Blogs

When it comes to plant selections in landscaping, much of the focus is typically put on trees, shrubs, and showy flowers. But take a closer look at many landscaped areas and you’ll often find a few grasses. Grasses are underappreciated but can often provide four season interest in the landscape....

I recently received an inquiry from a farmer to identify an unknown grass he found on his property. This led me to a grass I’ve never identified before, but I had seen for years along the interstate and never knew what it was! Let’s take a look at Carolina Foxtail, Alopecurus carolinianus...

Crabgrass isn’t usually a problem until summertime, but effective management starts this spring. Many cultural choices, like how often and how high you mow your lawn, can impact the ability of crabgrass to establish.  About crabgrassThere are several species of crabgrass in Illinois, but the...

2025 was a whirlwind year and I decided to take a step back from this blog. If you’re wondering why, I had a baby! I’m already teaching my little girl about plants and who knows, she might grow up to be a grass lady one day too! Before moving ahead with new content, I took some time to look...

A few years ago I began to notice a very tall, stately grass growing on the roadsides on my daily commute. I only seemed to find it growing in southernmost Illinois. Without any good places to pull over my car on the roadsides, I wasn’t able to get a closer look. Then one day I got an email asking...

A year ago my family moved. As a gardener, I was looking for a house with a big yard with lots of potential to plant huge gardens. We found a home with almost a blank slate of a yard – after spending a few weeks removing invasive trees and shrubs we were ready to establish landscape beds and get...

About a month ago I was in the Chicago region for a conference, and I took the opportunity to stop by Volo Bog. If you’ve never been, this unique spot is home to an open-water quaking bog, which you can see if you hike the boardwalk loop. While hiking I found some clumps of Bluejoint Grass, which...

The first time I saw Beakgrass was at the Missouri Botanic Garden in a parking median. I was struck by the attractive mass of this grass, which was bowed to one side from the weight of its seed heads. I mentally filed this grass away as one that I wanted to make sure I added to my landscape one day...

As someone who learned grass identification in Midwest prairies, I don’t often focus a lot of time on grasses that grow in the woods or wetlands. But today I wanted to highlight a grass found in wetter sites that serves as a great food source for ducks and other waterfowl. It’s an annual grass that...

Summer is here, which brings a very busy programming schedule. In the past few weeks I’ve driven across the five counties I work in to deliver youth programs at local libraries. A lot of time on the road means I’m paying more attention to what’s growing on our roadsides. Last week the grass I saw...