Home and Garden – Page 42

Wait to prune deciduous shrubs such as this dogwood until the plants are entirely dormant, with all their leaves fallen. Dormant pruning time may come later in autumn than you are used to. (Beth Botts/The Morton Arboretum)

Wait until plants are dormant to prune

By Beth Botts

October 11, 2026 at 5:00 a.m.

There’s no safe date when you can assume trees and shrubs will be dormant. As...

A bed of lily-of-the-valley that recently died back. (Tim Johnson/Chicago Botanic Garden)

Anthracnose is not a fatal plant disease

By Tim Johnson

October 10, 2026 at 5:00 a.m.

This disease is not usually fatal, but it does weaken the plant.

A monarch butterfly climbs on verbena blooms Sept. 9, 2025, in Oak Park. Land managers of rights-of-way throughout the area are increasingly implementing monarch-friendly practices such as installing native plants and mowing less frequently. (Brian Cassella/baiduhai)

As monarch butterflies head south, they’re getting an assist along utility rights of way, roadways

By Susan DeGrane

October 9, 2026 at 9:52 a.m.

The Illinois Department of Transportation, ComEd and other agencies are implementing practices along rights of...

English ivy leaves turning yellow? Here’s what to do.

By Tim Johnson

August 19, 2023 at 5:00 a.m.

I noticed dead spots on my ivy leaves this summer. What is this, and what...

Symptoms of powdery mildew are distinctive white or grey powdery patches on leaves, buds, flowers, fruits or stems.

Powdery mildew is easy to spot, yet tougher to control. Here’s how.

By Tim Johnson

August 13, 2023 at 5:00 a.m.

There are a bunch of white spots on the leaves of my phlox. A few...

Consider carefully before snapping up plants at end-of-season sales. They are no bargain if they are not appropriate for your garden.

Buy plants on sale with caution

By Beth Botts

August 12, 2023 at 5:00 a.m.

Toward the end of summer, plants go on sale at garden centers, nurseries and home...

Shelf lichens growing on a tree's bark indicate that wood is decaying in the interior of the trunk. A professional arborist should assess the condition of the tree.

Wood rot could hide your tree’s decay

By Beth Botts

August 6, 2023 at 5:00 a.m.

When you see mushrooms or other fungi growing out of the trunk of a tree,...

Anthracnose refers to a group of fungal diseases that cause discolored spots on leaves which are usually tan, purplish, dark brown, or black.

Spotting black patches on your leaves? It may be anthracnose.

By Tim Johnson

August 5, 2023 at 5:00 a.m.

My maple has leaves that are curling with black edges. Some of the leaves are...

Crabgrass can be identified by its wide leaf blade and light green color.

Clamping down on crabgrass should be top of mind this summer

By Tim Johnson

July 30, 2023 at 5:00 a.m.

There are a few spots in my lawn where a grassy-looking weed seems to be...

Resist collecting plants such as creeping bellflower (Campanula rapunculoides) from roadsides or alleys. They are likely to be aggressive spreaders that cause long-lasting problems in a garden.

Collecting roadside blooms can sprout chaos in your garden

By Beth Botts

July 29, 2023 at 5:00 a.m.

Oh, what pretty flowers growing by the roadside! Maybe I should stop and get some...

Touches of whimsy such as concrete donkey statues dot the landscape at Meredith Horn's vegetable and flower garden in Chicago's Beverly neighborhood.

After moving back to her family home in Beverly, a gardener restores an oasis in the city to 1940s glory

By Susan DeGrane

July 28, 2023 at 1:38 p.m.

Near the 107th Street Rock Island Metra train stop, a circa 1924 white stucco home...

Just Roots Chicago cofounder Sean Ruane and Elliot Simpson, a high school junior, weigh bundles of beets last week at a farm in Sauk Village. A farm stand offers produce grown by the operation from 9 a.m. to noon Saturdays at the farm, 2500 223rd St.

Former teacher teams with Sauk Village church in Victory Garden effort to connect people and healthy food

By Melinda Moore

July 27, 2023 at 4:17 p.m.

Sean Ruane, an educator, was looking to forge stronger connections between people, what they eat,...

It's normal for many kinds of trees, such as this crabapple, to have more than one trunk. Make sure that the trunk, or trunks, are not planted too deep in the soil.

Trees trunks come in all shapes and sizes

By Beth Botts

July 23, 2023 at 5:00 a.m.

What shape is a tree? For most people, it's like a lollipop or a feather...