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Green Thumb

Gardening has been a lifelong passion for Wende and she’d like to share her passion with her readers. Follow her as she writes about her gardening adventures, lists tasks to do depending on the season, and gives easy to understand gardening advice.

A Little Pruning Can Be Done Now

prune;, winter, bloom, tree, shrub, wisconsin

Now that February is coming to a close, some shrubs and trees can be pruned.  This is an especially good time to do this because the leaves are not in the way and you can see where branches are rubbing on each other and causing weak places where insects and other diseases can get in.  Here's information from the Steins Gardening Calendar:

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Fall Gardening Tasks

bulb, care, dry, Fall, fertilize, grass, lawn, outdoor, perennial, pine, plant, protect, rose, shrub, tree, water, winter, yard, fertilize

There's still time to plant fall bulbs - the ground doesn't really freeze until about Thanksgiving.  Water them well and mulch after planting for great results in the spring.

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What Can I Plant Under Pine Trees?

flower, garden, perennial, plant, plants, planting bed, tree, water, wisconsin, yard, dry, pine, acidic

I've been asked this several times and last week I responded off the top of my head azaleas, rhododendrons, hydrangeas, and some types of berries.  But then I got to thinking.... it would be nice to be able to plant a bigger variety of things under pines, since that understory of empty space seems like such a wasteland.  I did some online research and came up with many choices and some that I will definitely try! 

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Be Careful When Salting in the Winter – What it Does to Your Yard

garden, landscape, lawn, perennial, planning, prevention, protect, rose, tree, winter, yard, salt, grass

Winter in Wisconsin – of course we need to use salt to melt dangerous ice - but salting can be very damaging to many landscape plants and grasses, so please be careful with how much you salt your walks and driveways. Additionally, we can’t control how much salt is applied in the street that sprays up onto your yards. Here’s some good techniques (from the Steins Gardening Calendar) to help avoid plant damage: 

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Emerald Ash Borer Beetle (EAB) | Stop The Beetle

pest, tree, ash, wood, wisconsin

"America’s neighborhoods and forests are under attack. The Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) beetle has destroyed tens of millions of ash trees. It lives in firewood. Move firewood and you spread the destruction. Help us protect the trees — and stop the beetle. Promise you won’t move firewood."

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Rabbit Wars

bulb, garden, landscape, lawn, parks, perennial, plants, spring, yard, tree, rabbit, pest, winter

I look out my front window seething, watching well-fed bunnies happily hopping all around my yard. Don't let them fool you - even though they are fluffy and cute, they are pure evil under all that silky soft fur and innocent demeanor.  Just ask Elmer Fudd and his friends – who have hunted and tracked their silly prey for over 70 years.  Bugs Bunny is less interested in escape than in driving his pursuer insane and can be heard to say (with casual unconcern), “What’s Up, Doc?”.  Well, bunnies, I will hunt you down, trap you all, and get rid of you – for the next 70 years if I have to!  You have eaten your last tulip just as it opens up – sawing off the flower stem with a diagonal bite and leaving the flower petals to dry up on the lawn in the spring sun.  To use your own catchphrase, "Of course you realize this means war!" This is not fun and games.  You seriously have to go.

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Yard Problems To Look For

education, garden, home, landscape, yard, tree, water

There has been a few days in the last couple of weeks that were nice enough to get out into my yard.  I was itching to get out there!  I moved into my current home in late November, so I had no clue as to what types of perennials or bulbs or woody shrubs I had.  I'm anxious to assess the yard, see what is already there and determine what stays and what goes. There are a lot of things I want to change about it - and I was making mental notes as I did a thorough walk around.  There are many aesthetic things I want to change, but there are a few things that if not corrected quickly will result in bad things happening. Here's a few of the bad things I found:

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