Beth Botts

Beth Botts is a staff writer for The Morton Arboretum, a 1,700-acre outdoor museum and garden of trees near Lisle. She works with the Arboretum’s horticultural and scientific staff to provide practical, reliable garden advice in her weekly column. The author of two books, she writes and speaks widely about trees, gardening and nature. She was an editor and reporter at the Chicago Tribune for more than two decades.

Pussy willow can grow in a sunny, moist site

March 30, 2025 at 2:29 p.m.

Pussy willow can be part of a home landscape if you have a site with plenty of space, full sun and moist soil.

To keep from compacting your garden soil, avoid digging while soil is wet from spring rains or thawing snow. Compacted soil can stunt plants’ growth. (Beth Botts/The Morton Arboretum)

Delay digging to save soil

March 23, 2025 at 5:00 a.m.

It can be hard to resist on a sunny spring day, but don’t start digging in the garden too soon.

Cool-season vegetables grow well in spring before summer's heat sets in. Their seeds can be sown outdoors once the soil is thawed and well drained or started indoors for an earlier crop.

(Beth Botts/The Morton Arboretum)

Some crops need a cool start

March 15, 2025 at 5:00 a.m.

Before too long, it will be time to start planting vegetables.

Pruning raspberry bushes in late winter or early spring will clear the way for them to bloom and bear fruit in summer. (John Hagstrom/The Morton Arboretum)

Prune your backyard raspberries yearly

March 8, 2025 at 5:00 a.m.

Raspberries and blackberries are pruned in late winter or early spring to get rid of dead, damaged or dense and tangled canes.

When a bare-root plant is delivered, open the wrapping and make sure the roots have not dried out. (Beth Botts/The Morton Arboretum)

Consider buying plants with their roots bare

March 1, 2025 at 5:00 a.m.

If you have chosen trees, shrubs or perennials you’d like to add to your garden this spring, consider trying to buy them as bare-root plants. “They can cost less, because...

As the first step in removing a large tree branch, make a cut on the underside about 8 inches out from the trunk. This will prevent the heavy branch from tearing away bark from the trunk as it falls. (Jeffrey Ross/The Morton Arboretum)

3 steps to safely remove a tree branch

February 22, 2025 at 5:00 a.m.

To avoid danger to yourself and damage to the tree, plan carefully before you cut.

Choosing an apple variety that is resistant to common diseases will reduce the amount of work it takes to get a crop and the need for pesticides in a home orchard. (Deborah J. G. Brown/The Morton Arboretum)

Disease resistance matters most in apple trees

February 16, 2025 at 5:00 a.m.

If you’re considering adding an apple tree to your home landscape this spring, it’s important to choose an appropriate variety.

A plant’s hardiness zone numbers tell you the geographic area in which it can be expected to survive the average winter. This Molly Schroeder doublefile viburnum (Virburnum plicatum f. tomentosum ‘Molly Schroeder’) is rated for Zones 5 through 8, which means it is hardy in northern Illinois (Zone 5) and

Chicago (mostly Zone 6). (Beth Botts / The Morton Arboretum)

Know your numbers to tell if plants are hardy

February 9, 2025 at 5:00 a.m.

When you’re shopping for trees, shrubs or perennials, the hardiness zone should be one of the first things you check.

This new hedge of boxwoods has been properly spaced, giving the young shrubs room to grow wider as they grow taller. The size and width that plants will reach when they are fully mature is one of the important facts to determine before you buy them. (Beth Botts/The Morton Arboretum)

On a cold day, stay indoors and research plants

February 2, 2025 at 5:00 a.m.

If you’re considering adding trees or shrubs to your landscape in the coming growing season, winter is the perfect time to do the research you’ll need to find the right...

The size of a shrub that has outgrown its space often can be reduced by selectively pruning some branches while preserving its natural form. (Beth Botts/The Morton Arboretum)

Careful pruning can reduce a shrub’s size

January 26, 2025 at 3:27 p.m.

Exactly how and when you should prune a shrub depends on the species and variety of the plant.

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