Home and Garden – Page 14

At the end of the growing season, think back on your garden through the growing season to make notes for improving it next year. For example, planting some colorful alliums might fill a gap between the last spring tulips and the first summer flowers. (Beth Botts/The Morton Arboretum)

Make notes now for next year’s garden

By Beth Botts

October 31, 2026 at 5:00 a.m.

As fall swirls toward winter, spend a little time out in the garden taking stock...

By simply raking fallen leaves onto your garden beds, you can provide your plants with a healthy, protective, soil-building layer of free mulch. (Beth Botts/The Morton Arboretum)

Don’t let fallen leaves go to waste

By Beth Botts

October 25, 2026 at 5:00 a.m.

Nature never wastes a leaf.

Fall tree color at the Chicago Botanic Garden. (Jeff Carrion/Chicago Botanic Garden)

Peak fall color in Chicago area now on display

By Tim Johnson

October 24, 2026 at 5:00 a.m.

When you understand the basics of fall color and monitor the weather, you will be...

Removing the seeds of trumpet vines by regularly deadheading can help control the plant. (RJ Carlson/Chicago Botanic Garden)

Trumpet vine can be a demanding plant for your garden

By Tim Johnson

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

Trumpet vine is a high-climbing, aggressively colonizing, woody vine that is cultivated for its attractive...

Dead trees and trees with holes in them may look ominous, but they provide valuable habitat for wildlife. (Beth Botts/The Morton Arboretum)

Spooky trees are full of life

By Beth Botts

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

Bats, screech owls and many other animals live in holes in dead or living trees,...

Finley O'Malley adjusts the dirt on a fresh grave dug for Walt's Food Center, which recently closed its Homewood store, outside the O'Malley home at 18617 Marshfield Ave., Homewood, Oct. 29, 2025. (Evy Lewis/Daily Southtown)

Homewood ‘cemetery’ evoking ghosts of businesses past among Halloween yard winners

By Evy Lewis

October 30, 2025 at 12:29 p.m.

The winners of Homewood's annual Haunted Homewood Halloween decorating contest were drawn from 28 households.

Because most potted chrysanthemums are chosen and grown to be enjoyed for just a few weeks in fall, they may not be winter-hardy in the garden. (Beth Botts/The Morton Arboretum)

Enjoy colorful mums while they last

By Beth Botts

October 26, 2025 at 5:00 a.m.

Even though chrysanthemums are biologically perennial, not all of the mums you buy in pots...

The foliage of evergreens can shed water from a sprinkler to the outside of the root ball, leaving it dry. (RJ Carlson/Chicago Botanic Garden)

Dormant plants need watering too

By Tim Johnson

October 25, 2025 at 5:00 a.m.

Plants may still be under drought stress when the weather is cooler, and plants are...

A group of volunteers hikes into Superior Street Prairie in Calumet City, a site that provides a habitat for rare plants, animals and other wildlife. (Friends of Illinois Nature Preserves)

Ongoing project ‘builds long-term community’ while preserving Calumet City’s link to ancient landscape

By Evy Lewis

October 14, 2025 at 2:42 p.m.

Volunteers at Calumet City's Superior Street Prairie to prepare for a prescribed fire, gather seeds...

Taking care not to overwater houseplants helps to prevent infestation by fungus gnats. (RJ Carlson/Chicago Botanic Garden)

Battling fungus gnats in your houseplants? Here’s what to do.

By Tim Johnson

October 12, 2025 at 5:00 a.m.

Fungus gnats are a common pest of plants grown indoors and are often associated with...

Wounds such as these in small branches from last year’s emergence of 17-year cicadas are nothing to worry about. If a larger branch has a wound, soft spot or oozing sap, it may be a sign of a fungal or bacterial infection. (Beth Botts/The Morton Arboretum)

Don’t assume tree wounds are from cicadas

By Beth Botts

October 11, 2025 at 5:00 a.m.

Homeowners may be seeing some lingering effects of last year’s 17-year cicada emergence in smaller...

Fallen leaves make fine mulch around perennials, shrubs and trees. Simply leave them where they fall or rake them where you want them. (Beth Botts /The Morton Arboretum)

Falling leaves are a free gift

By Beth Botts

October 5, 2025 at 10:44 a.m.

Keeping fallen leaves in your yard is more sustainable than packing them up to be...

Container-grown hydrangeas planted in full flower need more frequent watering to get them established. (RJ Carlson / Chicago Botanic Garden)

An automatic sprinkler system saves time, but check plants for dryness

By Tim Johnson

October 4, 2025 at 5:00 a.m.

A sprinkler system will make the job of watering easier and less time-consuming, but it...