In the ornamental garden and the home
Try red gladioli instead of roses for Valentine’s Day. You’ll save a few bucks.
Force branches of flowering shrubs and trees such as viburnum, forsythia, pussy willow, lilac and redbud. Select and cut 12-inch-long branches with plump buds. The closer to their natural bloom time you cut branches, the sooner they will open. Place branches in a container of warm water and re-cut stems 1 inch from the base (fact sheet available).
Prune shade trees. Remove damaged or broken branches. Thin out growth that is too congested. Pruning sealants are not necessary.
Solve last year’s lawn problems. Sign up for the University of Illinois’ lawn care correspondence course. Call 773-233-0476 for more information.
Prune shrubs that bloom after June 15 now. Shrubs that flower before June 15 should be pruned immediately after flowering (fact sheet available).
Learn about three major causes for hosta decline in the garden (fact sheet available).
Apply dormant oil to control scale insects on ornamental trees and shrubs if temperatures will stay above freezing for 24 hours. Spray before buds show green (fact sheet available).
In the edible garden
Start seeds of cool-season vegetables such as broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower indoors (fact sheet available).
Deer and rabbit problems? List of resistant plants available.
Choose a fruit tree for your back yard. Peaches, nectarines, sweet cherries and apricots suffer here, but these fruit trees are recommended:
Apples: Buy varieties resistant to apple scab. At least two varieties are needed for cross-pollination.
Plums: Plant European types; you will need two trees for cross-pollination.
Cherries: Plant tart varieties; all are self-fruitful, which means you only need to plant one tree.
Save plastic milk jugs for hot caps to protect plants from spring cold and orange juice cans for placing around newly planted transplants to control cutworms.
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Ronald C. Wolford is an extension educator in urban gardening for the University of Illinois Extension. To obtain the extension’s fact sheets for many gardening topics, call 773-233-0476 or see the Web site at urbanext.uiuc.edu/hort/.
Calling all butterflies: Do you have a garden designed to attract fluttering friends? The Illinois Audubon Society is looking for sites to include on its butterfly garden tour July 28 and 29. Call Kay McNeil at 815-469-1294.
