Gardening Resources for Nebraska from Nebraska Extension
Bird feeding is huge! It’s one of the top 5 outdoor activities and really grew in popularity recently as property owners of all sizes became more in tune with their landscapes during the pandemic.
As my colleague Dave Robson with the University of Illinois indicates, when you try to provide food for songbirds, many other outdoor creatures consider themselves invited to the feast. Following are some suggestions for reducing problems from squirrels, mice, rabbits and other critters.
Kicking back to consider next year’s garden, let benefitting pollinators be one of your considerations. Of course pollination is important to us because we like to eat—one-third of our food supply exists because pollinators pollinate. Pollinators, specifically native bees, are real work horses of the pollination world—just 250 native bees do the work of thousands…
December 15 is National Wreaths Across America Day. Wreaths, being the circular arrangement of plant twigs, leaves and fruits that they are, have been ubiquitous with Christmas. Historically, however, the wreath has long been representative of Mother Earth and the sun. With no beginning and no ending, the circle itself is symbolic of infinity. Today,…
As autumn’s colorful leaves fall to the ground, our attention turns to berries as a source of color in our landscapes and for cuttings to grace our tables and entryways. Crabapples represent some of the most reliable of spring’s breathtaking flowers, but the fruit they produce also offer an array of yellow, orange and red…
There’s no better way to explain nature to your kids than to feed the birds, using the right combination of bird food, feeders, bird baths and shelter. Cardinals, juncos, chickadees, goldfinches and mellow morning doves are among the common species in our area. Start off with one of the most overlooked tools to attract…
Nothing beats the beauty and movement of our backyard birds, especially during the winter months when our landscapes lack color. One important thing to keep in mind, however, is that the bird seed dropped beneath bird feeders can attract voles. Voles are granivores, meaning grains are their main food source. Since the bird seed in…
In recognition of February as National Library Lovers’ Month, I’m going to share my favorite gardening books with you. The Undaunted Garden—Planting for Weather-Resilient Beauty by Lauren Springer (ISBN 1-55591-115-3) has everything a gardener wants—colorful pictures of great gardens, a directory of tough plants (also with great pictures), and Springer’s straightforward narrative. The single best…
This week on the GROBigRed Blog we are celebrating National Library Lover’s Month and the books that we love to use. I want to share two of my go-to books and a new addition that I am excited to have this year. Field Guide to Wildflowers of Nebraska and the Great Plains (ISBN 978-1-60938-071-7) by…