Some new “Proven Winner” shrubs, trees, and grasses for the year 2023 include: Sunjoy Orange Pillar Barberry boost neon orange foliage growing to a maximum of 4 feet with a 3-foot spread. Like with other barberries they have a lot…
Many of us that plant shrubs and trees, anything that will take the heat of summers and the cold of winters. While that is the main consideration, there are others like leaf color, growth habit, fruit, and so on. A…
Landscaping with weeping trees and shrubs should always be considered. Since they will attract the attention of the viewer, they should be planted in the background with other plants around them. The picture of the full-grown weeping willow next to…
We now know how to care for evergreens in the winter to prevent needle kill. What about trees that lose their leaves? If there are winter thaws during January and February, this can cause frost cracks going down the trunk…
Trees and shrubs in South Dakota have been slow to leaf out due to the winter. A lot of woody plants are showing signs of die-back or total death. Most likely due to the winter going through warm and cold…
Creating a garden starts out as an innocent pursuit. You just want a pretty patch of flower or vegetables that flows and looks beautiful at least three seasons out of four. But there is that one plant that outshines the…
Everyone has their opinion of what makes something a joy to the eye. In winter everything is finely edited by our cold weather and killing frosts and further focused when snowfall covers the landscape, but that only means we have…
Today my quest is for a natural pest control method to deter deer from devouring my gardens, preferably without sophisticated fencing or expensive pest control services. Or by enrolling in a weaponry class. I jest. Sort of. The first time…
Hackberry psyllids are small aphid-like insects that cause hackberry galls commonly seen on the underside of hackberry tree leaves. An alternative name is hackberry “gall-maker.” They are most commonly noticed, however, as a household nuisance in late summer and fall.…
Trees signal their water deficit through several symptoms. The most common changes in appearance are lighter green to yellow-green foliage, leaf scorch around the margins, wilting leaves and dropping them prematurely. Conifers will often produce an abundance of cones the…
A few spruce trees and other evergreens are showing some browning needles. Needles behind the new growth and truck will shed, this is natural. With the unseasonable drought, heat, wet, and cold that we have experienced over the past several…
Properly placed trees can add value to your property. They can provide shade to keep cooling costs down in the summer and provide a windbreak to keep heating costs down in the winter. Trees can provide privacy and year-round interest…
In the case of tree leaves turning brown, curling up, and falling off, leaf scorch may be the likely culprit. The obvious signs of leaf scorch are yellow and brown-like color changes on the tips and ends of tree leaves.…
The emerald ash borer is a threat to all the ash trees in our state. None of our native ash have any resistance to this insect and once attacked, unless insecticides treatments are started within a year or two, the…
Planting a tree is a long-term investment. Besides adding beauty to your landscape, a tree helps the environment by taking up carbon dioxide, the greenhouse gas that is such a big driver in climate change. It can provide shade to…