It`s mid-April and barely 10:30 on a Monday morning at the Du Page County Cooperative Extension office in Wheaton. Already the phone calls are constant. From Oak Brook to Wheaton to Naperville and beyond, homeowners are calling for help: What are the patches of brown on my lawn? Why is my evergreen dying? Can I plant the Easter lily from Aunt Tilda in the garden?
On this day, two people are busily responding to the inquiries, occasionally referring to notebooks for information. Amid all this activity, other people with questions are waiting expectantly.
Some stand in line, clutching branches in varying stages of disease. Others sit patiently with specimen insects in jars and baggies on their laps. ”This is pretty typical” for this time of year, Du Page County horticulturist Susan Grupp says of the activity, pausing from her discussion with a homeowner about the prospects for a diseased pine specimen.
With a degree in ornamental horticulture from the University of Illinois and some 12 years in the field, Grupp burns with enthusiasm for the program that is unfolding in the cooperative extension office this morning.
It is a program that has provided Kane and Du Page County residents horticultural information for the last 17 years through more than 800 resident gardeners. (The Kane portion of the program operates out of the Kane County Cooperative Extension office in St. Charles.)
The gardeners, including the two people manning the phones on this mid-April morning, receive 60 hours of free, intensive training during the winter months. These trained gardeners, called master gardeners, give back 60 hours between April and September to their county`s horticultural outreach efforts.
Master gardeners can choose among a range of volunteer activities, from working in demonstration gardens in St. Charles or Lombard to participating in horticultural therapy, handling the phones for call-in questions, accepting outside speaking engagements or conducting tours.
And since the horticultural interest level of master gardeners is very high, many of the participants also volunteer at the Morton Arboretum in Lisle, the Botanic Garden in Glencoe and Cantigny, near Wheaton.
It is this taking and giving back that creates the magic of the master gardener program. ”The growing interest in protecting wildlife, soil and the environment has helped increase awareness,” said Grupp. ”As a state, we are working hard to make information more uniform.”
The time commitment for the master gardeners program generally means that it attracts people with hours to spare.
However, Randy Manis, 35, of Wood Dale arranged to take vacation days from his job as a field engineer for Siemens Nixdorf Information Systems in Rosemont so he could participate in the training portion of the program earlier this year.
Manis had read about master gardeners in a Farm Bureau magazine.
”They (Grupp and cohorts) make it as easy as possible for everyone to comfortably fit in their volunteer time,” said Manis, who works Saturdays in the Du Page demonstration gardens in Lombard.
Master gardeners are professionals, laborers, homemakers, retirees, young marrieds. People of all ages and backgrounds have joined the effort. And for all their diversity, they have two things in common: They want to become familiar with accurate horticultural information, and they look forward to sharing what they learn with others.
”Phone work accounts for a majority of the volunteers in Du Page, and it provides an excellent way to broaden gardeners` backgrounds,” Grupp said.
Three-year master gardener Ken Drendel, 73, of Naperville had a long agricultural career in the production of hybrid seed corn before retiring from Cargill. And yet he said he was surprised to find how little he knew about horticulture until he started learning with the master gardeners.
”As master gardeners we try to help homeowners be more discerning horticultural buyers by encouraging them to ask questions,” said Drendel.
”If a homeowner calls about getting a greener lawn, I talk with him further to see if what he really means is a healthier lawn. If he doesn`t make that differentiation when he buys fertilizer, he may end up with too high a percentage of nitrogen and just achieve quick greening.”
Frank Baron, 70, of Wheaton has worked the phones every year for the past 10 years.
”I`ve met a lot of people through the phone work,” he said, ”and it`s nice to be able to help them out, especially elderly gardeners who can`t always get out to get answers to their questions. Thing is, people remember your name and ask for you. Sometimes you might have 30 folks to call back, and, of course, you don`t want to disappoint any of them.”
And when Baron returns those 30 calls, he`ll follow specific guidelines laid out in the master gardening training sessions.
”In working with homeowners, we never just give an opinion,” said third-year master gardener Carol Garrett-Strelecky, a flight attendant for American Airlines.
Garrett-Strelecky has enjoyed working in the demonstration gardens and helping on the phones.
”We back up our answers with the data provided us by the program. This is additionally important because philosophies change as to what is best, and by referring to the regularly updated information from the state, we`re giving current, accurate answers.
”We try to recommend the least environmentally damaging sprays, for example, dormant oils or insecticidal soaps. Though we don`t recommend particular brands, we try to make the consumer conscious of what he wants to achieve so he will buy intelligently.”
Starting in April, an average of 75 to 100 phone inquiries from homeowners are made to each of the offices daily.
Arthur Feid, a retiree from Glen Ellyn, is in his sixth year with the Du Page program and has primarily worked in the office.
”By researching and answering all those questions, I retain more and more information. It helps me and the callers, too,” said Feid.
Feid said he is happy to see a broadening of gardening`s appeal.
”Young people seem to be picking up an interest in gardening,” he said. ”A lot of them like flowers, not just vegetables. It`s good to see their interest.”
”At this time of year, there are lots of questions about boxelder bugs, earwigs, spiders and other insects, and lots and lots of lawn and weed questions,” said Joan Schratt, Kane County horticulturist. ”The peak times for calls are mid-April through July and at harvest time.
”In addition to calling, people stop by the county offices with samples of diseased trees or plants, and occasionally new homeowners bring samples of all their vegetation so they can learn what they have and how to care for it.”
Schratt said Kane`s master gardeners split their volunteer time about half and half between phone work and the demonstration gardens. Other projects include some landscape design for Larkin Center for boys in Elgin, occasional public speaking for community groups and prairie walks for children.
St. Charles resident Jayne Cates is in her second year working the phones.
”I grew up on a farm and always enjoyed gardening,” Cates said, ”but I find I learn more and more through the phone work. The questions just go on and on. Once you answer one thing for homeowners, they are reminded of something else they want to know. It is a well-used, wonderful resource for people, and it is so convenient.”
John Dean, 67, of St. Charles, a fifth-year master gardener, likes interpreting soil test results for home gardeners.
”We get the statistical reports on the soil samples homeowners leave at the Farm Bureau, indicating the amount of nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium in their soil,” Dean said. ”But the statistics alone are meaningless for the average homeowner, so we write up interpretations and recommendations on what they can do to amend their soil.”
A gaily colored sign designed and painted by master gardener and artist Bobbie Brown marks the Kane County master gardener demonstration gardens at Illinois Highway 38 and Peck Road, St. Charles. An area of about 50 by 120 feet is being planted with herbs, vegetables, fruits and some interplanting of flowers, said Schratt. The gardens are geared to the average homeowner, as opposed to being research gardens, and an effort is being made to grow disease-resistant varieties; pest control is largely organic or mechanical, as opposed to chemical.
”We`re having a wonderful time right now planning an edible landscape for one of the plots,” said first-year master gardener Sherri Wesbrock, 40, of St. Charles. ”Edible flowers such as nasturtiums will be included as well as vegetables.”
Jan Butler, 38, of Aurora has been a master gardener for eight years and is also owner of the Herbal Harvest Gift Shoppe in Geneva. For Butler, the herbal aspect of the demonstration gardens is a special love. In addition to the planting, cultivation and harvesting of herbs, Butler likes ”to teach people herbs` home, body and bath uses.` ”
Butler and other herb lovers are developing six design beds at the Kane County site to show homeowners ways to incorporate herbs into their home landscapes.
The demonstration gardens in Du Page, on the grounds of the Lombard Village Hall, 255 E. Wilson Ave., also have an instructional tone, with a composting site and two gardens. One of the gardens will have its soil enriched with composted material; for comparison purposes, the other garden will receive no compost or other soil additives.
”We`re approaching a homegrown problem with a homegrown solution,” said village Trustee Dick Tross. ”In July 1990, the state mandated that yard wastes be separated. No landscape wastes-leaves, brush, etc.-can go to a landfill and must be separated from other refuse.
”We thought that putting the demonstration in a homeowner setting was important. We wanted to show how it (composting) works, that it can be done in anyone`s yard and that it is beneficial to everyone.”
Tross is proud of the coordinated effort to create the demonstration gardens. The Jaycees donated the labor to construct the composting site and raised several thousand dollars for such things as a gazebo, a sidewalk and fencing to screen the gardens and compost.
The land, water and electricity for the project were donated by the village; the master gardeners will staff and manage the project.
Generosity and gardening seem to go hand in trowel: Some gardeners give their friends flowers, others give tomatoes. From Ed Yochum, you can count on potatoes.
”In a good year, I get about 250 pounds of potatoes,” said Yochum, 50, third-year master gardener, of St. Charles. ”We usually end up with more potatoes at the demonstration gardens and at home than we know what to do with. Potatoes prefer acidic soil and our area is one of a few places in Kane County with that; most of northern Illinois soil is alkaline.”
For master gardener Feid, it`s raising fruits and vegetables that has the most appeal.
”Tomatoes, peppers, cabbage, broccoli, rhubarb, carrots, onions are out there and I have gooseberries along one side. There`s definitely enough to feed the neighborhood,” said Feid, whose garden has been dubbed Arthur`s Little Acre.
Warren Sennecke, also a retiree from Glen Elyn, is president of the Hinsdale branch of the Suburban Men`s Garden Club of America.
”I`ve been with the program for five years, and I`ve loved flowers for a lifetime, or at least since 27 years ago when my father gave me my first ferns from Wisconsin,” said Sennecke. ”I still have them and now several hundred more. But I get great joy out of spreading my ferns and flowers around to friends.”
Prolific gardener Garrett-Strelecky finds special pleasure in her 20-foot herb garden, which melds her loves of color, design and gourmet cooking. And like a rapidly growing number of people today, she enjoys using herbs to decorate her home and for gifts, as well as incorporating them in her cooking. ”Herbs are so easy to grow in our Illinois soil,” Garrett-Strelecky said.
To spread the joys of gardening beyond the able-bodied, master gardeners are also involved in horticultural therapy. The gardeners dedicate one to two hours weekly or biweekly 12 months a year to bring the special joys of gardening to individuals in retirement and rehabilitation centers.
Amy Westerhold, 45, of Naperville, works year-round with 20 to 25 residents at the Americana Health Care Center in Naperville.
”Plants and people have always been interests of mine,” she said.
”Most of the residents are in wheelchairs, with an average age of about 80. Earlier this year, we spruced up house plants for spring, and recently we planted seeds of curly cress and johnny-jump-ups. We`ll transplant these to the raised tubs in the courtyards. Raised tubs work well for residents in wheelchairs.”
Jo Ellen Reaves, activity director at the Americana Health Care Center, said the horticultural therapy program has been very successful.
”By putting a bird feeder in a courtyard,” Reaves said, Westerhold
”has stimulated new social interaction as the residents check on and discuss the activities at the feeder.”
One participant, Fran Roesler, 73, said, ”I know it`s spring when Amy comes every week.”
Roesler raised dahlias before he came to the center. He said he enjoys the activities.
”Mixing soil feels good, and it is good exercise for my hands,” Roesler said. ”Plants are a lot like me. They are finicky. They need just the right amount of food, temperature and water and then they grow right.”
Another horticultural therapy program is starting its second year at Marianjoy Rehabilitation Hospital in Wheaton. Caroline Jacobson, a third-year master gardener, coordinates the effort with Mary Lencioni and Don Szeszycki. They meet with about 15 people ages 2 to 70 every other Tuesday evening for two hours, always managing to make something that the participants can take with them for a friend, a nurse or for their own room.
Popular projects have included dried wreaths of artemisia and various simple arrangements.
Patty D`Avolio, 24, of Chicago, certified therapeutic recreation specialist, said the program is very helpful.
”You go through rehabilitation for two reasons: so you can work and so you can play,” she said. ”Three recent participants in the horticultural therapy program have had spinal cord injuries and need to learn new ways to do things. Fear of failure is very high, and small successes in horticulture therapy projects help build their confidence.”
Josephine Bello, 74, of Cicero finds the program relaxing, and it means
”there is always something I have to do-planting or watering or just cleaning the plants.”
Bruce Schurman, president and chief executive officer of Marianjoy, and Priscilla White, therapeutic recreation director, are pleased with the results seen in patients who`ve participated in the program as part of therapeutic recreation.
Schurman said: ”Therapeutic recreation is not a reimbursable service (by the government) but some 14 years ago we decided we should have it. Physical therapy gives you the ability to put on your pants, but therapeutic recreation gives you a reason to.”
So gardening can be therapy for just about everyone, young and old, novice and expert, handicapped and physically fit.
Those who yearn to kick around ideas to make their lawn healthier, their flowers more abundant or vegetable garden more productive, shouldn`t wait.
The answer is only a phone call away.
