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Environment

a stand of trees forming a windbreak

Picking the right tree for your windbreak

Picking a tree for a windbreak is a big decision. A windbreak protects a home from the constant Illinois wind and blowing snow. With this important job, you want the trees that make up your windbreak to be strong and healthy for as long as possible. To help in making that decision here are some...
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A windbreak of evergreens

Tips for a creating a successful windbreak

Hold on to your hats! It is windy here in Illinois. Wind can be destructive to our homes and landscapes, plus it can make being outside miserable. This is why many Illinoisians plant windbreaks around their homes to keep that biting wind from causing a drafty house, prevent drifting snow, and make...
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Cold frame with vegetables growing inside in the fall.

Starting a Garden: Season Extension

Are you waiting on the edge of your seat, ready for that frost-free date to pass so you can safely plant your tomatoes in the garden? If you know any vegetable farmers, they already have tomatoes in the ground. But you can’t fit a high tunnel in your backyard. Maybe the front yard? Nah, the...
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A puddle

Landscape Drainage for Homeowners

Are you stricken with pools of water in your yard and you don’t own a pool? Instead of water moving away from your house, does it run into the basement?  Are you constantly battling eroded hillsides? If you fight these common water maladies, then very likely there is a stormwater drainage problem...
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Bald Eagle

Bald Eagles: Noble bird or thieving scavenger?

As a kid, I remember the bald eagle being rare and revered. At school and on TV we learned the bald eagle was an endangered species. The resounding theme when I was young was that bald eagles were noble hunters, flying skyward and swooping down to grasp fish from an icy lake. In movies bald eagles...
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orange and black monarch butterfly perched on milkweed plant

Mowing for Monarchs

There is something about mowing that is so satisfying. What is it? The smell of cut grass? Taming an unruly landscape? To me, it is measurable progress. It seems so often that modern jobs give few tangible results. So much of our work is in the digital ether. After a full day's work, I leave the...
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