Winter Protection for Landscape Plants

Winter can be a harsh time for a Nebraska landscape plant. Cold temperatures, winter winds and fluctuations in conditions and cause many of them to be damaged. Fortunately, there are a few steps that can be taken to limit the injury. The specific actions depend largely on the plant involved.

Easy to Care For Houseplants

By now, in early February, “Cabin Fever” is raging amongst Midwesterners. Perhaps you’ve even been somewhere warm (south Texas, Florida, Arizona), seen green plants outdoors and are longing for that kind of greenery at your residence. To help overcome the winter blues, try these easy to care for houseplants; it will help scratch the itch and not require a lot of resources to do it.

Fall Tree and Shrub Care

Most of our area experienced a spring season which was a little on the moist side. Summer and early fall have turned the spigot off, resulting in a dry root zone for many trees and shrubs. But, how do you know if your tree(s) are part of the many or part of the moist? Ya gotta check.

2023 USDA Plant Hardiness Zone

The USDA updated their Hardiness Zone map publicized in November 2023, reflecting changes in average extreme minimum temperatures, moving several Nebraska and Iowa counties to zone 6a. The author reminds gardeners to consider factors not covered by the map, such as anomalies and soil conditions, before purchasing new plants.

Summer Lawn Fertilization

With the often-used phrase of “timing is everything” in mind, early summer lawn fertilization is a key landscape management step.

Seeing Spots?  Could be the Lawn…

If you’re seeing spots before your eyes, it could be some sort of dizziness syndrome, or it could be that you’re looking at your lawn, and it’s got a particular fungus disease…which shows up as spots. Actually, there are several lawn maladies that show up as spots, but one in particular, especially at this time of year – Dollar Spot.

Patio Planter Care in Mid-Summer

In mid-summer, especially when a hot, dry week is predicted, (like this upcoming week), patio planters and houseplants need a little TLC. Four actions are involved:

Spring Lawn Care

Spring has sprung and cabin fever is high. Not just cabin fever; COVID-19 cabin fever. As we start venturing outside and focus attention on the lawn and landscape, here are some spring lawn care tips to keep in mind:

Rules 3 and 4 of Garden Catalog Shopping

The first two rules of shopping for landscape plants with garden catalogs are centered around needs, much like shopping for groceries. The next two focus on the landscape itself in terms of cold tolerance and disease susceptibility of certain plants.

Bark Bummers

Bark Bummers   This time of year is good and challenging for Midwesterners.  The challenging?  The weather.  Nuff said.  The good?  It’s a great time to notice potential problems in trees and shrubs in the landscape.   At this point in the season, there aren’t any leaves, fruit or flowers (except for a couple species) to…