Lawn Care Blogs

It started as an ordinary phone call. A homeowner contacted the Extension office with a question about controlling a grassy weed in her lawn. A weed she knew was ubiquitous in lawn care. However, when she said the name “water grass,” I was dumbfounded. The voice on the other end of the line seemed...

A natural/organic alternative to spring weed'n'feedsIf you have looked for an alternative to synthetic preemergent lawn herbicides that prevent annuals like crabgrass or foxtail, you may have noticed products containing corn gluten meal (CGM). An added benefit of CGM is that it also provides a...

It's March in Illinois, and this is when everyone starts thinking about lawn care. The grass is greening up, and plants are beginning to grow again, signaling that garden work has begun.You may be looking at your lawn and wondering where to start. Maybe you notice some bare patches, or the entire...

Voles are active in the winter, even if you aren'tWhile I may not be out in the garden during this time of year, the frozen landscape of Illinois during January still has plenty of life. In fact, there is one animal that toils in the garden all winter, the vole. What are voles?Voles are small...

Recently, chilly mornings have me grabbing my hoodie before loading the kids into the car for school. Apple orchards are starting to advertise cider and donuts. Mums are starting to adorn front porches. And that smell…could it be? Pumpkin spice! I will continue to lie to myself and proclaim...

Did you notice people’s lawns getting a little long last May? No Mow May has become a popular way to help pollinators. No Mow May began in the United Kingdom in 2019 as a way to help struggling pollinator populations. The idea is that if people don’t mow their lawns during May, it will allow ‘...

I should not be writing this. The voice in my head says to keep my mouth shut. Yet, the other voice says, maybe someone will find this information helpful. That is after all what we are supposed to do at Illinois Extension, make sure the knowledge and research do not stay locked up somewhere, but...

You may be wondering, “What does artificial intelligence (A.I.) have to do with gardening?” Let’s say you have a gardening question. Before the internet, perhaps you reached out to your Illinois Extension office for an answer. With the internet, you could search for your question but had to wade...

An orange lawn? You’re walking through your lawn. You notice some discoloration in patches, but it doesn’t seem too alarming. After walking in your front door you begin to slip off your shoes and notice they’ve been turned an orange-red color. You’d swear it looked like your shoes were rusted-over...