Beth Botts – Page 15 –

You can increase the yield from backyard fruit trees by regular pruning in the winter dormant season. Be sure to research proper pruning techniques for your tree’s species and cultivar.
(Beth Botts)

Winter is the best time to prune fruit trees

February 11, 2024 at 5:00 a.m.

Prune your trees to keep them healthy and flowering come spring.

Sharpen tools such as pruners and spades to prepare for the spring gardening season. (Michael Hudson)

Fight winter blues with gardening tasks

February 5, 2024 at 5:00 a.m.

Cabin fever can be a serious affliction in the middle of a Chicago winter. Fight it by keeping busy with indoor and outdoor tasks to prepare for your spring garden.

A canker, an area of disease in the wood of a plant, can look like a crack, peeling bark, a change of color of the stem, a sunken area or oozing sap.

Check bare branches for cankers

January 27, 2024 at 5:00 a.m.

When the branches of your trees and shrubs are bare in winter, you have an opportunity to spot cankers that might be hidden by leaves in summer. A canker is...

To renew a crowded shrub, prune out the thickest, oldest stems to favor newer ones. Be sure not to remove more than a third of the shrub in one year.

Pruning depends on your purpose

January 21, 2024 at 4:13 p.m.

There you stand, pruners at the ready, facing a dormant shrub on a winter's day. Where exactly are you going to cut? "It depends on what you're trying to accomplish,"...

As you plan to start seeds, read seed packets carefully for important information about how many plants you will need and how and when to sow the seeds.

Tips for successfully starting seeds at home

January 13, 2024 at 5:00 a.m.

Starting plants from seed can make vegetable gardening both less expensive and more interesting. "You can buy seeds for a much wider range of plant varieties than garden centers sell...

Winter, when dormant trees have bare branches, offers a good opportunity to have them pruned if they need it.

Take advantage of winter to have trees pruned

January 7, 2024 at 5:00 a.m.

The bare branches of trees are starkly beautiful against the winter sky. They also make it easier to have the trees pruned. Without leaves, it is easier for a trained...

Dispose of your Christmas tree carefully according to local rules so it can be chipped up into mulch that will nurture the soil for other plants.

Here’s how to give your Christmas tree a new life the right way

December 31, 2023 at 5:00 a.m.

Start the new year right by disposing of your Christmas tree in a way that contributes to new life. "If a tree is chipped up to make mulch or compost,...

The winter solstice is worth celebrating because it marks the beginning of increasing sunlight that will bring springtime to plants and people.

On the darkest day, look toward light

December 23, 2023 at 5:00 a.m.

The deepest darkness of the year is a sign of the coming light, for plants as well as people. The winter solstice, which occurs in Chicago this year on Dec....

Young trees' bark can be severely damaged in fall when male deer rub against them to scratch itchy antlers.

Tree bark can suffer when deer scratch an itch

December 16, 2023 at 5:00 a.m.

In fall or winter, homeowners often discover young trees whose thin bark has been damaged by deer rub. Some trees may have patches where bark hangs in shreds, exposing the...

The new USDA plant hardiness zone map moves all of Chicago and most of central Illinois into the warmer Zone 6, but gardeners are still wise to be cautious because the weather continues to be
variable. Image from USDA.

Gardeners, stay cool: Caution urged with new plant zone map

December 9, 2023 at 5:00 a.m.

Freezing weather may make it hard to believe, but many Chicago-area gardeners — and their plants — are now living in a slightly warmer world, according to a new version...

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