Gardening

Written by Rhonda Ferree, retired horticulture educator If you are like me, your gardens did not develop exactly as you had planned in the spring. I have more weeds than I usually do in early fall. Parts of my lawn has too much crabgrass and some plants simply do not like their location...

Written by Rhonda Ferree, retired horticulture educator I remember when my sons Derek and Tyler used to play Pokémon on their Gameboys and collect the trading cards. I never really understood it then, and I'm not sure I fully understand it now; but, I did download Pokémon Go on my phone...

Written by Rhonda Ferree, retired horticulture educator Summer is the time for family and school reunions. Rhonda Ferree, Horticulture Educator with University of Illinois Extension, suggests taking reunions to another level by starting a reunion garden. "School reunion gardens are...

Written by Rhonda Ferree, retired horticulture educator The color blue is sometimes difficult to use in the garden. This is partly because there are very few true blue flowers in nature and partly because some of the most striking blue-flowered plants are challenging to grow in Central...

Written by Rhonda Ferree, retired horticulture educator Gardening is for everyone, but is especially important for children. I cannot over-emphasize the importance of gardening with kids. It encourages personal growth, environmental stewardship, hands-on learning, improved nutrition,...

Written by Rhonda Ferree, retired horticulture educator Growing your own food is easy and fun. This year I will write more spotlights on backyard food production in this column. To get us started, here are excerpts from an article written by my colleague Richard Hentschel. Richard writes...

Written by Rhonda Ferree, retired horticulture educator Eight trends are featured in this year's 2016 Garden Media Group garden trend report. I'll write about each trend sometime this year. The 2016 trend report is titled Syncing with Nature. I agree with the report's findings...

Written by Rhonda Ferree, retired horticulture educator Winter is so unpredictable anymore. Snow is pretty, heavy snows and cold temperatures do affect plants as well as humans. Fortunately, most of our landscape plants are well adapted to the snow and cold. Accumulations of snow can...

Written by Rhonda Ferree, retired horticulture educator GENERAL Clean and store hoses and flower pots. Clean and sharpen lawn and garden tools and store them in a dry storage area. Store leftover garden chemicals according to label directions, out of the reach of...

Written by Rhonda Ferree, retired horticulture educator Fall is a fun, exciting, and busy time for gardeners. Many gardening activities are done in fall and some can only be done now. Rhonda Ferree, Horticulture Educator with University of Illinois Extension, says, "Think of fall as the...