Home & Garden

It's never too late to plant a tree and other woody plant as long as the hole is pre-dug, according to Nancy Kuhajda, Illinois Extension horticulture educator serving Grundy, Kankakee, and Will Counties.

K9s for Veterans helps provides trained service dogs to help veterans with post traumatic stress disorder transition to civilian life

Nancy Kuhajda, whose served for more than 22 years in Will County as an Extension program coordinator, now moves into the role of horticulture educator serving local communities.

Supplemental watering, weeding and managing pests will go a long way to keep landscapes growing through the summer.

ew gardening terms sound so off-putting, especially to novice gardeners. Nonetheless, deadheading can be an important task.

Wasco Nursery & Garden Center, 41W781 Route 64, St. Charles is hosting self-guided garden tours weekends in July.

Gardening is often taught through community connections whether cultivated from our families, neighbors, community group, or our chosen families.

The Fields on Caton Farm, Inc., 1850 Caton Farm Road, Crest Hill, will host Art in the Garden on Sunday.

Here are three less common native groundcovers to consider; all have attractive foliage and unique flowers and are resistant to browsing by deer and rabbits

Batavia Plain Dirt Gardeners club will hold its garden walk featuring seven gardens from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, July 13.

Planting Summer is not a great time to plant trees. If you can wait until fall, the tree will probably experience less transplant shock and stress.

Tick-borne diseases, such as Lyme disease, are on the rise because of the increased exposure to humans and animals. What can we do to protect ourselves?

In response to the current weather and climate cycle, one change that we can make is how we water plants. Let’s look at some ideas that can conserve water and provide a good vegetable crop.

The hammerhead worm is perhaps one of the strangest and least well-known invaders to our gardens. They eat other invertebrates, such as earthworms, slugs, isopods (rolly pollies), and other insect larvae.

Batavia Plain Dirt Gardeners will host their biannual Garden Walk to honor former Club President Diana Sharp. Tickets are $20 in advance and $25 the day of the event.

Viburnum leaf beetle was first reported in the Chicagoland area in 2013. Within two years, it was regularly reported to the Morton Arboretu

Introduced commercially to the United States in 2012, pineberries are hybrid, everbearing, white to pink strawberries with red seeds, and they have a flavor and aroma of pineapple, though not everyone can taste it.

These gardens highlight plants with the purpose of appealing to human senses. The plants are meant to be enjoyed in a variety of ways including being touched, smelled, heard, felt, and even tasted.

“It’s not like they come out of the ground and you hear this gigantic, deafening sound. They need time to complete their life cycle," said Nancy Kuhajda, program coordinator at the University of Illinois Extension in Will County, in describing the emergence of cicadas.

Growing plants from seed can be magical and it’s easy.

Cicada larva (or grubs) spend most of their life underground, feeding on tree roots. Depending on the species, this can be anywhere from two to 17 years!

The Forest Preserve District of Kane County is offering free wood chips to the public on Sunday, April 28.

The Sauk Valley Home Show, which is free to attend, will be from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Northland Mall in Sterling.

Even though it has felt like spring, spring frosts are still expected in northern Illinois. It can be hard to resist putting out new plants and getting a jump on spring planting.

Spring has sprung! And with it, many spring ephemerals. Ephemeral means only lasting a short time, which explains why this group of plants has this very name.

The program " Container Design, The Basics and Beyond” will be presented by Stephanie Dalton on Thursday, April 11 at the Oswego Public Library.

As host of “Let’s Talk Gardening,” Nowak’s will present, “Conservation in Your Backyard,” about the basics of having your yard conserve rather than deplete natural resources.

To be successful in growing roses in Midwest gardens, keep in mind some basic considerations, such as plant selection and an understanding of potential disease and insect problems.

Mild temperatures are inviting homeowners to get outside for spring yard work. Pruning is an essential maintenance activity to promote tree health, safety and aesthetics.

What homeowners do at the end of the growing season often determines how good your next year is going to be, said Nancy Kuhajda, University of Illinois Extension Will and Grundy master gardener coordinator.

The house at 940 Meadows Road, Geneva, is probably not like any other house for sale in the city as it is over 13,000 square feet, has five bedrooms and 11 bathrooms. The price? $3,999,995

Low-cost ways to revamp living areas

Must-have features in your bathroom remodel

How to pick the right trees for your property

The arrival of spring is a welcome occurrence for many people. Budding flowers are among the harbingers of spring.

Take stock of your outdoor furniture — do you need more? Would colorful new Adirondack chairs, a new picnic table and maybe a garden bench and planters be more inviting?

Some simple cleaning strategies make it easy to brighten outdoor furniture made of metal, glass, wood, and plastic. Before homeowners know it, their backyards will be ready for outdoor entertaining season.

Home renovation projects can pay numerous dividends. Renovations can have a positive effect on resale value, make homes more livable for residents and, in some ways, make homes more affordable.

Homeowners can try these three techniques to keep mosquitoes out of their backyards

Cutting too low can injure the grass

No garden is immune to disease. Even the most attentive, experienced gardeners have had to confront disease in their gardens

Powerwashing, also known as pressure-washing, utilizes a high-velocity water spray to remove dirt and residue from the exterior surfaces of a home

Dog urine and feces can adversely affect the look and health of a lush green lawn

Wallpaper fell out of favor years ago, but new styles that aren’t so heavily patterned can make for wonderful additions to any room

The poison ivy rash can be very uncomfortable. Learning to identify poison ivy plants can help people avoid the rash

Designing an ideal backyard space requires forethought and an eye for style. Knowing which features to include in a yard often boils down to what homeowners want to achieve in the space. Will it be a relaxing oasis or a central entertaining focal point?

Gardening is a rewarding activity that has been found to provide a host of benefits beyond ensuring readily available access to fresh fruits, vegetables and awe-inspiring blooms.