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Help for the Home Gardener

 

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Visit the Center for Home Gardening

Stop by the Center for Home Gardening and get your gardening questions answered by our expert staff and Master Gardener volunteers at the Plant Doctor Desk, or check out our houseplant display and other home gardening resources! Be sure to also take a stroll through our 23 outdoor demonstration gardens, which include a vegetable and fruit garden, cut flower garden, an experimental garden, and a newly renovated native prairie garden.  

Plant Doctor Desk (Walk-In) 

  • Hours: Open 7 days a week, 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. (April-October)

Horticulture Answer Service (Phone & E-mail) 

April Gardening Tips

  • Broadleaf evergreens may be showing signs of winter injury at this point, prune off any dead and diseased wood.
  • Do not prune boxwoods before the last average frost date. 
  • Be sure to choose compact plants that have not begun to flower when purchasing bedding plants.
  • Transplant Virginia bluebells after they bloom but before the foliage disappears.
  • Start mowing cool-season grasses at recommended heights.
  • Hold off on planting some warm-season crops like tomatoes, okra, and peppers, until mid-May.
  • Thin out fruit of fruit trees like apples, pears, etc., as soon as fruits start forming. This will aid the branches from becoming too heavy later in the year. 
  • Study your landscape for gaps that could be nicely filled with bulbs. Mark these spots carefully and make a note to order bulbs next fall. 
  • Be sure to keep on top of weeds as they show up. Manually remove or use an appropriate herbicide as needed.