Are you looking for an old Powers Plants video, but you can’t seem to find it? Simply use the search box below to type in a keyword for the video you are searching for. The table will then display any video with that keyword anywhere in the caption, title, or video subject. From there, you can watch the reel directly in this table or click on the video to open the reel in Instagram.
| Caption | Video Link | Date Published | Short Code |
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| If you’re growing an amaryllis bulbs indoors this winter it’s a good idea to cut the entire stock back when all of the blooms have faded on that stem. This keeps the plant from wasting energy on that stem now that it is complete. Make sure not to damage any other stocks where the flowers have not bloomed yet or any leaves. I think it’s a great idea for everyone to have a pair of garden snips or garden scissors around for making cuts like this where we don’t want to damage the other plant tissue. I use the brand Felco and my favorite snips in my Amazon shop are on sale today December 8 at 40% off. These make a great gift to yourself 😉 or to any of the gardeners in your life! I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live 30 miles from Arlington Heights, Illinois. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live close to me. I have helped gardeners all over the United States and Canada, with all experience levels, improve their knowledge and skills to achieve the garden of their dreams and do it with their own two hands. From designing your beds to plant selection and pruning, flowers to vegetables, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com. #Garden #Gardening #WinterGardening #GardenTools #GardeningLife #GardeningTips #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DDVD1xgPzcK/ | 12/08/2024 | DDVD1xgPzcK |
| Now is a great time to direct sow native seeds. We want to wait until temperatures are consistently cold to make sure that some seeds don’t germinate. If we had done these in October when it was still quite warm out, some seeds may have germinated and they would not have had enough time to hard enough before the winter cold. Make sure to check the germination code for your particular seeds because there are some very specific patterns that need to happen for these seeds before they will open. In this video I’m doing prairie smoke which takes 60 days of cold moist stratification period. That means the seed needs to be moist and very cold for 60 days before it will germinate in the spring. Also note on the package of prairie smoke that this particular seed does best when it’s direct sown in the ground. #Garden #Gardening #GardeningTips #GardeningLife #NativePlantsOfNorthAmerica #seedstarting #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DDXjia2v6pU/ | 12/09/2024 | DDXjia2v6pU |
| Here’s an idea for a holiday centerpiece using those beautiful amaryllis blooms. A wide bowl of any kind will do. Put in a few inches of room temperature water, snip those flowers off and lay the back of the flower on top of the water. You could also do this with some beautiful lilies, which are easy to find at most grocery stores or your local florist. #Garden #Gardening #DIY #Amaryllis #WinterGardening #IndoorGardening #ArlingtonHeights #GardeningLife | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DDaIscqP6Q-/ | 12/10/2024 | DDaIscqP6Q- |
| It’s pretty easy to bring your container grown perennials indoors as long as they are not a tropical plant. We can help them survive the winter in an unheated garage with just enough water to maintain moisture for the roots of the plant. About once a week, I put my hands in the soil and check the top inch and if there’s any moisture, I do not water. Once the top inch of soil has dried out I will apply a couple of cups of water per plant. Up here in Chicago in my garage I will apply 2 cups of water about every 3 to 4 weeks. if you’re trying to overwinter a tropical plant, you’re going to need to bring it indoors and get it enough sunlight and humidity to keep your specific type of plant alive. The only way to know what conditions those plants needs is to do a little research online. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live 30 miles from Arlington Heights, Illinois. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live close to me. I have helped gardeners all over the United States and Canada, with all experience levels, improve their knowledge and skills to achieve the garden of their dreams and do it with their own two hands. From designing your beds to plant selection and pruning, flowers to vegetables, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com. #Garden #Gardening #GardeningLife #GardeningTips #WinterGardening #zone6garden #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DDfUOOFvDOc/ | 12/12/2024 | DDfUOOFvDOc |
| Make sure to take your Christmas tree stand with you to the tree lot when you buy your Christmas tree. You need to make sure that the trunk is going to fit nice and easy into your stand. If you don’t do that in the trunk doesn’t fit you’re going to need to shave off the bark and right under the bark are the cells that uptake water and keep your tree fresh indoors. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live 30 miles from Arlington Heights, Illinois. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live close to me. I have helped gardeners all over the United States and Canada, with all experience levels, improve their knowledge and skills to achieve the garden of their dreams and do it with their own two hands. From designing your beds to plant selection and pruning, flowers to vegetables, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com. #Christmas #ChristmasTree #Garden #Gardening #GardeningTips #GardeningLife #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DDkxK05v-p3/ | 12/14/2024 | DDkxK05v-p3 |
| Use hot water is best for the tree to uptake water in your fresh Christmas tree. Research shows that plain water with no additives is all a tree needs. Keep the base covered in water: if the bottom dries out resin will form and block anymore water being taken up into the tree. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live 30 miles from Arlington Heights, Illinois. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live close to me. I have helped gardeners all over the United States and Canada, with all experience levels, improve their knowledge and skills to achieve the garden of their dreams and do it with their own two hands. From designing your beds to plant selection and pruning, flowers to vegetables, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com. #christmas #christmastree #garden #gardening #gardeningtips #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DDmp2A_u6H4/ | 12/15/2024 | DDmp2A_u6H4 |
| I’ve had many followers messaged me in recent weeks about how they always kill their poinsettias. Well, here are the things you need to know about this plant to keep yours, thriving through the holidays: – Poinsettias cannot handle temperatures below 50°F. You will see parts of the plant wilt and die off if they are exposed to temperatures below 50. Try to purchase your poinsettias on a day that’s warm. If it’s colder than 50° cover your poinsettias in a light sheet to keep the cold temperatures off your plant and get them in your car quickly. Keep them covered until you get them home. – Poinsettias want temperatures between 65 and 70° and they don’t want temperatures fluctuating throughout the day. So keep them away from heat sources or cold, drafting windows and doors. – Poinsettias need more moisture than most house plants. So we don’t wait for the full inch of soil to dry out before we water. We put our hand directly on the flat surface of the soil and if it feels dry, we water. – Be sure to take the plant out of the decorative foil before you water. Put the plant in the sink and thoroughly soak the roots. Wait about 10 minutes until all the excess water has drained out of the drainage holes before putting the plant back in the foil. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live 30 miles from Arlington Heights, Illinois. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live close to me. I have helped gardeners all over the United States and Canada, with all experience levels, improve their knowledge and skills to achieve the garden of their dreams and do it with their own two hands. From designing your beds to plant selection and pruning, flowers to vegetables, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com. | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DDpQOiOurLs/ | 12/16/2024 | DDpQOiOurLs |
| An easy way to get native plants in your garden is to winter so seeds in plastic containers like milk jugs. We use the milk jugs to create a mini greenhouse that we set outdoors so that native seeds can go through the cold stratification period many of them require before they will germinate in the spring. it doesn’t have to be a milk jug. It can be any plastic container that has drainage holes punched in the bottom, there needs to be a lid with holes, and you need to be able to open the container to check on your seedlings. The containers also must allow some light to get through. Be sure to check what type of germination code your specific seed requires so then you can time when to set your seeds outdoors for their winter stratification time. when it’s time to set your greenhouse outside, put it in a sunny location without a lot of wind and make sure there is nothing covering the container that could block rain and snow from getting in the holes in the top. We need moisture and airflow to come in through the top of the container to keep the soil moist all winter. Follow me in the spring and I’ll do a series of videos about how to manage your seeds until they are large enough to be planted out in the ground when the soil in the ground is warm enough for planting. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live 30 miles from Arlington Heights, Illinois. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live close to me. I have helped gardeners all over the United States and Canada, with all experience levels, improve their knowledge and skills to achieve the garden of their dreams and do it with their own two hands. From designing your beds to plant selection and pruning, flowers to vegetables, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com. #Garden #Gardening #NativePlantsOfNorthAmerica #WinterGardening #arlingtonheightsil #GardeningLife #GardeningTips | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DD-BJhXuwIV/ | 12/24/2024 | DD-BJhXuwIV |
| Make sure to pot up your amaryllis in soil immediately after the flowers fade. Apply round of indoor house plant fertilizer, put them in a sunny window and water when the top inch of soil dries out. By the middle of August, the bulb will have enough food stored to create a flower, but the plant will not bloom until it goes through a minimum 10 week dormant period. A dormant period means a cool dark location and stop watering. The leaves will die back. After 10 weeks you can bring the plant back out of dormancy and it will bloom in another 4 to 6 weeks. You can let the dormant period go longer than 10 weeks. I am a garden coach in the Chicagoland area. I do garden coaching sessions from March until October each year. I opened up my spring calendar for appointments in February at powersplants.com. If you go to that website, you can be put on my waiting list through the link at the top of the page. I email everyone on the waiting list as soon as my spring calendar becomes open for bookings. #Amaryllis #IndoorGardening #Garden #Gardening #GardeningLife #GardeningTips #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DE-0QslPaqX/ | 01/18/2025 | DE-0QslPaqX |
| Thanks to the followers out there who let me know that the Mosquito Bits product that I have in my garage also works on fungus gnats! Fungus gnats are those little tiny black flies that buzz around your house plants. They lay their eggs in moist soil and those eggs turn into larva. The larva eat the bacteria that gets released from the mosquito bits and they will die. You need to keep your mosquito bits topped up for three weeks. Water as usual when the top inch of soil dries out. I am a garden coach in the Chicagoland area and I have clients all over the country. I do garden coaching sessions virtually and in person. Check out my website at powersplants.com for details. I do garden coach coaching sessions from March through November. You can be added to the waiting list through the link at the top of my website. I email everyone on the waiting list as soon as my spring appointment calendar becomes open for booking. #gardening #garden #arlingtonheightsillinois #arlingtonheightsil #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #gardening101 | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DFA7-7_uaGc/ | 01/19/2025 | DFA7-7_uaGc |
| I don’t like to grow tulips outdoors because the squirrels dig them up and eat them. I buy my tulips in late fall and leave them in the garage. Tulips need 6 to 12 weeks of cold temperatures below 50°F before they will break dormancy and start growing. By mid February, I pot the bulbs in soil and water them. A few weeks after potting them up, you’ll start to see little green shoots growing through the soil surface. That’s when I bring the tulips indoors and put them in a sunny window. You will have blooms in 4 to 6 weeks. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live 20 miles from Arlington Heights, Illinois. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live close to me. I have helped gardeners all over the United States and Canada, with all experience levels, improve their knowledge and skills to achieve the garden of their dreams and do it with their own two hands. From designing your beds to plant selection and pruning, flowers to vegetables, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com. Spring sessions will start in March. #Tulips #Garden #Gardening #GardeningLife #GardeningTips #GardeningForBeginners #arlingtonheightsil #chicagogarden | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DF6QXfCup5a/ | 02/10/2025 | DF6QXfCup5a |
| You can use a product called mosquito bits to create a tea that you water your indoor house plants with. Mosquito bits contains a naturally occurring bacteria that is harvested from corn husks. It gets dried into the product and when we steep it in water for 30 minutes to an hour, the bacteria dissolves into the water. Then when we water, the bacteria gets into the soil and any hatched eggs in larva form, will eat the bacteria and die. You need to continue watering with the tea for at least four weeks to stay on top of the different life cycles that the eggs and larva are in in your soil. The recipe is 2 tablespoons of mosquito bits for every gallon of water. It is best to put the mosquito bits in some kind of porous bag like a mesh bag you may have laying around the house. I use cheese cloth with string. Let the mosquito bits sit in the water for 30 minutes to an hour and water weekly for at least four weeks . I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live 20 miles from Arlington Heights, Illinois. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live close to me. I have helped gardeners all over the United States and Canada, with all experience levels, improve their knowledge and skills to achieve the garden of their dreams and do it with their own two hands. From designing your beds to plant selection and pruning, flowers to vegetables, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com. Spring sessions will start in March. #Garden #Gardening #House #IndoorGardening #fungusgnats #Chicago #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DF7-qb3Ozxm/ | 02/11/2025 | DF7-qb3Ozxm |
| There is still time to winter sow native perennial seeds, or other non-native seeds, that require cold stratification. You just need to find seeds that have the germination code C 30. Those are seeds that only need 30 days of cold stratification. Here in Chicago we have at least 30 days of cold left to winter sow. If you’re interested in milk jug sowing, you can go back on my page and towards the top you’ll see a video about how to do it. There are also native seeds that are germination code A which means they do not need any cold moist stratification period. They can be germinated in warm conditions like inside your house in a container. If you get them started now, you could have them ready for spring planting. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live 20 miles from Arlington Heights, Illinois. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live close to me. I have helped gardeners all over the United States and Canada, with all experience levels, improve their knowledge and skills to achieve the garden of their dreams and do it with their own two hands. From designing your beds to plant selection and pruning, flowers to vegetables, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com. Spring sessions will start in March. #Garden #Gardening #NativePlantsOfNorthAmerica #GardeningTips #wintersowing #chicago #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DF_DlZSP2S-/ | 02/12/2025 | DF_DlZSP2S- |
| March is usually a good time to start some vegetable, herb or cut flower seeds for annuals. The biggest mistake I see with beginner gardeners is that they don’t know that different plants thrive in different growing temperatures. There are cool season plants that love early spring and fall temperatures and can handle frost. Those are plants like peas, kale, collard greens, broccoli, lettuce, arugula, spinach, and more. There are lots of plants that cannot tolerate cool temperatures and frost at all, and those are your warm season annuals that thrive in the heat of summer. Examples would be tomatoes, zucchini, peppers, basil, green beans, cucumbers, squash, watermelon, and more! So before you start any seeds or order any annuals make sure you know what time of year they want to grow. Follow me and over the next few weeks I’ll be giving you all of my seeds starting tips. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live 30 miles from Arlington Heights, Illinois. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live close to me. I have helped gardeners all over the United States and Canada, with all experience levels, improve their knowledge and skills to achieve the garden of their dreams and do it with their own two hands. From designing your beds to plant selection and pruning, flowers to vegetables, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com. April coaching sessions have not been posted yet, just March. If you want to know when my April calendar is available for booking go to powersplants.com and click the link at the top of the page to be added to the waiting list. I emailed everyone on the waiting list as soon as my April calendar is open. #Garden #Gardening #GardeningLife #gardeningtips #arlingtonheightsillinois #gardening101 | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DGzJFzBNc2B/ | 03/04/2025 | DGzJFzBNc2B |
| To take the guess work out of seed starting this year why don’t you use my favorite free online seed starting calculator? For at least 10 years I have been using the seeds starting calculator at Johnny’s Seeds (link also in my bio): https://www.johnnyseeds.com/growers-library/seed-planting-schedule-calculator.html This seed calculator is for common vegetables, herbs, and cut flowers. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live 30 miles from Arlington Heights, Illinois. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live close to me. I have helped gardeners all over the United States and Canada, with all experience levels, improve their knowledge and skills to achieve the garden of their dreams and do it with their own two hands. From designing your beds to plant selection and pruning, flowers to vegetables, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com. April coaching sessions have not been posted yet, just March. If you want to know when my April calendar is available for booking go to powersplants.com and click the link at the top of the page to be added to the waiting list. I emailed everyone on the waiting list as soon as my April calendar is open. #Garden #Gardening #GardeningTips #VegetableGardening #cutflowers #arlingtonheightsillinois | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DG1aMoguHbj/ | 03/05/2025 | DG1aMoguHbj |
| Before you buy a package of seeds, make sure you have read the entire instructions on the back. Or before you order them online, read the instructions on the website before buying. You need to know what the exact instructions are for getting that seed to germinate. Most seeds don’t need any pre-treatments. You just push them down into the seed starting mix, put them in some sunlight, keep them moist and your seed will germinate. But there are some seeds that have special conditions: some seeds need sunlight to germinate, so you cannot bury them underneath the soil when planting. Some seeds need to soak in water overnight to soften up the coating before they will germinate. Some seeds need to have a cold period before they will germinate. Make sure you know what the conditions are that your seeds need before you purchase them. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live 30 miles from Arlington Heights, Illinois. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live close to me. I have helped gardeners all over the United States and Canada, with all experience levels, improve their knowledge and skills to achieve the garden of their dreams and do it with their own two hands. From designing your beds to plant selection and pruning, flowers to vegetables, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com. April coaching sessions have not been posted yet, just March. If you want to know when my April calendar is available for booking go to powersplants.com and click the link at the top of the page to be added to the waiting list. I emailed everyone on the waiting list as soon as my April calendar is open. #Garden #Gardening #GardeningTips #FlowerGardening #CutFlowers #GardeningLife #arlingtonheightsillinois | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DG4IykbOpEV/ | 03/06/2025 | DG4IykbOpEV |
| Here are the supplies you need to start seeds: – clean and sterile small containers with drainage holes in the bottom – pre-moistened seed starting mix with minimal soil and no peat – seeds I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live 30 miles from Arlington Heights, Illinois. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live close to me. I have helped gardeners all over the United States and Canada, with all experience levels, improve their knowledge and skills to achieve the garden of their dreams and do it with their own two hands. From designing your beds to plant selection and pruning, flowers to vegetables, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com. April coaching sessions have not been posted yet, just March. If you want to know when my April calendar is available for booking go to powersplants.com and click the link at the top of the page to be added to the waiting list. I emailed everyone on the waiting list as soon as my April calendar is open. #gardening #garden #arlingtonheightsillinois #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #vegetablegarden #flowergarden | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DG6qSckuqZk/ | 03/07/2025 | DG6qSckuqZk |
| If you started your seeds in a mixture that does not have fertilizer, like I did with my seeds in Coco Coir, I need to start a low-dose organic fertilizer on my seedlings each week once the first set of true leaves emerge. The seed has enough food stored inside of it to last that leaf long enough to put out its first set of true leaves. If you started your seeds in a mixture that already had fertilizer in it, which is most seeds starting mixes, if the bag doesn’t say how long the fertilizer will last you can assume it’s four weeks. So you don’t have to start your weekly fertilizer until week five unless the package states otherwise. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live 30 miles from Arlington Heights, Illinois. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live close to me. I have helped gardeners all over the United States and Canada, with all experience levels, improve their knowledge and skills to achieve the garden of their dreams and do it with their own two hands. From designing your beds to plant selection and pruning, flowers to vegetables, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com. April coaching sessions have not been posted yet, just March. If you want to know when my April calendar is available for booking go to powersplants.com and click the link at the top of the page to be added to the waiting list. I emailed everyone on the waiting list as soon as my April calendar is open. #Garden #Gardening #VegetableGardening #FlowerGardenGardening #GardenLife #GardeningTips #arlingtonheightsillinois | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DG9OWfQOjL4/ | 03/08/2025 | DG9OWfQOjL4 |
| Panicle type hydrangeas are the ones that have the long cone shaped flowers. The most popular are lime, light, quick fire and strawberry vanilla, but there are others. They should be pruned in late winter early spring, and up here in Chicago they flower in July. When you get a warm day in March it’s a good time to start pruning these types of hydrangeas. We want to try to make our pruning cuts with sharp tools that have been disinfected, we want to make the cut on a slight angle so that the water will run off in the rain. And we want to make that cut a quarter of an inch above where we see those buds. Pruning a quarter of an inch above your buds applies to all trees and shrubs that you prune. follow me and tomorrow I will show you how to select an outward facing bud when possible so that will help prevent disease in your plant. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live 30 miles from Arlington Heights, Illinois. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live close to me. I have helped gardeners all over the United States and Canada, with all experience levels, improve their knowledge and skills to achieve the garden of their dreams and do it with their own two hands. From designing your beds to plant selection and pruning, flowers to vegetables, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com. April coaching sessions have not been posted yet, just March. If you want to know when my April calendar is available for booking go to powersplants.com and click the link at the top of the page to be added to the waiting list. I emailed everyone on the waiting list as soon as my April calendar is open. #hydrangea #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsillinois | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DHMD95_uu9-/ | 03/14/2025 | DHMD95_uu9- |
| We need to be aware of how to make the best pruning cuts for the long-term health of our plants! – Always make sharp, clean cuts with sharp, clean tools – cut about a quarter of an inch above a bud (a bud can be a another stem) – don’t cut so close to the bud that you damaged the bud, but don’t leave a stump either or as you could see in the hydrangea video the cut from last year just left an ugly 1 inch stump and you might get die back, which could cause some disease. – the plant will respond to being cut by pushing out a new stem at the bud directly underneath the cut. – try and make your cuts above an outward facing bud. That is a bud that is pointing away from the center of the plant. remember, plants that have crowded centers with a lot of leaves and stems do not dry out very fast after rain. Water spreads disease pathogens so we want our plants to have an open center so the sunlight and wind can dry the plant out immediately after it is wet. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live 30 miles from Arlington Heights, Illinois. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live close to me. I have helped gardeners all over the United States and Canada, with all experience levels, improve their knowledge and skills to achieve the garden of their dreams and do it with their own two hands. From designing your beds to plant selection and pruning, flowers to vegetables, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com. April coaching sessions have not been posted yet, just March. If you want to know when my April calendar is available for booking go to powersplants.com and click the link at the top of the page to be added to the waiting list. I emailed everyone on the waiting list as soon as my April calendar is open. #gardening #garden #arlingtonheightsillinois #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #pruning | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DHOK9HsOzdc/ | 03/15/2025 | DHOK9HsOzdc |
| Late winter early spring is when we do most of our pruning. But please know what plant you have before you start cutting. If you have a spring bloomer, you need to wait until the flowers open and die, then prune within 2 to 3 weeks. Here is a list of common spring bloomers: Forsythia magnolia Weigela Cherry trees and shrubs Vernal witch hazel Fothergilla Flowering quince Viburnum Cornelian and Cherry Flowering dogwood Lilac Redbud Azalea Rhododendron Ninebark I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live 30 miles from Arlington Heights, Illinois. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live close to me. I have helped gardeners all over the United States and Canada, with all experience levels, improve their knowledge and skills to achieve the garden of their dreams and do it with their own two hands. From designing your beds to plant selection and pruning, flowers to vegetables, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com. April coaching sessions have not been posted yet, just March. If you want to know when my April calendar is available for booking go to powersplants.com and click the link at the top of the page to be added to the waiting list. I emailed everyone on the waiting list as soon as my April calendar is open. #gardening #garden #arlingtonheightsillinois #pruning #lilac #gardeningtips #gardeninglife | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DHQ4F4-u7Mb/ | 03/16/2025 | DHQ4F4-u7Mb |
| Anyone else? #garden #gardening #chicago #chicagogram #march | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DHRov4TOM38/ | 03/16/2025 | DHRov4TOM38 |
| The bamboo stakes that are attached to many small trees and shrubs at the nursery, do not need to be left on the plant once you get it in the ground. First of all plants need to learn to put out roots and to be able to hold themselves up without a stake, and the bark will grow around the ties which can cause long-term damage to the tree. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area. Click the link in my bio to learn more about which suburbs I travel to. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live close to me. I have helped gardeners all over the United States and Canada, with all experience levels, improve their knowledge and skills to achieve the garden of their dreams and do it with their own two hands. From designing your beds to plant selection and pruning, flowers to vegetables, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com. My bookings open up four weeks in advance. Sessions for April have already been added. Check back every week. Click the link in my bio to learn more about booking a session with me. #gardening #garden #arlingtonheightsillinois #gardeningtips #gardeninglife | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DHTX1V7OgnL/ | 03/17/2025 | DHTX1V7OgnL |
| Oak leaf hydrangeas set their flower buds the summer before. So do not prune your Oakleaf hydrangeas in spring because you’re going cut this year‘s flower buds off. Ideally, you would never have to prune the shrub because you planted it in a location where it can grow to its full size. If you must prune do so when the flowers come out. Within a few weeks that plant is going to start forming the buds for next year‘s flowers. Native Range: USA: AL , DC , FL , GA , LA , MS , NC , SC , TN Native Distribution: FL Panhandle & GA to LA Native Habitat: Damp woods; river banks I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area. Click the link in my bio to learn more about which suburbs I travel to. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live close to me. I have helped gardeners all over the United States and Canada, with all experience levels, improve their knowledge and skills to achieve the garden of their dreams and do it with their own two hands. From designing your beds to plant selection and pruning, flowers to vegetables, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com. My bookings open up four weeks in advance. Sessions for April have already been added. Check back every week. Click the link in my bio to learn more about booking a session with me. #gardening #garden #arlingtonheightsillinois #hydrangea | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DHV9br0R3pw/ | 03/18/2025 | DHV9br0R3pw |
| Spring and fall can be a good time to core aerate your lawn. However, we need to be sure to do this when the lawn is actively growing. When you core aerate your lawn, you cut and damage the roots. We want the plant to be able to quickly repair itself and fill in the holes of our lawn. So please wait until your lawn is actively growing to core aerate. #lawn #garden #gardening #arlingtonheightsillinois #gardeningtips | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DHXGPvTOF11/ | 03/18/2025 | DHXGPvTOF11 |
| Annabelle hydrangeas are smooth leaf type hydrangeas. Let me show you how to prune them and this pruning method works for other smooth leaf hydrangeas, like Incrediball and Invincibelle. We prune this type of hydrangea in late winter through early spring. There is no risk to cutting off existing flower buds on this type of hydrangea. If your hydrangea has been in its location in the ground for less than four years, we do very minimal pruning, we just deadhead the spent flowers. Make your deadhead cuts above the leaf bud directly under the dead flower. For established Smoothleaf type hydrangeas, you have two different methods you can prune them. One: cut all the existing woody stems all the way down to the ground. This method means the roots will push out brand new stems from the ground, and those new stems will have flowers on the end. Because those stems are brand new, they are very pliable and they will flop a lot. If you want to reduce the amount of flopping, you get try option 2. Option two means you wait until the green leaves come out in the next month. Then you go in and prune any dead flowers off. Cut those stems back to the first green leafy node on the stem. Also cut back any stems that don’t have any green leaves on them all the way to the ground. Where you make your cut, the plant is going to send out brand new stems, and those new stems will have flowers. Those stems are attached to the older, thicker woody stem, which helps keep the flower from flopping to the ground. Both methods are perfectly acceptable. It’s just about preference and what kind of look you are going for. From year to year I change my mind and do different things each year. Have fun with it. Once a smooth leaf hydrangea is established. It’s a very difficult plant to kill so prune away, my friend! #hydrangea #hydrangeas #hydrangealove #hydrangeaseason #annabelle #gardening #garden | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DHYeVRqOz9x/ | 03/19/2025 | DHYeVRqOz9x |
| Late winter early spring is when we prune our panicle type hydrangeas: lime light, quick fire, strawberry vanilla are examples. These are the hydrangeas with the cone shaped flowers. – 1st remove all the thin unproductive stems. Anything thinner than your pinky finger. – while you were removing the thin stems look for any other stems that are wounded where the bark has rubbed off. That’s a potential for disease. – next look for any crossing branches that could cause a wound. Remove one of the two crossing branches. – then look down the center of the plant and make sure there are no branches crossing through the middle of the plant. We want an open center plant where nothing is crowded and crossing. – on the healthy remaining stems, we only take a third of the length off. If we cut too much length off the new stems that the plant puts out this year are gonna weigh that short stem down and cause flopping. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area. Click the link in my bio to learn more about which suburbs I travel to. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live close to me. I have helped gardeners all over the United States and Canada, with all experience levels, improve their knowledge and skills to achieve the garden of their dreams and do it with their own two hands. From designing your beds to plant selection and pruning, flowers to vegetables, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com. My bookings open up four weeks in advance. Sessions for April have already been added. Check back every week. Click the link in my bio to learn more about booking a session with me. #gardening #garden #hydrangea #gardeningtips #gardeninglife | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DHbJvr-uJEJ/ | 03/20/2025 | DHbJvr-uJEJ |
| One of my clients has a spectacular property in Glen Ellyn, Illinois. They graciously allowed me to film it before I left and sent me pictures of the side garden in bloom. They were tired of mowing so much grass that they had the entire side yard landscaped into a winding pathway through a mix of trees, shrubs, and perennials, many of which are native. They called me in to help them with some other areas that they’re redesigning that they want to go fully native with. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area. Click the link in my bio to learn more about which suburbs I travel to. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live close to me. I have helped gardeners all over the United States and Canada, with all experience levels, improve their knowledge and skills to achieve the garden of their dreams and do it with their own two hands. From designing your beds to plant selection and pruning, flowers to vegetables, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com. My bookings open up four weeks in advance. Sessions for April have already been added. Check back every week. Click the link in my bio to learn more about booking a session with me. #gardening #garden #arlingtonheightsil #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #landscapedesigner | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DHdkHnEOCiy/ | 03/21/2025 | DHdkHnEOCiy |
| Yews and boxwoods should be pruned in late winter / early spring, which is March. We want to get the pruning done before the plant starts to put out its new growth in spring. Both yews and boxwoods have latent buds under the bark. So you can cut these types of shrubs back into the area in the center where there are no green needles, and the plant will grow new green needles from those stems as soon as the sun hits the bark. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area. Click the link in my bio to learn more about which suburbs I travel to. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live close to me. I have helped gardeners all over the United States and Canada, with all experience levels, improve their knowledge and skills to achieve the garden of their dreams and do it with their own two hands. From designing your beds to plant selection and pruning, flowers to vegetables, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com. My bookings open up four weeks in advance. Sessions for April have already been added. Check back every week. Click the link in my bio to learn more about booking a session with me. #gardening #garden #arlingtonheightsil #gardeningtips #gardeninglife | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DHgKfl_OPSK/ | 03/22/2025 | DHgKfl_OPSK |
| Late winter early spring is the best time to prune boxwoods. And yes, you can rejuvenate a boxwood shrub by cutting down into the dead zone. As long as there’s lots of sun in that area within about a year that shrub will have lots of new growth on the inside. if your boxwoods are not looking healthy, you need to call an arborist to come evaluate them for a disease. There are treatments for plenty of boxwood diseases and I’ve seen many clients have their boxwoods bounced back beautifully. However, there is a boxwood disease called boxwood blight that is terminal and will kill your plant and there is no cure for it. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area. Click the link in my bio to learn more about which suburbs I travel to. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live close to me. I have helped gardeners all over the United States and Canada, with all experience levels, improve their knowledge and skills to achieve the garden of their dreams and do it with their own two hands. From designing your beds to plant selection and pruning, flowers to vegetables, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com. There are lots of people trying to get appointments with me. My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays for new appointments. Click the link in my bio to learn more about booking a session with me. #gardening #garden #boxwood #arlingtonheightsil #gardeningtips #gardeninglife | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DHiw5AhuD3K/ | 03/23/2025 | DHiw5AhuD3K |
| Box Tree Moth is an invasive moth that lays eggs on exclusively boxwood plants. It is my understanding that this moth was introduced through the nursery trade into Canada and then it has spread from there parts of northern United States. it can kill your boxwood plants, and some people have lost entire hedges. Monitor your boxwood hedges for signs of an insect eating the leaves. If you find defoliation like this, start flipping the leaves over looking for the caterpillar. Then contact a certified arborist to help you identify and treat the pest. Also, if you live in the United States, google your local county extension office and report it to them so they can keep track and put in preventative measures to stop the spread. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area. Click the link in my bio to learn more about which suburbs I travel to. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live close to me. I have helped gardeners all over the United States and Canada, with all experience levels, improve their knowledge and skills to achieve the garden of their dreams and do it with their own two hands. From designing your beds to plant selection and pruning, flowers to vegetables, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com. There are lots of people trying to get appointments with me. My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays for new appointments. Click the link in my bio to learn more about booking a session with me. #gardening #garden #arlingtonheightsil #gardeningtips #gardeninglife | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DHlW3wjOIMf/ | 03/24/2025 | DHlW3wjOIMf |
| April 17?! More like May 17! #garden #gardening #tomato #chicagogarden #gardenlife #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DHmHJoxPfoT/ | 03/24/2025 | DHmHJoxPfoT |
| Take it from me, an older gardner, don’t start your warm season annual seeds too early! They will outgrow their container by the time the frost has passed, and you can put them outdoors. Go to the link in my bio and click on the Johnny’s Seeds seed starting Calculator. Enter the last frost near you and the calculator will spit out a list of common seeds and when they should be started indoors. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area. Click the link in my bio to learn more about which suburbs I travel to. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live close to me. I have helped gardeners all over the United States and Canada, with all experience levels, improve their knowledge and skills to achieve the garden of their dreams and do it with their own two hands. From designing your beds to plant selection and pruning, flowers to vegetables, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com. There are lots of people trying to get appointments with me. My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays for new appointments. Click the link in my bio to learn more about booking a session with me. #Tomato #tomatoes #garden #gardening #vegetable #vegetables #vegetablegarden #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DHoM50eOgXh/ | 03/25/2025 | DHoM50eOgXh |
| Roses love to be pruned. If you are growing shrub roses like knockout roses, carpet roses, or any other rose that is not a long, tall climber, late winter early spring is the best time to prune. We want to remove diseased, branches, dead branches, or anything that has been wounded. healthy rose canes are nice and green. Anything that doesn’t look nice and green, remove it and cut back into the green healthy tissue. we wanna disinfect our tools with isopropyl rubbing alcohol before we start pruning, and in between shrubs because we don’t want to spread any disease pathogens on our tools to different plants. if your rose is four years old or more cut all of your green healthy canes back to 12 to 18 inches tall. If your roses young younger than four years old, don’t cut it back so much because younger roses have not had their roots established yet and they need as many leaves as they can get. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area. Click the link in my bio to learn more about which suburbs I travel to. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live close to me. I have helped gardeners all over the United States and Canada, with all experience levels, improve their knowledge and skills to achieve the garden of their dreams and do it with their own two hands. From designing your beds to plant selection and pruning, flowers to vegetables, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com. There are lots of people trying to get appointments with me. My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays for new appointments. Click the link in my bio to learn more about booking a session with me. #roses #rose #rosebush #garden #gardening #gardentips #thehappygardeninglife | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DHquydOu0_d/ | 03/26/2025 | DHquydOu0_d |
| It is important for organic gardening to attract beneficial insects. Beneficial insects either eat or parasitize other pest insects. Insects have a way of keeping things in balance in your garden. One of the ways you can do that is by adding lots of different flowers of different size. I like the annual called Alyssum which has very small flowers on it. Every year you will see a little sweat bees in minute pirate bugs pollinating on these tiny little flowers. Those tiny little flowers help keep pests like aphids in check by eating or parasitizing them. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area. Click the link in my bio to learn more about which suburbs I travel to. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live close to me. I have helped gardeners all over the United States and Canada, with all experience levels, improve their knowledge and skills to achieve the garden of their dreams and do it with their own two hands. From designing your beds to plant selection and pruning, flowers to vegetables, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com. There are lots of people trying to get appointments with me. My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays for new appointments. Click the link in my bio to learn more about booking a session with me. #gardening #garden #arlingtonheightsil #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #tomato | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DHtKWMfuJG4/ | 03/27/2025 | DHtKWMfuJG4 |
| Big Leaf and Mountain hydrangeas, like Endless Summer, Let’s Dance, Cityline, Tuff Stuff and more. These hydrangeas have flower buds on the stems all winter and spring so don’t cut your stems back in your spring clean up or you are cutting your flower buds off. Most modern types in these categories also bloom on brand new stems that come up from the roots of the plant. Ideally you wound never prune these types. You can pull dead stems out after the plant leafs out. If you must prune do so after the flowers open. A note about growing these kinds: they don’t do particularly well in Midwest gardens due to the soil pH. You can try to add soil acidifier from the fertilizer section of your garden center but that can take years to adjust your pH to low enough for these plants to thrive. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area. Click the link in my bio to learn more about which suburbs I travel to. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live close to me. I have helped gardeners all over the United States and Canada, with all experience levels, improve their knowledge and skills to achieve the garden of their dreams and do it with their own two hands. From designing your beds to plant selection and pruning, flowers to vegetables, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com. There are lots of people trying to get appointments with me. My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays for new appointments. Click the link in my bio to learn more about booking a session with me. #gardening #garden #arlingtonheightsil #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #hydrangea | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DHvwzDOubi-/ | 03/28/2025 | DHvwzDOubi- |
| We want to wait until your spring blooming plants bloom before pruning them. The flower buds on spring bloomers are sitting on the stems all winter waiting for spring temperatures to open. If you need to prune away some stems that are damaged, dead or just plain in your way late winter / early spring is a good time to prune them. You won’t kill the plant or even damage it. You will just be cutting off any flower buds that are sitting on the stems you are cutting off. Spring Bloomers: Lilac Magnolia Forsythia Viburnum Dogwood Redbud Spring blooming and double blooming spirea Weigela Cherry Trees Vernal Witch Hazel Flowering Quince I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area. Click the link in my bio to learn more about which suburbs I travel to. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live close to me. I have helped gardeners all over the United States and Canada, with all experience levels, improve their knowledge and skills to achieve the garden of their dreams and do it with their own two hands. From designing your beds to plant selection and pruning, flowers to vegetables, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com. There are lots of people trying to get appointments with me. My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays for new appointments. Click the link in my bio to learn more about booking a session with me. #gardening #garden #arlingtonheightsil #gardeningtips #gardeninglife | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DHyR1gSuqCW/ | 03/29/2025 | DHyR1gSuqCW |
| Forsythia is one of the earliest spring bloomers. The flowers that come out in the spring were set on the stems last spring. So if anyone pruned your for Forsythia in fall or before it bloomed this winter/spring, you probably don’t have any flowers this year. You should prune your Forsythia within two weeks of the yellow flowers falling off in spring. Forsythia also blooms best on thin Young stems so it’s a good idea to rejuvenate your shrub by cutting out 30% of the thickest stems all the way down to the ground every year. this will allow sunlight and air flow through the middle of the plant which will prevent disease and it will make room for younger stems to grow and give you more flowers. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area. Click the link in my bio to learn more about which suburbs I travel to. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live close to me. I have helped gardeners all over the United States and Canada, with all experience levels, improve their knowledge and skills to achieve the garden of their dreams and do it with their own two hands. From designing your beds to plant selection and pruning, flowers to vegetables, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com. There are lots of people trying to get appointments with me. My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays for new appointments. Click the link in my bio to learn more about booking a session with me. #gardening #garden #forsythia #pruning #gardeningtips #gardeninglife | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DH0-FBJOFKg/ | 03/30/2025 | DH0-FBJOFKg |
| Walking around my neighborhood, I see a lot of boxwood shrubs that have yellowing unhealthy edges on them. They have looked like this for most of the winter, and this is caused by improper pruning. Ideally, we prune boxwoods at the end of the winter or beginning of spring before a brand new growth starts. These damaged boxwoods were pruned too late in the summer or even in the fall last year. After the plant gets cut, it immediately starts to put out new growth to repair the wound and that new growth does not have enough time to harden off to protect itself from winter temperatures. If you really must prune in the summer, don’t do so after July 15 in the Chicago area. It’s best to prune in late winter early spring and don’t touch them all summer. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area. Click the link in my bio to learn more about which suburbs I travel to. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live close to me. I have helped gardeners all over the United States and Canada, with all experience levels, improve their knowledge and skills to achieve the garden of their dreams and do it with their own two hands. From designing your beds to plant selection and pruning, flowers to vegetables, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com. There are lots of people trying to get appointments with me. My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays for new appointments. Click the link in my bio to learn more about booking a session with me. #gardening #garden #arlingtonheightsil #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #boxwood | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DH3On0VvH3A/ | 03/31/2025 | DH3On0VvH3A |
| Woody trees and shrubs take three years to become established. That means the plant can live in that location with a healthy enough root system to survive on its own without supplemental watering. in order for the plant to put out deep enough route systems to become established in three years, the plant needs every green leaf and needle it has to photosynthesize food. This food provides the energy to push out that healthy root system. When we prune, we are removing leaves and needles which the plant desperately needs to put out that root system. so if your plant is less than four years old, you can snip off the dead flowers, prune, dead, or disease, branches, but leave everything else. and remember that if your plant is less than four years old and you experience drought conditions in your area, you will need to provide supplemental watering. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area. Click the link in my bio to learn more about which suburbs I travel to. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live close to me. I have helped gardeners all over the United States and Canada, with all experience levels, improve their knowledge and skills to achieve the garden of their dreams and do it with their own two hands. From designing your beds to plant selection and pruning, flowers to vegetables, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com. There are lots of people trying to get appointments with me. My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays for new appointments. Click the link in my bio to learn more about booking a session with me. #gardening #garden #arlingtonheightsil #gardeningtips #gardeninglife | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DH5sjp7PWhB/ | 04/01/2025 | DH5sjp7PWhB |
| Once your clematis has been in the ground for three years, it is ready to be pruned. Clematis need a lot of airflow through the middle of the plant to prevent diseases. We want to prune out any dead or unhealthy, looking vines all the way down to the ground. When to prune a clematis depends on what type you have. There are three different types: spring bloomers, summer bloomers, and a hybrid that blooms in the spring and the summer. If you are unsure what type you have, don’t prune it at all and pay attention to when it blooms. Spring bloomers have their flower buds set already and they’ve been waiting all winter for the temperatures to warm up so they can open up and flower. We definitely do not want to prune a spring blooming clematis until the flowers have opened and died. You’ve got two weeks at that point to do any pruning. Summer bloomers should be pruned in late winter/early spring. In Chicago, we would prune in late March or early April. If your plant is a hybrid that blooms twice treat it like a spring bloomer: wait for the spring flowers to come out then do your pruning. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area. Click the link in my bio to learn more about which suburbs I travel to. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live close to me. I have helped gardeners all over the United States and Canada, with all experience levels, improve their knowledge and skills to achieve the garden of their dreams and do it with their own two hands. From designing your beds to plant selection and pruning, flowers to vegetables, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com. There are lots of people trying to get appointments with me. My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays for new appointments. Click the link in my bio to learn more about booking a session with me. #gardening #garden #arlingtonheightsil #clematis #gardeningtips | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DH8RS_ON88H/ | 04/02/2025 | DH8RS_ON88H |
| Weigela is a spring bloomer, so the flower buds for this year are already sitting on the stems. We do not want to cut this plant in the spring because we will cut all the flowers off! We should prune Weigela after the flowers have opened and then faded. You have a two week window at that point to do any pruning. Be sure to remove any dead or diseased branches, or any branches that are crossing and rubbing each other, creating a wound. Also remove stems that are growing back towards the center of the plant because they will crowd the middle which can bring disease. as with all shrubs, we don’t do any pruning until the plant has been in that location in the ground for three whole years. That’s how long it takes to create a healthy established root system. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area. Click the link in my bio to learn more about which suburbs I travel to. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live close to me. I have helped gardeners all over the United States and Canada, with all experience levels, improve their knowledge and skills to achieve the garden of their dreams and do it with their own two hands. From designing your beds to plant selection and pruning, flowers to vegetables, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com. There are lots of people trying to get appointments with me. My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays for new appointments. Click the link in my bio to learn more about booking a session with me. #gardening #garden #arlingtonheightsil #arlingtonheightsillinois #gardeningtips #gardeninglife | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DH-2L5DtUgJ/ | 04/03/2025 | DH-2L5DtUgJ |
| Sadly, there is a terminal disease going around North America called boxwood blight. In this video, I show what the dark brown round spots look like of this disease on your leaves. If you see any evidence of these dark spots on your leaves, Colin arbors for an evaluation. If you have any other discoloration or thinning of the needles off your stems: arborist. There is often treatments available for boxwood and arborist or licensed to evaluate, diagnose and treat boxwoods. Also, boxwoods are very susceptible to desiccation where the green needles just completely dry out. This is because of the wide thick leaf that boxwoods have: there is a lot of surface area for the leaf to lose of water from evaporation and completely dry out. So we need to protect our boxwoods from desiccation by not planting them in a windy location, making sure they have adequate water in the very late fall/early winter before the ground freezes and don’t plant them in an area that has very dry soil. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area. Click the link in my bio to learn more about which suburbs I travel to. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live close to me. I have helped gardeners all over the United States and Canada, with all experience levels, improve their knowledge and skills to achieve the garden of their dreams and do it with their own two hands. From designing your beds to plant selection and pruning, flowers to vegetables, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com. There are lots of people trying to get appointments with me. My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays for new appointments. Click the link in my bio to learn more about booking a session with me. #gardening #garden #arlingtonheightsillinois #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #boxwood | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DIBoGCTuLI7/ | 04/04/2025 | DIBoGCTuLI7 |
| Red Osier Dogwood, or Red Twig Dogwood, is a great shrub that is native throughout almost all of North America, except for the south east quadrant. We want to do rejuvenation pruning in late winter early spring before the leaves come out. We reduce back to the base, any older, thicker stem, or wounded or diseased stems at this time. We do not cut the younger thinner stems because flower buds were already set on them last year for the spring. Leave those alone until the flowers come out and if you need to cut them back at all, you can reduce the size after the flowers have finished. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area. Click the link in my bio to learn more about which suburbs I travel to. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live close to me. I have helped gardeners all over the United States and Canada, with all experience levels, improve their knowledge and skills to achieve the garden of their dreams and do it with their own two hands. From designing your beds to plant selection and pruning, flowers to vegetables, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com. There are lots of people trying to get appointments with me. My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays for new appointments. Click the link in my bio to learn more about booking a session with me. #gardening #garden #arlingtonheightsil #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #pruning | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DIEYhivOQ3k/ | 04/05/2025 | DIEYhivOQ3k |
| If you haven’t already, you should go back and check out the video. I posted last week called hydrangea pruning tips. I have pinned it to the top of my page. Those basic pruning principles apply to pruning a hydrangea tree as well however, you just don’t ever cut back into that single trunk. Remove thin, stems that are thinner than your pinky finger. If you see any crossing branches, damaged branches, or branches with a wound on them, remove those all the way back to where they originate. Then on the nice thick vertical stems that are left over, don’t take very much length off and make a sharp angled cut just above a bud. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area. Click the link in my bio to learn more about which suburbs I travel to. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live close to me. I have helped gardeners all over the United States and Canada, with all experience levels, improve their knowledge and skills to achieve the garden of their dreams and do it with their own two hands. From designing your beds to plant selection and pruning, flowers to vegetables, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com. There are lots of people trying to get appointments with me. My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays for new appointments. Click the link in my bio to learn more about booking a session with me. #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #pruning #hydrangea #arlingtonheightsil #arlingtonheightsillinois | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DIG1nJyuQR1/ | 04/06/2025 | DIG1nJyuQR1 |
| #gardening #garden #arlingtonheightsillinois #arlingtonheightsil #gardeningtips #gardeninglife | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DIHE8MWuDfs/ | 04/06/2025 | DIHE8MWuDfs |
| If you have a lot of vigorous vertical stems growing on your tree limbs or growing out from your roots, you need to cut them back as soon as possible. It’s best to cut them back as soon as you see them growing. They are a sign that your tree is under stress, and there is no way of stopping them from growing. late winter early spring is the best time to do this on your trees. Except for oak trees and birch trees we do not do at this time of year. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area. Click the link in my bio to learn more about which suburbs I travel to. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live close to me. I have helped gardeners all over the United States and Canada, with all experience levels, improve their knowledge and skills to achieve the garden of their dreams and do it with their own two hands. From designing your beds to plant selection and pruning, flowers to vegetables, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com. There are lots of people trying to get appointments with me. My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays for new appointments. Click the link in my bio to learn more about booking a session with me. #gardening #garden #arlingtonheightsillinois #arlingtonheightsil #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #pruning | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DIJJU_TN1gC/ | 04/07/2025 | DIJJU_TN1gC |
| When temperatures overnight in the spring are 28°F and lower that is considered a freeze. I will cover and deeply water, my cool season annuals like snapdragons, pansies and ranunculus. You can also cover your cool season vegetables if you want to. Definitely deeply water all of them. Use a very light material like a frost cloth or a bedsheet and secure it so the wind doesn’t blow it off overnight. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area. Click the link in my bio to learn more about which suburbs I travel to. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live close to me. I have helped gardeners all over the United States and Canada, with all experience levels, improve their knowledge and skills to achieve the garden of their dreams and do it with their own two hands. From designing your beds to plant selection and pruning, flowers to vegetables, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com. There are lots of people trying to get appointments with me. My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays for new appointments. Click the link in my bio to learn more about booking a session with me. #gardening #garden #arlingtonheightsil #arlingtonheightsil #chicago #gardeningtips #gardeninglife | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DIJtOEWu4Dp/ | 04/07/2025 | DIJtOEWu4Dp |
| Forsythia benefit from rejuvenation pruning. The younger thinner stems produce the most flowers and resist disease and pests, so cut the thickest oldest stems down to the base. If your shrub is overgrown, you can completely cut the entire plant down to the ground and the root system will regrow. It probably won’t bloom for several years, but it will be healthy and beautiful. Forsythia is not native to North America, so it would be even better if you replaced this plant with native vernal, witch hazel or even spice bush for that very early spring bloom. Check those plants out and see if they’re native near you! I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area. Click the link in my bio to learn more about which suburbs I travel to. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live close to me. I have helped gardeners all over the United States and Canada, with all experience levels, improve their knowledge and skills to achieve the garden of their dreams and do it with their own two hands. From designing your beds to plant selection and pruning, flowers to vegetables, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com. There are lots of people trying to get appointments with me. My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays for new appointments. Click the link in my bio to learn more about booking a session with me. #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DILuJohtAg_/ | 04/08/2025 | DILuJohtAg_ |
| Pruning Japanese maples should be done in late winter before the leaf buds start to open. You can also prune Japanese maples after the leaves have fully opened in late spring early summer. A big thank you to Joseph at Thomas and Son’s Tree Care in Portland, Oregon for marking up my pictures and educating me on how to prune my blood good Japanese maple. Make sure whenever you are pruning a Japanese maple, not to remove any more than 25 to 30% of the live wood of the tree per year. It is a good idea in the spring, before the leaves have opened, for you to have a look at the structure of your tree. Make decisions about which stems you want to cut, and use some string or yarn to make ties on the stems that you want to remove after the leaves have opened. Start by stepping back and having a look at the tree’s, natural structure, and decide which main lines you want to keep long-term. Then remove damaged, diseased, crossing or wounded stems. Remember when removing the dead stems that they don’t count towards your 25% calculation since that wood is not live. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area. Click the link in my bio to learn more about which suburbs I travel to. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live close to me. I have helped gardeners all over the United States and Canada, with all experience levels, improve their knowledge and skills to achieve the garden of their dreams and do it with their own two hands. From designing your beds to plant selection and pruning, flowers to vegetables, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com. There are lots of people trying to get appointments with me. My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays for new appointments. Click the link in my bio to learn more about booking a session with me. #japanesemaple #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #pruning #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DIOS7QpvfaP/ | 04/09/2025 | DIOS7QpvfaP |
| Late winter/early spring is when you want to prune your climbing roses. Climbing roses don’t actually climb. You have to tie them up to a structure like a trellis. We prune out anything that is dead disease or damaged. I like to prune away anything that’s growing away from the trellis on the bottom 4 feet of the plant. Remove any thin stems that will not produce a bloom and any cuts should be made above an outward facing bud. We want 4 to 6 main canes coming out of the base and we want to tie them on an angle away from each other so there’s good airflow through the middle. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area. Click the link in my bio to learn more about which suburbs I travel to. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live close to me. I have helped gardeners all over the United States and Canada, with all experience levels, improve their knowledge and skills to achieve the garden of their dreams and do it with their own two hands. From designing your beds to plant selection and pruning, flowers to vegetables, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com. There are lots of people trying to get appointments with me. My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays for new appointments. Click the link in my bio to learn more about booking a session with me. #roses #pruning #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DIRIV1gOlap/ | 04/10/2025 | DIRIV1gOlap |
| As long as your soil is workable, you can go ahead and plant in April. You can divide and transplant as well. I checked the soil temperature today and it was 41°F and that’s after three days of a freeze and lots of frosty nights. I just had a client last week who had an entire hedge of native shrubs installed in several trees. Hardy perennials can tolerate frost and overnight freezes. They can survive all winter so one night of cold is not going to bother them. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area. Click the link in my bio to learn more about which suburbs I travel to. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live close to me. I have helped gardeners all over the United States and Canada, with all experience levels, improve their knowledge and skills to achieve the garden of their dreams and do it with their own two hands. From designing your beds to plant selection and pruning, flowers to vegetables, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com. There are lots of people trying to get appointments with me. My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays for new appointments. Click the link in my bio to learn more about booking a session with me. #gardening #garden #spring #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DITjXxqtEd5/ | 04/11/2025 | DITjXxqtEd5 |
| Big leaf hydrangeas, like endless summer, and mountain hydrangeas, like Tuff Stuff, should not be pruned. There are flower buds on the woody stems that have to survive the winter. They often don’t in the Midwest. Plant these in a location where they can grow to their full size and not require pruning. When the flowers come out and the leaves come out, you can go in and take out any dead stems and remove them completely. there is very neutral or even basic pH soil here in the Midwest. These types of hydrangeas want more acidic soil. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area. Click the link in my bio to learn more about which suburbs I travel to. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live close to me. I have helped gardeners all over the United States and Canada, with all experience levels, improve their knowledge and skills to achieve the garden of their dreams and do it with their own two hands. From designing your beds to plant selection and pruning, flowers to vegetables, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com. There are lots of people trying to get appointments with me. My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays for new appointments. Click the link in my bio to learn more about booking a session with me. #hydrangea #hydrangeas #pruning #gardening #garden #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DIWINcku_p2/ | 04/12/2025 | DIWINcku_p2 |
| There are cool season annuals and there are warm season or tender annuals. Cool season annuals can tolerate frost. They need to be covered during a freeze. They thrive in temperatures around 50 and 60°. Warm season annuals love the heat around 80° and higher. They cannot tolerate a frost and if they’re outside during a freeze, the whole plant may even die, even if they are covered. At the garden center right now they have both plants available so be sure to read the tag or do a quick search and find out whether or not the plant you want to buy can handle April temperatures. There will be a frost still in Chicago anyway until the middle of May. The cool season annuals that I have in my container this year are pussy willow stems, snapdragons, ranunculus and pansies. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area. Click the link in my bio to learn more about which suburbs I travel to. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live close to me. I have helped gardeners all over the United States and Canada, with all experience levels, improve their knowledge and skills to achieve the garden of their dreams and do it with their own two hands. From designing your beds to plant selection and pruning, flowers to vegetables, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com. There are lots of people trying to get appointments with me. My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays for new appointments. Click the link in my bio to learn more about booking a session with me. #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DIWBSCCOO3y/ | 04/13/2025 | DIWBSCCOO3y |
| Climbing hydrangeas bloom on old wood, which means the flower buds get set in the summer the year before they bloom. Ideally, you’re going to give this plant a lot of space and not have to prune it if you must prune it do so as soon as the flowers open. These plants get 40 feet tall and wide and can be very heavy so make sure you give them enough space and a very sturdy structure for them to grow along. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area. Click the link in my bio to learn more about which suburbs I travel to. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live close to me. I have helped gardeners all over the United States and Canada, with all experience levels, improve their knowledge and skills to achieve the garden of their dreams and do it with their own two hands. From designing your beds to plant selection and pruning, flowers to vegetables, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com. There are lots of people trying to get appointments with me. My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays for new appointments. Click the link in my bio to learn more about booking a session with me. #Hydrangea #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DIbRvWePSII/ | 04/14/2025 | DIbRvWePSII |
| You need to know what type of hydrangea you have so that you know when to prune it! I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area. Click the link in my bio to learn more about which suburbs I travel to. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live close to me. I have helped gardeners all over the United States and Canada, with all experience levels, improve their knowledge and skills to achieve the garden of their dreams and do it with their own two hands. From designing your beds to plant selection and pruning, flowers to vegetables, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com. There are lots of people trying to get appointments with me. My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays for new appointments. Click the link in my bio to learn more about booking a session with me. #gardening #hydrangea #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DId2iyWvjbi/ | 04/15/2025 | DId2iyWvjbi |
| Rose of Sharon is an invasive shrub in several states in the United States. Please google whether or not this plant is native where you live and if you have one, please remove it. If it’s not invasive near you, and you need to prune it, you can prune it in late winter early spring (late March early April) and as long as it’s more than three years old in that location in the ground, cut as much off of it as you want. It blooms in the summer, so there are no flower buds sitting on the stems right now. The flower buds will not be formed until this year. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area. Click the link in my bio to learn more about which suburbs I travel to. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live close to me. I have helped gardeners all over the United States and Canada, with all experience levels, improve their knowledge and skills to achieve the garden of their dreams and do it with their own two hands. From designing your beds to plant selection and pruning, flowers to vegetables, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com. There are lots of people trying to get appointments with me. My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays for new appointments. Click the link in my bio to learn more about booking a session with me. #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #pruning #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DIWIKYdtc1O/ | 04/16/2025 | DIWIKYdtc1O |
| Ninebark is a beautiful shrub native to much of central and eastern North America. It should be pruned after the flowers come out, but you can remove thick overgrown, stems in late March early April. Here in Chicago, the buds are starting to come out in mid April, so we wanna wait for the leaves to open in the flowers, then prune out your old wood stems. You also can completely rejuvenate every stem to the ground on a nine bark. It will take three years before it fully blooms again. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area. Click the link in my bio to learn more about which suburbs I travel to. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live close to me. I have helped gardeners all over the United States and Canada, with all experience levels, improve their knowledge and skills to achieve the garden of their dreams and do it with their own two hands. From designing your beds to plant selection and pruning, flowers to vegetables, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com. There are lots of people trying to get appointments with me. My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays for new appointments. Click the link in my bio to learn more about booking a session with me. #ninebark #nativeplants #gardening #garden #arlingtonheightsil #gardeningtips #gardeninglife | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DIjAH6EvGPw/ | 04/17/2025 | DIjAH6EvGPw |
| Be sure to check larger annual containers to see how many individual plants are growing. You can separate those individual plants in your garden so often times it is cheaper per plant to buy a larger container. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area. Click the link in my bio to learn more about which suburbs I travel to. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live close to me. I have helped gardeners all over the United States and Canada, with all experience levels, improve their knowledge and skills to achieve the garden of their dreams and do it with their own two hands. From designing your beds to plant selection and pruning, flowers to vegetables, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com. There are lots of people trying to get appointments with me. My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays for new appointments. Click the link in my bio to learn more about booking a session with me. #gardening #garden #containergardening #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DIoJtpROFjG/ | 04/19/2025 | DIoJtpROFjG |
| Hoping you all have a wonderful Easter weekend! 🌹🪻🌸🌷 #easter #flowers #garden #gardening #gardenlife #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DIomzzJO-hX/ | 04/19/2025 | DIomzzJO-hX |
| Not sure what to do with warm season annuals in April? These plants cannot tolerate a frost and they don’t like cool spring temperature so you can’t put them out before Mother’s Day. But what you can do is pot them up in potting mix, and put them in a sunny window, or under a grow light, and let them get their roots and stems started. That’s how you can give them a head start before your last frost date. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area. Click the link in my bio to learn more about which suburbs I travel to. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live close to me. I have helped gardeners all over the United States and Canada, with all experience levels, improve their knowledge and skills to achieve the garden of their dreams and do it with their own two hands. From designing your beds to plant selection and pruning, flowers to vegetables, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com. There are lots of people trying to get appointments with me. My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays for new appointments. Click the link in my bio to learn more about booking a session with me. #dahlias #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DIqukg2Nwy8/ | 04/20/2025 | DIqukg2Nwy8 |
| Planting onion sets in the spring is so easy! Onions love cool spring temperatures so you can plant them as soon as your soil is workable in early spring. We plant each set 4 inches apart and leave the pointy part showing above the soil. Once the green stems are 12 inches tall, you can start to selectively and harvest this scallions and use them in your cooking. If you want to grow a bulb large enough for cooking, you’ll need to wait until the greens start to wither at the neck where the onion meets the stem. Then leave the onion in the sun for a few days so the outer skin cures, which will help the bulb store longer. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area. Click the link in my bio to learn more about which suburbs I travel to. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live close to me. I have helped gardeners all over the United States and Canada, with all experience levels, improve their knowledge and skills to achieve the garden of their dreams and do it with their own two hands. From designing your beds to plant selection and pruning, flowers to vegetables, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com. There are lots of people trying to get appointments with me. My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays for new appointments. Click the link in my bio to learn more about booking a session with me. #onions #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DIlk80rO_OQ/ | 04/21/2025 | DIlk80rO_OQ |
| I think it’s important to make your life easier whenever possible so stop fighting with the areas of your lawn where the grass just doesn’t want to grow. Expand your beds or build some new beds around the area areas of your lawn that are not growing successfully. I always like to add beds, long driveways and sidewalks because the concrete and hard scape heat up the soil so much makes it very difficult to grow lawn. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area. Click the link in my bio to learn more about which suburbs I travel to. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live close to me. I have helped gardeners all over the United States and Canada, with all experience levels, improve their knowledge and skills to achieve the garden of their dreams and do it with their own two hands. From designing your beds to plant selection and pruning, flowers to vegetables, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com. There are lots of people trying to get appointments with me. My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays for new appointments. Click the link in my bio to learn more about booking a session with me. #Landscape #landscapedesign #garden #gardening #gardeningtips #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DIqnnB4tCIR/ | 04/22/2025 | DIqnnB4tCIR |
| Sugar Snap Peas, Snow Peas, Sweet Pea flowers and other garden peas love cool spring temperatures. They are frost tolerant. They prefer full sun and moist well drained soil. They can be sown as soon as your soil is workable in early spring. Many people say that when the Forsythia is in bloom, that is a good indication that it’s time to sow your peas. it’s a great idea to succession plant warm season annuals like tomatoes next to your peas once the threat of frost has passed. This is the stage when the tomatoes will get started, and the peas will start slowing down. By the time the peas start to brown in the heat of late May you will be able to use the same trellis to tie your tomatoes too. And don’t forget to sow your peas in that location again in late July, and by the time the tomatoes start to fade with the frost, the peas will be going! I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area. Click the link in my bio to learn more about which suburbs I travel to. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live close to me. I have helped gardeners all over the United States and Canada, with all experience levels, improve their knowledge and skills to achieve the garden of their dreams and do it with their own two hands. From designing your beds to plant selection and pruning, flowers to vegetables, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com. There are lots of people trying to get appointments with me. My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays for new appointments. Click the link in my bio to learn more about booking a session with me. #gardening #peas #sweetpeas #garden #arlingtonheightsil #gardeningtips #gardeninglife | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DIyc345uqm2/ | 04/23/2025 | DIyc345uqm2 |
| In Chicago, I live in a cool climate so I am sowing cool season lawn seed in April. Mr. Powers Plants raked up the dead patch of lawn and exposed to the soil beneath, I then loosened that soil with a rake, spread the seed according to package instructions, added starter fertilizer, raked it all together and added barely a quarter of an inch of topsoil. Pressed it all together to make sure to get good seed to soil contact and lightly watered. I will continue to keep the seed bed moist for the next three weeks. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area. Click the link in my bio to learn more about which suburbs I travel to. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live close to me. I have helped gardeners all over the United States and Canada, with all experience levels, improve their knowledge and skills to achieve the garden of their dreams and do it with their own two hands. From designing your beds to plant selection and pruning, flowers to vegetables, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com. There are lots of people trying to get appointments with me. My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays for new appointments. Click the link in my bio to learn more about booking a session with me. #Lawn #lawncare #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DI1BqlWtjmM/ | 04/24/2025 | DI1BqlWtjmM |
| Azalea’s and Rhododendron’s love acidic soil with lots of organic matter. You can add organic matter by mulching with compost 3 inches deep around the base of your plant. Water will drag the decomposing compost down into the root zone and cycle nutrients and organic matter into your soil. This will also lower the pH slowly over time, which will help your azaleas thrive. If you live in the Midwest and have very neutral or basic soil, you can also fertilize your azaleas and rhododendrons with food for acid loving plants that you can find in the fertilizer section of your garden center. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area. Click the link in my bio to learn more about which suburbs I travel to. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live close to me. I have helped gardeners all over the United States and Canada, with all experience levels, improve their knowledge and skills to achieve the garden of their dreams and do it with their own two hands. From designing your beds to plant selection and pruning, flowers to vegetables, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com. There are lots of people trying to get appointments with me. My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays for new appointments. Click the link in my bio to learn more about booking a session with me. #azaleas #pruning #garden #gardening #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DI3me8BNL6a/ | 04/25/2025 | DI3me8BNL6a |
| Ornamental Pear trees like Bradford pear, Cleveland, pear, Chanticleer Pear and others, are highly invasive in several states have banned the sale and production of this tree. This tree spreads very aggressively and chokes out other native plants that should be growing in naturalized wild areas. Native insects cannot live off this tree. And it is very difficult to get rid of this tree without an herbicide. The thorns on the side of the trunks make it difficult for equipment to try to drive over and eliminate the trees. When somebody finally gets around to removing these, it’s going to be very costly. Consider replacing these pear trees with a Redbud, Serviceberry, Flowering Dogwood or American Plum. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area. Click the link in my bio to learn more about which suburbs I travel to. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live close to me. I have helped gardeners all over the United States and Canada, with all experience levels, improve their knowledge and skills to achieve the garden of their dreams and do it with their own two hands. From designing your beds to plant selection and pruning, flowers to vegetables, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com. There are lots of people trying to get appointments with me. My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays for new appointments. Click the link in my bio to learn more about booking a session with me. #garden #gardening #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DI6LRvHtkFG/ | 04/26/2025 | DI6LRvHtkFG |
| Use your best judgment when pruning young trees that have cicada damage. Superficial wounds to the bark that look like they’ve closed over you should leave. Any major damage and wounds that have not healed over should be pruned away. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area. Click the link in my bio to learn more about which suburbs I travel to. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live close to me. I have helped gardeners all over the United States and Canada, with all experience levels, improve their knowledge and skills to achieve the garden of their dreams and do it with their own two hands. From designing your beds to plant selection and pruning, flowers to vegetables, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com. There are lots of people trying to get appointments with me. My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays for new appointments. Click the link in my bio to learn more about booking a session with me. #Cicadas #pruning #garden #gardening #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DI3miYINtBE/ | 04/27/2025 | DI3miYINtBE |
| Be like Kevin! #bradfordpear #gardening #garden #arlingtonheightsil #gardeningtips #gardeninglife | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DI8-QxXutNr/ | 04/27/2025 | DI8-QxXutNr |
| And a lot of perennial beds I see a 3 to 4 foot high row of Evergreen strips and then a lot of ground level perennials. A lot of these beds in front of houses are 20 or 30 feet wide and at least 6 feet deep. We need to add a low shrub layer with the exact same shrub in front of the evergreens to create another layer. Small native shrubs that I like are: – Sweetspire ‘Little Henry’ cultivar where only size was changed – Aronia ‘Lowscape Mound’ cultivar where only size was changed. Will sucker. – Shrubby St. John’s Wort. Bee Magnet and deer and rabbit resistant! Full and partial sun. Fantastic plant. – New Jersey Tea but the rabbits love this plant too I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area. Click the link in my bio to learn more about which suburbs I travel to. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live close to me. I have helped gardeners all over the United States and Canada, with all experience levels, improve their knowledge and skills to achieve the garden of their dreams and do it with their own two hands. From designing your beds to plant selection and pruning, flowers to vegetables, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com. There are lots of people trying to get appointments with me. My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays for new appointments. Click the link in my bio to learn more about booking a session with me. #gardening #garden #landscape #landscapedesign #nativeplants #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DIquiI9uk8n/ | 04/28/2025 | DIquiI9uk8n |
| There are now sterile varieties of rose of Sharon plants, which won’t spread seeds. Rose of Sharon is an aggressive spreader and in some states it is considered invasive. Please do some Google searching and see if it’s invasive in your area and remove it if it is. You can replace it with a sterile variety. If nothing else, when the seeds get created after blooming, cut all the stems back so those seeds don’t develop and drop to the ground and cause more spreading! I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area. Click the link in my bio to learn more about which suburbs I travel to. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live close to me. I have helped gardeners all over the United States and Canada, with all experience levels, improve their knowledge and skills to achieve the garden of their dreams and do it with their own two hands. From designing your beds to plant selection and pruning, flowers to vegetables, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com. There are lots of people trying to get appointments with me. My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays for new appointments. Click the link in my bio to learn more about booking a session with me. #roseofsharon #gardening #garden #arlingtonheightsil #gardeningtips #gardeninglife | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DIyc7WOu2HA/ | 04/28/2025 | DIyc7WOu2HA |
| Most perennial beds are missing, rounded or mounding shape plants. These plants give your bed structure throughout the season and then the flowering vertical plants like cone flowers, hyssop, black-eyed Susans, asters, flower for a few weeks and then die back. The easiest mounting shapes to add to your beds is a well behaved bunching grass like little blue stem or prairie, dropseed or side oats, grama. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area. Click the link in my bio to learn more about which suburbs I travel to. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live close to me. I have helped gardeners all over the United States and Canada, with all experience levels, improve their knowledge and skills to achieve the garden of their dreams and do it with their own two hands. From designing your beds to plant selection and pruning, flowers to vegetables, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com. There are lots of people trying to get appointments with me. My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays for new appointments. Click the link in my bio to learn more about booking a session with me. #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsil #nativeplants | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DIoC0rwOsK3/ | 04/29/2025 | DIoC0rwOsK3 |
| Overtime soil settles as plants pull nutrients out of the soil. Raised bed soil will settle even more because there is a lot of organic matter in that very light and fluffy soil. As the organic matter decomposes it settles. So every year in early spring, I removed my mulch layer and top up my beds with new raised bed soil. I don’t remove the soil that’s in there. I just keep topping up new soil every spring. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area. Click the link in my bio to learn more about which suburbs I travel to. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live close to me. I have helped gardeners all over the United States and Canada, with all experience levels, improve their knowledge and skills to achieve the garden of their dreams and do it with their own two hands. From designing your beds to plant selection and pruning, flowers to vegetables, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com. There are lots of people trying to get appointments with me. My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays for new appointments. Click the link in my bio to learn more about booking a session with me. #raisedbeds #raisedbedgarden #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DJEedQJu-H7/ | 04/30/2025 | DJEedQJu-H7 |
| Did you know that so many pests in the garden can be controlled by beneficial insects? Insects are often food for other insects. Aphids are the most common garden pest and they are eaten by green lace wings and ladybugs among others. Aphids are also parasites by some types of wasps. So we want to encourage habitat for beneficial insects so that they’ll live in our garden and help keep the pest in check so I don’t have to spray chemicals . I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area. Click the link in my bio to learn more about which suburbs I travel to. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live close to me. I have helped gardeners all over the United States and Canada, with all experience levels, improve their knowledge and skills to achieve the garden of their dreams and do it with their own two hands. From designing your beds to plant selection and pruning, flowers to vegetables, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com. There are lots of people trying to get appointments with me. My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays for new appointments. Click the link in my bio to learn more about booking a session with me. #gardening #garden #insects #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DJHDP1sOBEc/ | 05/01/2025 | DJHDP1sOBEc |
| Daffodils are beautiful spring ephemerals that are not native to North America. An Ephemeral is a plant that blooms in spring and then dies back completely underground by mid-summer. Virginia bluebells, Mertensia virginica, are a spring ephemeral that blooms at the same time and is native too much of central North America and all the way east to the coast. They prefer partial Sun and shady locations that are medium moisture. Native bees, butterflies and moths will visit this plant for nectar and pollen and in some regions, there are native caterpillars that will live off this plant. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area. Click the link in my bio to learn more about which suburbs I travel to. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live close to me. I have helped gardeners all over the United States and Canada, with all experience levels, improve their knowledge and skills to achieve the garden of their dreams and do it with their own two hands. From designing your beds to plant selection and pruning, flowers to vegetables, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com. There are lots of people trying to get appointments with me. My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays for new appointments. Click the link in my bio to learn more about booking a session with me. #gardening #garden #arlingtonheightsil #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #nativeplants | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DJJoFtqNluL/ | 05/02/2025 | DJJoFtqNluL |
| In order to achieve that nice layered landscape look we need the beds in front of your house to be a minimum of 6 feet and preferably 8 feet deep. This allows for layering of multiple shrubs and perennials. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area. Click the link in my bio to learn more about which suburbs I travel to. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live close to me. I have helped gardeners all over the United States and Canada, with all experience levels, improve their knowledge and skills to achieve the garden of their dreams and do it with their own two hands. From designing your beds to plant selection and pruning, flowers to vegetables, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com. There are lots of people trying to get appointments with me. My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays for new appointments. Click the link in my bio to learn more about booking a session with me. #gardening #garden #landscape #landscapedesign #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DJMF-bgtidT/ | 05/03/2025 | DJMF-bgtidT |
| Here is a beautiful client garden tour! I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area. Click the link in my bio to learn more about which suburbs I travel to. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live close to me. I have helped gardeners all over the United States and Canada, with all experience levels, improve their knowledge and skills to achieve the garden of their dreams and do it with their own two hands. From designing your beds to plant selection and pruning, flowers to vegetables, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com. There are lots of people trying to get appointments with me. My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays for new appointments. Click the link in my bio to learn more about booking a session with me. #gardening #garden #arlingtonheightsil #gardeningtips #gardeninglife | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DJOqxT1NWGS/ | 05/04/2025 | DJOqxT1NWGS |
| A great way to brighten a shady wooded area is to add native spring ephemerals. In areas with dense buckthorn, these spring plants often don’t get to grow because the shade of buckthorn is so thick. So please remove all the buckthorn you have on your property and you might be amazed to find some beautiful free plants coming up! I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area. Click the link in my bio to learn more about which suburbs I travel to. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live close to me. I have helped gardeners all over the United States and Canada, with all experience levels, improve their knowledge and skills to achieve the garden of their dreams and do it with their own two hands. From designing your beds to plant selection and pruning, flowers to vegetables, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com. There are lots of people trying to get appointments with me. My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays for new appointments. Click the link in my bio to learn more about booking a session with me. #Buckthorn #invasivespecies #nativeplants #nativeplantsofnorthamerica #garden #gardening #arlingtonheightsil #arlingtonheightsillinois | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DJRWZ6dNv86/ | 05/05/2025 | DJRWZ6dNv86 |
| We need to gradually acclimate our plants to outdoor sunlight and wind. We want to do that gradually over two weeks. And don’t put your plants in direct hot afternoon sun right away. Start by putting your plants in a shady or morning sun location for one hour per day, the next day 2 hours, then 3 hours until you can leave them out all day. Continue to check your forecast to make sure you’re not going to have any days below 50 if so, don’t put your plants outside that day. These are warm season annuals that don’t like cool temperatures. Also keep your plants in a sheltered location that is not very windy for the first few days. Make sure each day to check your plants and see that they are not drooping or wilting or looking unhappy by being in the sun. If your plants do look stressed out, dial back the exposure to direct sun and wind. Once your forecast looks like you are frost, free in the future and day time temperatures are consistently above 50, you can go ahead and put your plants in the ground / raised bed. #Dahlias #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DJRWZHbtbf4/ | 05/05/2025 | DJRWZHbtbf4 |
| Last year’s cicadas have led to an increase in the rabbit population. There are more rabbits than there are plants to eat, and the rabbits are chewing on anything they can possibly find. While the rabbit population will eventually come back to balance, for the rest of this year I will continue to keep my plants caged or fenced in. I am also trying Liquid Fence Rabbit and Deer repellent. Stay tuned for future videos where I will let you know if this product has been working for me. #gardening #garden #arlingtonheightsil #gardeningtips #gardeninglife | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DJT7Qk9tAl7/ | 05/06/2025 | DJT7Qk9tAl7 |
| Letting your lawn grow for the month of May is only helping insects if your lawn has plants in it that go to flower and those plants are not invasive. #nomowmay #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DJWgAqANd5z/ | 05/07/2025 | DJWgAqANd5z |
| Grass seed germination is determined by soil temperatures. Remember, we need that seed touching the soil before we germinate and we need that soil temperature to be above 50° for several weeks straight before the seed will open. I like to go to the website SoilTemperature.app to see what my soil temperatures are and what the average soil temperature has been over the last several weeks. Once things start warming up more consistently, we should see that grass seed starting to germinate. #lawn #lawncare #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DJT7NPqtkVs/ | 05/08/2025 | DJT7NPqtkVs |
| Organic mulches are great for suppressing weeds and helping retain soil, moisture and soil temperatures for your plants. Eventually, we want to put our plants in beds where they touch each other at full size so then we don’t have so much open space that requires mulch. In the meantime, I like shredded hardwood mulch. this organic material will break down and decompose and cycle nutrients back into your soil. Every few years you will need to top it up. You will need to figure out the square footage of your beds and you want your shredded hardwood mulch 3 inches deep. Go online and Google mulch calculator and figure out how many cubic yards of mulch you need. I order my mulch from a material and supply company. That’s where the landscapers go to yet large amounts of topsoil, compost mulch, etc. Stay tuned for tomorrow tomorrow’s video where we talk about dyed mulch and bagged mulch. #gardening #garden #mulch #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DJbplrguQ6-/ | 05/09/2025 | DJbplrguQ6- |
| Hardwood mulch that comes in bags has been dyed. University of Massachusetts says that these dies are not found to be toxic, but the quality of the wood in those bags could very well be. We don’t know the source of the wood and what contaminants may be in that wood. here is an article from the University of Massachusetts explaining: https://www.umass.edu/agriculture-food-environment/landscape/fact-sheets/colored-bark-mulch #Mulch #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DJeOazoON-e/ | 05/10/2025 | DJeOazoON-e |
| We need to learn our lessons from losing Elm trees and ash trees and now there are disease diseases and pest infecting boxwoods: we should not build landscapes that are heavily dependent on one plant. Diversify your plants! I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area. Click the link in my bio to learn more about which suburbs I travel to. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live close to me. I have helped gardeners all over the United States and Canada, with all experience levels, improve their knowledge and skills to achieve the garden of their dreams and do it with their own two hands. From designing your beds to plant selection and pruning, flowers to vegetables, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com. There are lots of people trying to get appointments with me. My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays for new appointments. Click the link in my bio to learn more about booking a session with me. #gardening #garden #arlingtonheightsillinois #arlingtonheightsil #gardeningtips #gardeninglife | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DJT7QbLtL33/ | 05/11/2025 | DJT7QbLtL33 |
| We want to do a hard pruning of shrub roses in late winter, which in Chicago is March. We prune roses back to 12 inches tall. However, if you missed that pruning window wait for your first round of flowers to come out and fade then put a round of fertilizer on the roses and cut the canes back. I wouldn’t cut them back to 12 inches this late in the season but I would take about a third or even half the length of each stem if you need to. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area. Click the link in my bio to learn more about which suburbs I travel to. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live close to me. I have helped gardeners all over the United States and Canada, with all experience levels, improve their knowledge and skills to achieve the garden of their dreams and do it with their own two hands. From designing your beds to plant selection and pruning, flowers to vegetables, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com. There are lots of people trying to get appointments with me. My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays for new appointments. Click the link in my bio to learn more about booking a session with me. #Roses #rosestagram #rosebush #garden #gardening #arlingtonheightsil #arlingtonheightsillinois | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DJZE0b5tMef/ | 05/12/2025 | DJZE0b5tMef |
| When you are gradually getting your indoor grown tender, annuals used to the outdoor sunlight, make sure to monitor your plants. I like to give them a healthy drink of water before I put them outside on day one. Then I inspect each day as I gradually increase the amount of time the plants are outside. I can see just after our three that the leaves are starting to curl and droop. This was really their first day of straight sunlight. So bring them inside for the rest of the day and tomorrow I will not increase the amount of time they are outside. #gardening #garden #dahlias #tomatoes #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DJl8zH1uZ_P/ | 05/13/2025 | DJl8zH1uZ_P |
| We want all the energy from each stem going into one flower bud. So we need to remove the side flower buds that are attached to the stem so that they don’t waste the stems energy. Then that one flower bud is going to get all the energy and grow bigger than it would if there were three. I like using garden scissors or snips for making small cuts like this. There is a link in my bio to my Amazon shop with all of my pruning tools. Or you can just get garden scissors from your local garden center or hardware store. #peonies #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DJohosSuSV5/ | 05/14/2025 | DJohosSuSV5 |
| If you are overwhelmed and not sure where to start your next gardening project, find the spot you look at the most and start there. Is it your kitchen window? Is it your kitchen table with a window out to the backyard or a patio door? Maybe you sit out on the front lawn with your kids and hang out in the front the most. Start wherever you live the most so you can enjoy the investment. If you have an area of your property that has standing water occasionally here is a list of shrubs that are native and much of the Midwest in northeast: – Red Osier Dogwood – Ninebark – Winterberry (you need to order at least one mail for up to 10 females in order for the females to have red berries in the winter) Fox Valley River Birch is a cultivar that has not had its flower or leaf size and color changed. It gets about 8 to 10 feet tall and wide. I love to prune the bottom branches off so that the peeling bark is exposed. #nativeplantsofnorthamerica #NativePlants #Gardening #GardenTips #LandscapeDesign #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DJrGabrNVVK/ | 05/15/2025 | DJrGabrNVVK |
| If you haven’t done so already pop the top off your greenhouse so that your seedlings can get some direct sunlight and be hardened off. Once your seedlings have true leaves, they’re ready to be planted out. I am choosing to pot mine up because I’ve had such a rabbit problem lately. So I will just keep these alive in containers in the sun, all summer and plant them out when they are larger in the fall. But you can plant yours directly in the ground at this point if you want to. #gardening #nativeplants #nativeplantsofnorthamerica #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DJohlIUOERz/ | 05/16/2025 | DJohlIUOERz |
| There are so many landscapes in front of homes that are missing a middle layer. There is usually huge trees more than 20 feet and then there are ground level shrubs and perennials. It helps transition the eye through the landscape to have a layer of a woody, small tree or large shrub in the 8 to 10 foot high range. I love both Vernal and Common witch hazel. Common gets a little bit bigger, but it has a very large native range from southern United States all the way to Canada. I also like Serviceberries and dwarf Chinkapin oak. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area. Click the link in my bio to learn more about which suburbs I travel to. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live close to me. I have helped gardeners all over the United States and Canada, with all experience levels, improve their knowledge and skills to achieve the garden of their dreams and do it with their own two hands. From designing your beds to plant selection and pruning, flowers to vegetables, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com. There are lots of people trying to get appointments with me. My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays for new appointments. Click the link in my bio to learn more about booking a session with me. #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DJWgCwftmXv/ | 05/17/2025 | DJWgCwftmXv |
| Lilacs need to be pruned within two weeks of the flowers fading. If you prune them in the summer or the fall or early spring, you are cutting the flower buds off for next year. You also want to continually rejuvenate your lilac by cutting the oldest thickest stems back to the ground. We don’t ever want to remove more than a third of the entire plants live wood or else the plant will not produce flowers for three more years. Many lilac shrubs have 30 or 40 stems, which is way too many. Each plant has a finite bank account of energy and when that energy is being divided up 30 or 40 times then each stem doesn’t get much energy and the flowers will be small. If you want bigger flowers, you should have less stems. I recommend removing a third of the stems on each plant. But please remember we do not prune shrubs that are young. We only prune once a plant has been in the ground for three whole seasons. Deadheading flowers is not considered pruning so you can deadhead the flowers on a young shrub. The other important reason that we want to remove the oldest thickest stems is because those stems are not disease resistant, and they are prone to insect infestation, which could kill your plant. #lilac #lilacs #gardening #garden #arlingtonheightsil #gardeningtips #gardeninglife | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DJy00g5OvSa/ | 05/18/2025 | DJy00g5OvSa |
| It’s like my birthday every day out here🤣 #gardening #menopause #perimenopause #garden #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DJ0DIgJNkHu/ | 05/18/2025 | DJ0DIgJNkHu |
| You need to make an intentional landing area, where you work around your hoses or other utilities. I like to pick up a couple steppingstones from the garden center and make a nice wide landing area for your hose reels, watering cans, etc. This keeps you from having plants grow into this area, including weeds. It also keeps you from turning and moving and dragging your hose around and damaging plants. #gardening #garden #arlingtonheightsil #gardeningtips #gardeninglife | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DJy0vs3t2ks/ | 05/19/2025 | DJy0vs3t2ks |
| There are lots of reasons why your lilac may not be blooming: -Not enough sunlight -Your plant is too young. Many don’t flower until year three or four. -Usual culprit: someone has been pruning at the wrong time and cutting the flower buds off. Only prune within two weeks of the flowers fading whether it’s a tree, a shrub or a Bloomerang. -You have a disease usually caused by excessive rain and water in the system in the spring. Made worse by cool weather. -The stress of the weather of 2024 may have caused your plants to go into survival mode and haven’t produced flowers. Spring of 2024 was very wet and there were lots of leaf diseases and then there was a drought at the end of the summer/early fall. proper rejuvenation pruning will help produce more flowers. Younger thinner, stems produce more flowers. Older thicker stems don’t flower as much and they don’t resist disease and pests as well either. #Lilac #lilacs #gardening #garden #arlingtonheightsil #gardeningtips #gardeninglife | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DJ3-amEOVgj/ | 05/20/2025 | DJ3-amEOVgj |
| Sawflies lay their eggs on the leaves of roses and when the eggs hatch the little green larva start eating the leaves. It’s a good idea to start inspecting once the leaves emerge for white window pane damage or holes in your leaves. Flip those leaves over and squish the larva to kill them. if you have a major problem that you haven’t been on top of this year, you have a few low toxic organic controls, you can spray on the underside of your roses weekly. PLEASE DO NOT USE SYSTEMIC INSECTICIDES. These kill bees! PLEASE DO NOT USE DUST PRODUCTS OR DIATOMACEOUS EARTH ON ANY BLOOMING PLANT. These fine particles get attached to pollinators and they bring them back to their nest and it kills them. Low toxic, organic controls: – Neem Oil – Pyrethrin Organic Sprays (Have to check the label) – Insecticidal Soap Low toxic doesn’t mean no toxic: spraying organic products like these on a bee or a butterfly will kill them too so only spray early in the morning or in the evening when the pollinators are not around. #Roses #rose #rosesofinstagram #garden #gardening #gardeninglife #gardeningtips #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DJ6jM10PDeK/ | 05/21/2025 | DJ6jM10PDeK |
| many native North American bee species are endangered and we need to help bring the population back by using our gardens as habitat. In late winter, cut the flowers off last year stems and expose the inner tissue of the stem for nesting bees. Leave that stem for two whole years before ever cutting it back because this year’s bees will lay their eggs in the stem for an entire year and those new baby bees will not emerge until the following spring. Below are options for plants that have the type of stems nesting bees like: Anise hyssop / Agastache foeniculum Bluestar / Amsonia spp. Tall anemone / Anemone virginiana Milkweed / Asclepias spp. Wild indigo / Baptisia Tall tickseed / Coreopsis tripteris rattlesnake master / Eryngium yuccifolium joe-pye weed / Eutrochium dubium Cardinal flower / Lobelia cardinalis Bee balm / Monarda fistulosa Pink muhly grass / Muhlenbergia capillaris Switchgrass / Panicum virgatum Black Eyes Susans / Rudbeckia Culver’s root / Veronicastrum virginicum Golden alexander / Zizia aurea Purple coneflower / Echinacea purpurea Blazing star / Liatris Obedient plant / Physostegia virginiana Mountain mint / Pycnanthemum spp. Staghorn sumac Rhus typhina Goldenrod / Solidago spp. Aster / Symphyotrichum Ironweed / Vernonia spp. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area. Click the link in my bio to learn more. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live near me. I have helped gardeners all over the United States and Canada, with all experience levels, improve their knowledge and skills to achieve the garden of their dreams. From plant selection and design, flowers to vegetables and of course, pruning, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com! My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays at 11:30am Central. #gardening #garden #nativeplants #nativeplantsofnorthamerica #gardeningtips | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DJ9H776uyAF/ | 05/22/2025 | DJ9H776uyAF |
| Here is an example of an old lilac tree that was rejuvenation pruned. They removed only about a third of the plants live wood/leafy canopy. you can take more than a third if you want to as long as your lilac is old and established, but if you take more than a third, you shock the plant so much that it doesn’t have enough energy to make flowers for next year. You could take the entire plant to the ground, every single stem and it will regrow, but won’t bloom for at least three years. #Lilac #gardening #garden #arlingtonheightsil #gardeningtips #gardeninglife | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DKCRiTQusyZ/ | 05/23/2025 | DKCRiTQusyZ |
| Please stop tilling your soil or turning it over and mixing amendments in. You are destroying the structure that was built into the soil by plants. If you live in new construction and you have compacted clay, you need plants and organic matter. The best way to feed your soil is with any kind of organic matter like compost wood mulch, pine straw leaves, etc. As those organic materials decompose, they get dragged into the soil by water and gravity through the channels that your plants have built. It’s always a good idea to get a soil test to verify how good your soil already is. #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DJy0wJ5OK9q/ | 05/24/2025 | DJy0wJ5OK9q |
| Be on the lookout for birds nests when you are pruning. You can be careful and prune around the nest, but please don’t disturb, especially while there are eggs or baby birds in the nest. If you can avoid pruning while the nest is active, please do so. It might mean you have to prune a little later and maybe cut off some flower buds for next year or just leave all the pruning until next year. #gardening #garden #bird #robin #birdsofinstagram #pruning #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DKCRjIMNbTW/ | 05/24/2025 | DKCRjIMNbTW |
| There is an entire category of trees and shrubs that are considered under story plants. That means that they evolve to grow underneath the canopy of large trees. They help give you a layered look if you have a yard with a lot of really tall trees. Some examples: – Serviceberry – Common and Vernal Witchhazel – Redbud – Musclewood – Oakleaf Hydrangea – Winterberry – Button Bush – Spicebush – Dogwood Trees #nativeplants #nativeplantsofnorthamerica #landscapedesign #gardening #garden #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DJ9H9VCNUPg/ | 05/25/2025 | DJ9H9VCNUPg |
| Some suggestions for native shrubs that can grow on a sunny slope: – Red Osier Dogwood / Red Twig Dogwood – Black Chokeberry – Nannyberry Viburnum – White Fir – Allegheny Serviceberry | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DJrGZTztyTI/ | 05/26/2025 | DJrGZTztyTI |
| The best hydrangeas for the Midwest climate and soil are as follows: -Oakleaf Hydrangeas – Smooth Leaf Hydrangeas (native Aborescens, Annabelle, Incrediball, etc) – Panicle Type Hydrangeas -Climbing Hydrangeas can be temperamental and they want to be 40’ tall and wide and get quite heavy. I don’t recommend big leaf or mountain hydrangeas in the Midwest as they bloom on old wood and the buds don’t survive the winters and our soil is not acidic enough to give us the beautiful blue colors. #hydrangea #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DKJ_8G-tqNZ/ | 05/27/2025 | DKJ_8G-tqNZ |
| Most weeds are annuals, which means they only live for one season. So you really don’t want to let your weeds go to flower, get pollinated and drop seeds. Those seeds are what’s going to germinate next year. So no matter what don’t let your weeds go to flower! If you don’t have time to pull all your weeds, at least snip the flowers off. #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DKMkx24NE1c/ | 05/28/2025 | DKMkx24NE1c |
| Lilacs should be pruned within 2 weeks of the flowers dying. You can prune beforehand if you need to. Lilac’s benefit from rejuvenation pruning, which means removing the oldest thickest stems to the ground. The old stems are not diseased resistant and are more susceptible to pest infestation. They also do not produce as many flowers. Choose the most wounded stems and cut them down to the base and also remove any length off the stems as needed. Keep one pile of all of the cut stems you have made, and make sure that the total you removed is not more than 1/3 of the entire shrub. If you take more than a third of the entire shrub away at any given year, you stress the plant out so much that it often does not bloom again for several years. #lilac #lilacs #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DKPJlAltkgD/ | 05/29/2025 | DKPJlAltkgD |
| Yews and boxwoods are best pruned in March in Chicago or late winter before the new buds start to open. Once the buds starts to open, no pruning should be done. After the new growth has fully opened you can prune however heavy pruning should be avoided. Heavy pruning should be done reserved for late winter. #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DKPJhoxN_iO/ | 05/30/2025 | DKPJhoxN_iO |
| Magnolia is blooming Spring which means they set their flower buds in late spring and summer for next year. This is referred to us blooming on old Wood. So we only want to prune our magnolias within two weeks of the flowers dying. That way we do any cutting required before the plant start setting its flower buds for next year. Start by removing dead, diseased or damaged branches. Then I like to remove any stems or limbs that are not aesthetically where I want them. In this video, I removed a horizontal branch that was not matching the beautiful vertical stems. Then I use my hand pruner to remove any small stems that are growing back towards the middle. Those small stems will become big stems and cross and crowd in the center and cause long-term disease issues. always remember to use restraint and not to remove more than 30% of the trees live Wood each year. Removing more than that takes away so much of the leafy canopy that the plant gets stressed out. That leafy canopy is how the tree photosynthesizes sunlight into food for winter survival and blooms! If you prune too much away in any given year, it might not bloom the following year due to stress. #magnolia #gardening #garden #arlingtonheightsil #gardeningtips #gardeninglife | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DKUTJTZtO7t/ | 05/31/2025 | DKUTJTZtO7t |
| You can divide perennials that don’t have a woody stem. Hostas are a great way to start! Dig the soil in around the edges of the plant to loosen the roots from the soil, then you can use your hands often on a hosta to grab a 4 to 6 inch chunk of the roots. Now you have a free plant! You can, of course take larger chunks if you want to, and you can also take a shovel and drive it down a section of the plant to divide the roots from the edge. #Garden #gardening #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DKW350aNrNw/ | 06/01/2025 | DKW350aNrNw |
| Here is your approach for dealing with beds that have a lot of weeds: 1. You have to do the work to remove the existing vegetation. 2. Then after all that hard work, you need to immediately mulch with 3 inches deep of shredded hardwood. 3. Then you want to plant immediately afterwards in this bed. Those plants are going to start taking up the resources in the space where these weeds are growing. Native plants are best especially drought tolerant ones because they have such a good healthy root system that it’s very difficult for other aggressive plants to choke them out. The most well-behaved native grasses that are easy to put in place and have a native range through much of central and eastern North America are Little Bluestem Grass, Prairie Dropseed Grass and Side Oats Grama Grass. #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #landscapedesign #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DKW385ztLP_/ | 06/02/2025 | DKW385ztLP_ |
| Remember: we don’t prune shrubs or trees until they have been in the ground for three whole years. You can deadhead the flowers (video showing how coming soon) but no pruning. It takes 3 years to put out an established root system and that takes energy. That energy is created by green leaves and needles so we don’t want to cut away any leafy parts until those roots are established. Once year four arrives you can prune. Lilacs and other spring bloomers get pruned within 2 weeks of their flowers fading. We prune away dead, diseased or wounded branches. Then anything crossing and anything growing back towards the center. All the while watching how much live wood we are cutting off: in total don’t remove more than 30% of the plant’s live wood away or you shock the plant and it won’t flower next year. #gardening #lilac #pruning #garden #arlingtonheightsil #gardeningtips | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DKbReD0x3NO/ | 06/03/2025 | DKbReD0x3NO |
| Deadheading spent flowers means you cut off the flower just above a healthy bud or stem and make the cut on an angle. That angled cut makes it possible for water to run off so water doesn’t sit on a flat surface and rot. Deadheading flowers encourages the plant to stop spending energy creating seeds. We want the plants energy going into next year‘s growth. You also can remove dead, diseased or damage stems from your shrubs at any time. Remember, we don’t prune shrubs and trees until they have been in their location in the ground for three whole years. Deadheading does not count as pruning. #Lilac #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DKd2PEnvjqJ/ | 06/04/2025 | DKd2PEnvjqJ |
| Any of your annuals should have their lower leaves cut off so they are not touching the soil. Soil pathogens belong in the soil, not on your plants. When they splash up onto your leaves, they will cause disease. With your dahlias in order to encourage more flowers, you want to pinch the terminal bud once you have four sets of true leaves. #dahlia #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #cutflowers #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DKga-5aPc39/ | 06/05/2025 | DKga-5aPc39 |
| Liquid Fence is a product you can find at most garden centers. They have a ready to use spray and they have granules which I am using in this video. The granules last 2 to 3 weeks and you must apply after it rains. Be sure to follow package instructions. For the first few weeks, I use the ready to use spray and product, and I sprayed it twice a week and it worked great! Two weeks ago I applied the granules and they are working well too. The rabbits haven’t touched my asters or coneflowers! #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DKgbCHHK729/ | 06/06/2025 | DKgbCHHK729 |
| Peony trees have huge flowers on woody stems which don’t flop! They like morning sun and shade from afternoon sun. They don’t like dry soil or swampy wet soil. Hardy in zones 4 through 8. They require cold winters to set flowers. #peony #peonies #garden #gardening #gardeningtips #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DKRuYLbNnvx/ | 06/07/2025 | DKRuYLbNnvx |
| Roses bloom multiple times throughout the summer. In order to encourage more flowers we need to properly cut the first round of flowers off once they have died. When we cut back along the stem to an area that has at least a five leaflet, the new growth that comes out for the second round of flowers will support more flower buds! Deadhead properly will encourage more flowers later in the summer! #roses #rose #rosestagram #rosesofinstagram #garden #gardening #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DKlkp9CK94i/ | 06/08/2025 | DKlkp9CK94i |
| When deadheading your roses, be sure to cut back along the stem to a five leaflet or more, and cut just above an outward facing bud to avoid crowding the center of your plant. #Rose #roses #rosestagram #rosesofinstagram #garden #gardening #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DKoJb3JqwFu/ | 06/09/2025 | DKoJb3JqwFu |
| because roses are not native to North America and highly susceptible to disease I keep mine healthy with organic, granular, slow release fertilizer. I apply when I prune in March and again once when the first flush of flowers comes out. #Roses #gardening #garden #arlingtonheightsil #gardeningtips #gardeninglife | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DKsAnDrqzAf/ | 06/10/2025 | DKsAnDrqzAf |
| Baptisia is a wonderful native plant with a native range from central Canada, down through the central United States and all the way to the East Coast. There are multiple colors that are pure native species (indigo, yellow and cream). There are also some varieties that have been bred to be different colors. Remember that anytime a flower has been changed to have a different color, it is not as easily recognizable by native insect so please try and stick to the native colors as much as you can. #nativeplantsofnorthamerica #baptisia #gardening #garden #landscapedesign #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DKW38s8tIAH/ | 06/11/2025 | DKW38s8tIAH |
| It is crucial that we bring back insect habitat. The larval stage of lots of insects require them to eat part of the leaves of plants. Some holes in the leaves of your plant are a good thing, as long as they are just cosmetic and the leaves are not completely skeletonized. If you have a problem where the leaves are completely being shredded and no green is left, call an arborist. #insects #insectsofinstagram #gardening #garden #nativeplants #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DKycjdAKrm7/ | 06/12/2025 | DKycjdAKrm7 |
| Rose Rosette Disease is a terminal disease for roses. There is no cure for it once you have it and there is nothing you can do to treat your rose to prevent it from getting the disease. The disease spread spreads in the wind through a microscopic mite that transmit the disease to your plant. Keep an eye out for excessive thorns, and the witches broom growth. Eventually, your rose will stop producing healthy flowers and then die. The sooner you can remove infected plants from your garden the less the disease will spread. #gardening #garden #rose #roses #rosesofinstagram #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DK1BW0iqKPO/ | 06/13/2025 | DK1BW0iqKPO |
| Healthy soil has lots of microbial activity: bacteria, viruses, etc. those are great for healthy soil, but they’re not great for the leaves of our plants. When those microbes end up on the leaves of your plants, you can easily get a disease on your tomato. So when growing tomatoes and other annuals cut the lower leaves off so they’re not touching the soil. Also be careful when watering that you’re not splashing a lot of water up onto the leaves or you run the risk of transferring microbial activity onto the leaves. As long as there’s lots of healthy leaves on top of your tomatoes, you don’t need to worry about cutting off some of the leaves on the bottom. And as the season goes on if any leaves grow long enough and low enough to touch the soil, remove them. #tomato #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DK4TWK1OYa0/ | 06/14/2025 | DK4TWK1OYa0 |
| Absolutely never use landscape fabric, especially wrapped around the root ball of a tree, and don’t allow any type of rope, including biodegradable rope to be left, tied around the trunk of the tree after planting. We also don’t want mulch touching the stems of our trees and shrubs because it traps moisture against the wood and brings disease. #tree #plantingtrees #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DK615BlOYjv/ | 06/15/2025 | DK615BlOYjv |
| Happy Father’s Day to the best: Mr Powers Plants, who just last year said “I actually think I really like gardening.” I am so lucky to have you❤️ | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DK64keVOsFE/ | 06/15/2025 | DK64keVOsFE |
| A great adaptable native shrub called Winterberry is native from central Canada all the way down to Texas and east to the Atlantic ocean. The straight native species can be 6 to 12 feet tall so I love the small cultivar Berry Poppins and Mr. Poppins. These cultivars get 3 to 4 feet tall and wide and are hardy from zones 3 to 9. They can tolerate occasional flooding and love to have a lot of moisture in the soil, and they can tolerate shade all the way to full sun. You will need some sun in order to get flowers and berries. You need one male plant for up to 10 female plants and the male plant must be within 50 feet of the male plant in order for berry production to happen on the females. #nativeplants #nativeplantsofnorthamerica #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DK9pVOjO6jC/ | 06/16/2025 | DK9pVOjO6jC |
| Make sure not to use any liquid deer and rabbit repellent sprays on plants when flowers are open. The sprays disrupt the pollinator’s ability to access nectar and pollen. If you are using granules, that product can be used on blooming plants, but only on the ground and never on the plant. As a precaution, I won’t use the granules when the plants are in bloom either. Always read the label on your specific product: the label is the law! #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DLAEqHUtjPq/ | 06/17/2025 | DLAEqHUtjPq |
| After your peony blooms have faded the plant starts creating seeds which takes a lot of energy. Rather than have the plant waste energy creating seeds, cut those dead flowers off. Now the plant is going to store all of its energy in the roots for flowers next year instead of using up that energy making seeds. #peony #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DLCpaost7SQ/ | 06/18/2025 | DLCpaost7SQ |
| Leaf diseases like powdery mildew, proliferate in warm, moist conditions. Peonies are very susceptible to powdery mildew and a way in which we can help reduce the disease is by pruning after the flowers are done to create airflow through the center of the plant. We try not to remove more than a third of the green leaves because we need enough for the rest of the summer to photosynthesize food for storage in the roots that create next year’s flowers. We only want to do this type of pruning on a peony that has been in the ground for three whole years. When a plant is younger than four years, it still needs to put out a route system so don’t take away any of its green leaves. #peony #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DLFONRFuBgh/ | 06/19/2025 | DLFONRFuBgh |
| In order to help bring back monarch butterflies we must bring back the plants that host their eggs and caterpillars. We need to plant milkweed plants because that is the only plant that monarch butterflies will lay their eggs on. There’s lots of varieties of milkweed my favorites are rose, milkweed, and butterfly weed. Both plants are hardy all the way down to zone three. #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #nativeplants #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DLHzAw_OUW1/ | 06/20/2025 | DLHzAw_OUW1 |
| When plants are under heat stress don’t fertilize, don’t prune and don’t overwater! #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DLKj70kO3hA/ | 06/21/2025 | DLKj70kO3hA |
| There are no hard and fast rules around when to water even in a heat wave. We always water when the top inch of soil dries out. Now during a heat wave, the top inch of soil may dry out faster, but regardless the only way to know if you need to water is to inspect the soil every morning. Push your finger into the soil and if it feels at all damp, you do not need to water. #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DLM8qJ_OmOG/ | 06/22/2025 | DLM8qJ_OmOG |
| #gardening #garden #arlingtonheightsillinois #arlingtonheightsil #gardeningtips #gardeninglife | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DLNsofROZBd/ | 06/22/2025 | DLNsofROZBd |
| Watering in the morning is best because if the plant gets wet, which is very likely, the sunlight will dry the plant off, which will help prevent diseases. If you must water in the evening, try to do so when there are several hours of sunlight left to dry the plant off. #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DLPhZeOOOGm/ | 06/23/2025 | DLPhZeOOOGm |
| Just because it’s hot doesn’t mean you have to water. Always check your soil daily during a heatwave and keep an eye on whether your plants are wilting and telling you they need a drink. #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsillinois #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DLQESDWOY_j/ | 06/23/2025 | DLQESDWOY_j |
| Prune your suckers off on indeterminate tomatoes. Don’t prune your suckers off your determinate tomatoes. Always keep the bottom 4” of the stem pruned back so no leaves or fruit touch the ground. #tomato #garden #gardening #gardeningtips #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DLM8moCuNxC/ | 06/24/2025 | DLM8moCuNxC |
| Transplanting and dividing in spring and fall is ideal because of the cooler temperatures. You can do these tasks in summer as well but will have to water more due to heat stress. Do not do these tasks during extreme heat. #Garden #gardening #gardeningtips #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DLPhc8aOPo5/ | 06/25/2025 | DLPhc8aOPo5 |
| Garden in the morning in the shade, which for me is on the west side of the house, and garden in the afternoon in the shade on the east side of the house. Any tasks that need to be done on the south side of the house should be done early in the morning. #Garden #gardening #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DLe-NsluQ-T/ | 06/26/2025 | DLe-NsluQ-T |
| Here’s a tour of one of my clients gardens that she has evolved and built on her own over 30 years! She never started out as a gardener, but her next-door neighbor was prolific in his garden and encouraged her and gave her lots of pieces of his plants and now she has evolved into quite the gardener! #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DLZ0nEquf6O/ | 06/27/2025 | DLZ0nEquf6O |
| Just checking in on this newly planted bed from last fall to see how things are doing here in June. #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #landscapedesign #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DLXPv1OuJUY/ | 06/28/2025 | DLXPv1OuJUY |
| Coneflowers are a plant that doesn’t live very long about five years in our gardens. Let your coneflowers freely self seed into your area where you want them to grow so that there’s always a fresh bunch of younger plants coming up to replace the older ones as they die. #gardening #garden #nativeplants #nativeplantsofnorthamerica #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DLfNsrou7Tq/ | 06/29/2025 | DLfNsrou7Tq |
| Once your trees and shrubs have fully opened their leaves and needles you can prune lightly. We do not prune after July 15 because the plant doesn’t have enough time to harden off the wounds and any new growth that happens afterwards before the frost in fall. #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #pruning #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DLhi_OdOu3s/ | 06/30/2025 | DLhi_OdOu3s |
| When your daffodil greens start turning yellow and flopping over you can cut them back to the ground. #daffodils #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DLmslRYPtz7/ | 07/01/2025 | DLmslRYPtz7 |
| Luxembourg Gardens, Paris France June 01, 2025 #paris #luxembourggardens #gardeninglife #landscapedesign #garden | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DLhi6grupev/ | 07/02/2025 | DLhi6grupev |
| Penstemon, also called Beard tongue, is a great mid spring to late spring bloomer in your garden. There are many varieties that are native to North America. It is best for pollinators to have either white flowers or some form of lavender color. this plant does drop seeds and spread so if you don’t want yours to spread, you should deadhead the flowers off before they turn into seeds. If you do want to spread leave the flowers on until the seed pods turn dry and fall to the ground on their own. You also could collect the seeds and spread them where you want them. #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DLpRVJSOzpr/ | 07/03/2025 | DLpRVJSOzpr |
| The Chelsea chop is a term that comes from England. There is a very large flower show that happens in England in May. That is when a lot of gardeners in that country do their cutting back of plants that get rather large to try to contain the shape and size. Here in Illinois my plants aren’t close to being tall enough to chop at that point so we do our Chelsea chopping the first week of July. #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DLr2Krfu6to/ | 07/04/2025 | DLr2Krfu6to |
| Golf courses need to add more native plants to the edges of their immense turf grass properties. These plants with their deep roots can help hold water during times of flood and they are also cheaper to maintain once establish: no fertilizer or irrigation needed! #gardening #garden #arlingtonheightsil #gardeningtips #gardeninglife | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DLcZWlPulUK/ | 07/04/2025 | DLcZWlPulUK |
| You don’t want to plant divide or transplant during a heat wave which really means temperatures are higher than normal for your area that time of year. Once the temperatures are back in the normal range for your area, you can go ahead and plant divide or transplant. Now, if you can wait, it is best to do these tasks in the spring in the fall when you don’t have to deal with any heat. Even normal heat for my area means the soil is going to dry out sooner than it would in the spring or the fall. so with these summer plantings, I’m going to need to do more monitoring because we generally have less rain this time of year and water when the top inch of soil is dry. #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DLua7rvPPck/ | 07/05/2025 | DLua7rvPPck |
| Once your trees have finished pushing out their new leaves and needles, you have a small window to prune before July 15. Don’t take more than a third of the plant’s entire canopy away. #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DLua4mJuAL6/ | 07/05/2025 | DLua4mJuAL6 |
| The only way to know if you need to water a brand newly planted plant, is by pulling back the mulch and inspecting the soil. If it feels cool, damp and still wet at all, you don’t need to water. Also check the plant itself and see if it looks droopy and unhealthy. If it does, then it needs a drink. Once the top inch of soil is fully dry then you need to water. #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DLzkktMNyXn/ | 07/06/2025 | DLzkktMNyXn |
| Boboli Gardens Florence, Italy June 3, 2025 #florenceitaly #landscapedesign #gardeninglife #gardening | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DLkHvjbutLN/ | 07/06/2025 | DLkHvjbutLN |
| Roses are susceptible to black spot disease. Try and plant disease resistant cultivars, plant them where they get full direct sun for at least six hours, plant then where they get morning sun, and prune for an open center. Once you have the disease prune off every piece of diseased tissue and dispose of it. Disinfect pruners with rubbing alcohol in between every cut. In fall when the leaves fall off, take up the leaves and dispose of them. The fungal spores will survive the winter. #rose #roses #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DLzkh1TOy7L/ | 07/07/2025 | DLzkh1TOy7L |
| Arborvitae’s do not have latent buds, which means if you cut deeply into the plant where there are no green needles when the sun hits those brown stems, they will not produce new green growth. And your plant will have brown exposed stems for the rest of its life. So when you are trimming arborvitae, stay within the green needled area. Yews and boxwoods will regrow from the inside because they do have latent buds that are living under the bark, and when the sun hits them, they will grow new green growth from the inside out. we prefer to do pruning on arborvitae in late winter/early spring before the new bud start to grow. You can also do light pruning on arborvitae in the summer after the new growth has finished. We do not prune after the middle of July or the plants don’t have enough time to harden off and repair the wounds before the frost comes in October. #gardening #garden #arlingtonheightsil #gardeningtips #gardeninglife | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DLzkf6fu152/ | 07/08/2025 | DLzkf6fu152 |
| Old Ninebark shrubs can benefit from full rejuvenation pruning, which means in March you can cut every stem down to the ground, and it will regrow new stems from the roots. We would not do this technique to a young nine bar shrub and we don’t do any pruning to shrubs until they’ve been in the ground for three years. #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DL4uKIHOeQp/ | 07/09/2025 | DL4uKIHOeQp |
| Cherry trees are spring bloomers so it’s best to prune within two weeks of the flowers fading. You can still prune in the summertime after that two week window, but you run the risk of cutting flower buds off for next year. You can still prune but keep in mind that you should leave a lot of stems completely untouched just in case there are buds on there for next year’s flowers. Weeping cherries can become very overgrown and touch the ground, and those stems can even form new roots and become a mess. To keep that nice natural shape we don’t want to prune every stem to the exact same length we like to use varying heights and bury your cuts under the leaves. #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DL2JSApODGf/ | 07/10/2025 | DL2JSApODGf |
| Fuligo septica is a naturally occurring mold that is naturally breaking down wood mulch, which is a good thing! It’s not harmful to pets. It’s not harmful to humans and it’s not harmful to your plants. You can just scoop it up and get rid of it or leave it alone. If you spray it with a hose, you will spread spores that will spread the mold so don’t water it. #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DLw_r1RsYgj/ | 07/11/2025 | DLw_r1RsYgj |
| I had to remove a lot of non-native plants that got a fungus last fall in this bed and so I’ve decided to add some new native plants. I want to make sure that my main site line is from my porch where I often sit outside and look across the bed. Here’s what I added: – Prairie smoke – Butterfly Weed – Red Bee Balm – Prairie Dropseed Grass I will be adding more in the next few weeks. Stay tuned! #gardening #garden #NativePlants #nativeplantsofnorthamerica #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #landscapedesign #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DL2JR6jujfO/ | 07/12/2025 | DL2JR6jujfO |
| When it comes to finding native plants, I want you to try to find a local native plant nursery near you. That will be the best option because those plants will be growing in the same conditions that you live in and they should be native plants that are for your specific area. Check and see if there is a wild ones chapter near you. This is a not-for-profit organization that has native plant sales twice a year and this is how I got into native plants because you buy perennials from them for about five dollars each so it’s a low cost way to get native plant specific to your area. for online ordering I like: – prairiemoon.com – prairienursery.com – IzelPlants.com – directnativeplants.com Please leave the name and location of any local native plant nurseries that you know of near you in the comments. | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DMAv32qO6OJ/ | 07/12/2025 | DMAv32qO6OJ |
| So many beautiful hostas in the shade along with Astilbe, Leopard Plant, Hellebores and Japanese Painted Ferns. This was at the Klehm Arboretum in Rockford, Illinois. #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DLw_s3-Oj2S/ | 07/12/2025 | DLw_s3-Oj2S |
| Small flowers require small insects to pollinate. Planting plants that have small flowers or letting your herbs go to flower, is a good way to attract small insects. Many small insects eat other pests like aphids. I like to let my cilantro and dill and basil go to seed very close to my roses since I often have aphids on my roses! I often use an annual flower called sweet alyssum for the same reason. #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DMDBWq_O6Ek/ | 07/13/2025 | DMDBWq_O6Ek |
| Don’t be shy about roughing up the roots of your plants before you put them in the ground. Make sure the height of the soil in the container of the new plant is the same height as the ground after you get it in the hole. Put the same soil back in the hole that came out without any amendments. Step on the soil to eliminate air pockets. Water the base of the plant in that soil you just added deeply. Then put the mulch back and don’t let the mulch touch the stems of your plants. Then step all around the area again to eliminate air pockets. #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DLzkkEpO8bM/ | 07/14/2025 | DLzkkEpO8bM |
| Blossom and rot can be caused by a couple of things: -cool soil temperatures while fruit is forming which inhibits the uptake of calcium from the soil -soil that was not consistently moist throughout formation of fruit, which also inhibits the uptake of calcium -If every single tomato on your plants has blossom and rot, then you probably have a calcium deficiency and you can look for soluble calcium to add to your soil in the garden center #tomato #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DMIK50xNZ2R/ | 07/15/2025 | DMIK50xNZ2R |
| We don’t want to prune our trees and shrubs in late summer because the plants are getting ready to survive the winter and they need every green leaf and needle they have to photosynthesize energy. But if you want to cut a few flowers off your hydrangea shrubs to bring in the house that is OK. Plants go dormant in the winter time, but there is a lot of work happening in the plants’ cells in order to keep it alive during the winter. And we don’t know what the winter weather is going to bring from year to year anymore so l let’s get our plants prepared for what weather may challenge them. #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DMKvrVYtvd4/ | 07/16/2025 | DMKvrVYtvd4 |
| Japanese Beetles are a nuisance! If your plant is healthy, the damage they do is just cosmetic. What you want to do is be diligent and make your inspections early in the season before the beetle show up. Then you can knock them off the plant when there’s just a few and also remove any chewed tissue. That damaged tissue in a chemical that attracts all the other beetles in the neighborhood to your plant! #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DMNUbsqN2zx/ | 07/17/2025 | DMNUbsqN2zx |
| Kalm’s St. John’s Wort 2-3’ tall and wide shrub native to the Great Lakes region. It blooms in July and August and is loaded with pollen for the bees. This is not Common St. John’s Wort that comes from overseas and is invasive in some areas of the United States. This plant requires full or partial sun and needs medium, moisture, or medium wet soil. It will not thrive in a very dry location. It is rabbit and deer resistant. #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DMNUdeIN-1v/ | 07/17/2025 | DMNUdeIN-1v |
| You need to have at least 12” between the edge of your full size shrub/tree and your house. #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #landscapedesign #norwoodpark | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DMP5QNFNpOa/ | 07/18/2025 | DMP5QNFNpOa |
| Do not pile soil or mulch up to the trunk of your trees. There should be a flaring out of the roots before the trunk meets the soil. If you have a multiple volcano, you need to pull it back and expose the root flare. I don’t want turf grass growing within 2 to 3 feet of the trunk because I don’t want lawnmowing equipment that close and damaging the roots of the tree which are very shallow. If you wanna put plants around the base of your tree, you can, but you need to plant it into the soil. That’s already in the ground no piling up of new soil in this root zone. #treestagram #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsil #gardening #garden #trees | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DMSe9JDuttF/ | 07/19/2025 | DMSe9JDuttF |
| I haven’t done an introduction video in a while, and I have gained a lot of followers since my introduction video a year ago. Welcome to the community and please join in the comments section and if you’ve been following me for a while, tell me what you’ve learned and for people that are new, what are you looking to learn? #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DMSeEcbuurv/ | 07/19/2025 | DMSeEcbuurv |
| Time to harvest your onions when the necks start falling over! Let them cure in a warm dry location for 2 to 4 weeks until the outer skins are completely dry and the neck is tight. This will help your onion store longer. #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsillinois #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DMVC1ukN85K/ | 07/20/2025 | DMVC1ukN85K |
| Japanese Barberry is an invasive shrub because when birds poop the seeds from the berries into wild unmanaged areas this plant grows in dense thicket and crowds out the native plants that should be in that wild area. For replacements, I like Aronia Lowscape Mound, Dwarf Fothergilla, Gro Low sumac and dwarf Bush honeysuckle. #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #landscapedesign #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DMXnpWttevm/ | 07/21/2025 | DMXnpWttevm |
| It is best to harvest your tomatoes before they are fully ripe so that you can ripen them indoors at room temperature before the squirrels or other animals eat them before they get a sunburn and before they split from excessive rain. Harvest at the breaker stage, which is when the bottom of the tomato starts to turn color. A lot of research has been done by many state universities showing that you can still get the same ripening and flavor development indoors at room temperature as you can on the vine. #tomato #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DMaMbl8OEwH/ | 07/22/2025 | DMaMbl8OEwH |
| It’s late July and it’s time to start planning for our fall garden! Cool season crops thrive in temperature is below 75 but their seeds love to germinate in this warm summer soil. I will be growing carrots, brussels sprouts, kale, collard greens, and sugar snap peas. You could also grow radishes and beets, and several other brassica family plants like cabbage and broccoli! #garden #gardening #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DMcxRuMuUL8/ | 07/23/2025 | DMcxRuMuUL8 |
| Grocery store tomatoes are very hybridized. These plants have been bred to produce high-yield disease resistant fruit that look great to a consumer. The hybridization process is not done to produce great flavor, the majority of the time. Not all hybrid tomatoes are bad tasting. They just don’t taste as good as the originals. #tomato #garden #gardening #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DMcxTWsOImc/ | 07/24/2025 | DMcxTWsOImc |
| We need to slow down water gushing over hard scape surfaces during storms. In order to help with flooding, we need to absorb more stormwater into our permeable surfaces like perennial beds. When we run stormwater through perennial beds, not only does it slow down the water and give it time to seep deeply into our soil to water, our trees and shrubs, it also filters particles out of the water. #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DLzkg2bthZn/ | 07/24/2025 | DLzkg2bthZn |
| When I started out with native plant seven years ago, all I was prioritizing was the sun requirements of a plant. I have learned how much it is also so important to know the soil moisture requirements for plants as well. #Nativeplants #nativeplantsofnorthamerica #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DMhtGWau0eO/ | 07/25/2025 | DMhtGWau0eO |
| I love how city properties have unique, small gardens where people have figured out had a best utilize their space. And I am a big fan of dark colored privacy fences so that the fence doesn’t become the focal point of the yard. #landscapedesign #landscape #gardeninglife #gardeningtips #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DMh6zZcuF0N/ | 07/25/2025 | DMh6zZcuF0N |
| Bottlebrush Buckeye is a 20’-40’ rounded tree. The flowers are 12” tall and hummingbirds and insects love to feed on its nectar. Its leaves and stems are host to several native caterpillars. Hardy from zones 4-8 and is native to the southeast quadrant of the US. Prefers full sun, partial sun and some shade (needs at least four hours). Prefers moist soil and is not drought tolerant. Produces a buckeye seed. #Garden #gardening #gardeninglife #gardendesign #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DMkfo8pugAS/ | 07/26/2025 | DMkfo8pugAS |
| Time to replace that climbing rose that takes so much time to manage and keep looking good. I have chosen a cultivar of Kentucky Wisteria, sometimes called American Wisteria. The name of the cultivar is blue moon. This is a true climbing vine. This variety will be 15 to 25 feet. The pure native species will be 40 feet. This plant prefers full sun for maximum blooms and well drained soil, and it can tolerate moist soil, but not swampy wet. This is not invasive Wisteria from Asia. This is North American native Wisteria. #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsil #nativeplants | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DMFmFoCu3K0/ | 07/27/2025 | DMFmFoCu3K0 |
| Don’t put your plants in the ground inside of a compostable container. We don’t want anything coming between the plant roots and the ground that it has to live in. #Garden #gardening #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DMpbca8t3mc/ | 07/28/2025 | DMpbca8t3mc |
| We’ve added lots of plants that are native to Nova Scotia into my mother’s shade garden. Eastern Red Columbine, Joe Pye Weed and turtle heads! A few non-natives were added to this bed to for some leafy contrast: light colored coral bells (native, but have had the leaf color changed so not be beneficial to insects) and Brunnera. #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #landscapedesign #novascotia #novascotialife | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DMs4fDCuf9m/ | 07/29/2025 | DMs4fDCuf9m |
| So many times, garden center sell perennials and large containers, and those perennials actually contain more than one plant or can be divided. In today’s example, by the time, I divide three plants from one queen of the prairie that takes the cost per plant to under six dollars! #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsil #novascotian | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DMuy25nunw0/ | 07/30/2025 | DMuy25nunw0 |
| Layering perennials helps our beds feel more balanced. My mother needed her tall grasses moved to the back of her bed, and the shorter plants moved to the front. We kept the same plants together in masses / drifts, so we get a lot of impact when in bloom. #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #landscapedesign #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DMxXns8Oggm/ | 07/31/2025 | DMxXns8Oggm |
| Cottage and chaos gardening are about tucking plants in around each other and seeing what combination works. Just try new plants in different locations and see what you like! #gardening #garden #landscapedesign #landscape #arlingtonheightsil #novascotia | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DMz8czfNIhq/ | 08/01/2025 | DMz8czfNIhq |
| When a plant wants to be 2 feet wide that means it will be in a circle that is 2 feet across. So from the center of the plant to the edge at full size will be 1 foot. So when planting along a walkway or up against a fence, you want to dig the hole 1 foot away when planting. When you want to put a second plant next to it that will also be 2 feet wide, the two holes for each plant should be 2 feet apart and both should be 1 foot away from the walking path. #landscapedesign #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DM2hQKlN7dQ/ | 08/02/2025 | DM2hQKlN7dQ |
| Plant roots need to be fully hydrated before you plant and often, watering from your hose in the container is not really soaking the roots all the way through. It’s better to dunk the container, underwater in a bucket and let the air bubbles come all the way out then you know the water has made it all the way through the container. #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DM5GCmjNKN6/ | 08/03/2025 | DM5GCmjNKN6 |
| Transplanting perennials is very easy to do. It’s best to transplant in spring and fall because it isn’t as hot outside and you won’t have to babysit the plant very much with water. You can however divide in the summer, you just might need to spend more time making sure the plant is watered appropriately. people asked me all the time. Where do you dig around the plant: about 3 to 4 inches away from where the stems come out of the ground is all you need to do for a perennial. Push the shovel in and pry up, then move the shovel around to a different location and do the same thing. After a few digs, you should be able to pull the perennial out of the ground. Now you can replant it, and if the plant has been in the ground for more than two years, you can divide it as well. #garden #gardening #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DM7qyVPtpOb/ | 08/04/2025 | DM7qyVPtpOb |
| Lurie Garden in Millenium Park, Chicago, IL This is a naturalistic garden designed by Piet Oudolf from the Netherlands. The garden is 2 1/2 acres and is built on top of the roof of a parking garage. It is behind a large evergreen hedge to be a secret garden meant to be a place for rest and renewal in the heart of a bustling city. The amount of native insects I saw on my short visit here in July was so inspiring: if we plant it, they will come! If a beautiful ecosystem like this one can be built in the heart of a city then we can build one in whatever size yard or balcony we have. #gardening #garden #landscapedesign #landscape #chicago #gardeninglife | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DM-PmshOx1A/ | 08/05/2025 | DM-PmshOx1A |
| Canada Thistle is an invasive weed in North America. It is not native to Canada or anywhere else in North America. It has a very deep root system and if you want to eliminate it without the use of herbicide simple remove the green leaves and stems that pop up as soon as you see them. This will block the plant from being able to produce any new food for the plant to survive. It will take several years to exhaust the roots of their existing food supply in the roots. #gardening #garden #invasiveplants #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DNA0aieOrp4/ | 08/06/2025 | DNA0aieOrp4 |
| #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DNNsVW7tq1e/ | 08/07/2025 | DNNsVW7tq1e |
| Be sure not to pile mulch of any kind over the crown of the plant or up against the stems. The crown is where the stems come out of the root system at the soil level. This will trap moisture against the plant stems and bring disease. This happens often when people pay a landscaper in the spring to spread their mulch before the plants have leafed out. So the landscaper just cover everything with three or 4 inches deep of mulch. Then I get called in during the summer because the plants aren’t coming back or they’ve got black spots on the stems and leaves from disease. I see this happen almost every single day. #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DNF9_8rvmD0/ | 08/08/2025 | DNF9_8rvmD0 |
| Whenever we plant we disrupt soil, and that creates more opportunities for weed seeds to grow. So expect that a newly planted area is going to have weeds immediately. And in order to try to mitigate this, put 3 inches of shredded hardwood mulch down as soon as you can after planting. #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DNF96k5Ok5b/ | 08/09/2025 | DNF96k5Ok5b |
| Plants take 3 years to put out a healthy root system. Until then check your plants during hot and dry periods for signs of water stress. You may need to supplemental water your young plants. #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeningtips #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DNLHhU2u8PN/ | 08/10/2025 | DNLHhU2u8PN |
| Hydrangeas are a medium moisture plant. They do not like dry soil. During hot dry periods, you need to check your medium moisture plants, and if they are showing signs of water stress, like drooping leaves, or burned up edges, you’ll need to give supplemental watering to these plants. Some other medium moisture plants are Ninebark, dogwood, serviceberry, viburnum and Winterberry. #hydrangea #hydrangeas #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DNNsTMYO0Zl/ | 08/11/2025 | DNNsTMYO0Zl |
| You may not need mulch every year if the mulch you put down previously is still there. If there’s no weeds coming up, then you don’t need to worry about putting down more mulch. Sometimes I like to in front of the house just to keep things looking neat, but take into account how much mulch you already have: in total you only need 3 inches deep of hardwood mulch. #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DNDZK4rPRmL/ | 08/13/2025 | DNDZK4rPRmL |
| You care that the weeds have been pulled before the mulch went down more than any landscaper will. You care about how much mulch gets put down more than any landscaper will. And you care about making sure the mulch doesn’t get piled up over the crown of the plants and up against the stems more than any landscaper will. If you are capable of spreading your own mulch, I really suggest you do so. #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DNLHkvMOlBd/ | 08/14/2025 | DNLHkvMOlBd |
| I’m always trying to eliminate tedious tasks from the garden! I have always loath edging my beds in the spring so I found a great solution in one of my clients yards: a mow strip! #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DNQRMmstHT8/ | 08/15/2025 | DNQRMmstHT8 |
| Now is the time to lay out your perennial beds, and kill the lawn, just in time for planting at the end of September! Cut the lawn really short, overlap, some cardboard or six sheets of newspaper, and then put 3 inches of shredded hardwood mulch on top. you can skip the cardboard and paper and just put 5 inches deep of arborist, wood trips or shredded hardwood mulch . #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #landscapedesign #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DNLHiY8vrWy/ | 08/16/2025 | DNLHiY8vrWy |
| Becoming a good gardener means being observant and paying attention to your plants and how they behave in certain weather conditions. With the amount of dry periods and drought that we get in the summer’s now it is important for us to become more water wise and observant about how much rain we get. Having a rain gauge and various areas throughout your property as a smart way to become more water wise and a better gardener. #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DNdJERoOsVb/ | 08/17/2025 | DNdJERoOsVb |
| August is a time to start buying your plants for fall planting season. Most garden centers will not have inventory available in September when it’s time to plant so buy your plants in August. Many garden centers are marking their plants down to get rid of them right now, so go get yourself a deal! Many online plant retailers are taking orders for fall shipping. So prepare now for fall planting and yes fall planting is a great time for root development and healthy root systems long-term! #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DNft8ISt4Mo/ | 08/18/2025 | DNft8ISt4Mo |
| When you plant your tree, the trunk should flare out all the way around as it enters the soil. If you plant your trees, too deeply, new roots will be put out by the tree above the root flare, and those new roots can often circle, girdle and choke the main root system underneath and eventually kill your tree. You won’t see effects of root girdling for many years often. #tree #trees #garden #gardening #gardeningtips #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DNiSwYrtzTB/ | 08/19/2025 | DNiSwYrtzTB |
| Peonies are so easy to divide and transplant! Late summer early fall is the best time to divide your peonies. You need to make sure that the piece of the root system that you dig off the plant has eyes on it. Those eyes are next year stems. If you get a piece of the roots that don’t have any eyes, the plant will not have any stems next year. Follow me for part two of this video or I will show you how to plant your peonies. #peonies #peony #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DNk3d98N-aI/ | 08/20/2025 | DNk3d98N-aI |
| #Lawn #lawnmowing #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #arlingtonheightsillinois | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DNk3jtjt2xa/ | 08/21/2025 | DNk3jtjt2xa |
| Peony roots should not be planted too deeply. They need six hours or more of direct sunlight to produce healthy blooms. They need well drained soil and adequate moisture in the spring while the flowers are forming so if it’s a dry spring, make sure to give them a little extra water when you see those buds starting to form. #peony #peonies #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DNqBCujswAL/ | 08/22/2025 | DNqBCujswAL |
| I was able to dig up a redbud tree that had volunteered in my client’s neighborhood. Since my client had lost her redbud tree this year and wanted another one her friend offered the volunteer so we went to dig it up and transplant it into her yard. I recommend doing the digging up and the replanting on the same day. #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DNS168rON8T/ | 08/23/2025 | DNS168rON8T |
| Bagworms are a pest that need to be dealt with before they become an infestation and spread to your other trees. They hatch usually around June and will defoliate your tree pretty quickly. Trees can die from these pests if not kept in check early. Inspect your trees looking for these pointy sacks. Do not compost these sacks and don’t leave them on the ground, dispose of them in the garbage or drown them in water. #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DNncRy5u1aa/ | 08/24/2025 | DNncRy5u1aa |
| Hydrangeas like very moist soil, so it’s not a good idea to plant them in locations that are hot and have dry soil. If you’re looking for a 4 foot tall and wide rounded shrub for a hot dry location check out Shrubby St. John’s Wort. Rabbit and deer resistant. #Hydrangea #hydrangeas #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DNxviKD3Bxl/ | 08/25/2025 | DNxviKD3Bxl |
| Time to force your amaryllis bulbs into dormancy in late August. Put them in a cool dry dark location and stop watering them. The green leaves will die back on their own. I will be putting mine in the basement. I will leave them there for 10 weeks minimum which would take me to the first week of November. At that point once you are ready start watering them again and bring them up into a room temperature sunny area. They will take 4 to 6 weeks to bloom. I will probably bring mine up closer to Thanksgiving so they’ll be blooming by Christmas. #amaryllis #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DN0URdpWMw2/ | 08/26/2025 | DN0URdpWMw2 |
| Peonies are susceptible to powdery mildew, which is a white fungus that grows during warm humid conditions. this leaf fungus is only cosmetic and it will not kill your plant. It is best to plant your peonies in an area that gets a good breeze. It’s also a good idea after you deadhead the spent blooms to remove 30% of the leaves and stems from the center of the plant so there’s lots of good airflow all the way through. After pruning, you can preventatively spray oil or a fungicide. You need to continue spraying according to package instructions all Summer. Once you have powdery mildew, the fungicides and sprays will not correct what you already have. They are only for prevention. I personally don’t have time and attention to spray my peonies, so I just leave them alone after pruning them and tuck them around the side of the house in a location where I don’t have to look at them all summer. Also check out @justbeingmelani and learn about the perimenopause and menopause. We do not care club! She is hilarious! #Peony #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DN25Dj83Ep-/ | 08/27/2025 | DN25Dj83Ep- |
| Late summer is a great time to get your cool season lawn grass seed down. There are less weeds germinating at this time of the year versus the spring and we have very warm soil temperatures right now leftover from the heat of summer. Grass seed loves to germinate in warm soil. Tomorrow’s video I will show you the process of putting down seed. Stay tuned! #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #lawncare #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DN5d6-jWMTF/ | 08/28/2025 | DN5d6-jWMTF |
| The steps to grow cool seasoned turf grass are pretty simple. Remove any dead vegetation, rake up and loosen the top quarter inch of soil, follow package instructions and lay the seed down. Then also follow package instructions for a starter fertilizer. Then rake all of that together, and pat down the soil and seed together. We want the seed touching the soil. Keep the seed bed wet, but not sopping wet with rivers of water eroding the soil and seed away. Check the seed bed twice a day if it gets hot and water as necessary. Kentucky bluegrass takes three weeks to germinate. #lawncare #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DN8Csop2N4Y/ | 08/29/2025 | DN8Csop2N4Y |
| You must eliminate large air pockets in the soil when you plant. You do this by watering the plant and then stepping on the route area. If you sit down, you need to add more soil and then a water and stuff on it again. Plant roots require soil to push into. If there are large air pockets, the roots will not grow. If you have a plant that is under performing, you might want to step around it and try to pull it out of the ground and see what happens. If it pulls out of the ground, there is too much air in your soil. #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DN-nbmwDMye/ | 08/30/2025 | DN-nbmwDMye |
| Let your peony stems and leaves turn brown and die back all on their own. As long as the stems and leaves are green, they are photosynthesizing energy for next year’s flowers. After they turned brown and have died back all on their own, cut the stems and make sure to gather up all of the leaves and dispose of them. Peony stems and leaves generally have powdery mildew and other disease pathogens on them that can overwinter in the soil. Don’t leave anything on the ground and dispose of those stems and leaves don’t compost them. #peony #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DN-ncap3Htr/ | 08/31/2025 | DN-ncap3Htr |
| By late summer, you’re climbing roses probably have canes 6 feet tall or higher! It is time to tie them up to secure them for winter. It is best to tie them at a 45° angle or even horizontal to the ground. This will allow gravity to deposit flowering hormone at different lengths of the stem, giving you more flowers. #Roses #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DN25E7TZL8I/ | 09/01/2025 | DN25E7TZL8I |
| One of the ways we can eliminate or at least reduce our mulch usage is with plants. For the last two years, I have been trying out Prairie Pussytoes which is a ground cover that is native too much of central North America. It loves full or partial Sun and medium or dry soil. If flowers in spring with little white flowers that looks like a cat paw. This plant has been left alone by the rabbits and it is also deer resistant. If you live in a hardiness zone warmer than seven, you could have a look at a very similar plant called field pussy toes. #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DOGV2qB2O-O/ | 09/02/2025 | DOGV2qB2O-O |
| Fresh arborist wood chips are the best mulch for suppressing weeds, retaining soil moisture and temperature, and cycling nutrients into your soil. #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DOI6lAzDh3x/ | 09/03/2025 | DOI6lAzDh3x |
| If you have a lot of open gaps in your planting beds expect weeds or other plants to take over that space. I like to use natives as a base layer or a ground cover that does not spread and is very well behaved. I use it in this video along the fence line to contain my neighbor‘s lawn onto his side of the property. #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DOLfX8cDJOK/ | 09/04/2025 | DOLfX8cDJOK |
| Stone or gravel mulch has its place. It lasts a long time so it doesn’t need to be topped up regularly and it is the least flammable mulch so if you live in an area with fire risk, stone is going to be a great option. However, weeds do grow through it and pulling weeds out of the stone mulch is very difficult and time consuming. Stone does not break down and decompose so it does not feed your soil as well as a wood mulch would. Stone does heat up and radiate heat and certain plants don’t want to grow in that kind of environment so you will be limited to what types of plants are going to thrive in an area with stone mulch. #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DOOENArjjqh/ | 09/05/2025 | DOOENArjjqh |
| Yews are expensive to remove and replace. You can prune Yews in March/early April and cut them back as far as you want. They may be bare with no needles but once the sun hits the bare stems, new green needles will start to grow. #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsillinois | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DOQpAyjjM62/ | 09/06/2025 | DOQpAyjjM62 |
| Fall is the best time of year to plant and transplant. We still have warm soil temperatures from the summer, there’s less water pressure now that the heat and dry summer period is over, less heat pressure this time of year. It’s also cooler to work! #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #landscapedesign #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DOVylgmkiki/ | 09/08/2025 | DOVylgmkiki |
| It is critical during rain, storms that our Landscapes can hold as much water as possible before excess runs into rivers, lakes, and streams. It’s even better if the water is being filtered as it is being slowed down, and that can be done by plants! For those of us that live in the Midwest, where the topography is very flat and we are prone to flooding, these types of stormwater management systems are critical to avoid massive flooding. #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #landscapedesign | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DOVyl-pDhBv/ | 09/08/2025 | DOVyl-pDhBv |
| Naturalistic planting takes into account whatever plant looks like in all four seasons. Leave those seed heads on your flowers and incorporate them into your design. Those seeds are food for birds, and we have lost a tremendous amount of the Byrd population in recent decades so the more we can leave food for them the more we can help them recover as a population. #garden #gardening #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #landscapedesign #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DOYXXkDDB59/ | 09/09/2025 | DOYXXkDDB59 |
| I think it’s a good idea before planting native plants in your garden to do extensive research on how that plant spreads and whether or not it spreads aggressively. I like to use prairie moon.com, Lady Bird Johnson website at Wildflower.org and the Missouri Botanical Garden website at https://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org. Please share in the comments, useful websites that you use to research native plants. #nativeplant #nativeplantsofnorthamerica #garden #gardening #gardeningtips | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DOa8OOmkn2X/ | 09/10/2025 | DOa8OOmkn2X |
| If you are interested in volunteering with the Poplar Creek Prairie Stuart go to their website at PoplarCreekPrairieStewards.org or simply go for a walk and admire their work in the Carl Hansen woods, Poplar Creek Forest preserve, and the Schaumburg grasslands located in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. This is a wonderful volunteer organization who has restored hundreds of acres of Oak Hickory Woodland tallgrass Prairie, a marsh, a pond and a lake. #nativeplants #NativePlantsOfNorthAmerica #Conservation #Garden #gardening | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DOdhCmSjgZS/ | 09/11/2025 | DOdhCmSjgZS |
| Here are some great plants that can tolerate quite a bit of shade, but do you need some sun. Late season native blooming plants are a great option for pollinators that need food in fall. #gardening #garden #nativeplants #nativeplantsofnorthamerica #arlingtonheightsillinois | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DOgF1iqjk46/ | 09/12/2025 | DOgF1iqjk46 |
| I know how much people really love their burning bush for that bright red fall color. But sadly, that plant is highly invasive, especially in the Northeast and the Midwest. And don’t worry, I have some fantastic native options that have the same beautiful color in fall, but there’s also flowers, which you don’t get with a burning bush! Those native flowers are going to feed spring pollinators, and the seeds and berries are going to feed birds and other wildlife. So you’ll be helping the ecosystem and gaining design value by removing your burning bush and replacing it with one of these natives. You’ll have to check your area and see if these plants are native near you and if you are looking at a native viburnum like the ones I mentioned in this video, check and see if your county is having an issue with viburnum leaf beetle, which is an invasive pest that will kill your shrub. Here are some replacement options: – Nannyberry viburnum – American cranberry viburnum – Some varieties of Arrowood viburnum – winged sumac – smooth sumac – native honeysuckle – sweetspire like Little Henry – for very large areas with a lot of moisture look at button bush – black chokeberry I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live 40 miles from Arlington Heights, Illinois. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live close to me. I have helped gardeners all over the United States and Canada, with all experience levels, improve their knowledge and skills to achieve the garden of their dreams and do it with their own two hands. From designing your beds to plant selection and pruning, flowers to vegetables, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com. Photo Credits: State of Indiana Cooperatives Invasive Management #Garden #Gardening #GardenGoals #LandscapeDesign #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DOiiwzVDrj9/ | 09/13/2025 | DOiiwzVDrj9 |
| If you’re interested in helping the monarch population, it’s a good idea to plant some native milkweed. Some milkweed species can spread aggressively and so I decided to try swamp milkweed, also called rose milkweed, or Asclepius incarnata, in a container and it has been working great for the last three years. I let the seeds fall on their own in the fall of 2024 and I got hundreds of milkweed seedlings this spring of 2025. The butter butterflies came and laid at least 30 eggs if not more on this patch. I observed 30 caterpillars from July through September. I even got to watch one chrysalis evolve, and it eventually hatched into a beautiful adult. It is important to note that I am not intervening in any way as these eggs hatch and caterpillars evolve. The best thing is to let nature run its course and the healthiest caterpillars that survive, their youth will continue on the strongest genes into the wild population. #monarchbutterfly #gardening #garden #nativeplants #gardeninglife | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DOluR3PDs_2/ | 09/14/2025 | DOluR3PDs_2 |
| Oleander aphids are not native to North America, but they are full of sugars that other insects love to eat. I don’t want my milkweed plants weakened by aphid activity so when they are emerging as young seedlings in the spring and early summer, I squish the aphids when I see them on my plants. But once I see them monarchs around and any eggs and caterpillars in this area, I stopped working and squishing any aphids. At that point, I just let the ladybugs in the green lacewing take over. They are beneficial insects that will eat the aphids. #monarchbutterfly #milkweed #gardening #garden #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DOn0Is9Eqnj/ | 09/15/2025 | DOn0Is9Eqnj |
| No one should be pruning your plants in late summer or fall. Those green leaves and needles are necessary for the plant to maximize every bit of sunlight this time of year and make food to survive the winter. Let the plant go to sleep on its own so it can pull all that food/sap down into its roots for winter survival. That sap in the roots is also going to fuel next spring growth so don’t disrupt the flow of sap going down to the roots by pruning. #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DOqY_4akkOe/ | 09/16/2025 | DOqY_4akkOe |
| Azaleas and Rhododendron are under story plants which mean they evolved underneath large trees. They love, dappled, sun or morning sun only with shade in the afternoon. They like moist but well drained soil. Fall is a great time to plant them and if yours is in too much sun fall is a great time to transplant them too . #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DOs9u3cDt2h/ | 09/17/2025 | DOs9u3cDt2h |
| Ninebark is a great native shrub with green leaves. It needs a lot of room especially if it is getting lots of water. This plant has a beautiful arching branching habit and should be left alone by your landscaper! The only way to prune is by taking some old stems down to the ground each year or by completely cutting all stems to the ground in early spring. #Garden #gardening #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DOqY7PhElb-/ | 09/17/2025 | DOqY7PhElb- |
| Landscape fabric does not work and it harms your soil and plants long-term. Landscape fabric, often called weed barrier, is a porous material that’s supposed to allow air and water down into your soil wall blocking weeds. Mulch goes on top of the landscape fabric, which decomposes along with other organic material and the weeds grow right on top and push through the fabric. I’ve even had examples on my own property where weeds will come out of the soil and push right up through the fabric. The decomposed organic material on top also clogged the holes in the fabric, making it more difficult for water to pass through. Don’t waste your money in time on landscape fabric. #Garden #gardening #gardeningtips #gardeningtips #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DOvigE9joH_/ | 09/18/2025 | DOvigE9joH_ |
| Late summer early fall is a great time to divide Iris. You can also transplant this time of year. They want at least six hours of sunlight and well drained soil. They don’t like to be planted very deeply. lots of people‘s iris after five years or so stop blooming. It’s a good idea to divide them to keep the roots from getting too tight which prevents blooming. #Garden #gardening #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DOyVCALDm9A/ | 09/19/2025 | DOyVCALDm9A |
| Fall is a time to plant divide and transplant perennials. It is not a time to cut them back. The garden looks beautiful with all of the seed heads left up and that also provides food for birds that stay over the winter. It also provides habitat for insects. We do perennial cut back in the spring. The only exception is diseased plant material or plant material that was infested by a pest. #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DO053bGDmQu/ | 09/20/2025 | DO053bGDmQu |
| Liatris, also called Blazingstar, is a family of plants with gorgeous tall purple blooms that pollinators love. I am planting Meadow Blazing Star for August September color in my garden. It prefers full or partial sun and medium moisture soil. #gardening #garden #nativeplants #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DO3eu25jih9/ | 09/21/2025 | DO3eu25jih9 |
| Eastern red columbine, Aquilegia canadensis, is a native plant too much of central and eastern North America. It provides very nutritious native nectar for hummingbirds, bees, and other pollinators in spring. This plant evolved to bloom at the same time that Ruby-throated hummingbirds are migrating north. This plant is considered a medium spreading plant via seed. If you don’t want the plant spread spreading, you can cut the flowers off when they finish blooming before they create seedpods. You can also let the plants go to seed and collect the seeds before they drop and spread them where you would like the plant to spread. #gardening #nativeplants #garden #gardeningtips #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DO6DdnpDIPL/ | 09/22/2025 | DO6DdnpDIPL |
| I like the classic look of some chrysanthemums on my porch in fall. In order to keep them looking nice I have to deadhead the flowers and that will encourage the plant to open new flowers. And don’t forget to add some fall blooming asters to your perennial beds for those insects that need nutritious native nectar this time of year. #chrysanthemums #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DO8oULcjLDH/ | 09/23/2025 | DO8oULcjLDH |
| I have a lot of animals that nibble on my brand newly planted plants. In order to protect them, I like to use a cage called a Cloche. You don’t need to buy ready-made cloches but you can just make one out of chicken wire or hardware cloth that you may have in the garage or you could buy a dollar store mesh trash basket! I can’t always respond to comments so for those of you that are experienced gardeners, please jump in and help as much as you can. #gardening #garden #gardeninglife #gardeningtips #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DO_NBPiDC2z/ | 09/24/2025 | DO_NBPiDC2z |
| The treehouse Humane Society asked me to design a Parkway/Boulevard/hell strip planting of native plants for in front of their building. This is a very hot dry location next to a sidewalk and next to the curb where cars park. to prepare this area for planting the vegetation that was there was killed with cardboard and 3 inches of mulch on top. Now that the vegetation is killed, we will call Julie to mark the powerlines, install a couple of boulders for the dogs to go to the bathroom on and some pavers for people to step on when they exit their cars. Follow me and we will review the plant list later this week. #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DPBx3jPjiE9/ | 09/25/2025 | DPBx3jPjiE9 |
| There are 60 feet of hot sunny dry Parkway that needs to be filled with native plants! Here is my plant list: Baptisia ‘Blueberry Sundae’ Aromatic Aster – Symphyotrichum oblongifolium Rough Blazing Star – Liatris aspera Hairy Beardtongue – Penstemon hirsutus Side Oats Grama – Bouteloua curtipendula Eastern Red Columbine – Aquilegia canadensis Butterfly Weed – Asclepias tuberosa Prairie Smoke – Geum triflorum Blue Eyes Grass – Sisyrinchium albidum Purple Love Grass – Eragrostis spectabilis Lance Leaf Coreopsis – Coreopsis lanceolata #gardening #garden #nativeplantsofnorthamerica #landscapedesign #chicagogram | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DPEWn5_johu/ | 09/26/2025 | DPEWn5_johu |
| Japanese Beetles lay eggs in the soil and those eggs hatch and become grubs. Late summer early fall is when you sometimes see a problem with animals, digging in the soil, trying to find grubs to eat. I recommend an organic product called milky spore, which is a naturally occurring bacteria that needs to be applied three times per year for two whole years to take care of the Japanese beetle problem. If you have other grubs from other types of insects, milky spore will not work for you. And if you use grub X or another systemic insecticide milky, spore won’t work because you’ve already killed all the grubs. #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DPG7ZVOjObt/ | 09/27/2025 | DPG7ZVOjObt |
| Weeds grow where there is no other competition. They also thrive where there is disrupted soil. Plant your beds so that plants touch each other at full size. This creates a living mulch that suppresses weeds. Your best strategy is to not leave open gaps in your beds, use mulch between plants until plants mature and when pulling weeds don’t disrupt your soil. #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DPJgPZCjI8P/ | 09/28/2025 | DPJgPZCjI8P |
| I’ve been using the overhead tool for the last four years and I love it so much that I’ve bought one for everyone in my family and I called them and ask if they would give me a coupon code. Use coupon code PowersPlants for 10% off at Cobrahead.com #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DPMEQw9DrcS/ | 09/29/2025 | DPMEQw9DrcS |
| New plants need to be watered for the first four weeks. We water very deeply and slowly and then we let that water dry out in between watering. We do this for four weeks. Then we dial the watering back. By four weeks, you should attempt to gently pull the plant out of the ground, and it should have rooted into the soil by then. If your plants have not taken root after a month, you need to figure out what’s going on. At this point, we need the plant to start pushing its own roots out nice and deep to find water. If we continue to water, the plants are just going to have a shallow unhealthy root system. Don’t make your plants life easy by constantly watering. if you were in a drought, I would continue to water once a week if the soil is dry and the plant is showing you signs of dehydration, like wilted leaves are burning out edges of the leaves and flowers. #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DPOs8RWjjcv/ | 09/30/2025 | DPOs8RWjjcv |
| If you can stay on top of your weeds while they only have one set of cotelydons (embryonic leaves) you don’t have to pull them out individually. You can use a hoe like a Dutch push hole to run along the soil surface and remove the leaves without disrupting any soil underneath. Any type of hoe will work I happen to prefer a push style versus a pull style. #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DPRS-ZQDq8O/ | 10/01/2025 | DPRS-ZQDq8O |
| If you buy Hardy Mums at the garden center, they are cold Hardy to zone five which means they are perennial here in Chicago which is zone six. If you buy garden moms or annual moms, they are not perennial. The hardy Mums can be planted in the ground and they will come back every year as long as you live in zone five or higher. Chrysanthemums are not native to North America and have no benefit to insects so it’s an also a good idea to plant some native Asters in your garden. #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DPTrJVfDlxH/ | 10/02/2025 | DPTrJVfDlxH |
| Colorado Blue Spruce do not do well in the Midwest because we have wet, swampy spring and dry summers, which is not what they are accustomed to. I would only plant this tree if it is native where you live. #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DPWYO18jH6K/ | 10/03/2025 | DPWYO18jH6K |
| Rattlesnake Master is a fantastic architectural, tall perennial for the middle or back of your beds. It is a pollinator magnet for lots of native insects and the leaves are a host plant for swallowtail butterflies. They prefer full sun and soil that isn’t very very dry or has standing water. They are a medium moisture plant. They will get 4 feet tall and the spheres will come out in early to mid-summer. #Garden #gardening #nativeplants #nativeplantsofnorthamerica | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DPY7iA1Djnd/ | 10/04/2025 | DPY7iA1Djnd |
| A great way to expand your garden is by collecting seeds from the plants you already have. Once a flower gets pollinated the plant stops investing in the beautiful flowers and starts to create seeds. You harvest the seeds when they are ready to easily be pulled off the plant. Later in the week, I’ll do a video explaining when and how to sow your seeds. #gardening #garden #nativeplants #nativeplantsofnorthamerica | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DPbu7KeDhAE/ | 10/05/2025 | DPbu7KeDhAE |
| Roses need to be left alone to go dormant in late summer. So we don’t fertilize after August 1 because that will promote new growth. New growth takes 3 to 4 months to harden off to survive winter. We also don’t want to prune or even deadhead the flowers off because that’s also going to encourage new growth which doesn’t have enough time to prepare for winter. We also know that it is not a good idea to pile up mulch, compost or cover our roses with a cone because those will trap, moisture and warmth against the plant which causes disease. #Roses #garden #gardening #gardeningtips #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DPgxJkgjuGP/ | 10/07/2025 | DPgxJkgjuGP |
| For perennial seeds, you need to look up the germination code because each plant has a separate set of conditions that must be met before the seed will germinate. You can leave the seeds to drop on their own or you can collect the seeds yourself and drop them where you would like them, but I suggest you do that after your first hard freeze. That way if you have germination code A plant, they won’t germinate before they have had time to harden off before the cold weather. You also could collect the seeds and store them in a cool dry location in an envelope and sow them in a milk jug over the winter or mimic cold moist stratification times in your refrigerator. #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DPjQMJtjGSL/ | 10/08/2025 | DPjQMJtjGSL |
| Evergreen’s drop needles in late summer or fall in order to prepare for next spring’s new growth. So don’t be surprised if the interior of your evergreen trees and shrubs start looking brown or yellow and die off this time of year. Evergreens don’t invest in needles on the inside of the plant if there isn’t sunlight getting into that area to photosynthesize. if you have browning happening from the center all the way out to the tips of your plants you should call an arborist and find out what’s going on. That is not normal. #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DPl0-uVDHne/ | 10/09/2025 | DPl0-uVDHne |
| Buying smaller size plants is cheaper takes less work for you to dig in plant and younger plants perform better than older plants. #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DPoZuQSjBYr/ | 10/10/2025 | DPoZuQSjBYr |
| Every. Year. #gardening #garden #menopause #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DPpSPSVksJ3/ | 10/10/2025 | DPpSPSVksJ3 |
| Try removing small sections of your lawn and replacing it with drought tolerant native plants. Start small and make it simple. The easiest place to get started is around the edges of your lawn since that’s usually the place that’s hardest to keep the lawn alive. The edge is next to sidewalks and driveways have very dry soil which lawns don’t like so make your life easier by carving yourself a nice bed and fill it with native plants. #gardening #garden #nativeplants #nativeplantsofnorthamerica #landscapedesign | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DPq-jDDDAd6/ | 10/11/2025 | DPq-jDDDAd6 |
| Everyone tells me they have terrible soil and then they tell me about all the things they add in amend to their soil. Unfortunately, those things are not what you need. What you need our plants with good deep, healthy root systems and organic matter that overtime gets dragged through the root zone. That is how you build soil! #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DPtjY66jqUZ/ | 10/12/2025 | DPtjY66jqUZ |
| Squirrels love to eat pumpkins and a good way to keep them off is to spray them with something that smells really strong or with something that tastes very hot and spicy. The mixture I like to use is 2 cups of warm water, two drops of dish soap and 2 tablespoons of crushed red pepper flakes or cayenne pepper. Give the mixture a shake put on some gloves so that you don’t get that spicy mixture on your hands and spray your pumpkins. I recommend not spraying on a windy day because we don’t want that hot spicy irritant getting in our eyes. If it rains, you need to re-spray. #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DPwIHcxjq7A/ | 10/13/2025 | DPwIHcxjq7A |
| The best way to build a new bed where you currently have lawn is to smother the lawn in place. This allows the vegetation to die back and feed your soil and you won’t dig and disturb the soil which will expose weed seeds, which will create a long-term weed problem. Smothering with cardboard +3 inches of wood mulch on top is a cheap and cost-effective way to remove lawn, but it does take 6 to 8 weeks. #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DPys6fNDrW4/ | 10/14/2025 | DPys6fNDrW4 |
| If you can dig the soil out lower the level of soil to 2 to 3 inches below the height of the sidewalk that will help keep the mulch from washing onto the sidewalk. You can also use edging. #Garden #gardening #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DP1RyKpDMaf/ | 10/15/2025 | DP1RyKpDMaf |
| I think the perennial that everyone needs to have in a full sun garden is a well-behaved, low growing, drought tolerant plant called Coreopsis laneolata or Tickseed. This plant is pretty low and leafy with flowers that grow on 2 foot tall stems. It has a huge native range across the entire United States and in Canada. It is native in British Columbia and Ontario. I have plenty of this plant in my mother‘s garden in Nova Scotia and it performs beautifully in dry sandy soil. #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #landscapedesign | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DP32mFKjKr2/ | 10/16/2025 | DP32mFKjKr2 |
| Skunks are digging up my neighbor’s lawn this week digging for Japanese beetle grubs. I used to have that problem, but I haven’t seen any in my lawn this year and that is because I spent two years applying an organic granular product called milky spore. I followed package instructions and applied the product to my lawn and perennial beds three times a year for two years so a total of six applications. I applied in fall spring and summer. This product is not available in Canada. #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DP6bXecDBQ2/ | 10/17/2025 | DP6bXecDBQ2 |
| Planting the same plant together is called a drift. Drifts give us bigger impact when the plants are in bloom and they also make the plant easier to find for insects and birds. It is a good idea to take the perennials you have divide them and start a drift! #Garden #gardening #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DP9AKQsjG5k/ | 10/18/2025 | DP9AKQsjG5k |
| Tender annual seeds should be collected from fruit that has fully ripened and in some cases dried and is easy to remove from the plant. Some plants you want to harvest from ripe fruit that has not dried like tomatoes and squashes. But for the ones that are dried out, simply crack open and collect the seed stored in an envelope in a cool dark location for the winter and come out and plant next year. #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DP9AIlxjDu5/ | 10/19/2025 | DP9AIlxjDu5 |
| Golden rod is a huge family of plants and not all of them are aggressive spreaders. I just added three Solidago rugosa, or wrinkle, leaf golden rod to my own garden because it is not an aggressive spreader and only gets 3 feet tall and wide. It is a fantastic late season bloomer, providing pollinators with healthy food late in the season when they need it before winter. #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #nativeplants | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DQCJvonDlcm/ | 10/20/2025 | DQCJvonDlcm |
| Yellow and orange fall leaf color is very consistent from one year to the next because those colors are not weather dependent. Red fall color is best when there are bright sunny days followed by cool crisp nights. #fallseason #gardening #garden #fall | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DQEufVekrXg/ | 10/21/2025 | DQEufVekrXg |
| Basil is a simple plant to harvest seeds from for next year. Let the plants go to flower and let the insects pollinate them. The flowers will then fall off in the plant will start to create a pod with tiny black seeds inside. The seeds are not ready to harvest until the pod has turned brown and easily pulls off the plant. You then need to separate the seeds from the chaff I like to do this using a sieve from my kitchen. Store the seeds in a cool dry location until ready to use next year. #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DQHTWaVjDPX/ | 10/22/2025 | DQHTWaVjDPX |
| For plants that you don’t want to spread, either deadhead the flowers once they finish blooming or snip off the seeds before they drop and spread. #gardening #garden #gardeningtips ##nativeplants | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DQRmiTwjg60/ | 10/23/2025 | DQRmiTwjg60 |
| SpearHeadSpade.com 10% off Coupon Code: PowersPlants10 I no longer use a regular shovel to do my digging. I now exclusively use a Spearhead Spade. This spade is made by a small family owned company in New Jersey. I called them and found out the story behind the 85 year-old inventor that created this shovel once he could no longer dig after two knee and hip replacement surgeries. The Spearhead Spade makes digging so easy. I’m never going back to a shovel again. You can get a 10% discount at spearheadspade.com using coupon code PowersPlants10 . #gardening #tools #toolsofthetrade #garden #gardeningtips | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DQK6cR6DJmp/ | 10/23/2025 | DQK6cR6DJmp |
| Here’s a great before and after from one of my very first clients. Here is the plant list: – Cone Flowers – Coreopsis – Perennial Geranium – Russian Sage – Red Twig Dogwood ‘Arctic Fire’ – Elijah Blue Fescue #gardening #garden #landscapedesign #gardeningtips #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DQCJxuiDGxq/ | 10/24/2025 | DQCJxuiDGxq |
| A quick scratch test on a stem will reveal whether there is any green under the bark. If there’s green under the bark, the stem is still alive if it is free of any green and just brown under the bark snap the stem and if it breaks easily, it’s definitely dead. You can prune dead stems at any time. #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsillinois | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DQMc3IyDtT3/ | 10/24/2025 | DQMc3IyDtT3 |
| Ohio Spiderwort is a fantastic native plant that ranks highly as being beneficial to native bees however, it can spread quite aggressively so late. Summer would be a great time to get in there and cut the seed pods off so they don’t drop and spread on their own. #Nativeplants #nativeplantsofnorthamerica #gardening #garden #gardeningtips | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DP9AGyVDD5d/ | 10/25/2025 | DP9AGyVDD5d |
| Here is the plant list for my full sun, dry to medium moisture native garden: – Coreopsis lanceolata / Tickseed – Eragrostis spectabalis/ Pruple Love Grass – Geum trilflorum / Prairie Smoke – Monarda bradburiana / Bradbury Monarda – Liatris aspera / Rough Blazing Star – Solidago speciosa / Showy Goldenrod #nativeplant #nativeplantsofnorthamerica #gardening #garden | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DQPBrahjkpk/ | 10/25/2025 | DQPBrahjkpk |
| Full shade is a location that gets no direct sunlight. The morning sun from the east is being blocked in the west afternoon sun is being blocked as well. partial shade is locations under trees were dappled sun does make it through the canopy, but in very small amounts. It is also a mostly shady area that gets up to four hours of morning sun from the east. in shade and partial shade areas you need to find plants that are listed for shade/partial sun. I like spikenard and goats beard, Heuchera, Jacob’s Ladder, hostas, ferns. If you have a partial sun area that is mostly shade, but a few hours of Sun that does blast directly in there is from the south/west afternoon Sun, you need to find plants that are listed as full sun/partial sun. Afternoon sun is much more intense and can burn up plants that prefer shade. In these locations, I like coneflowers, alliums, Hyssop, geraniums. for great plants that can tolerate all sun locations I like winterberry shrub, Northern Bush honeysuckle shrub, eastern red columbine, Wild Geranium. #gardening #shadegarden #nativeplants # | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DQRrb1-Dpib/ | 10/26/2025 | DQRrb1-Dpib |
| We want to leave as much dead plant material in place as we can because insects are overwintering in that plant material. We don’t want to leave plant material that is diseased however because we don’t want the disease pathogens to come back in the spring. #gardening #garden #insects #gardeningtips #gardeninglife | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DQULVrFDlxG/ | 10/27/2025 | DQULVrFDlxG |
| When we plant Woody trees and shrubs, we really have to pay attention to the spacing. This homeowner has three Oakleaf hydrangeas where there is only room for one. This plant wants to be 6 to 8 feet tall and wide. Landscapers are notorious for over planting shrubs and jamming too many things into a small space. #gardening #garden #nativeplants #nativeplantsofnorthamerica #gardeningtips | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DQEugDtDOC7/ | 10/28/2025 | DQEugDtDOC7 |
| Most tomatoes we grow in our Home gardens are hybrids. That means two tomatoes were cross pollinated to create the plant you are growing. When you collect seeds from hybrids the seeds, don’t usually come true to the plant you collected them from they revert back to one of the parents. So it’s best to collect seeds from open pollinated varieties of tomatoes. You want to select the plant that was the most vigorous all season and select ripe tomatoes that have all of the characteristics you want. slice the tomato open and scoop out the gelatinous material with the seeds into a clean jar with a few cups of water. Let the seeds soak in the water for 2 to 4 days. This fermentation process will stop the gelatinous material from inhibiting the seed from germinating. After they have soaked dry them on a plate for 3 to 5 days and then store in an envelope in a cool dry location until you’re ready to sow next year. #tomato #tomatoes #garden #gardening #arlingtonheightsillinois | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DQaSsowjK8l/ | 10/29/2025 | DQaSsowjK8l |
| The best thing you can do to reduce the amount of herbicide/pesticide being put down on the planet is to reduce the amount of lawn you have. Live with some weeds and anything you don’t wanna live with you can just pull manually as you see it and once your lawn is a manageable size that’s pretty easy to do. Getting native plants in the ground instead that our drought tolerant is going to make your garden much easier to manage, especially in these hot summers that we have now with long periods between rain. #lawn #lawncare #garden #gardening #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DQeeccfjv6U/ | 10/30/2025 | DQeeccfjv6U |
| We do not prune roses after August 1 and we stop our deadhead by Labor Day weekend. We let the rose go dormant on its own. Any pruning we do is going to encourage the rose to put out all kinds of new suckering growth, which is very unhealthy to do when the plant is trying to go to sleep for the winter. So in the fall, all we do is tie up any growth that we have to our structure to protect the plant from winter wind and snow. Then we come back in late winter early spring, and examine for diseased or dead, canes and prune at that point. #roses #rosestagram #climbingrose #garden #gardening | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DQeegcUjnUg/ | 10/31/2025 | DQeegcUjnUg |
| 6 to 8 weeks after you have smothered lawn grass with cardboard and 3 inches of hardwood mulch (or you could just use 5 to 6 inches of shredded mulch) you can now plant. We pull the mulch back, dig a hole through the cardboard and dead grass to plant our plant. Put the mulch back and you’re done! #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DQhDReMjDfr/ | 11/01/2025 | DQhDReMjDfr |
| We’re having great fall color this year! The Reds have been dazzling due to the bright sunny days, followed by cold nights. #Fall #fallseason #garden #gardening #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DQju-9tEk5u/ | 11/02/2025 | DQju-9tEk5u |
| Remove all diseased plant material from your vegetable and herb gardens in the fall. We don’t want to leave diseased plant material on the soil over the winter or those pathogens will come back next year. If you had any pest issues on your plants like squash bugs, you will want to remove all that plant material as well because those eggs and larva can over winter and cause a problem next year. Also, please be careful working around your garden this time of year there are still insects living in there! #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DQmTsJ2Eisd/ | 11/03/2025 | DQmTsJ2Eisd |
| Pumpkin should never be thrown into the trash because landfills are anaerobic, and the byproduct of anaerobic decomposition is methane, which is a greenhouse gas. Pumpkins are also composed with mostly water and we don’t want water in landfills either because they soak up toxic chemicals and create a really unhealthy leachate that can get into the ground water. find out if you can compost yours through your local waste management company, or find out if there’s a pumpkin smash near you! Please do not put your pumpkins out into the wild or into the woods because these are not native to North America and pumpkin seed, sometimes over winter and sprout and compete with native plants for resources. #pumpkins #fall #garden #gardening #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DQo4knUEpeJ/ | 11/04/2025 | DQo4knUEpeJ |
| I see way too many Autumn blaze maples’s out there, especially along Streets in clusters. I just drove by a corner lot and there were four on the same property. Please diversify your plants, especially those trees. I would hate for a disease or a pest to come along and knock out all of your trees at once. That’s what happened with Elm trees and ash trees in North America. other fantastic trees for fall color: – Scarlet Oak -White Oak -Northern Red Oak -Black Tupelo/Black Gum Tree -Sweetgum Tree #gardening #garden #nativetrees #gardeningtips #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DQrdTtKknqE/ | 11/05/2025 | DQrdTtKknqE |
| For trees, young and old after they have been in the ground for a year, we need to water our trees around the drip line in times of drought. We want the water slowly seeping into the soil around the drip line 6 to 12 inches deep once a week. The best way to find out if you’re watering is working is to dig a small hole and see how deeply the water you put down has reached. #trees #garden #gardening #gardeningtips #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DQt5nnujilp/ | 11/06/2025 | DQt5nnujilp |
| We do not want to leave piles of leaves on our streets as rainwater is going to mix with that high amount of leaves and create a tea with a lot of phosphorus in it. The tea cannot be absorbed through the concrete since it is impermeable and the tea ends up, washing out into our gutters and creeks and rivers and waterways. High concentrations of phosphorus drive up algae blooms, which can be harmful to humans and animals and is definitely harmful to aquatic life. #Fall #leaves #garden #gardening #gardeningtips #gardeninglife | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DQwltrhjlsi/ | 11/07/2025 | DQwltrhjlsi |
| We don’t do any pruning of any types of hydrangeas in late summer or fall. Big leaf, mountain and oak leaf hydrangeas set their flowers in the summer for the next year. So we don’t prune those at all ideally. If we really must, it’s best to prune when the flowers open in the summertime. Plant these types of hydrangeas where they can grow into their full size so you don’t need to prune them. Smooth leaf hydrangeas, like Annabelle and incredible, and pinnacle type hydrangeas like lime, light and quick fire, are the easiest to grow because they bloom on the new growth in the same year. A brand new stem starts to grow in the spring and then a new flower bud opens into a flower that same summer. So smooth and Panna hydrangeas we prune in late winter/early spring before the new spring growth starts. Up here in Chicago that’s late March early April. #hydrangea #pruning #garden #gardening | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DQzM4IEDvy8/ | 11/08/2025 | DQzM4IEDvy8 |
| I’m always looking for 2 foot high plants that can tolerate partial sun. Look no further than Western Indian Physic or Porteranthus stipulatus. This is native too much of the Midwest in eastern states it can tolerate full Sun and partial Sun gets 2 feet tall and wide and prefers all soil, except for really dry and really swampy wet. in my garden, I will be using this in an area that gets shade under a tree until about 2 o’clock, where it starts to get a blast of hot south West afternoon son for 4 to 5 hours. #gardening #garden #nativeplants #gardeningtips #gardeninglife | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DQuCFlQknFr/ | 11/09/2025 | DQuCFlQknFr |
| It is very good for our ecosystem and specifically insect habitat, to have plants underneath the canopy of trees instead of just mulch. Insects live off of the leaves and bark of the tree and when they are ready to pupate they dropped down into the plants underneath the tree. Here is an easy full shade/partial shade planting: – Create a base layer called a matrix. every 12 inches plant a Pennsylvania Sedge or Carex Albicans or some other sedge that is native near you. – in between the edges, try some of these plants: -Eastern Red Columbine -Wild Geranium -Jacob’s Ladder -Christmas Fern #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsillinois | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DQ4VV-6DBQq/ | 11/10/2025 | DQ4VV-6DBQq |
| I love a good garden especially one planted designed by the hard work and passion of homeowners! My client has been adding more native plants to many of her perennial beds. The Oakleaf hydrangea had the most spectacular burgundy fall color I’ve ever seen. She hand prunes, the Evergreen yews to keep them nice and natural looking instead of clipped. She will be removing an invasive ornamental pear tree. Her husband built the raised bed area including the fence panels and gate, and then he built the most cute shed in the corner. As if the shed wasn’t cute enough the whole back property line is one of the most beautiful mixed borders I’ve seen. #landscapedesign #landscape #garden #gardening | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DQ66FhaDE3H/ | 11/11/2025 | DQ66FhaDE3H |
| It’s a good idea in fall to amend your soil with compost wherever you grow annuals especially your raised beds and containers. We don’t amend the soil in the ground, where we grow our perennials because we don’t want to disrupt the fungal network that those plants used to uptake their nutrients. But anywhere where we are planting plants that die back and then we plant new ones every year, that is a good place to turn over your soil and add some compost. 3 inches of compost laid across the top should then be turned into the soil. Then cover the soil with mulch to protect it from the rain and snow pounding on the surface and leaching nutrients out of your soil. #garden #gardening #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DRADtFiDBjc/ | 11/12/2025 | DRADtFiDBjc |
| Leaves are great for your garden soil, your plants and beneficial insects. It would be great if we could leave every single leaf exactly where it lies, but that’s not practical. Leave as much leaves as you can and don’t leave more than about 15% on your lawn. And it’s also best to not use your mower to mulch up the leaves before you spread them because you will be killing insects. We have lost 40% of the world’s insect population in recent decades and we need to protect them as much as we can. We don’t have life on earth without insects. #gardening #garden #fall #leaves #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DRADq-DDKKz/ | 11/13/2025 | DRADq-DDKKz |
| Weed fabric or landscape fabric is not good for your soil or your plants. It only acts as a temporary weed blocker and as soon as mulch or leaf material blows on top of it, you will get weeds growing right through it. Some people say to use it only under stones you’ll still get weeds coming up through the stones if you use it. With the stones it’s just used as a way to hold the stones from sinking into the soil.. #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DRCodrqjuHq/ | 11/14/2025 | DRCodrqjuHq |
| Common Buckthorn is probably the most invasive shrub we deal with in Illinois. Fall is a great time to remove it. There is a link in my Linktree in my bio as well as a link in the comments that I will pin to the top of the comment section. That link will be to the Illinois Department of natural resources PDF file explaining at certain times of the year the best way to eradicate this plant from your property. if common Buckthorn is giving you some privacy and your neighbor doesn’t want to remove it you can under plant something this spring. Let it get tall enough so it’s giving you some privacy and then go in behind and remove it. #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DRFJuxvDpi8/ | 11/15/2025 | DRFJuxvDpi8 |
| 68 degrees in Chicago today! Time for a spin in the drop top. 🤣🤣🤣 | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DRF8M57kobm/ | 11/15/2025 | DRF8M57kobm |
| One of the toughest trees in North America is the Burr Oak. Climate change, researchers say that this tree is one of the best that will be able to adapt to our changing climate. It also supports more than 2000 species of native insect 500 of which or caterpillars! This tree is also able to withstand fire and will live for hundreds of years. #tree #trees #oak #garden #gardening | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DQ9e7MdjA49/ | 11/16/2025 | DQ9e7MdjA49 |
| I finally bought my favorite flowering native shrub that I have seen in many of my clients gardens: Sweet Shrub also called Carolina allspice and its Latin name is Calycanthus floridus. this plant wants partial shade, which means some morning sun, some dappled sun, but not much hot afternoon sun. It needs moist soil, it can tolerate clay, but it must be well drained. It can get 6 to 12 feet tall and wide and the amount of sun that it gets will determine its size. The flowers are gorgeous, deep red, and are very sweetly scented. Up here in Chicago the flowers come out for the month of June and often continue into early July. #Nativeplants #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DQo4ktKklHH/ | 11/16/2025 | DQo4ktKklHH |
| Amaryllis bulbs, take 6 to 8 weeks to bloom. So if you want bulbs ready for Christmas, you need to plant them indoors in early to mid November. After the bulbs are done, blooming, cut off the dead flowers, but leave the stems and leaves. If it’s not already in soil, plant the bulb and soil and water it like a regular house plant and put it in a Sunny window. Once the threat of frost has passed in your area in spring, either planted outdoors in the ground, or move the container outside and keep it alive all summer. In the middle of August, bring the amaryllis indoors and put it in a dark cool dry area and stop watering it for 8 to 10 weeks. Then start the cycle again in November indoors. #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DRKW4WsDGdK/ | 11/17/2025 | DRKW4WsDGdK |
| Peonies should be left in the fall until they no longer have any green showing on their leaves and stems. Then they should be cut back to ground level and the diseased tissue should be disposed of or composted where it will be hot composted above 130°F for a long period of time to kill disease pathogens. #peony #gardeninglife #gardening #garden #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DRM7s70DGlI/ | 11/18/2025 | DRM7s70DGlI |
| Try to get as large, an amaryllis bulb as you can for staggered blooms for more than a month. Before purchasing use your thumb and press all around the bulb and make sure there are no soft spots, which is a sign of rot. Do not buy bulbs that have soft spots. #gardening #amaryllis #garden #gardening #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DRSFQK0jKOb/ | 11/19/2025 | DRSFQK0jKOb |
| Amaryllis as well as paperwhite bulbs do not need a cold period before they bloom, and they also do not need soil since they have all the nutrients they need stored inside the bulb. #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DRSFRg2Epsl/ | 11/20/2025 | DRSFRg2Epsl |
| Leave your leaves in the fall in your beds and not smothering your lawn, and in the spring leave the leaves alone and let them fully breakdown over the course of the spring and summer season. If you don’t like the look of the dead leaves decomposing just put a little bit of shredded hardwood mulch on top of them Make sure in spring that you check that your leaf layer isn’t so thick and matted together that air and water can’t get through to the soil. #leaves #garden #gardening #gardeningtips #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DRPgfIHDAi_/ | 11/21/2025 | DRPgfIHDAi_ |
| Empty your hoses and your rain barrels before winter and store those hoses indoors. #gardening #garden #gardeningtips #gardeninglife #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DQc3djljq2X/ | 11/22/2025 | DQc3djljq2X |
| Paper whites do not need a cold period before they will bloom. So I pack three or four bulbs in each container on top of some stones with a little bit of water in the bottom. I don’t want the bulb sitting in water or the bulb will rot. We only want the water just underneath where the roots come out of the bulb. Then the roots will push down into the water. If you don’t like the smell of paper whites, you can try to varieties that have much less smell: winter sun and Inbal. They are toxic to cats and dogs. #gardening #garden #gardeningtips | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DRZzkoiEtcI/ | 11/23/2025 | DRZzkoiEtcI |
| Poinsettias don’t like temperatures below 50° so if you go to the store to buy yours on a day that is chilly bring a sheet and drape the plant before you leave the store and leave the plant covered until you get home. #gardening #garden #poinsettia | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DRcYa78DJuA/ | 11/24/2025 | DRcYa78DJuA |
| Here is my tutorial for my easy winter container! #gardening #wintergarden #christmasvibes | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DRe9P6ljiaO/ | 11/25/2025 | DRe9P6ljiaO |
| I think it’s a good idea to have an area of your garden that is tucked out of sight where you stage plants and try them out before you put them in the garden. #gardeningtips #gardenideas #gardentips #garden | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DQrdUeZEifH/ | 11/26/2025 | DQrdUeZEifH |
| When it gets really cold outside in late fall/early winter that’s when we want to direct so native perennial seeds or any annual seeds that require a cold, damp stratification period. You don’t have to direct sow, you can sow seeds in the winter in a container. I will have a video on how to do the container, sewing using a milk jug in the next few weeks. before you do any winter sowing, you need to do some research and find out what type of germination code your seed has. The germination code will tell you what external environmental conditions must be met in order for the seed to germinate. Most seeds are either germination code A which only requires warm moist soil to germinate; or C which means they require a cold period before they will germinate. #gardening #nativeplants #nativeplantsofnorthamerica | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DRkG1ADjKzm/ | 11/27/2025 | DRkG1ADjKzm |
| Make sure you use hot water out of your tap, not boiling water, to water your fresh Christmas tree. And you don’t need to add any other type of amendments like 7-Up or aspirin or anything else just hot water. #christmas #christmastree #christmasdecor | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DRmrnBvjBMb/ | 11/28/2025 | DRmrnBvjBMb |
| I always leave it until the last minute, but as long as your soil is workable, you can still plant your spring blooming bulbs like daffodils, tulips, Hyacinth, etc. I usually leave at this late because there are such great markdowns on the price of bulbs in November. #garden #gardening #daffodil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DRndK-uEuhm/ | 11/28/2025 | DRndK-uEuhm |
| I love native ephemerals! The Prairie lily and the Michigan lily are showstoppers and huge pollinator magnets. I order mine bare root from prairiemoon.com in the summertime for delivery in the fall. #gardening #nativeplants #nativeplantsofnorthamerica | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DRpQabnDBVZ/ | 11/29/2025 | DRpQabnDBVZ |
| Hope you all find the time to enjoy nature in the winter. There’s so much architecture and structure that we don’t get to see easily in summer. And if you have a sidekick to take with you even better ❤️ | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DRr1KTgDAnd/ | 11/29/2025 | DRr1KTgDAnd |
| It’s time to get your materials together so we can build a mini greenhouse and winter so some seeds! You’ll need a reusable plastic container like a milk jug or a soda pop bottle. You’ll need some moistened soil and seeds for a perennial or an annual that requires cold stratification. I was able to order Native seeds from prairie moon.com and I also collected some swamp milkweed seeds from my garden back in September. #gardening #nativeplants #nativeplantsofnorthamerica | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DRtYLTtjBFS/ | 11/30/2025 | DRtYLTtjBFS |
| Coralberry, or Symphoricarpos orbiculatus, is a plant native to much of central and eastern North America. It gets 2 to 4 feet tall and can be 4 feet wide overtime. It can sucker and get wider. After year three, you could prune it down to the ground every year to keep it nice and low and compact. The flowers aren’t anything exciting, but they are great pollinators for native bees, and the leaves are host plants for lots of caterpillars, including the caterpillar of the hummingbird moth! The berries and fall and winter are excellent food sources for birds like robins. The berries are mildly toxic to humans of consumed in large amounts. They are also toxic to fish and Native Americans use that to their advantage by soaking lots of berries in rivers and lakes to Poison the fish so the fish would pop up to the surface to be harvested. Deer love to browse on this shrub. #gardening #garden #nativeplants #gardeningtips #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DQ4VWCGDDbq/ | 12/01/2025 | DQ4VWCGDDbq |
| Inspect your paperwhite bulbs for roots. After one week of adding water to your arrangement, you should see white roots, starting to push out from the base of the bulb. After seven days, if you don’t have any white roots, you should throw that bulb away. Going forward you only need to water to the height of the roots, not the height of the bulb that will protect the bulb from rot. #garden #gardening #gardeningtips | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DRuZ8P7ElSR/ | 12/02/2025 | DRuZ8P7ElSR |
| Bald Cypress or Taxodium distichum, is a native tree with a range from southern Florida to Northern Illinois. It can tolerate deep standing water and very dry soils. Researchers are recommending this tree since it is rated highly for adapting to climate change. It’s got a beautiful fine feathery green needles, and it loses those needles in the fall. It can be 50 to 70 feet tall and up to 30 feet wide depending on where you live. I like the very small narrow variety called Lindsey skyward bald Cypress, which only gets 25 feet tall and 10 feet wide. #nativeplants #tree #landscapedesign | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DRzjmOSDAbE/ | 12/03/2025 | DRzjmOSDAbE |
| Let’s round out the 2025 gardening season with the most amazing private garden I’ve ever seen! #nativeplants #landscapedesign #gardening | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DSFlJr1EgbY/ | 12/04/2025 | DSFlJr1EgbY |
| Today’s post is one of gratitude and celebration for the man who is behind the scenes and always the biggest cheerleader for me and Powers Plants. Happy 50th birthday to Mr Powers Plants! | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DR5ApUMjkTW/ | 12/05/2025 | DR5ApUMjkTW |
| Amaryllis bulbs can be used every year, so be careful when you are cutting back the spent flowers that you don’t damage any leaves. #amaryllis #gardening #garden | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DR7T9ifjuCh/ | 12/06/2025 | DR7T9ifjuCh |
| Amaryllis we have tend to grow towards light, just like many of your indoor house plants. With amaryllis in particular, the flowers can get top heavy and we don’t want them to fall over. It is a good idea to rotate your plants every couple of days so they don’t grow crooked. #Amaryllis #gardeningtips #gardening | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DR92ttSjnL0/ | 12/07/2025 | DR92ttSjnL0 |
| Amaryllis growing and wax have had all the liquid inside the bulb sealed inside. If you leave the wax on that water is eventually going to rot the bulb. If you wanna reuse the bulb, you’ve gotta get the wax off and right around the time the flowers are finished blooming is a good time to do it. You could’ve done it earlier. But when the wax comes off, you need to put it in soil, leaving the top 2 inches of the bulb showing. Water like a house plant when the top inch of soil dries out. Fertilizer according to your package instructions. Put the plant in a sunny window or under a grow light. Once the threat of frost in your area has passed, you could put the container outside and continue to water and fertilize as needed. Bring the bulb into a cool dark area and stop watering in early to mid August. That will put the bulb into dormancy and it needs to stay that way for 10 weeks. Then you can bring the container out of dormancy start watering and put the plant in a sunny window and eight weeks later, you will have blooms. #gardening #amaryllis #gardeningtips | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DR_Z7L2Dqg_/ | 12/07/2025 | DR_Z7L2Dqg_ |
| The garden centers have major markdown prices on spring blooming bulbs in the first week of January is your last chance to plant spring blooming bulbs in container containers for spring blooms. This is because spring blooming bulbs take 10 to 14 weeks of cold fertilization where temperatures need to be between 35 and 45°F consistently. if you live in a really cold zone like zone three or four, you can try Hyacinth since they can tolerate the most cold down to 25°F. Daffodils are the most forgiving bulb in the easiest for beginners. But you can also try crocus Muscari, tulips, daffodils, and hyacinth. Tulips are the least forgiving, but they’re so beautiful so I do lots of them anyway. If we get a lot of fluctuating warm temperatures over the winter tulips may not bloom very well in the spring. I can’t always respond to comments so for those of you that are experienced gardeners, please jump in and help as much as you can. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area from March until November. Click the link in my bio to learn more. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live near me. From plant selection and design, flowers to vegetables and of course, pruning, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com! My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back weekly during the season! #Tulips #daffodils #cutflowers | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DTLGnQMjLkV/ | 01/06/2026 | DTLGnQMjLkV |
| Amaryllis flowers will last longer if you remove the pollen covered answer when the flower opens. This will prevent the flower from being fertilized which will help your flowers last for several days longer. Once a plant is fertilized, it will no longer invest in the flower and start investing in seed production. I can’t always respond to comments so for those of you that are experienced gardeners, please jump in and help as much as you can. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area from March until November. Click the link in my bio to learn more. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live near me. From plant selection and design, flowers to vegetables and of course, pruning, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com! My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back weekly during the season! #Amaryllis #gardeningtips #cutflowers | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DTNy-SpDp_b/ | 01/07/2026 | DTNy-SpDp_b |
| You can use your refrigerator to mimic the cold vernalization period that bulbs like tulips require before they will bloom. Tulips need 14 weeks at a temperature range between 35 and 45°F. Refrigerators are usually about 43°F so they are perfect for bulb vernalization. I can’t always respond to comments so for those of you that are experienced gardeners, please jump in and help as much as you can. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area from March until November. Click the link in my bio to learn more. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live near me. From plant selection and design, flowers to vegetables and of course, pruning, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com! My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back weekly during the season! #Tulips #tulip #cutflowers | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DTQQMjMkmCC/ | 01/08/2026 | DTQQMjMkmCC |
| Boxwoods are broadleaf evergreens so they have a lot of surface area by which to lose moisture. Wind and direct sun accelerate moisture loss in the leaf. The winter burn happens because moisture is being evaporated out of the leaves faster than it can be replaced. It can’t replace the water very easily when the soil is frozen in the winter time. Best to plant your boxwoods where they’re not in direct afternoon sun and in locations that do not have a lot of wind. You can cut winter burn off in late winter early spring before the new spring growth starts. In Chicago that’s in March. I can’t always respond to comments so for those of you that are experienced gardeners, please jump in and help as much as you can. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area from March until November. Click the link in my bio to learn more. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live near me. From plant selection and design, flowers to vegetables and of course, pruning, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com! My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back weekly during the season! #boxwood #winter #gardeningtips | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DTS1CVeEqOC/ | 01/09/2026 | DTS1CVeEqOC |
| Paperwhites grown indoors don’t have very much stress to deal with, and therefore can get very tall, leggy and flop over. An easy trick to reduce the length of those stems by 30% is to add alcohol to the water right at the stage when the roots have already pushed out and there is more than 1 inch of stem growth. Use a clear alcohol like vodka and gin that is 40% alcohol by volume. We need to dilute that alcohol to 5% with a ratio of one part alcohol to seven parts water. I use one cup of vodka to 7 cups of water because I have a lot of containers of paperwhites. That made a total of 8 cups. Pour out all of the existing water in the container and fill the container below the height of the bulb with the alcohol mixture. For the remainder of the growth of that paperwhite continue to water with the alcohol mixture as needed. I can’t always respond to comments so for those of you that are experienced gardeners, please jump in and help as much as you can. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area from March until November. Click the link in my bio to learn more. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live near me. From plant selection and design, flowers to vegetables and of course, pruning, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com! My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back weekly during the season! #paperwhites #gardeningtips #gardeninglife | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DTeF_OcEmkf/ | 01/12/2026 | DTeF_OcEmkf |
| Spring blooming bulbs will often put out green leaves and even roots under the ground to get themselves established. Sometimes they’ll even put some green stems or leaves above the soil a few inches tall in the winter time. They are just getting a little head start on their growth for spring. They will hold off and bloom in the spring. They need 14 weeks of cold temperatures before they will bloom. I can’t always respond to comments so for those of you that are experienced gardeners, please jump in and help as much as you can. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area from March until November. Click the link in my bio to learn more. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live near me. From plant selection and design, flowers to vegetables and of course, pruning, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com! My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back weekly during the season! #daffodil #cutflowers #gardeningtips | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DTVZwXfjjgI/ | 01/13/2026 | DTVZwXfjjgI |
| Amaryllis require full direct sunlight all day long during the growing season in order to photosynthesis enough energy to produce a flower the following year. If you’re trying to force the plant to bloom at a certain time, it must go through a dormancy phase and that dormancy phase must be dark and cool. There must be no water and the temperature should be below 60° ideally 55°F. I can’t always respond to comments so for those of you that are experienced gardeners, please jump in and help as much as you can. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area from March until November. Click the link in my bio to learn more. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live near me. From plant selection and design, flowers to vegetables and of course, pruning, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com! My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back weekly during the season! #Amaryllis #gardeningtips #cutflowers | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DTX-mbCjCfY/ | 01/14/2026 | DTX-mbCjCfY |
| January is a great time to call an arborist if you are growing shade trees. It is very important that trees get pruned for structure to avoid any splitting long-term. Arborist know how to select the best branches and the best leaders on trees for long-term health. These trees are a big investment and it’s important to do preventative maintenance on them so they last a long time. I can’t always respond to comments so for those of you that are experienced gardeners, please jump in and help as much as you can. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area from March until November. Click the link in my bio to learn more. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live near me. From plant selection and design, flowers to vegetables and of course, pruning, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com! My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back weekly during the season! #gardening #tree #treepruning | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DTjPjLRjNSO/ | 01/15/2026 | DTjPjLRjNSO |
| Amaryllis bulbs can be reused. We need to charge the bulb with sunshine on green leaves, fertilizer, water (don’t over water!) and then dormancy in August. Dormancy means bringing the plant into a dark, cool (55 degrees F) room and stop watering the plant completely. Leave it in dormancy for 10 weeks and then put the bulb somewhere warm and the plant should bloom in 8 weeks. I can’t always respond to comments so for those of you that are experienced gardeners, please jump in and help as much as you can. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area from March until November. Click the link in my bio to learn more. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live near me. From plant selection and design, flowers to vegetables and of course, pruning, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com! My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back weekly during the season! #amaryllis #gardening #gardeningtips | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DTk2lJNDMIz/ | 01/16/2026 | DTk2lJNDMIz |
| Amaryllis bulbs are so large that they have everything they need to produce multiple stems and flower buds in a growing season. A healthy amaryllis bulb doesn’t even need water and it can put out all kinds of flowers. Paperwhites on the other hand are very small bulbs and they will not put out a stem or flowers without consistent, moisture the entire growing cycle. You also cannot use the alcohol technique that we use with paper wipes to stunt stem growth on an amaryllis. I can’t always respond to comments so for those of you that are experienced gardeners, please jump in and help as much as you can. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area from March until November. Click the link in my bio to learn more. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live near me. From plant selection and design, flowers to vegetables and of course, pruning, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com! My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back weekly during the season! #Amaryllis #gardening #gardeningtips | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DTtiwIaEh0A/ | 01/17/2026 | DTtiwIaEh0A |
| Fungus gnats are a nuisance! They love laying their eggs and moist soil so make sure you let the top inch of soil completely dry out in between watering. I can’t always respond to comments so for those of you that are experienced gardeners, please jump in and help as much as you can. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area from March until November. Click the link in my bio to learn more. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live near me. From plant selection and design, flowers to vegetables and of course, pruning, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com! My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back weekly during the season! #gardening #plants #houseplant | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DTvJrNmjDDU/ | 01/18/2026 | DTvJrNmjDDU |
| If there is still cold winter temperatures near you, you can still winter sow native seeds outside. Check out my milk, jug, sewing tutorial that I posted in December. Today’s video is showing you how to use your refrigerator and either a Ziploc bag or a sealed Tupperware container to create a cold moist environment for any seed that requires cold stratification. I can’t always respond to comments so for those of you that are experienced gardeners, please jump in and help as much as you can. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area from March until November. Click the link in my bio to learn more. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live near me. From plant selection and design, flowers to vegetables and of course, pruning, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com! My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back weekly during the season! #Garden #nativeplants #nativeseeds | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DTsk5aWjkPo/ | 01/19/2026 | DTsk5aWjkPo |
| Coarse sand, vermiculite or any other gritty material makes a great cover over your soil to prevent adult fungus gnat flies from laying eggs in the soil. Yellow sticky traps are also a great thing for keeping the adult fly population down. I also put a few out before I see any flies as a way for me to monitor and see if I even have any. I can’t always respond to comments so for those of you that are experienced gardeners, please jump in and help as much as you can. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area from March until November. Click the link in my bio to learn more. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live near me. From plant selection and design, flowers to vegetables and of course, pruning, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com! My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back weekly during the season! #gardening #garden #houseplants | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DTvJr1DDBe-/ | 01/20/2026 | DTvJr1DDBe- |
| BTI is an organic naturally occurring bacteria. When mosquito black fly or fungus larva eat that bacteria they die. You can sprinkle mosquito bits or crumbled up mosquito dunks, and sprinkle that around the top of your soil and every time you water through the top, it will release the bacteria. in order to make the BTI tea, put 2 tablespoons of the mosquito bits in some cheese cloth or a mesh bag, let that soak in a gallon of water in your watering container for 30 to 60 minutes. Remove the BTI product and dispose. Water your plants with this mixture for 4-5 weeks. I can’t always respond to comments so for those of you that are experienced gardeners, please jump in and help as much as you can. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area from March until November. Click the link in my bio to learn more. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live near me. From plant selection and design, flowers to vegetables and of course, pruning, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com! My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back weekly during the season! #gardening #seedling #houseplants | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DTxuf86DO4E/ | 01/21/2026 | DTxuf86DO4E |
| 3% hydrogen peroxide, diluted, and water creates a solution that will kill any fungus gnat eggs or larva on contact. You want to only use the solution weekly and not more often than that or you could damage your soil and plant roots. Pair this with one of my options for dealing with adult fungus gnat flies like yellow sticky traps, or gritty vermiculite / sand on top of the soil surface, and now you have a way to control the adult flies and stop them from laying more eggs, while killing any eggs that are existing in the soil. I can’t always respond to comments so for those of you that are experienced gardeners, please jump in and help as much as you can. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area from March until November. Click the link in my bio to learn more. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live near me. From plant selection and design, flowers to vegetables and of course, pruning, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com! My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back weekly during the season! #gardening #garden #houseplants | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DT0TT0RDpu2/ | 01/22/2026 | DT0TT0RDpu2 |
| Pasteurizing your soil means heating it up and consistently keeping the temperature between 140 and 160°F for 45 minutes. I do this in an oven that has been preheated to 170°F. If your oven only goes to 200°F that’s fine. You’re just gonna need to check it more often to make sure the soil temperature doesn’t go above 160°F. In my case, three trays of room temperature soil took one hour to reach 140°F. Then I set the timer for 45 minutes and check it every 15 or 20 just to make sure the temperature isn’t going above 160 degrees Fahrenheit. I can’t always respond to comments so for those of you that are experienced gardeners, please jump in and help as much as you can. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area from March until November. Click the link in my bio to learn more. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live near me. From plant selection and design, flowers to vegetables and of course, pruning, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com! My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back weekly during the season! #gardening #garden #soil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DT24G-wDIX4/ | 01/23/2026 | DT24G-wDIX4 |
| We get fungus nets when we bring in new plants or new soil into our house. You have to assume that all bags of soil have fungus gnats in them and you have to assume that all new plants have fungus net eggs in the soil. Quarantine new plants in a separate room away from your existing house plants and water with either the BTI or hydrogen peroxide solutions I posted in my previous videos. I also pasteurize all new potting soil or seed starting mixtures in the oven following part five of this video series. I can’t always respond to comments so for those of you that are experienced gardeners, please jump in and help as much as you can. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area from March until November. Click the link in my bio to learn more. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live near me. From plant selection and design, flowers to vegetables and of course, pruning, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com! My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back weekly during the season! #houseplants #gardening #gardeningtips | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DT5c8cxjjEu/ | 01/24/2026 | DT5c8cxjjEu |
| There are lots of approaches you need to take when bringing plants into your house or when dealing with an existing fungus gnat problem. Check out the first five videos in the series at the top of my page to get directions about exactly what to do for each of the solutions I talk about in this video. I can’t always respond to comments so for those of you that are experienced gardeners, please jump in and help as much as you can. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area from March until November. Click the link in my bio to learn more. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live near me. From plant selection and design, flowers to vegetables and of course, pruning, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com! My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back weekly during the season! #gardening #houseplants #gardeninglife | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DT8BuZzjk9M/ | 01/26/2026 | DT8BuZzjk9M |
| To take the guest work out of when to start your seeds I have a seed starting Calculator on my website at http://PowersPlants.com/seeds or click the link in my bio. I can’t always respond to comments so for those of you that are experienced gardeners, please jump in and help as much as you can. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area from March until November. Click the link in my bio to learn more. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live near me. From plant selection and design, flowers to vegetables and of course, pruning, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com! My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back weekly during the season! #cutflower #vegetables #gardening | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DUL5NBGDrii/ | 01/31/2026 | DUL5NBGDrii |
| Make sure you plant your seeds in a medium/mixture that does not have soil in it. Read the ingredients label and try as hard as you can to find products that do not have peat moss in them. If you also can, and this is a little harder to find, get products that also don’t have vermiculite or perlite in them. Vermiculite in particular is not good for the environment the way that it is mined, and per light is also mine, although it is not as bad for the environment as vermiculite is. I can’t always respond to comments so for those of you that are experienced gardeners, please jump in and help as much as you can. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area from March until November. Click the link in my bio to learn more. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live near me. From plant selection and design, flowers to vegetables and of course, pruning, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com! My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back weekly during the season! #gardening #vegetables #gardeningtips | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DUPA25KjGSR/ | 02/01/2026 | DUPA25KjGSR |
| You’re gonna have to decide what you want to grow your seedlings in. I’m gonna shift towards soil blocking this year. I hope we can all call our garden centers and start demanding peat free gardening products. Makes more sense that we should be using compost since it’s readily available worldwide and we don’t need to ship it from anywhere. I can’t always respond to comments so for those of you that are experienced gardeners, please jump in and help as much as you can. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area from March until November. Click the link in my bio to learn more. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live near me. From plant selection and design, flowers to vegetables and of course, pruning, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com! My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back weekly during the season! #gardening #seeds #vegetables | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DUR6CesjJBj/ | 02/02/2026 | DUR6CesjJBj |
| If you are reusing any seeds starting equipment, you need to first brush the debris off while the item is dry then wash the item and warm soapy water. Next sanitize with either a one-to-one peroxide, water mixture for 10 minutes, or a one part bleach to nine part water mixture for 10 minutes and then rinse thoroughly afterwards. You also could just spray rubbing alcohol all over the surfaces. Regardless of which three sanitizing options you use let all of the equipment completely dry out and do not stack wet equipment on top of each other. I can’t always respond to comments so for those of you that are experienced gardeners, please jump in and help as much as you can. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area from March until November. Click the link in my bio to learn more. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live near me. From plant selection and design, flowers to vegetables and of course, pruning, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com! My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back weekly during the season! #gardening #gardeningtips #garden | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DUXFDDHDOmy/ | 02/04/2026 | DUXFDDHDOmy |
| Smaller containers, make it easier to control moisture when starting seeds. The more seed starting medium, you have in the container the more chances you have for disease since you need to keep that much medium damp for a long time. You will also get healthier roots! I can’t always respond to comments so for those of you that are experienced gardeners, please jump in and help as much as you can. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area from March until November. Click the link in my bio to learn more. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live near me. From plant selection and design, flowers to vegetables and of course, pruning, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com! My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back weekly during the season! #gardening #garden #gardeningtips | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DUYB1GGjJzf/ | 02/05/2026 | DUYB1GGjJzf |
| You don’t need a grow light I grew seedlings on my kitchen counter in front of a window for more than 10 years and the seedlings all transplanted just fine! However, there are some advantages to growing seedlings under a grow light, and that includes bigger transplants! Get an LED light that is a broad spectrum around 5000 to 6500 K. It will make your life easier if you have a light that is adjustable in height at both ends. I can’t always respond to comments so for those of you that are experienced gardeners, please jump in and help as much as you can. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area from March until November. Click the link in my bio to learn more. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live near me. From plant selection and design, flowers to vegetables and of course, pruning, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com! My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back weekly during the season! #gardening #garden | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DUa7SrBjLYF/ | 02/06/2026 | DUa7SrBjLYF |
| February is for: -planning any landscape projects you want to do in Spring -selecting in buying seeds for annuals -washing and sanitizing your seed starting supplies -purchase seed starting mix -sharpen and clean your pruning tools I can’t always respond to comments so for those of you that are experienced gardeners, please jump in and help as much as you can. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area from March until November. Click the link in my bio to learn more. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live near me. From plant selection and design, flowers to vegetables and of course, pruning, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com! My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back weekly during the season! #gardening #garden #february | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DUdgBbCjAtt/ | 02/07/2026 | DUdgBbCjAtt |
| Even though two different annuals want to go outside at the same time, doesn’t mean you start them at the same time. Each seed takes a different amount of time to germinate and then a different rate of speed that they grow. These need to be taken into account when starting your seeds. Rather than have to do all the math yourself go to powersplants.com/seeds and there is a seed starting calculator there that does all the math for you! I can’t always respond to comments so for those of you that are experienced gardeners, please jump in and help as much as you can. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area from March until November. Click the link in my bio to learn more. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live near me. From plant selection and design, flowers to vegetables and of course, pruning, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com! My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back weekly during the season! #gardening #garden #gardeningtips | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DUgEzjcjFmK/ | 02/08/2026 | DUgEzjcjFmK |
| I’m so tired of not knowing enough about where my water comes from, storm water changing precipitation around the world, so I asked my son’s hydrology professor if he would let me interview him. We scheduled 90 minutes and talked for almost 3 hours! My mind was blown about how little I know. I hope many of you listen to this interview and learn something too. There’s much we can do in our gardens to help. I can’t always respond to comments so for those of you that are experienced gardeners, please jump in and help as much as you can. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area from March until November. Click the link in my bio to learn more. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live near me. From plant selection and design, flowers to vegetables and of course, pruning, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com! My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back weekly during the season! #water #storm #gardening | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DUipodrjE_4/ | 02/09/2026 | DUipodrjE_4 |
| The organic matter that is prominent in seed, starting mixes is hydrophobic when it dries out. So pre-soak your seeds, starting medium and water. Make sure everything is fully hydrated and if you have any excess water, just squeeze the water out before you put it in your seed starting container. I can’t always respond to comments so for those of you that are experienced gardeners, please jump in and help as much as you can. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area from March until November. Click the link in my bio to learn more. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live near me. From plant selection and design, flowers to vegetables and of course, pruning, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com! My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back weekly during the season! #gardening #garden #gardeningtips | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DUipmL6jOBp/ | 02/09/2026 | DUipmL6jOBp |
| Be sure to read the back of the package to figure out exactly what conditions your particular seed needs in order to germinate. Some seeds need several weeks in the refrigerator. Some seeds can only be surface zone along the top of the seed starting mix not buried. Some seeds do not want to be transplanted and they need to be started in a compostable container. I can’t always respond to comments so for those of you that are experienced gardeners, please jump in and help as much as you can. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area from March until November. Click the link in my bio to learn more. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live near me. From plant selection and design, flowers to vegetables and of course, pruning, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com! My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back weekly during the season! #gardening #garden #gardeningtips | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DUlOdEDDAoZ/ | 02/10/2026 | DUlOdEDDAoZ |
| BirdCount.org to learn more about the Global Backyard Bird Count! I can’t always respond to comments so for those of you that are experienced gardeners, please jump in and help as much as you can. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area from March until November. Click the link in my bio to learn more. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live near me. From plant selection and design, flowers to vegetables and of course, pruning, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com! My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back weekly during the season! #birdsonearth #bird #birdconservation | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DUnzM4Jko-I/ | 02/11/2026 | DUnzM4Jko-I |
| The video of Doug Tallamy was posted by @nurture.native.nature Here is the link to their reel: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DUjU2DDCEn4/?igsh=YmpnNGM4cHk1OWZ4 My Feeders are from the company Brome. I have the squirrel buster plus seed feeder, which is dishwasher safe. | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DUqYDfWjEGx/ | 02/12/2026 | DUqYDfWjEGx |
| Don’t forget to clean and sanitize your birdfeeders every 2 to 3 weeks. The first thing you need to do is dump out any seed that has been sitting in the container for two weeks. Then we take the feeder apart wash it in warm soapy, water to remove any grime. Then we soak in a 10% bleach solution. That’s one part bleach to nine parts of water. I make a 9% bleach solution using 3 cups bleach to 2 gallons of water. Let the components soak in that solution for 15 minutes, then rinse them thoroughly. Let them fully dry out before assembling the feeder and filling with food. I can’t always respond to comments so for those of you that are experienced gardeners, please jump in and help as much as you can. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area from March until November. Click the link in my bio to learn more. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live near me. From plant selection and design, flowers to vegetables and of course, pruning, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com! My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back weekly during the season! #birding #birdfeeder #gardeninglife | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DUs8012DLQP/ | 02/13/2026 | DUs8012DLQP |
| A warm day in February is a good day to check your winter containers and clean up any dead boughs. Also a good time to make note of the ones that look great and the ones that don’t, so you can make more informed decisions next year. I can’t always respond to comments so for those of you that are experienced gardeners, please jump in and help as much as you can. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area from March until November. Click the link in my bio to learn more. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live near me. From plant selection and design, flowers to vegetables and of course, pruning, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com! My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back weekly during the season! #containergardening #wintercontainers #gardeningtips | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DUqYBKZkqNY/ | 02/14/2026 | DUqYBKZkqNY |
| Does your seed need to be direct sown outdoors? You can start them indoors but only in a compostable container! I can’t always respond to comments so for those of you that are experienced gardeners, please jump in and help as much as you can. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area from March until November. Click the link in my bio to learn more. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live near me. From plant selection and design, flowers to vegetables and of course, pruning, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com! My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back weekly during the season! #gardening #garden #gardeningtips | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DUqX9qHjODy/ | 02/15/2026 | DUqX9qHjODy |
| Soil blocking is an awesome way to build healthy seedlings. It also eliminates the need to buy containers and if you already have containers, it’s a great way to not have to bother cleaning them and sanitizing them anymore. It’s also a great way to stop using so much plastic. I have a full soil blocking tutorial on my YouTube channel: YouTube.com/@PowersPlants Subscribe to me on YouTube to grow smarter! I can’t always respond to comments so for those of you that are experienced gardeners, please jump in and help as much as you can. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area from March until November. Click the link in my bio to learn more. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live near me. From plant selection and design, flowers to vegetables and of course, pruning, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com! My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back weekly during the season! #gardening #garden #gardeningtips | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DUs81GIDJ-3/ | 02/16/2026 | DUs81GIDJ-3 |
| Plastic domes are not a good idea. If you use one remove it as soon as the seeds sprout! I can’t always respond to comments so for those of you that are experienced gardeners, please jump in and help as much as you can. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area from March until November. Click the link in my bio to learn more. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live near me. From plant selection and design, flowers to vegetables and of course, pruning, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com! My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back weekly during the season! #gardening #garden #gardeningtips | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DUnzPMcjB3H/ | 02/17/2026 | DUnzPMcjB3H |
| For Hardy annuals that thrive in cool soil conditions, you can sow seeds in a Ziploc bag with some drainage holes in the bottom and some moist potting soil inside. Leave a few inches unzipped at the top for airflow. Put them outside in a sunny location and you’re good to go! I can’t always respond to comments so for those of you that are experienced gardeners, please jump in and help as much as you can. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area from March until November. Click the link in my bio to learn more. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live near me. From plant selection and design, flowers to vegetables and of course, pruning, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com! My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back weekly during the season! #gardening #garden #gardeningtips | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DU50xGukg_7/ | 02/18/2026 | DU50xGukg_7 |
| When you’re growing environment for your amaryllis bulbs is great, you will see the bulb getting firmer and bigger within a month of potting it up. I can’t always respond to comments so for those of you that are experienced gardeners, please jump in and help as much as you can. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area from March until November. Click the link in my bio to learn more. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live near me. From plant selection and design, flowers to vegetables and of course, pruning, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com! My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back weekly during the season! #amaryllis #gardening #garden | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DU8ZmFEkgc_/ | 02/19/2026 | DU8ZmFEkgc_ |
| Cold hardy annuals like spinach, lettuce, arugula, kale, collard greens and cilantro are all easy to grow seeds in a Ziploc bag greenhouse. Put the little greenhouse in a sunny location outdoors in the winter and the seeds will germinate wind conditions are perfect. I can’t always respond to comments so for those of you that are experienced gardeners, please jump in and help as much as you can. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area from March until November. Click the link in my bio to learn more. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live near me. From plant selection and design, flowers to vegetables and of course, pruning, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com! My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back weekly during the season! #gardening #garden #gardeningtips | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DU–aFkElPz/ | 02/20/2026 | DU–aFkElPz |
| Orchids need to be pruned after blooming. If your stem is completely brown and dried out, cut it all the way to the base without damaging the leaves or crown of the plant. If your stem is still green and healthy, cut it half an inch above a closed node. I can’t always respond to comments so for those of you that are experienced gardeners, please jump in and help as much as you can. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area from March until November. Click the link in my bio to learn more. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live near me. From plant selection and design, flowers to vegetables and of course, pruning, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com! My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back weekly during the season! #gardening #garden #gardeningtips | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DVBjJYuEn4T/ | 02/21/2026 | DVBjJYuEn4T |
| When amaryllis bulbs are big and healthy they will start to produce baby bulbs. If for some reason, your bulb is unhealthy you should cut the baby bulbs off so that they don’t take energy away from your bulb while it heals and repairs. Otherwise I think it’s a good idea to leave those baby bulbs until they’re about 3 inches across and then you can cut them off and pop them up separately or give them his gifts. I can’t always respond to comments so for those of you that are experienced gardeners, please jump in and help as much as you can. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area from March until November. Click the link in my bio to learn more. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live near me. From plant selection and design, flowers to vegetables and of course, pruning, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com! My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back weekly during the season! #amaryllis #garden #gardening | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DVEH9h-kltS/ | 02/22/2026 | DVEH9h-kltS |
| Mealy bugs spread fast so as soon as you see any white cottony material growing on your stems or leaves of your plants, use a cotton swab, dipped in rubbing alcohol to remove it right away. Quarantine plants to be sure that the mealy bugs don’t crawl onto any other plants while you manage the problem. Spray neem oil or insecticidal soap around the infected plant and allow any excess oil or soap to drain off so that it doesn’t sit and cause rot inside the crevices of your plant. I can’t always respond to comments so for those of you that are experienced gardeners, please jump in and help as much as you can. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area from March until November. Click the link in my bio to learn more. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live near me. From plant selection and design, flowers to vegetables and of course, pruning, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com! My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back weekly during the season! #gardening #houseplants #amaryllis | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DVGst_zkl5x/ | 02/23/2026 | DVGst_zkl5x |
| Get yourself a fan to blow a light breeze across your seedlings to strengthen them and prevent disease. I can’t always respond to comments so for those of you that are experienced gardeners, please jump in and help as much as you can. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area from March until November. Click the link in my bio to learn more. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live near me. From plant selection and design, flowers to vegetables and of course, pruning, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com! My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back weekly during the season! #gardening #garden #arlingtonheightsillinois | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DVJVfeCjueT/ | 02/24/2026 | DVJVfeCjueT |
| Spring Bloomers: Forsythia magnolia Weigela Cherry trees and shrubs Vernal witch hazel Fothergilla flowering quince Viburnum Cornelius and Cherry flowering dogwood Lilac Redbud Azalea Rhododendron Ninebark I can’t always respond to comments so for those of you that are experienced gardeners, please jump in and help as much as you can. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area from March until November. Click the link in my bio to learn more. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live near me. From plant selection and design, flowers to vegetables and of course, pruning, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com! My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back weekly during the season! #gardening #pruning #gardeningtips | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DVgk86_jrNx/ | 03/05/2026 | DVgk86_jrNx |
| Smooth leaf hydrangeas, like Annabelle, Incrediball, Invincibelle, and others, are best pruned in late Winter/Early Spring. Once the plant has been in the ground for three whole years, you have two options to prune it: cut every stem completely down to the ground. This results in bigger flowers, but stems that are not woody mean those flowers are going to flop. Your other option is to wait until the leaves come out and cut the stems above a green leafy node. Those nodes are going to produce new stems with flowers on them and since they’re attached to last year‘s woody stem there will be more structure and you will have less flopping. I can’t always respond to comments so for those of you that are experienced gardeners, please jump in and help as much as you can. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area from March until November. Click the link in my bio to learn more. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live near me. From plant selection and design, flowers to vegetables and of course, pruning, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com! My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back weekly during the season! #gardening #garden #hydrangea | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DVlfYkWkVxv/ | 03/07/2026 | DVlfYkWkVxv |
| It’s a good idea to monitor the level of precipitation your region is receiving, so you can make adjustments in watering plants that require more soil moisture. U.S. Drought Monitor https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu Canadian Drought Monitor https://agriculture.canada.ca/en/agricultural-production/weather/canadian-drought-monitor I can’t always respond to comments so for those of you that are experienced gardeners, please jump in and help as much as you can. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area from March until November. Click the link in my bio to learn more. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live near me. From plant selection and design, flowers to vegetables and of course, pruning, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com! My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back weekly during the season! #gardening #garden #drought | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DVpE2wtj6qW/ | 03/08/2026 | DVpE2wtj6qW |
| Roses love to be pruned. Any shrub roses like knockout roses, or carpet roses should be pruned in late winter/early spring before the green leaves start pushing out. #roses #rosesofinstagram #garden | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DVqiJ94gMGS/ | 03/09/2026 | DVqiJ94gMGS |
| Late winter/early spring is when we want to prune woody shrubs and trees, but it is not time to cut back your perennials until it is much warmer consistently. 50°F during the day is a good gauge of when you should start cutting back. There will be insects already emerged at that point and there will be more left to come, but that’s a good rule of thumb. I can’t always respond to comments so for those of you that are experienced gardeners, please jump in and help as much as you can. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area from March until November. Click the link in my bio to learn more. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live near me. From plant selection and design, flowers to vegetables and of course, pruning, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com! My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back weekly during the season! #gardening #garden #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DVtG-atFIuN/ | 03/10/2026 | DVtG-atFIuN |
| Late winter is a great time to prune boxwoods. We don’t prune trees and shrubs until they’ve been in the location in the ground for three whole years, but that doesn’t count when we are cutting back dead tissue like this winter burn on boxwoods. If your boxwoods are more than three years old, go ahead and do any necessary pruning at the same time as removing the winter burn. I can’t always respond to comments so for those of you that are experienced gardeners, please jump in and help as much as you can. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area from March until November. Click the link in my bio to learn more. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live near me. From plant selection and design, flowers to vegetables and of course, pruning, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com! My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back weekly during the season! #gardening #garden #gardeningtips | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DVvrx7MkasR/ | 03/11/2026 | DVvrx7MkasR |
| When the sprouts on your bulbs are 1 to 3 inches tall, they need sunlight. Put the container outside in the sun and bring it indoors. If temperatures are below 25°F for the first week. After a week you can leave them out full-time and only bring them in if temperatures go below 20°F. I can’t always respond to comments so for those of you that are experienced gardeners, please jump in and help as much as you can. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area from March until November. Click the link in my bio to learn more. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live near me. From plant selection and design, flowers to vegetables and of course, pruning, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com! My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back weekly during the season! #gardening #garden #tulips | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DVyQj3HgG3n/ | 03/12/2026 | DVyQj3HgG3n |
| In October, when I told you all about the Spearhead Spade, you purchased more than 1000 of them! So many of you have messaged me saying that you love it as much as I do. Thank you for supporting small business. SpearHeadSpade.com Coupon Code: PowersPlants10 I may earn a commission of sales made with my coupon code. | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DV01Ru3DySs/ | 03/13/2026 | DV01Ru3DySs |
| Late winter early spring is the best time to prune roses, including climbing roses. If the leaf buds are just starting to open, that is OK you can now see which stems have leaves coming out and which ones don’t. I can’t always respond to comments so for those of you that are experienced gardeners, please jump in and help as much as you can. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area from March until November. Click the link in my bio to learn more. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live near me. From plant selection and design, flowers to vegetables and of course, pruning, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com! My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back weekly during the season! #roses #rose #gardening | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DV3aKrWkTxn/ | 03/14/2026 | DV3aKrWkTxn |
| Big Leaf / Macrophylla, and Mountain Hydrangeas / Serrata, are hydrangeas that should not be pruned. Put them in a location where they can grow to their largest size without needing to be pruned. Most of these modern varieties have flower buds set on them and they sit there all winter and try to survive. They also bloom on brand new stems that get pushed out of the ground. What happens in much of the Midwest is that those flower buds don’t survive the winter and you only get the two or three flower buds that come from the new stems out of the ground. I can’t always respond to comments so for those of you that are experienced gardeners, please jump in and help as much as you can. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area from March until November. Click the link in my bio to learn more. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live near me. From plant selection and design, flowers to vegetables and of course, pruning, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com! My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back weekly during the season! #Hydrangea #gardening #garden | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DV5-6_GkWus/ | 03/15/2026 | DV5-6_GkWus |
| Much of the decorative wood elements we use in our winter containers outside can be reused for many years. Birch poles, curly willow stems, red twig dogwood stems, pinecones, and any decorative Christmas ornaments you added too! You need to let them dry out before you store them. I stored mine in a box in the garage. The birch pole stems in pine cones that I have in my containers are eight years old and going strong! I can’t always respond to comments so for those of you that are experienced gardeners, please jump in and help as much as you can. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area from March until November. Click the link in my bio to learn more. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live near me. From plant selection and design, flowers to vegetables and of course, pruning, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com! My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back weekly during the season! #gardening #garden #gardeningtips | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DV8jxGrgHHK/ | 03/16/2026 | DV8jxGrgHHK |
| Nine Burke is a spring bloomer which means it has flower buds set all winter for this Spring’s flowers. So if you prune it now, you are going to be cutting off flower buds. So you can wait until it blooms and then prune it. Or if you don’t mind losing some flowers, you can go ahead and prune it before it blooms. This shrub also loves to be completely rejuvenated, every stem down to the ground. By the end of the summer, you’ll have 3 to 4 feet of new growth. I can’t always respond to comments so for those of you that are experienced gardeners, please jump in and help as much as you can. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area from March until November. Click the link in my bio to learn more. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live near me. From plant selection and design, flowers to vegetables and of course, pruning, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com! My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back weekly during the season! #gardening #pruning #garden | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DV_Ih3PD3IY/ | 03/17/2026 | DV_Ih3PD3IY |
| Rabbits climbed up on the snow and ate lots of my viburnum. It’s a good idea to make fresh cuts above a bud to eliminate any chances for disease from jagged, sharp cuts from an animal. I can’t always respond to comments so for those of you that are experienced gardeners, please jump in and help as much as you can. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area from March until November. Click the link in my bio to learn more. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live near me. From plant selection and design, flowers to vegetables and of course, pruning, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com! My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back weekly during the season! #gardening #garden #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DWBtTSygOu1/ | 03/18/2026 | DWBtTSygOu1 |
| Boxwood bronzing is not harmful to the plant it is just lacking chlorophyll. The chlorophyll will come back once the spring warms up more so you do not need to prune this away. I can’t always respond to comments so for those of you that are experienced gardeners, please jump in and help as much as you can. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area from March until November. Click the link in my bio to learn more. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live near me. From plant selection and design, flowers to vegetables and of course, pruning, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com! My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back weekly during the season! #gardening #garden #gardeningtips | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DWE2qPFDs4W/ | 03/19/2026 | DWE2qPFDs4W |
| Weeping Japanese maple should be pruned after they have been in that location in the ground for three whole years. We prune in late winter before the spring growth starts and those leaf buds start pushing out. I needed to do a lot of pruning on this because it was the first time my tree was pruned. I uploaded the full video on my youtube page. Click the link in my bio. I can’t always respond to comments so for those of you that are experienced gardeners, please jump in and help as much as you can. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area from March until November. Click the link in my bio to learn more. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live near me. From plant selection and design, flowers to vegetables and of course, pruning, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com! My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back weekly during the season! #japanesemaple #gardening #garden | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DWHLl1xDszs/ | 03/20/2026 | DWHLl1xDszs |
| Prune Japanese Maples before the spring growth starts or after when the leaves have fully opened. Use some string now when it is easy to see the stems then you will easily know what to cut when the leaves are fully opened. I can’t always respond to comments so for those of you that are experienced gardeners, please jump in and help as much as you can. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area from March until November. Click the link in my bio to learn more. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live near me. From plant selection and design, flowers to vegetables and of course, pruning, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com! My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back weekly during the season! #gardening #garden #gardeningtips | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DWJbvL5vdVw/ | 03/21/2026 | DWJbvL5vdVw |
| Boxwoods and Yews can be cut back hard in late winter/early spring before the buds start growing. In Chicago that’s March. If your boxwoods are really stressed out, it’s not a good idea to cut them and stress them out more. So in order to get them ready to cut them back hard the following year cut windows in the top to let some green growth get started on the inside so next year when you cut it back hard, you’ll already have some green in there to cut back too. I can’t always respond to comments so for those of you that are experienced gardeners, please jump in and help as much as you can. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area from March until November. Click the link in my bio to learn more. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live near me. From plant selection and design, flowers to vegetables and of course, pruning, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com! My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back weekly during the season! #gardening #garden #gardeningtips | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DWMAhmFP9P7/ | 03/22/2026 | DWMAhmFP9P7 |
| There is a native wild hydrangea called Hydrangea Aborescens and it has lace cap flowers. Those small internal florettes contain pollen and nectar for insects. Annabelle hydrangeas do not have much of that which is why we don’t see pollinators on our Annabelle hydrangeas usually. I can’t always respond to comments so for those of you that are experienced gardeners, please jump in and help as much as you can. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area from March until November. Click the link in my bio to learn more. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live near me. From plant selection and design, flowers to vegetables and of course, pruning, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com! My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back weekly during the season! #hydrangea #garden #nativeplants | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DWPTnpMkQqZ/ | 03/23/2026 | DWPTnpMkQqZ |
| You have to know what type of hydrangea you have before you can prune them. I can’t always respond to comments so for those of you that are experienced gardeners, please jump in and help as much as you can. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area from March until November. Click the link in my bio to learn more. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live near me. From plant selection and design, flowers to vegetables and of course, pruning, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com! My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back weekly during the season! #hydrangea #gardening #garden | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DWTm2l2jjFD/ | 03/25/2026 | DWTm2l2jjFD |
| Lime light, quick fire pinky winky hydrangeas come from the Panicle type hydrangea family. We prune them in late winter before the bud start pushing out for the spring growth. You can hard prune this back. If you have some tall, vertical stems, you can keep some of those as well to give you some structure that doesn’t flop as much. These plants are very vigorous and once they are established in the ground for more than three whole years, you can pretty much prune them however you want. And remember giant flowers when they get wet from a summer rain storm are gonna get really heavy and bend towards the ground. Some of that is a little bit inevitable. I can’t always respond to comments so for those of you that are experienced gardeners, please jump in and help as much as you can. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area from March until November. Click the link in my bio to learn more. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live near me. From plant selection and design, flowers to vegetables and of course, pruning, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com! My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back weekly during the season! #hydrangea #gardening #garden | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DWWo94ZEaO7/ | 03/26/2026 | DWWo94ZEaO7 |
| Organic mulches that decompose are the best mulches. Using stone is only recommended if you live somewhere with fire risk. I can’t always respond to comments so for those of you that are experienced gardeners, please jump in and help as much as you can. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area from March until November. Click the link in my bio to learn more. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live near me. From plant selection and design, flowers to vegetables and of course, pruning, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com! My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back weekly during the season! #mulch #gardening #garden | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DWZGOUBhnwi/ | 03/27/2026 | DWZGOUBhnwi |
| You don’t need to add three inches of mulch every year. You just need three inches total including what is left from last year. | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DWbrBVqBT98/ | 03/28/2026 | DWbrBVqBT98 |
| Plant an understory layer of native shrubs now and get the privacy started, then when you remove the buckthorn you aren’t left with no separation. I can’t always respond to comments so for those of you that are experienced gardeners, please jump in and help as much as you can. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area from March until November. Click the link in my bio to learn more. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live near me. From plant selection and design, flowers to vegetables and of course, pruning, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com! My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back weekly during the season! #Buckthorn #nativeplants #gardening | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DWePw4Uy2zZ/ | 03/29/2026 | DWePw4Uy2zZ |
| The best mulch is plants. Native plants also give us insect habitat which we desperately need. And when we get more insects in our gardens, we’re also gonna have more birds! I can’t always respond to comments so for those of you that are experienced gardeners, please jump in and help as much as you can. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area from March until November. Click the link in my bio to learn more. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live near me. From plant selection and design, flowers to vegetables and of course, pruning, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com! My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back weekly during the season! #gardening #gardeningtips #garden | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DWgmzS8hCtW/ | 03/30/2026 | DWgmzS8hCtW |
| Plants are the best mulch! They provide the same function as shredded hardwood mulch, or stone or pine straw, with so much more added benefit to your soil and insect and wildlife! I can’t always respond to comments so for those of you that are experienced gardeners, please jump in and help as much as you can. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area from March until November. Click the link in my bio to learn more. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live near me. From plant selection and design, flowers to vegetables and of course, pruning, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com! My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back weekly during the season! #nativeplants #mulch #gardeningtips | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DWjLsgzBPvw/ | 03/31/2026 | DWjLsgzBPvw |
| Japanese maples, and most trees and shrubs, should be pruned before the new growth starts in the spring. If you missed that pruning window, you can prune in the summer, in Chicago, mid July, when all the leaves have fully opened. Never take more than 30% of the trees, live wood or canopy away in any given year. I can’t always respond to comments so for those of you that are experienced gardeners, please jump in and help as much as you can. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area from March until November. Click the link in my bio to learn more. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live near me. From plant selection and design, flowers to vegetables and of course, pruning, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com! My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back weekly during the season! #gardening #garden #pruning | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DWl62egjq1b/ | 04/01/2026 | DWl62egjq1b |
| Vigorous vertical stems are called water, sprouts and they should be cut back preferably as soon as you see them. We don’t take more than 30% of a trees live would weigh at any given time so if yours is old and has a lot of water sprouts you might not want to take them all off at once but eventually you want these taken off they are assigned that the tree is under stress. You cannot stop them from doing this. Same goes for suckers that grow vigorous vertical stems out of the roots. I can’t always respond to comments so for those of you that are experienced gardeners, please jump in and help as much as you can. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area from March until November. Click the link in my bio to learn more. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live near me. From plant selection and design, flowers to vegetables and of course, pruning, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com! My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back weekly during the season! #gardening #garden #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DWoVNdvhBKP/ | 04/02/2026 | DWoVNdvhBKP |
| You can plant and divide as soon as your soil is workable in your area. I can’t always respond to comments so for those of you that are experienced gardeners, please jump in and help as much as you can. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area from March until November. Click the link in my bio to learn more. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live near me. From plant selection and design, flowers to vegetables and of course, pruning, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com! My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back weekly during the season! #gardening #garden #gardeningtips | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DWq6CJsB60E/ | 04/03/2026 | DWq6CJsB60E |
| Remove the oldest, thickest stems to the ground and leave the young thin stems. I can’t always respond to comments so for those of you that are experienced gardeners, please jump in and help as much as you can. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area from March until November. Click the link in my bio to learn more. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live near me. From plant selection and design, flowers to vegetables and of course, pruning, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com! My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back weekly during the season! #gardening #garden #gardeningtips | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DWq6CvxBfbD/ | 04/04/2026 | DWq6CvxBfbD |
| Red twig dog wood can benefit from full renewal pruning where you prune every stem down to the ground and new vigorous stems will come up from the base. I can’t always respond to comments so for those of you that are experienced gardeners, please jump in and help as much as you can. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area from March until November. Click the link in my bio to learn more. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live near me. From plant selection and design, flowers to vegetables and of course, pruning, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com! My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back weekly during the season! #gardening #garden #gardeningtips | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DWq5_DchNmS/ | 04/05/2026 | DWq5_DchNmS |
| Forsythia is best pruned within two weeks of the flowers fading. You can either remove the oldest thickest stems down to the ground, but no more than a total of a third of the entire plant. Or you can cut every stem to the ground. I can’t always respond to comments so for those of you that are experienced gardeners, please jump in and help as much as you can. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area from March until November. Click the link in my bio to learn more. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live near me. From plant selection and design, flowers to vegetables and of course, pruning, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com! My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back weekly during the season! #gardening #garden #gardeningtips | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DWyoXeiB1r4/ | 04/06/2026 | DWyoXeiB1r4 |
| I leave my vertical stems of my plants attached to the base of the plant and cut them at various heights from 24 inches to 6 inches tall. Leave those cut stems for several years until they are so used in decompose that they just fall off the plant on their own. I can’t always respond to comments so for those of you that are experienced gardeners, please jump in and help as much as you can. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area from March until November. Click the link in my bio to learn more. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live near me. From plant selection and design, flowers to vegetables and of course, pruning, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com! My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back weekly during the season! #gardening #garden #nativeplants | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DWyoZxKBqza/ | 04/06/2026 | DWyoZxKBqza |
| Lilac love to be pruned, and if you inherited some old ones, you need to get the old thick wood, stems cut down to the ground as close as you can get it. Those old stems don’t resist disease well and they are susceptible to pests that I can kill your tree. Now you can cut every single stem to the ground if you want to. You will have lots of healthy 3 to 5 foot stems by the end of the summer. After three years, you will start to get flowers again. You also can selectively prune the old ones out and in hole for each shrub or tree only remove a third of the trees live Wood. Dead stems don’t count. Leave the younger thinner stems and enjoy the flowers and next year take some more old ones out and gradually rejuvenate the shrub over three years. I can’t always respond to comments so for those of you that are experienced gardeners, please jump in and help as much as you can. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area from March until November. Click the link in my bio to learn more. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live near me. From plant selection and design, flowers to vegetables and of course, pruning, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com! My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back weekly during the season! #lilac #gardening #garden | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DW1NL3ePMsc/ | 04/07/2026 | DW1NL3ePMsc |
| Get any organic material like soil and mulch, pulled down away from your brick and especially any wood siding on your house. You should be able to see 3 to 4 inches of exposed concrete above the height of your mulch. I can’t always respond to comments so for those of you that are experienced gardeners, please jump in and help as much as you can. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area from March until November. Click the link in my bio to learn more. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live near me. From plant selection and design, flowers to vegetables and of course, pruning, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com! My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back weekly during the season! #gardening #garden #gardeningtips | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DWwDlEyBLdB/ | 04/07/2026 | DWwDlEyBLdB |
| Yews should be pruned in late winter/early spring before the new growth pushes out. Yews are one of the only evergreens that will regrow from the inside out once sun hits the bare stems. You can prune it back mercilessly, or you can cut windows in the top to let sunlight into the interior, which will kickstart the green growth so that next year you can cut it back even further. I can’t always respond to comments so for those of you that are experienced gardeners, please jump in and help as much as you can. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area from March until November. Click the link in my bio to learn more. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live near me. From plant selection and design, flowers to vegetables and of course, pruning, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com! My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back weekly during the season! #Yews #Pruning #GardenCoach #ChicagolandGardening #Evergreens #PlantCare #GardeningTips #Horticulture #PlantSelection #GardenDesign | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DW3rRENAbTM/ | 04/08/2026 | DW3rRENAbTM |
| Forcing tulips is easy all you need is your refrigerator! Tulips, daffodils, hyacinth, and crocus are very easy to force. Put all of those bulbs in a paper bag or the mesh bag that the bulbs came in, and put them in the crisper drawer of your refrigerator. They need to stay there for 14 weeks and then when 14 weeks is up, follow the instructions in this video. I can’t always respond to comments so for those of you that are experienced gardeners, please jump in and help as much as you can. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area from March until November. Click the link in my bio to learn more. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live near me. From plant selection and design, flowers to vegetables and of course, pruning, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com! My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back weekly during the season! #ForcingTulips #GardenCoaching #ChicagolandGardening #BulbPlanting #SpringBlooms #HomeGardening #PlantCare #GardenDesign #Horticulture #UrbanGardening | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DW6XCb1DOkf/ | 04/09/2026 | DW6XCb1DOkf |
| Go to cobrahead.com Coupon Code PowersPlants for 10% off and free shipping! Weed seeds are layered in the soil and have been there for decades. It is important when we are weeding that we do not disrupt and turn over very much soil or you are exposing those weed seeds to warm temperatures and direct sunlight. That is going to cause a big weeding mess for yourself! We also want to try to get as much of the rude as possible and that’s why I love the Cobrahead Weeder and Cultivator. This tool was designed and it still manufactured in Wisconsin and run by a small business. Go to cobrahead.com Coupon Code PowersPlants for 10% off and free shipping! #smallbusiness #gardening #gardentips | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DW87smcDlXl/ | 04/10/2026 | DW87smcDlXl |
| Please consider removing your invasive Japanese bar area. These plants don’t spread in your garden. They spread in the wild and choke out the resources from native plants that should be growing in the wild. I can’t always respond to comments so for those of you that are experienced gardeners, please jump in and help as much as you can. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area from March until November. Click the link in my bio to learn more. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live near me. From plant selection and design, flowers to vegetables and of course, pruning, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com! My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back weekly during the season! #gardening #InvasivePlants #nativeplants | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DW_nZmIDMnV/ | 04/11/2026 | DW_nZmIDMnV |
| No plant material should be touching the siding or the roof of your house. You should have at least 12 to 24 inches of clearance between the edge of plant material and your house. This keeps water, insects and animals away from your home. I can’t always respond to comments so for those of you that are experienced gardeners, please jump in and help as much as you can. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area from March until November. Click the link in my bio to learn more. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live near me. From plant selection and design, flowers to vegetables and of course, pruning, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com! My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back weekly during the season! #gardening #garden #gardeningtips | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DWyobnihUwm/ | 04/11/2026 | DWyobnihUwm |
| Siberian squill is not native to North America. Please remove it by mowing it really short to prevent seed pod production that is spread by ants. You then need to remove the bulb which can be difficult in a large area so try smothering the area with cardboard, and 3 inches of mulch on top. For small infestations you can just dig the bulb out about 6 inches deep. We really need to remove this if we live close to a wild area like a Woodland because we don’t want this plant, escaping and choking out the resources from the native plants that should be living under the trees. Replace with Spring ephemorals that are native to your area like Virginia bluebells, wild hyacinth, Claytonia, Dutchmans breaches, Trillium, etc. I can’t always respond to comments so for those of you that are experienced gardeners, please jump in and help as much as you can. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area from March until November. Click the link in my bio to learn more. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live near me. From plant selection and design, flowers to vegetables and of course, pruning, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com! My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back weekly during the season! #garden #gardentips #nativeplants | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DXCFnVIFd_3/ | 04/12/2026 | DXCFnVIFd_3 |
| 70% isopropyl rubbing alcohol splashed on the blades of all pruning equipment for 30 seconds in between shrubs. You do not want to spread disease pathogens from one shrub to another. I can’t always respond to comments so for those of you that are experienced gardeners, please jump in and help as much as you can. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area from March until November. Click the link in my bio to learn more. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live near me. From plant selection and design, flowers to vegetables and of course, pruning, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com! My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back weekly during the season! #garden #gardening #pruning | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DXCFVw7Dr6T/ | 04/12/2026 | DXCFVw7Dr6T |
| Evergreens that have more than 1 leader have a tendency to split with ice and snow. Add structural integrity to the interior of your tree with wires and eye hooks. I can’t always respond to comments so for those of you that are experienced gardeners, please jump in and help as much as you can. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area from March until November. Click the link in my bio to learn more. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live near me. From plant selection and design, flowers to vegetables and of course, pruning, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com! My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back weekly during the season! #garden #gardening #gardeningtips | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DXE36dKEzvW/ | 04/13/2026 | DXE36dKEzvW |
| Research out of the University of Washington has been done extensively on different types of mulches. The best type of mulch for feeding your soil, benefiting your plants and suppressing weeds is fresh arborist wood chips. I can’t always respond to comments so for those of you that are experienced gardeners, please jump in and help as much as you can. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area from March until November. Click the link in my bio to learn more. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live near me. From plant selection and design, flowers to vegetables and of course, pruning, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com! My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back weekly during the season! #garden #gardening #trees | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DXHc2BtlIGK/ | 04/14/2026 | DXHc2BtlIGK |
| Summer blooming spirea should be pruned in late winter/early spring. Spring blooming Spirea and double blooming Spirea should be pruned after the spring flowers have faded within 2 to 3 weeks. I can’t always respond to comments so for those of you that are experienced gardeners, please jump in and help as much as you can. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area from March until November. Click the link in my bio to learn more. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live near me. From plant selection and design, flowers to vegetables and of course, pruning, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com! My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back weekly during the season! #spirea #pruning#gardening | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DXJ6ffHFOrh/ | 04/15/2026 | DXJ6ffHFOrh |
| Spring Garden cleanup should be done once evening. Temperatures are consistently 50°F and you see insect activity in your garden. I’ve seen several bumblebees this week and even my first swallowtail butterfly. I cut the dead plant material away and try not to cut the healthy new green plant material that is growing. I took away any vertical stems, twigs, and branches into the back of the garden where I don’t see them, but insects can find them to live there. I also leave as much leaves as I can. If you have a thick leaf layer left over from fallen winter, you want to make sure it’s not thick and matted together so that air and water can’t get through to the soil. I can’t always respond to comments so for those of you that are experienced gardeners, please jump in and help as much as you can. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area from March until November. Click the link in my bio to learn more. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live near me. From plant selection and design, flowers to vegetables and of course, pruning, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com! My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back weekly during the season! #SpringGarden #GardenCleanup #Bumblebees | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DXMfTgljBbP/ | 04/16/2026 | DXMfTgljBbP |
| On healthy Young arborvitae you can cut the tops off to maintain the height you want. If you have really old ones, I would consult with a professional arborist on whether or not you can cut the top off. I can’t always respond to comments so for those of you that are experienced gardeners, please jump in and help as much as you can. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area from March until November. Click the link in my bio to learn more. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live near me. From plant selection and design, flowers to vegetables and of course, pruning, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com! My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back weekly during the season! #pruning #evergreens #gardeningtips | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DXPEGNolCJY/ | 04/17/2026 | DXPEGNolCJY |
| Lesser celandine is a highly evasive plant that blooms in the spring and disappears back into the ground in about 6 to 8 weeks. It is highly invasive and will take over an entire property in a few years if not managed. It is very difficult to remove. Herbicide applied as the plant emerges in the spring before the flowers come out is best. If you want to remove without herbicide dig up wide margins because you need to get the little tiny bulbs that grow at the base of the stems underground. Any of those little bulbs get left and they will re-sprout next year. It’s best after you dig out an area to dig up the soil and sift it through some screening/mesh to make sure you got all of those little bulbs. I can’t always respond to comments so for those of you that are experienced gardeners, please jump in and help as much as you can. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area from March until November. Click the link in my bio to learn more. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live near me. From plant selection and design, flowers to vegetables and of course, pruning, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com! My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back weekly during the season! #garden #nativeplants #gardening | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DXRo5PqgvGm/ | 04/18/2026 | DXRo5PqgvGm |
| Shade garden should be loaded with flowers in early spring before the leaves on the trees come out. That’s when we want to load up with native Spring ephemerals like Virginia Bluebells, Wild Hyacinth, White and Yellow Trout Lily, Shooting Star, Spring Beuaty, Violet Wood Sorrel, Trillium and more! These plants are necessary for native bees to forage and find food when they emerge from winter hibernation. I can’t always respond to comments so for those of you that are experienced gardeners, please jump in and help as much as you can. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area from March until November. Click the link in my bio to learn more. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live near me. From plant selection and design, flowers to vegetables and of course, pruning, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com! My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back weekly during the season! #nativeplants #garden #shadegardens | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DXU6PmwjADU/ | 04/19/2026 | DXU6PmwjADU |
| To enjoy the vibrant beauty of daffodils, pick them when they are at the colored bud stage—this is when they are just about to bloom. It’s crucial to put them immediately into room temperature water mixed with flower food. I love using snips, or garden scissors, to harvest my flowers. For tools that I trust and love, check out all of my products available in my Amazon shop: Amazon.com/shop/Powers_Plants (link in my bio). 🚜 **Need gardening advice?** I’m here to help! As a Garden Coach based in the northwest suburbs of Chicago, I offer on-site sessions in the Chicagoland area from March to November. Don’t live nearby? No worries! I also provide virtual consultations on everything from plant selection to design, and pruning techniques. My calendar refreshes weekly, so make sure to check back often for new appointments! Book your session at PowersPlants.com today! Let’s grow together! 🌱 #Daffodils #GardenTips #flowers | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DXUNpydj9H0/ | 04/19/2026 | DXUNpydj9H0 |
| Power tools can be dangerous if you don’t know what you’re doing. I suggest finding someone that you know that can teach you how to use them or simply use the manual tools that people use for many years like a pocket saw. | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DXW9Ai8jnkq/ | 04/20/2026 | DXW9Ai8jnkq |
| Like many shrubs, lilac tree trees benefit from having their oldest thickest wounded stems cut down to the ground and allowing room for their younger thinner, stems to grow up and take their place. For old stems larger than an inch, you’re going to need more than just loppers to make your cuts. You can use a pocket saw, a Sawzall, or in my case, a 6 inch battery operated chainsaw: https://www.amazon.com/shop/powers_plants I can’t always respond to comments so for those of you that are experienced gardeners, please jump in and help as much as you can. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area from March until November. Click the link in my bio to learn more. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live near me. From plant selection and design, flowers to vegetables and of course, pruning, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com! My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back weekly during the season! #lilac #lilacs #gardening | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DXWyfHfkQhC/ | 04/20/2026 | DXWyfHfkQhC |
| Boxwood tree moths are laying eggs on boxwood, and when those eggs hatch, the caterpillars come out and eat the leaves of your boxwood shrubs. They have multiple generations each year, and they can defoliate an entire hedge of boxwood in a matter of days. April in Chicago is when you want to start pulling apart your shrubs and inspecting the interior looking for the caterpillars or signs of chew leaves and webbing. If you see this damage, report it to your local county extension office, you can attempt to treat yourself with an organic spray called BT or insecticidal soap, but if you are not applying it diligently all over the leaves on all sides. These caterpillars can defoliate so fast that you should probably call a professional arborist. I can’t always respond to comments so for those of you that are experienced gardeners, please jump in and help as much as you can. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area from March until November. Click the link in my bio to learn more. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live near me. From plant selection and design, flowers to vegetables and of course, pruning, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com! My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back weekly during the season! #boxwood #gardening #gardeningtips | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DXZXOA3jnV4/ | 04/21/2026 | DXZXOA3jnV4 |
| Service berries are native to much of North America. They have beautiful white flowers in spring, berries that are edible to humans and lots of birds and wildlife, and gorgeous fall color! They come in lots of varieties my personal favorite is Autumn brilliance, multi stem because of the gorgeous round shape. Autumn brilliance single stem is a great replacement for the invasive Bradford pear tree! I can’t always respond to comments so for those of you that are experienced gardeners, please jump in and help as much as you can. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area from March until November. Click the link in my bio to learn more. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live near me. From plant selection and design, flowers to vegetables and of course, pruning, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com! My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back weekly during the season! #nativeplants #trees #gardening | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DXb8ESCjjWX/ | 04/22/2026 | DXb8ESCjjWX |
| ak leaf hydrangeas set flowers on their stems the summer before they bloom. So after the flowers come out in Chicago in July, the plant will start to set buds on the stems for next year‘s flowers. Those buds will shiver in the cold of winter and wait until the right temperatures in July to bloom. So ideally, we don’t prune these at all so that we don’t cut any flowers off. It does not hurt the plant to prune, but any stem that you cut you will be cutting off a flower as well. I can’t always respond to comments so for those of you that are experienced gardeners, please jump in and help as much as you can. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area from March until November. Click the link in my bio to learn more. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live near me. From plant selection and design, flowers to vegetables and of course, pruning, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com! My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back weekly during the season! #nativeplants #gardening #garden | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DXftPdPjHOn/ | 04/23/2026 | DXftPdPjHOn |
| You need to harvest your lilac flowers first thing in the morning and when 50 to 75% of the buds have opened on the flower. Do you want to cut a nice long stem right above a bud, and immediately sliced several inches up the middle of the stem to create an opening for more water to be absorbed. Then we immediately put the stem in water and leave them there for a few hours. Don’t put your lilac flowers in a vase in direct sunlight or they will wilt. I can’t always respond to comments so for those of you that are experienced gardeners, please jump in and help as much as you can. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area from March until November. Click the link in my bio to learn more. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live near me. From plant selection and design, flowers to vegetables and of course, pruning, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com! My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back weekly during the season! #lilac #lilacs #gardening | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DXehBojkX1K/ | 04/23/2026 | DXehBojkX1K |
| Spring bloomers should be pruned ideally within 2 to 3 weeks of the flowers dying. After that window, the plant starts setting its flower buds for next year so if you prune during the summer the fall or late winter, you’re cutting off the flower buds. Typical spring blooming plants that this pruning applies are magnolia, redbud trees, crab, apples, flowering quince, Lilac, cornelian Cherry, viburnum, Serviceberries and more! I can’t always respond to comments so for those of you that are experienced gardeners, please jump in and help as much as you can. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area from March until November. Click the link in my bio to learn more. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live near me. From plant selection and design, flowers to vegetables and of course, pruning, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com! My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back weekly during the season! #pruning #magnolia #gardening | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DXhFoYAEt4Y/ | 04/24/2026 | DXhFoYAEt4Y |
| I love daffodils a lot and they are not doing harm to our environment, but they’re also not providing any benefit. Native bees start emerging in the winter time in early man in Chicago and we need to have plants blooming at that time. Virginia blue bells are a great option as well as Wild Hyacinth, Claytonia Virginica, Dutchman’s Breeches, Trillium and more! I can’t always respond to comments so for those of you that are experienced gardeners, please jump in and help as much as you can. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area from March until November. Click the link in my bio to learn more. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live near me. From plant selection and design, flowers to vegetables and of course, pruning, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com! My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back weekly during the season! #Daffodils #NativePlants #PollinatorGardening #GardenCoach #ChicagolandGardening #Wildflowers #SpringBlooms #SustainableGardening #GardenMaintenance #PlantSelection | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DXjqeo2jXY5/ | 04/25/2026 | DXjqeo2jXY5 |
| After planting your spring blooming bulbs in the fall, roll out some chicken wire over top of the planting area and secure to the ground with garden staples. The bulbs will grow right up through the holes! I can’t always respond to comments so for those of you that are experienced gardeners, please jump in and help as much as you can. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area from March until November. Click the link in my bio to learn more. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live near me. From plant selection and design, flowers to vegetables and of course, pruning, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com! My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back weekly during the season! #tulips #spring #gardening | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DXmPQxijs3-/ | 04/26/2026 | DXmPQxijs3- |
| We cannot put Dahlia’s outside until there is no threat of frost in your area and your soil temperatures are 65°F so it’s a good idea in April to pot your dahlias up and potting soil and grow them indoors in a sunny window until it’s time to put them outside. We have such a short growing season for warm season flowers that growing them indoors for several weeks will give them a Head start on route and stem development. #dahlias #cutflowers #gardeningtips | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DXmIZKwDQtL/ | 04/26/2026 | DXmIZKwDQtL |
| When you have large shade trees and a two-story house, those elements in the designer considered the huge layer. They’re very tall! And then most homes have ground level lawn and perennials. This is why a lot of Landscapes out front of houses feel unbalanced. We need different heights and a middle layer of a 15 foot inch tall round ornamental large shrub/small tree is what many people are missing. I love multi stem serviceberries, multi stem red buds, common witch hazel and spicebush. | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DXpBAgADouY/ | 04/27/2026 | DXpBAgADouY |
| Invasive bush honeysuckle also called Amur honeysuckle or Lonicera mackii is one of the worst invasive plants we deal with in the Midwest. It chokes out native plants that should be growing in wild areas. The small plants can be pulled out by hand. Large plants can be pulled out with a weed wrench. There is a link in my bio and in the pinned comment to an extension article from the University of Illinois that has videos demonstrating how to remove this plant manually without herbicide. https://extension.illinois.edu/blogs/good-growing/2024-11-29-identify-and-manage-invasive-bush-honeysuckle #invasiveplants #nativeplants #gardening | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DXoqROXj_bL/ | 04/27/2026 | DXoqROXj_bL |
| Shade trees are necessary over hardscapes like concrete sidewalks, driveways and pavement streets. Hardscapes absorb heat and re-radiate it creating what’s called a heat Island. The canopy of the tree can reduce surface temperatures on Hardscapes by 25°F and air temperatures by up to 10°F. I can’t always respond to comments so for those of you that are experienced gardeners, please jump in and help as much as you can. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area from March until November. Click the link in my bio to learn more. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live near me. From plant selection and design, flowers to vegetables and of course, pruning, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com! My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back weekly during the season! #trees #gardening #gardentips | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DXrY7N0kw8D/ | 04/28/2026 | DXrY7N0kw8D |
| Cutting gardens are where we specifically plant things for us to cut the flowers and bring them in the house. We want to hide these areas of the garden because they’re not going to have any flowers for us to look at. My easy low maintenance plants for cutting gardens are: a patch of mixed daffodils that you plant in the fall; a couple peonies, some iris and a lilac tree. Leave some room to grow some easy, cut flowers from seed like Zinnia‘s and sunflowers. I can’t always respond to comments so for those of you that are experienced gardeners, please jump in and help as much as you can. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area from March until November. Click the link in my bio to learn more. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live near me. From plant selection and design, flowers to vegetables and of course, pruning, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com! My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back weekly during the season! #cutflowers #garden #peonies | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DXt9pYtkWPY/ | 04/29/2026 | DXt9pYtkWPY |
| There are lots of shrubs that thrive in areas that have occasional flooding. For shade I like winterberry and Itea. Those two could also handle full sun. For full sun and partial Sun I like Ninebark and red twig dogwood. I’m a Garden Coach in the Chicagoland area and I love this community — if you know the answer to someone’s question in the comments, please jump in and help! I can’t always respond personally, but together we can figure anything out. 🌱 Visit powersplants.com to learn more about booking a coaching session with me, and for just $5/month you can subscribe for exclusive behind-the-scenes content, videos, and live Q&As where you can ask me anything directly! #gardening #garden #arlingtonheightsil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DXxj_DJMEHG/ | 04/30/2026 | DXxj_DJMEHG |
| Garlic mustard is a highly invasive weed throughout the country. It’s root system changes the soil chemistry around it so other plants cannot grow near it. Birds also spread the seeds into wild areas and conservation groups have to remove this plant in order to clear space for the native plants that should be growing there. It’s got white flowers and it’s in bloom and laid April this year in Chicago and make sure to get rid of yours before it sets seeds and spreads to make more of a mess. I’m a Garden Coach in the Chicagoland area and I love this community — if you know the answer to someone’s question in the comments, please jump in and help! I can’t always respond personally, but together we can figure anything out. 🌱 Visit powersplants.com to learn more about booking a coaching session with me, and for just $5/month you can subscribe for exclusive behind-the-scenes content, videos, and live Q&As where you can ask me anything directly! #gardening #nativeplants #garden | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DXwicVykZfS/ | 04/30/2026 | DXwicVykZfS |
| Please remove your Tartarian honeysuckle with pink flowers in bloom right now in Chicago. This plant has been banned for sale in Illinois since 2015 and is considered invasive across North America. Replacement options include red twig dogwood, Ninebark, Winterberry, elderberry, American hazelnut and more. I’m a Garden Coach in the Chicagoland area and I love this community — if you know the answer to someone’s question in the comments, please jump in and help! I can’t always respond personally, but together we can figure anything out. 🌱 Visit powersplants.com to learn more about booking a coaching session with me, and for just $5/month you can subscribe for exclusive behind-the-scenes content, videos, and live Q&As where you can ask me anything directly! #garden #gardening #nativeplants | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DXzHSkEFWv2/ | 05/01/2026 | DXzHSkEFWv2 |
| I have seen so many clients in the last few weeks that have shrubs like hydrangeas and roses that are rotting from mulch being thrown on top of the stems of the plant. Mulch traps moisture, and we want to trap moisture in the soil, but we don’t want to trap it against the stems of our plants or they will rot. I’m a Garden Coach in the Chicagoland area and I love this community — if you know the answer to someone’s question in the comments, please jump in and help! I can’t always respond personally, but together we can figure anything out. 🌱 Visit powersplants.com to learn more about booking a coaching session with me, and for just $5/month you can subscribe for exclusive behind-the-scenes content, videos, and live Q&As where you can ask me anything directly! #gardening #garden #gardeningtips | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DX2I_boR3CE/ | 05/02/2026 | DX2I_boR3CE |
| If you have a plant, that’s not doing well step around it and see if you sink. If you do, you got too much air in your soil at the time of planting. After planting, you need a water and step on that area and make sure you don’t have air pockets or the roots have nothing to grow into. I can’t always respond to comments so for those of you that are experienced gardeners, please jump in and help as much as you can. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area from March until November. Click the link in my bio to learn more. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live near me. From plant selection and design, flowers to vegetables and of course, pruning, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com! My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back weekly during the season! #garden #gardening #gardeningtips | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DX4RG4Bj1Yu/ | 05/03/2026 | DX4RG4Bj1Yu |
| If you have a plant, that’s not doing well step around it and see if you sink. If you do, you got too much air in your soil at the time of planting. After planting, you need a water and step on that area and make sure you don’t have air pockets or the roots have nothing to grow into. I can’t always respond to comments so for those of you that are experienced gardeners, please jump in and help as much as you can. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area from March until November. Click the link in my bio to learn more. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live near me. From plant selection and design, flowers to vegetables and of course, pruning, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com! My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back weekly during the season! #garden #gardening #gardeningtips | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DX4RG4Bj1Yu/ | 05/03/2026 | DX4RG4Bj1Yu |
| Landscape fabric does not work at harms your soil and plants long-term. Landscape fabric is also called weed barrier. It is a poor material that’s supposed to allow air and water down into your soil while blocking weeds. Mulch goes on top of the landscape fabric, which decomposes and it creates a growing medium for weeds to grow right on top and through the fabric. This stuff does not work to block weeds long-term, and is detrimental to your plants. I can’t always respond to comments so for those of you that are experienced gardeners, please jump in and help as much as you can. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area from March until November. Click the link in my bio to learn more. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live near me. From plant selection and design, flowers to vegetables and of course, pruning, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com! My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back weekly during the season! #garden #gardening #gardeningtips | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DX61jB2kpd4/ | 05/04/2026 | DX61jB2kpd4 |
| It is best to wait until your flowers on your lilac have died and prune within the next 2 to 3 weeks if you prune any later than that, you will be cutting off flowers for next year. Try not to remove more than a third of the total shrub at any given time if you take more than that, you run the risk of the plan it’s so stressed out. It doesn’t set flowers for next year. I’m a Garden Coach in the Chicagoland area and I love this community — if you know the answer to someone’s question in the comments, please jump in and help! I can’t always respond personally, but together we can figure anything out. 🌱 Visit powersplants.com to learn more about booking a coaching session with me, and for just $5/month you can subscribe for exclusive behind-the-scenes content, videos, and live Q&As where you can ask me anything directly! #lilac #lilacs #gardening | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DX9dfuJj__x/ | 05/05/2026 | DX9dfuJj__x |
| Cut the small side buds off of the stems of your peonies so all the energy is going into one bigger flower per stem! I’m a Garden Coach in the Chicagoland area and I love this community — if you know the answer to someone’s question in the comments, please jump in and help! I can’t always respond personally, but together we can figure anything out. 🌱 Visit powersplants.com to learn more about booking a coaching session with me, and for just $5/month you can subscribe for exclusive behind-the-scenes content, videos, and live Q&As where you can ask me anything directly! #peonies #flowers #gardening | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DX__LYeFO6h/ | 05/06/2026 | DX__LYeFO6h |
| On a young one-year-old peony, you can cut the flower buds all off if you want to focus on route development. I don’t do that. I like to enjoy all the flowers and it has never weakened my plant to let it bloom every year. I’m a Garden Coach in the Chicagoland area and I love this community — if you know the answer to someone’s question in the comments, please jump in and help! I can’t always respond personally, but together we can figure anything out. 🌱 Visit powersplants.com to learn more about booking a coaching session with me, and for just $5/month you can subscribe for exclusive behind-the-scenes content, videos, and live Q&As where you can ask me anything directly! #peony #peonyflower #garden | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DYDhta2BKYl/ | 05/07/2026 | DYDhta2BKYl |
| We ideally prune our lilac shrubs when they are finished. Two weeks after the flowers have turned brown is the ideal window to get your pruning done. After that window, the lilac will start to set. It’s flowers for next year and those flower buds will sit on the stem all summer fall and winter. So if you prune them in the summer, the fall or the late winter, you will cut the flower buds off for next year. Start by taking the oldest thickest stems out anything dead, damaged or diseased and any lengths you need removed. In total, we don’t wanna remove more than a third of the shrub. You won’t kill the shrub if you take more than a third, but you could stress the plant out so much that it doesn’t produce flowers next year. I’m a Garden Coach in the Chicagoland area and I love this community — if you know the answer to someone’s question in the comments, please jump in and help! I can’t always respond personally, but together we can figure anything out. 🌱 Visit powersplants.com to learn more about booking a coaching session with me, and for just $5/month you can subscribe for exclusive behind-the-scenes content, videos, and live Q&As where you can ask me anything directly! #lilac #lilacs #gardening | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DYCkBjtjGOJ/ | 05/07/2026 | DYCkBjtjGOJ |
| Cool season Hardy annuals can go outside about 4 to 6 weeks before your last frost state in your area because those plants can tolerate frost. Warm season tender annuals cannot tolerate frost, and they should not be put outside until the threat of frost in your area has passed. Perennials can go outside and be planted in the ground as soon as your soil is workable. I’m a Garden Coach in the Chicagoland area and I love this community — if you know the answer to someone’s question in the comments, please jump in and help! I can’t always respond personally, but together we can figure anything out. 🌱 Visit powersplants.com to learn more about booking a coaching session with me, and for just $5/month you can subscribe for exclusive behind-the-scenes content, videos, and live Q&As where you can ask me anything directly! #garden #gardening #plants | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DYFJa2Lgeby/ | 05/08/2026 | DYFJa2Lgeby |
| Viburnum’s are spring bloomers so it’s best to prune them within 2 to 3 weeks of the flowers dying. Try not to take more than a third or you run the risk that you stress the plant out so much. It won’t set flowers for next year. That means sometimes you’re just going to have to prioritize and not be able to prune everything away that you want to. I’m a Garden Coach in the Chicagoland area and I love this community — if you know the answer to someone’s question in the comments, please jump in and help! I can’t always respond personally, but together we can figure anything out. 🌱 Visit powersplants.com to learn more about booking a coaching session with me, and for just $5/month you can subscribe for exclusive behind-the-scenes content, videos, and live Q&As where you can ask me anything directly! #garden #gardening #gardeningtips | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DYFJRFxHdcH/ | 05/08/2026 | DYFJRFxHdcH |
| Wild garlic is an invasive weed. You can remove it, but you need to dig out the bulb and dig around a wide margin to try not to disrupt the bulb as baby bulbs will fall off and grow next year. I’m a Garden Coach in the Chicagoland area and I love this community — if you know the answer to someone’s question in the comments, please jump in and help! I can’t always respond personally, but together we can figure anything out. 🌱 Visit powersplants.com to learn more about booking a coaching session with me, and for just $5/month you can subscribe for exclusive behind-the-scenes content, videos, and live Q&As where you can ask me anything directly! #garden #gardening #wildgarlic | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DYHtndiDyPP/ | 05/09/2026 | DYHtndiDyPP |
| Happy Mother’s Day to all of you and a mother earth! I am putting in 100 native perennials this year: asters, Cardinal flower, turtle heads, Amsonia, Baptisia, Christmas ferns, zigzag, golden rod, blue, stemmed, golden rod, goats beard, Virginia blue bells, and Prairie smoke! I’m a Garden Coach in the Chicagoland area and I love this community — if you know the answer to someone’s question in the comments, please jump in and help! I can’t always respond personally, but together we can figure anything out. 🌱 Visit powersplants.com to learn more about booking a coaching session with me, and for just $5/month you can subscribe for exclusive behind-the-scenes content, videos, and live Q&As where you can ask me anything directly! #mothersday #nativeplants #earth | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DYKclcFEfNE/ | 05/10/2026 | DYKclcFEfNE |
| Lilac don’t bloom usually from improper pruning, but could also be from disease too much nitrogen or too little sun. I’m a Garden Coach in the Chicagoland area and I love this community — if you know the answer to someone’s question in the comments, please jump in and help! I can’t always respond personally, but together we can figure anything out. 🌱 Visit powersplants.com to learn more about booking a coaching session with me, and for just $5/month you can subscribe for exclusive behind-the-scenes content, videos, and live Q&As where you can ask me anything directly! #lilac #garden #gardening | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DYKSZ52DTD0/ | 05/10/2026 | DYKSZ52DTD0 |
| Peony should be planted in full sun and in soil that is well drained and not swampy and wet. Peony root should not be planted very deep deeply or they will not set flowers. Don’t be surprised if a new peony does not set flowers for three years. I’m a Garden Coach in the Chicagoland area and I love this community — if you know the answer to someone’s question in the comments, please jump in and help! I can’t always respond personally, but together we can figure anything out. 🌱 Visit powersplants.com to learn more about booking a coaching session with me, and for just $5/month you can subscribe for exclusive behind-the-scenes content, videos, and live Q&As where you can ask me anything directly! #peony #peonyflowers #gardening | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DYM3FxRk5iV/ | 05/11/2026 | DYM3FxRk5iV |
| You can succession plant your cut flowers that only give you one round of flowers per plant like lilies, and Gladiolas. Start the indoors as soon as you get them in April. Those early planting will bloom first. Then when the threat of frost has passed plant the bulbs of your second round of plants, they will bloom about a month after. I’m a Garden Coach in the Chicagoland area and I love this community — if you know the answer to someone’s question in the comments, please jump in and help! I can’t always respond personally, but together we can figure anything out. 🌱 Visit powersplants.com to learn more about booking a coaching session with me, and for just $5/month you can subscribe for exclusive behind-the-scenes content, videos, and live Q&As where you can ask me anything directly! #flowers #cutflowers #gardening | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DYPcBTnjePR/ | 05/12/2026 | DYPcBTnjePR |
| If you were Clematis blooms in the spring or if it blooms twice, you want to wait until the flowers have opened and died before you do your pruning. If you have a summer blooming Clematis, you can do your pruning in late winter. I’m a Garden Coach in the Chicagoland area and I love this community — if you know the answer to someone’s question in the comments, please jump in and help! I can’t always respond personally, but together we can figure anything out. 🌱 Visit powersplants.com to learn more about booking a coaching session with me, and for just $5/month you can subscribe for exclusive behind-the-scenes content, videos, and live Q&As where you can ask me anything directly! #clematis #garden #gardening | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DYSA2SPieEc/ | 05/13/2026 | DYSA2SPieEc |
| You can divide perennials and create drifts and masses of the same plant together, just by using the perennials you already have! I’m a Garden Coach in the Chicagoland area and I love this community — if you know the answer to someone’s question in the comments, please jump in and help! I can’t always respond personally, but together we can figure anything out. 🌱 Visit powersplants.com to learn more about booking a coaching session with me, and for just $5/month you can subscribe for exclusive behind-the-scenes content, videos, and live Q&As where you can ask me anything directly! #garden #gardening #gardentips | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DYUll-eCEXU/ | 05/14/2026 | DYUll-eCEXU |
| Flowering quince is a spring bloomer, so it is best to wait until the flowers have opened and died and then prune within two weeks. This really needed to be rejuvenated as there were many damaged stems in the plant was not looking as lush as it should. #garden #gardening # pruning | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DYXKS3cih34/ | 05/15/2026 | DYXKS3cih34 |
| This is not how it started. I was supposed to get two bowls, one spilling into the other and when they brought it on site, Brian from Aquascape and I thought it was overwhelming the space. So we changed in an instant, and the Aquascape team built this beautiful pond waterfall starting with a bowl. I can’t stop coming out and looking at it, and the birds have been splashing and drinking in here already. I can’t wait to landscape around it. Stay tuned for lots of native plants! I’m a Garden Coach in the Chicagoland area and I love this community — if you know the answer to someone’s question in the comments, please jump in and help! I can’t always respond personally, but together we can figure anything out. 🌱 Visit powersplants.com to learn more about booking a coaching session with me, and for just $5/month you can subscribe for exclusive behind-the-scenes content, videos, and live Q&As where you can ask me anything directly! #Garden #gardening #waterfeature | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DYZ1FCIus8l/ | 05/16/2026 | DYZ1FCIus8l |
| Common Buckthorn and English Ivy are invasive plants in much of North America. You can get rid of them with an herb aside applied during the growing season in spring. If you do not want to use an herbicide, you can remove it mechanically, but it will take a couple of years and you must be diligent when cutting it back or digging it out I’m a Garden Coach in the Chicagoland area and I love this community — if you know the answer to someone’s question in the comments, please jump in and help! I can’t always respond personally, but together we can figure anything out. 🌱 Visit powersplants.com to learn more about booking a coaching session with me, and for just $5/month you can subscribe for exclusive behind-the-scenes content, videos, and live Q&As where you can ask me anything directly! #garden #gardening #nativeplants | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DYZvGgGDu11/ | 05/16/2026 | DYZvGgGDu11 |
| You can’t just continuously share the edges of your boxwoods because it stresses them out. They end up getting Volutella Blight and will eventually die. Every 2 to 3 years you wanna cut the top 6 inches off the boxwoods. They will be bare on top, but the sunlight will trigger new growth on the inside of the plant and keep the plant healthy. You can then continue to share the edges and 2 to 3 years later cut the top off again. I’m a Garden Coach in the Chicagoland area and I love this community — if you know the answer to someone’s question in the comments, please jump in and help! I can’t always respond personally, but together we can figure anything out. 🌱 Visit powersplants.com to learn more about booking a coaching session with me, and for just $5/month you can subscribe for exclusive behind-the-scenes content, videos, and live Q&As where you can ask me anything directly! #garden #boxwoods #gardening | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DYcT6p_CMxJ/ | 05/17/2026 | DYcT6p_CMxJ |
| For those of you that have bought a house with overgrown landscaping, start by removing anything invasive like burning bush, Common Buckthorn, Japanese barberry, either of the two invasive honeysuckles and English Ivy. Then prune to make sure you are not blocking any architectural elements of your house like your windows and light fixtures. I’m a Garden Coach in the Chicagoland area and I love this community — if you know the answer to someone’s question in the comments, please jump in and help! I can’t always respond personally, but together we can figure anything out. 🌱 Visit powersplants.com to learn more about booking a coaching session with me, and for just $5/month you can subscribe for exclusive behind-the-scenes content, videos, and live Q&As where you can ask me anything directly! #landscapedesign #garden #gardening | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DYeyWm5HCCH/ | 05/18/2026 | DYeyWm5HCCH |
| This red lily beetle is an invasive pest that attacks plants in the lily family. Best to start inspecting for them on your plants in spring and knock them off into soapy water. Be on the lookout for the larva and eggs as well. You can spray the larva with Neem Oil. I’m a Garden Coach in the Chicagoland area and I love this community — if you know the answer to someone’s question in the comments, please jump in and help! I can’t always respond personally, but together we can figure anything out. 🌱 Visit powersplants.com to learn more about booking a coaching session with me, and for just $5/month you can subscribe for exclusive behind-the-scenes content, videos, and live Q&As where you can ask me anything directly! #invasivepest #garden #gardening | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DYhddJ1AjZ3/ | 05/19/2026 | DYhddJ1AjZ3 |
| Those bamboo stakes should be removed when planting. I’m a Garden Coach in the Chicagoland area and I love this community — if you know the answer to someone’s question in the comments, please jump in and help! I can’t always respond personally, but together we can figure anything out. 🌱 Visit powersplants.com to learn more about booking a coaching session with me, and for just $5/month you can subscribe for exclusive behind-the-scenes content, videos, and live Q&As where you can ask me anything directly! #garden #gardening #gardentips | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DYkCPvqE2nn/ | 05/20/2026 | DYkCPvqE2nn |
| I use Google Earth to calculate the square footage of my beds. Then lookup a mulch calculator and enter the square footage and 3” deep to find out how many cubic yards of mulch you need. I’m a Garden Coach in the Chicagoland area and I love this community — if you know the answer to someone’s question in the comments, please jump in and help! I can’t always respond personally, but together we can figure anything out. 🌱 Visit powersplants.com to learn more about booking a coaching session with me, and for just $5/month you can subscribe for exclusive behind-the-scenes content, videos, and live Q&As where you can ask me anything directly! #garden #gardening #gardeningtips | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DYmnE30AMzR/ | 05/21/2026 | DYmnE30AMzR |
| Divide the perennials that you already have to create large masses and drifts of the same plant. This will keep your weeds down and your mulch usage down too. I’m a Garden Coach in the Chicagoland area and I love this community — if you know the answer to someone’s question in the comments, please jump in and help! I can’t always respond personally, but together we can figure anything out. 🌱 Visit powersplants.com to learn more about booking a coaching session with me, and for just $5/month you can subscribe for exclusive behind-the-scenes content, videos, and live Q&As where you can ask me anything directly! #garden #gardening #landscapedesign | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DYpMgsxk7Kz/ | 05/22/2026 | DYpMgsxk7Kz |
| Harvest your peonies at the right stage and they will last in a vase for 10 days! And dumped them and swirl them aggressively in about 4 inches of water to knock the ants off before bringing them in the house. I’m a Garden Coach in the Chicagoland area and I love this community — if you know the answer to someone’s question in the comments, please jump in and help! I can’t always respond personally, but together we can figure anything out. 🌱 Visit powersplants.com to learn more about booking a coaching session with me, and for just $5/month you can subscribe for exclusive behind-the-scenes content, videos, and live Q&As where you can ask me anything directly! #peonies #peony #flowers | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DYrpzF1nSKL/ | 05/23/2026 | DYrpzF1nSKL |
| When dividing or transplanting perennials, some immediately start wilting. If that happens, you wanna cut half of the above ground growth away because the roots cannot support that much tissue with moisture after stressing out the roots. I’m a Garden Coach in the Chicagoland area and I love this community — if you know the answer to someone’s question in the comments, please jump in and help! I can’t always respond personally, but together we can figure anything out. 🌱 Visit powersplants.com to learn more about booking a coaching session with me, and for just $5/month you can subscribe for exclusive behind-the-scenes content, videos, and live Q&As where you can ask me anything directly! #garden #gardening #gardentips | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DYuOnq5CseB/ | 05/24/2026 | DYuOnq5CseB |
| Dahlia‘s will create more branches that produce flowers, if you pinch them once you have three sets of leaves. The location where you pinch right above the third set of leaves will create two new branches that will produce flowers. So now you have two flowering branches instead of one! I’m a Garden Coach in the Chicagoland area and I love this community — if you know the answer to someone’s question in the comments, please jump in and help! I can’t always respond personally, but together we can figure anything out. 🌱 Visit powersplants.com to learn more about booking a coaching session with me, and for just $5/month you can subscribe for exclusive behind-the-scenes content, videos, and live Q&As where you can ask me anything directly! #garden #gardening #dahlias | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DYw6kUoj697/ | 05/25/2026 | DYw6kUoj697 |
| Prairie smoke is a very low native perennial with a large range native across Canada and the United States. It likes full sun and medium to dry soil. Mine was in bloom the entire month of April, and still late into May. I’ve got lots of smoke! I’m a Garden Coach in the Chicagoland area and I love this community — if you know the answer to someone’s question in the comments, please jump in and help! I can’t always respond personally, but together we can figure anything out. 🌱 Visit powersplants.com to learn more about booking a coaching session with me, and for just $5/month you can subscribe for exclusive behind-the-scenes content, videos, and live Q&As where you can ask me anything directly! #nativeplants #garden #gardening | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DYzYZ1lDU0m/ | 05/26/2026 | DYzYZ1lDU0m |
| Beginners: Get started somewhere and you definitely wil kill a lot of plants! I’m a Garden Coach in the Chicagoland area and I love this community — if you know the answer to someone’s question in the comments, please jump in and help! I can’t always respond personally, but together we can figure anything out. 🌱 Visit powersplants.com to learn more about booking a coaching session with me, and for just $5/month you can subscribe for exclusive behind-the-scenes content, videos, and live Q&As where you can ask me anything directly! #garden #gardening #gardeninspiration | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DY3LuHYswnV/ | 05/27/2026 | DY3LuHYswnV |
| Do you buy plants on the sale rack and put them in places without any for thought? If you do, that means you are a Gardener! Welcome to the club! I’m a Garden Coach in the Chicagoland area and I love this community — if you know the answer to someone’s question in the comments, please jump in and help! I can’t always respond personally, but together we can figure anything out. 🌱 Visit powersplants.com to learn more about booking a coaching session with me, and for just $5/month you can subscribe for exclusive behind-the-scenes content, videos, and live Q&As where you can ask me anything directly! #garden #gardening #landscapedesign | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DY3Js4YAZea/ | 05/27/2026 | DY3Js4YAZea |
| It is very important for the survival of your plants to be very rough and loosen up the roots before planting. I’m a Garden Coach in the Chicagoland area and I love this community — if you know the answer to someone’s question in the comments, please jump in and help! I can’t always respond personally, but together we can figure anything out. 🌱 Visit powersplants.com to learn more about booking a coaching session with me, and for just $5/month you can subscribe for exclusive behind-the-scenes content, videos, and live Q&As where you can ask me anything directly! #garden #gardening #gardentips | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DY19BnDDp70/ | 05/27/2026 | DY19BnDDp70 |
| At least once a week, I have someone tell me that I remind them of Edie Falco! What do you think? | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DY5nmxquH_N/ | 05/28/2026 | DY5nmxquH_N |
| There are two types of wisteria native to North America: American Wisteria in Kentucky Wisteria. I am growing a cultivar of Kentucky Wisteria called blue Moon, which gets about 25 feet tall and wide. These vines can get heavy and they develop into a very solid wood trunk so you need to make sure you have a sturdy structure for this to climb on and it will also twist itself around wood structures and get very thick and heavy. We prune these twice a year in order to maintain size and the direction it is growing and it’s flowers. I’m a Garden Coach in the Chicagoland area and I love this community — if you know the answer to someone’s question in the comments, please jump in and help! I can’t always respond personally, but together we can figure anything out. 🌱 Visit powersplants.com to learn more about booking a coaching session with me, and for just $5/month you can subscribe for exclusive behind-the-scenes content, videos, and live Q&As where you can ask me anything directly! #garden #gardening #nativeplants | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DY4ot6gDMFu/ | 05/28/2026 | DY4ot6gDMFu |
| Plant list: Sunny Area Monarda Didyma Jacob’s Ladder Royal Catchfly Phenomenal Lavendar Butterfly Weed Shade w/ Afternoon Sun Western Indian Physic Anemone Cylindrica White Turtleheads Ligularia Compact Joe Pye Weed Shade Coral Bells Wildberry Christmas Ferns Zig Zag Goldenrod White Turtleheada Anemone virginica Virginia Bluebells | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DY4ei4NORxQ/ | 05/28/2026 | DY4ei4NORxQ |
| We want our beds to be 6 to 8 feet wide in front of the house so that we have enough room to layer different shrubs in front of each other. Also remember to leave an extra foot between your house and the edge of the shrub when it is at full size so that the shrub doesn’t touch the siding and trap water against the house. I’m a Garden Coach in the Chicagoland area and I love this community — if you know the answer to someone’s question in the comments, please jump in and help! I can’t always respond personally, but together we can figure anything out. 🌱 Visit powersplants.com to learn more about booking a coaching session with me, and for just $5/month you can subscribe for exclusive behind-the-scenes content, videos, and live Q&As where you can ask me anything directly! #garden #landscapedesign #gardening | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DY7Ng1BjW1m/ | 05/29/2026 | DY7Ng1BjW1m |
| Golden Alexander and Hart leaf Alexander our plants that are native to the Midwest and our host plants for swallowtail butterflies! So the flowers provide nectar and pollen to adult insects and the leaves support cat caterpillars. We have lost 40% of the world‘s insect population and we need to bring them back by planting things like this native plant! I’m a Garden Coach in the Chicagoland area and I love this community — if you know the answer to someone’s question in the comments, please jump in and help! I can’t always respond personally, but together we can figure anything out. 🌱 Visit powersplants.com to learn more about booking a coaching session with me, and for just $5/month you can subscribe for exclusive behind-the-scenes content, videos, and live Q&As where you can ask me anything directly! #nativeplants #garden #gardening | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DY9rmnmEtJA/ | 05/30/2026 | DY9rmnmEtJA |
| Large lime light or other panicle hydrangeas or even a lilac should be moved like I show in this video. I’m a Garden Coach in the Chicagoland area and I love this community — if you know the answer to someone’s question in the comments, please jump in and help! I can’t always respond personally, but together we can figure anything out. 🌱 Visit powersplants.com to learn more about booking a coaching session with me, and for just $5/month you can subscribe for exclusive behind-the-scenes content, videos, and live Q&As where you can ask me anything directly! #garden #gardening #gardeningtips | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DZAQeiLgr8W/ | 05/31/2026 | DZAQeiLgr8W |
| Several times a day, I walked past my raised garden beds and see so many caterpillars growing from teeny tiny specs of black with a white stripe, to these big fat, yellow striped caterpillars, getting ready to grow into adults. Some of these caterpillars won’t make it because they will become food for birds and other insects, which is amazing. My job is to put the habitat back that humanity has taken away and leave nature to do the rest. I’m a Garden Coach in the Chicagoland area and I love this community — if you know the answer to someone’s question in the comments, please jump in and help! I can’t always respond personally, but together we can figure anything out. 🌱 Visit powersplants.com to learn more about booking a coaching session with me, and for just $5/month you can subscribe for exclusive behind-the-scenes content, videos, and live Q&As where you can ask me anything directly! #butterflies #swallowtail #gardening | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DZD5mNnBCTT/ | 06/01/2026 | DZD5mNnBCTT |
| When planting along your driveway where you will be backing out and crossing a sidewalk or street, keep all of your plants 30 inches tall or lower to be sure that you have enough clear site to people and cars along the sidewalk and road. I’m a Garden Coach in the Chicagoland area and I love this community — if you know the answer to someone’s question in the comments, please jump in and help! I can’t always respond personally, but together we can figure anything out. 🌱 Visit powersplants.com to learn more about booking a coaching session with me, and for just $5/month you can subscribe for exclusive behind-the-scenes content, videos, and live Q&As where you can ask me anything directly! #garden #landscapedesign #gardening | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DZC1HjkkzkT/ | 06/01/2026 | DZC1HjkkzkT |
| To get more blooms on your climbing roses, you need to train your canes on an angle or is horizontalis possible. This will deposit flowering hormone at different areas along the stem and you’ll get side shoots with flowers! I’m a Garden Coach in the Chicagoland area and I love this community — if you know the answer to someone’s question in the comments, please jump in and help! I can’t always respond personally, but together we can figure anything out. 🌱 Visit powersplants.com to learn more about booking a coaching session with me, and for just $5/month you can subscribe for exclusive behind-the-scenes content, videos, and live Q&As where you can ask me anything directly! #roses #climbingroses #garden | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DZFaDocFA6n/ | 06/02/2026 | DZFaDocFA6n |
| You can technically transplant and divide plants at any time except winter when the soil is frozen. We prefer to transplant and divide when there is not heat or water stress. We also preferred to divide perennials that are flowering in the spring, in the fall, and we prefer to divide fall blooming perennials in the spring. I’m a Garden Coach in the Chicagoland area and I love this community — if you know the answer to someone’s question in the comments, please jump in and help! I can’t always respond personally, but together we can figure anything out. 🌱 Visit powersplants.com to learn more about booking a coaching session with me, and for just $5/month you can subscribe for exclusive behind-the-scenes content, videos, and live Q&As where you can ask me anything directly! #garden #gardening #gardentips | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DZH-m9IAJgf/ | 06/03/2026 | DZH-m9IAJgf |
| Peony growth in the spring comes from energy that the plant makes the summer and fall previous. So we want all the energy that the plant makes through photosynthesis in its leaves, going into the roots to store over the winter to make flowers next year. So once the flower pedal start to turn brown and fall off the plant, I want you to cut those flowers off before the plant starts to make seeds. I’m a Garden Coach in the Chicagoland area and I love this community — if you know the answer to someone’s question in the comments, please jump in and help! I can’t always respond personally, but together we can figure anything out. 🌱 Visit powersplants.com to learn more about booking a coaching session with me, and for just $5/month you can subscribe for exclusive behind-the-scenes content, videos, and live Q&As where you can ask me anything directly! #peony #peonies #flowers | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DZKjTwcAj4k/ | 06/04/2026 | DZKjTwcAj4k |
| I am planting a pretty container that is about 20 inches across the top and 20 inches deep. I’m using organic potting soil and I’m planting mint and oregano that I bought from the garden center and seeds for sweet basil that I harvested from my own plants in the garden last year. I’m gonna put this pretty container right outside my patio door so I can access it easily from the kitchen. I’m a Garden Coach in the Chicagoland area and I love this community — if you know the answer to someone’s question in the comments, please jump in and help! I can’t always respond personally, but together we can figure anything out. 🌱 Visit powersplants.com to learn more about booking a coaching session with me, and for just $5/month you can subscribe for exclusive behind-the-scenes content, videos, and live Q&As where you can ask me anything directly! #herbs #garden #gardening | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DZKVqXEjZ-f/ | 06/04/2026 | DZKVqXEjZ-f |
| Powdery mildew will thrive in humid, damp conditions. We need lots of airflow around and through our peony plants to stave off the disease. I’m a Garden Coach in the Chicagoland area and I love this community — if you know the answer to someone’s question in the comments, please jump in and help! I can’t always respond personally, but together we can figure anything out. 🌱 Visit powersplants.com to learn more about booking a coaching session with me, and for just $5/month you can subscribe for exclusive behind-the-scenes content, videos, and live Q&As where you can ask me anything directly! #peony #peonies #flowers | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DZNIWtuHGRo/ | 06/05/2026 | DZNIWtuHGRo |
| Roses need to be properly in order to produce more flowers later in the summer. I’m a Garden Coach in the Chicagoland area and I love this community — if you know the answer to someone’s question in the comments, please jump in and help! I can’t always respond personally, but together we can figure anything out. 🌱 Visit powersplants.com to learn more about booking a coaching session with me, and for just $5/month you can subscribe for exclusive behind-the-scenes content, videos, and live Q&As where you can ask me anything directly! #roses #rose #rosesofinstagram | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DZPs9w-jdBL/ | 06/06/2026 | DZPs9w-jdBL |
| Trees need perennials and shrubs underneath them to keep them healthy. Layers of perennials, shrubs, and tree trees actually help contain moisture in the area which is great for all of the plants and great for all of us because that has a cooling effect. Layered landscaping also is great for bird habitat and it’s also fantastic for caterpillars because they need a soft place to land after they have lived off the leaves of the tree. Carex Albicans Heuchera richardonii Christmas Ferns Wild Geranium Eastern Red Columbine Tall Thimbleweed The answer is always diversity! I’m a Garden Coach in the Chicagoland area and I love this community — if you know the answer to someone’s question in the comments, please jump in and help! I can’t always respond personally, but together we can figure anything out. 🌱 Visit powersplants.com to learn more about booking a coaching session with me, and for just $5/month you can subscribe for exclusive behind-the-scenes content, videos, and live Q&As where you can ask me anything directly! #nativeplants #gardening #garden | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DZSj5VbukRx/ | 06/07/2026 | DZSj5VbukRx |
| Try and find the smallest plants possible so that you don’t need to dig a very big hole and damage the roots of large established trees when planting underneath. There’s plenty of soil down there for plants to grow under the trees and trees in nature have plants growing under them all the time. But it’s a good idea to select plants that can tolerate dry soil when planting under established large trees. I’m a Garden Coach in the Chicagoland area and I love this community — if you know the answer to someone’s question in the comments, please jump in and help! I can’t always respond personally, but together we can figure anything out. 🌱 Visit powersplants.com to learn more about booking a coaching session with me, and for just $5/month you can subscribe for exclusive behind-the-scenes content, videos, and live Q&As where you can ask me anything directly! #garden #gardening #gardentips | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DZSRvTTjLT9/ | 06/07/2026 | DZSRvTTjLT9 |
| Big leaf or mountain hydrangeas often have dead brown sticks sticking out of the plant because those stems and buds don’t survive our Chicago winters. You can remove the dead brown sticks and hopefully you’ve got green new growth coming out of the base with flower buds on them if you dislike this plant because overtime it doesn’t produce enough flowers for you then you can dig it up and get rid of it. If it doesn’t bother you, you can leave it. It’s up to you. I’m a Garden Coach in the Chicagoland area and I love this community — if you know the answer to someone’s question in the comments, please jump in and help! I can’t always respond personally, but together we can figure anything out. 🌱 Visit powersplants.com to learn more about booking a coaching session with me, and for just $5/month you can subscribe for exclusive behind-the-scenes content, videos, and live Q&As where you can ask me anything directly! #hydrangea #hydrangeas #endlesssummer | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DZU2lPAESwM/ | 06/08/2026 | DZU2lPAESwM |
| You keep weeds down with plants. Weeds find it harder to grow where there is competition from other plants. Your biggest weed problems are in your gaps in your landscaping, so fill those gaps with drifts of the same plant. I’m a Garden Coach in the Chicagoland area and I love this community — if you know the answer to someone’s question in the comments, please jump in and help! I can’t always respond personally, but together we can figure anything out. 🌱 Visit powersplants.com to learn more about booking a coaching session with me, and for just $5/month you can subscribe for exclusive behind-the-scenes content, videos, and live Q&As where you can ask me anything directly! #garden #gardening #landscapedesign | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DZXbXoeiRnN/ | 06/09/2026 | DZXbXoeiRnN |
| Sawflies lay their eggs on the leaves of roses, and when the eggs hatched the little green larva start eating the leaves. It’s a good idea to start inspecting once the leaves emerge for White window pane damage or holes in your leaves. Flip those leaves over and squished the larva to kill them or you can use low toxic organic control controls and spray the underside of the leaves. Do not use any three in one systemic products that you rake into the soil because they kill bees and so does Diatomaceous earth or any dust products that get sprinkled on the plant. I’m a Garden Coach in the Chicagoland area and I love this community — if you know the answer to someone’s question in the comments, please jump in and help! I can’t always respond personally, but together we can figure anything out. 🌱 Visit powersplants.com to learn more about booking a coaching session with me, and for just $5/month you can subscribe for exclusive behind-the-scenes content, videos, and live Q&As where you can ask me anything directly! #roses #organicgardening #gardening | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DZaAJZUiRdv/ | 06/10/2026 | DZaAJZUiRdv |
| When you plant a tree, the tree trunk should flare out all the way around as it enters the soil. If you plant your trees, too deep, the tree will put out new roots and they will circle and girdle the main root system underneath and eventually kill your tree. I’m a Garden Coach in the Chicagoland area and I love this community — if you know the answer to someone’s question in the comments, please jump in and help! I can’t always respond personally, but together we can figure anything out. 🌱 Visit powersplants.com to learn more about booking a coaching session with me, and for just $5/month you can subscribe for exclusive behind-the-scenes content, videos, and live Q&As where you can ask me anything directly! #trees #tree #gardening | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DZck6v0jhPY/ | 06/11/2026 | DZck6v0jhPY |
| I am in love with my water feature! Almost as much as the birds love it❤️🕊️🦅🦆🦜🐥🦢🐓 | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DZf-2WFR7fw/ | 06/12/2026 | DZf-2WFR7fw |
| There are several varieties of black eyed Susan some are biennial and some are perennial. Biennials only live for two years and so we need to let them freely self seed or the entire patch will die. Perennial black-eyed Susans only live 3 to 5 years and so we also want those to freely self seed. Many people complain that black eyed Susan spread aggressively that’s why I like to cut off some of the seed heads and just spread them into the areas I want. I’m a Garden Coach in the Chicagoland area and I love this community — if you know the answer to someone’s question in the comments, please jump in and help! I can’t always respond personally, but together we can figure anything out. 🌱 Visit powersplants.com to learn more about booking a coaching session with me, and for just $5/month you can subscribe for exclusive behind-the-scenes content, videos, and live Q&As where you can ask me anything directly! #nativeplants #gardening #garden | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DZfJsVVkwG1/ | 06/12/2026 | DZfJsVVkwG1 |
| Penstemon digitalis is a native plant that gets 3 feet tall and can grow in partial shade all the way to full sun and prefers medium to dry soil. It grows easily from seed after 30 days of cold, stratification and rabbits and deer avoid this plant. I’m a Garden Coach in the Chicagoland area and I love this community — if you know the answer to someone’s question in the comments, please jump in and help! I can’t always respond personally, but together we can figure anything out. 🌱 Visit powersplants.com to learn more about booking a coaching session with me, and for just $5/month you can subscribe for exclusive behind-the-scenes content, videos, and live Q&As where you can ask me anything directly! #nativeplants #gardening #garden | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DZhugWHkXtV/ | 06/13/2026 | DZhugWHkXtV |
| Common milkweed is a fantastic native plant and it is the preferred host plant for monarch butterflies. There are lots of other milkweed species that I would prefer and recommend for small home gardens. Common milkweed gets about 7 feet tall and spreads aggressively via runners and seeds. I’ve had great success with monarch caterpillars in my garden using swamp/rose milkweed. If you have a hot dry location, there’s a beautiful little 2 foot tall butterfly weed that is also in the milkweed family. You don’t need to have common milkweed to help monarchs. You can replace that in your garden with something that’s a little better behaved. Common milk weeds are fantastic for use in conservation areas and you can donate your seeds to local conservation groups. I’m a Garden Coach in the Chicagoland area and I love this community — if you know the answer to someone’s question in the comments, please jump in and help! I can’t always respond personally, but together we can figure anything out. 🌱 Visit powersplants.com to learn more about booking a coaching session with me, and for just $5/month you can subscribe for exclusive behind-the-scenes content, videos, and live Q&As where you can ask me anything directly! #nativeplants #garden #nativegardening | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DZkR4L9jLVS/ | 06/14/2026 | DZkR4L9jLVS |
| Trees need to have the root flare exposed to sunlight and air, and should not be buried beneath mulch or soil. And if there is turf grass around the tree, you need to pull the turf grass 2 feet away from the trunk minimum because we do not want mowing equipment or weed whackers damaging the trunk or the very shallow roots of the tree. You can absolutely plant perennials around your trees but nothing that needs to be mowed and do not pile soil up around the base of the trees and then plant you got a plant down where the roots of the tree are. I’m a Garden Coach in the Chicagoland area and I love this community — if you know the answer to someone’s question in the comments, please jump in and help! I can’t always respond personally, but together we can figure anything out. 🌱 Visit powersplants.com to learn more about booking a coaching session with me, and for just $5/month you can subscribe for exclusive behind-the-scenes content, videos, and live Q&As where you can ask me anything directly! #trees #garden #gardening | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DZm4CgAjGJ5/ | 06/15/2026 | DZm4CgAjGJ5 |
| There is a lot of nuance to what kind of mulches we should be using, and it predominantly depends on where you live. If you live in an area with risk of Firestone mulch, especially close to your house is going to be your best option. The downside of stone is that it heats up and re-radiates that heat into the soil and dry the soil out so you want to make sure you select plants that can tolerate that level of moisture. There will still be weeds that grow through the stone, even if you put landscape fabric underneath. It is best for your soil to use as many plants as possible so the plants themselves are living mulch. But until you have that shredded hardwood or other organic mulches like fresh arborist wood chips are best because they break down in the elements and the process of microorganisms breaking down that mulch helps feed your soil, which is great for your plants. I’m a Garden Coach in the Chicagoland area and I love this community — if you know the answer to someone’s question in the comments, please jump in and help! I can’t always respond personally, but together we can figure anything out. 🌱 Visit powersplants.com to learn more about booking a coaching session with me, and for just $5/month you can subscribe for exclusive behind-the-scenes content, videos, and live Q&As where you can ask me anything directly! #garden #gardening #mulch | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DZpc-2PiutQ/ | 06/16/2026 | DZpc-2PiutQ |
| You can cut your later blooming perennials in half to keep them more compact and shorter. This is often referred to as the Chelsea chop which refers to the Chelsea flower show in London. The Chelsea chop in London happens in May but here in Chicago we are several zones behind them so I Chelsea chop in late June and early July. I’m a Garden Coach in the Chicagoland area and I love this community — if you know the answer to someone’s question in the comments, please jump in and help! I can’t always respond personally, but together we can figure anything out. 🌱 Visit powersplants.com to learn more about booking a coaching session with me, and for just $5/month you can subscribe for exclusive behind-the-scenes content, videos, and live Q&As where you can ask me anything directly! #nativeplants #garden #gardening | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DZsBotZjERY/ | 06/17/2026 | DZsBotZjERY |
| Monarch caterpillars do you like to live on the underside of leaves and then they chew the edges and get nice and big and healthy. I’m a Garden Coach in the Chicagoland area and I love this community — if you know the answer to someone’s question in the comments, please jump in and help! I can’t always respond personally, but together we can figure anything out. 🌱 Visit powersplants.com to learn more about booking a coaching session with me, and for just $5/month you can subscribe for exclusive behind-the-scenes content, videos, and live Q&As where you can ask me anything directly! #monarchbutterfly #monarch #garden | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DZup9n5uzaC/ | 06/18/2026 | DZup9n5uzaC |
| Researchers have consistently found overtime that monarch butterflies prefer to lay their eggs on rose/swamp milkweed and common milkweed. But all the other host plants still work and you may not have the space to grow common milkweed in your garden, and you may not have ideal growing conditions for rose or swamp milkweed. You can still grow the other ones and you’re still supporting monarch populations. But remember the most important thing to support monarchs and all of the insects we are losing is by growing a biodiverse native garden. I’m a Garden Coach in the Chicagoland area and I love this community — if you know the answer to someone’s question in the comments, please jump in and help! I can’t always respond personally, but together we can figure anything out. 🌱 Visit powersplants.com to learn more about booking a coaching session with me, and for just $5/month you can subscribe for exclusive behind-the-scenes content, videos, and live Q&As where you can ask me anything directly! #monarchbutterflies #nativeplants #garden | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DZunFsbjZU2/ | 06/18/2026 | DZunFsbjZU2 |
| No matter how good you are a gardening or designing you are always going to need to edit. Some plants just aren’t happy and a specific location even though you followed all the rules on the plant tank and some plants are gonna be so happy that they spread and take up too much space. Every few years you’re going to need to edit that is why perennials are higher maintenance than shrubs. I’m a Garden Coach in the Chicagoland area and I love this community — if you know the answer to someone’s question in the comments, please jump in and help! I can’t always respond personally, but together we can figure anything out. 🌱 Visit powersplants.com to learn more about booking a coaching session with me, and for just $5/month you can subscribe for exclusive behind-the-scenes content, videos, and live Q&As where you can ask me anything directly! #garden #NativePlants #LandscapeDesign | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DZxLQ6yArhu/ | 06/19/2026 | DZxLQ6yArhu |
| Aggressive spreaders that are also native to your area are fantastic plants that support a diverse ecosystem. Maybe they don’t belong in your small home garden but they are fantastic plants to have in wild areas. Invasive plants are not native to your area. They spread aggressively and they are generalist because they don’t care about how much moisture they get or how much sun and shade they get they they’ll grow pretty much anywhere and they’ll kill and choke out all the native plant diversity that should be there. Climate change is making all of this worse, so it’s really important now to do our part to get rid of all of the invasive plants in our gardens and in our public spaces. I’m a Garden Coach in the Chicagoland area and I love this community — if you know the answer to someone’s question in the comments, please jump in and help! I can’t always respond personally, but together we can figure anything out. 🌱 Visit powersplants.com to learn more about booking a coaching session with me, and for just $5/month you can subscribe for exclusive behind-the-scenes content, videos, and live Q&As where you can ask me anything directly! #Nativeplants #biodiversity #gardening | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DZz_mG1u0Jy/ | 06/20/2026 | DZz_mG1u0Jy |
| Cottage Gardens need lines. We achieve lines with a neat tight edge, pathway or border or all three. There are often structural elements like evergreen shrubs or small evergreen trees to help the eye have somewhere organized to land on. No one will notice the messy middle if you take care of the edges. I’m a Garden Coach in the Chicagoland area and I love this community — if you know the answer to someone’s question in the comments, please jump in and help! I can’t always respond personally, but together we can figure anything out. 🌱 Visit powersplants.com to learn more about booking a coaching session with me, and for just $5/month you can subscribe for exclusive behind-the-scenes content, videos, and live Q&As where you can ask me anything directly! #landscapedesign #garden #gardening | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DZzzV7LlEV1/ | 06/20/2026 | DZzzV7LlEV1 |
| He is the best! Happy Father’s Day, Mr. Powers Plants ❤️ | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DZ2mQpfuhsW/ | 06/21/2026 | DZ2mQpfuhsW |
| The best way to improve your soil is with plants and mulches that decompose like shredded hardwood, fresh arborist wood chips, leaving your leaves or pine straw. I’m a Garden Coach in the Chicagoland area and I love this community — if you know the answer to someone’s question in the comments, please jump in and help! I can’t always respond personally, but together we can figure anything out. 🌱 Visit powersplants.com to learn more about booking a coaching session with me, and for just $5/month you can subscribe for exclusive behind-the-scenes content, videos, and live Q&As where you can ask me anything directly! #garden #gardening #soil | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DZ2VM9pAVI8/ | 06/21/2026 | DZ2VM9pAVI8 |
| Coupon Code: PowersPlants Products Used in the Video: https://www.aquascapeinc.com/collections/amy-powers I’ve always wanted a water feature, but had no idea where to start. About 40 minutes away from my house is Aquascape the world’s largest water feature company in the world. They designed a beautiful pond waterfall in my front yard and the stacked sphere water feature in my backyard and the birds and I have been loving it ever since. I’m a Garden Coach in the Chicagoland area and I love this community — if you know the answer to someone’s question in the comments, please jump in and help! I can’t always respond personally, but together we can figure anything out. 🌱 Visit powersplants.com to learn more about booking a coaching session with me, and for just $5/month you can subscribe for exclusive behind-the-scenes content, videos, and live Q&As where you can ask me anything directly! | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DZ46kOxEzhh/ | 06/22/2026 | DZ46kOxEzhh |
| My favorite late spring bloomer Lance leaf coreopsis! 2 feet tall 18 inches wide, prefers full sun and dry soil. Supports a variety of insects and birds. Will bloom throughout early summer with deadhead although I don’t deadhead the whole plant. I like to leave seed heads up for the birds. I’m a Garden Coach in the Chicagoland area and I love this community — if you know the answer to someone’s question in the comments, please jump in and help! I can’t always respond personally, but together we can figure anything out. 🌱 Visit powersplants.com to learn more about booking a coaching session with me, and for just $5/month you can subscribe for exclusive behind-the-scenes content, videos, and live Q&As where you can ask me anything directly! #nativeplants #biodiversity #garden | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DZ7eoTrFeMh/ | 06/23/2026 | DZ7eoTrFeMh |
| Panicle Hydrangeas can be pruned in late Winter/ early Spring before the new growth starts. In Chicago that is March/April. I can’t always respond to comments so for those of you that are experienced gardeners, please jump in and help as much as you can. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area from March until November. Click the link in my bio to learn more. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live near me. From plant selection and design, flowers to vegetables and of course, pruning, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com! My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back weekly during the season! | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DVi-sC8jhiZ/ | 06/26/2026 | DVi-sC8jhiZ |
| We prune wisteria twice per year. Once in late March and another time in the summer after all the flowers have bloomed and the long whippy growth has started. Remove anything dead or damaged first, remove any suckers that are shooting out from the base, cut back the long whippy growth above the fifth bud/leaf, tie up any growth that you wanna keep to fill in some gaps and deadhead any flowers so the plant doesn’t waste energy producing seed. Remember there are invasive hysteria that were imported from Japan and China in the 1800s and they are highly invasive and should be removed if you have it in your garden. There are beautiful native wisteria in North America. I am growing blue moon, which is a variety of Kentucky Wisteria. I’m a Garden Coach in the Chicagoland area and I love this community — if you know the answer to someone’s question in the comments, please jump in and help! I can’t always respond personally, but together we can figure anything out. 🌱 Visit powersplants.com to learn more about booking a coaching session with me, and for just $5/month you can subscribe for exclusive behind-the-scenes content, videos, and live Q&As where you can ask me anything directly! #nativeplants #pruning #gardening | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DaK7ZUNk2Gp/ | 06/29/2026 | DaK7ZUNk2Gp |
| You can get rid of aphids by planting lots of small flowered plants in your garden and attracting small beneficial insects like hover flies. Hover flies will lay their eggs close to the aphids and when the eggs hatch, the larva will eat up to 400 aphids! Those little hover flies will also pollinate your plants so I love to let my cilantro and dill go to flower. I’m a Garden Coach in the Chicagoland area and I love this community — if you know the answer to someone’s question in the comments, please jump in and help! I can’t always respond personally, but together we can figure anything out. 🌱 Visit powersplants.com to learn more about booking a coaching session with me, and for just $5/month you can subscribe for exclusive behind-the-scenes content, videos, and live Q&As where you can ask me anything directly! #garden #gardening #aphids | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DaaX8wpER4n/ | 07/04/2026 | DaaX8wpER4n |
| The biggest tomato question I get is about whether or not to prune your suckers. On Vining in determinant tomatoes, we try to prune our suckers just to keep the plant from getting overgrown and two dents, which can bring diseases. You don’t have to but it is recommended. Those suckers will produce fruit, but because these huge divining tomatoes produce so much fruit anyway taking off the suckers is usually worth it because it keeps your plant easier to maintain and healthier. I’m a Garden Coach in the Chicagoland area and I love this community — if you know the answer to someone’s question in the comments, please jump in and help! I can’t always respond personally, but together we can figure anything out. 🌱 Visit powersplants.com to learn more about booking a coaching session with me, and for just $5/month you can subscribe for exclusive behind-the-scenes content, videos, and live Q&As where you can ask me anything directly! #tomatoes #tomato #gardening | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DaVOnhElYc9/ | 07/04/2026 | DaVOnhElYc9 |
| I have been managing an organic lawn for the last five years and the best tip I have is to mow high and leave your grass clippings. The taller, the grass, the better it is at creating a canopy that shades the soil underneath from weeds germinating. Leaving the grass clippings is free nitrogen that’s can be cycled back into your soil. I’m a Garden Coach in the Chicagoland area and I love this community — if you know the answer to someone’s question in the comments, please jump in and help! I can’t always respond personally, but together we can figure anything out. 🌱 Visit powersplants.com to learn more about booking a coaching session with me, and for just $5/month you can subscribe for exclusive behind-the-scenes content, videos, and live Q&As where you can ask me anything directly! #lawn #mowingtips #garden | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DaXvKZ7Cv4H/ | 07/04/2026 | DaXvKZ7Cv4H |
| We need to respect water as a resource since we are firmly in the phase of climate change impacts. Our water resources are being taxed in many areas of the country and most of us are going to have to deal with this at some point. So let’s get smarter about how we use our water resources and it would help inform you to listen to Professor Allan Hamlet, who I interviewed in a longform video on my YouTube channel. He is a hydra climatologist with an expertise in how water is being impacted by climate change. I learned so much from him and I wish everyone knew what he had to teach. I’m a Garden Coach in the Chicagoland area and I love this community — if you know the answer to someone’s question in the comments, please jump in and help! I can’t always respond personally, but together we can figure anything out. 🌱 Visit powersplants.com to learn more about booking a coaching session with me, and for just $5/month you can subscribe for exclusive behind-the-scenes content, videos, and live Q&As where you can ask me anything directly! #heatwave #drought #gardening | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DaOTV8kCIeH/ | 07/04/2026 | DaOTV8kCIeH |
| We don’t want our plants to stay wet for long periods of time or they will get diseases just like what happens in nature when we have a really wet spring. We see all kinds of diseases that spread and proliferate with a lot of water. So even mother nature can create diseases with too much water on our plants. I’m a Garden Coach in the Chicagoland area and I love this community — if you know the answer to someone’s question in the comments, please jump in and help! I can’t always respond personally, but together we can figure anything out. 🌱 Visit powersplants.com to learn more about booking a coaching session with me, and for just $5/month you can subscribe for exclusive behind-the-scenes content, videos, and live Q&As where you can ask me anything directly! #heatwave #drought #garden | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DaQE02GGae2/ | 07/04/2026 | DaQE02GGae2 |
| Japanese Beetles are an invasive pest in North America and they chew on plant tissue. When they start chewing there is a pheromone emitted that attracts other beetles to that plant. So mark your calendar so that every year you remember to go out and start inspecting when they show up near you, knock the Beetles into soapy, water, and remove the chewed tissue. I’m a Garden Coach in the Chicagoland area and I love this community — if you know the answer to someone’s question in the comments, please jump in and help! I can’t always respond personally, but together we can figure anything out. 🌱 Visit powersplants.com to learn more about booking a coaching session with me, and for just $5/month you can subscribe for exclusive behind-the-scenes content, videos, and live Q&As where you can ask me anything directly! #japanesebeetles #garden #gardening | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DaSeyfXjj6T/ | 07/04/2026 | DaSeyfXjj6T |
| Gout weed, also referred to as ground elder snow on the mountain or bishop’s weed, is an invasive ground cover through much of the United States. You can mow it or weed whack it as low as you can every week and it will take about a year or more to eradicate then, in the future anytime anything pops up, you can just manually dig it out by the roots. I’m a Garden Coach in the Chicagoland area and I love this community — if you know the answer to someone’s question in the comments, please jump in and help! I can’t always respond personally, but together we can figure anything out. 🌱 Visit powersplants.com to learn more about booking a coaching session with me, and for just $5/month you can subscribe for exclusive behind-the-scenes content, videos, and live Q&As where you can ask me anything directly! #invasiveplants #goutweed #gardening | https://www.instagram.com/reel/Dac80FFARyA/ | 07/06/2026 | Dac80FFARyA |
| Chelsea Chopping refers to cutting plants that wanna be tall that bloom laid in the season and half. The plant will still bloom between now and late summer early fall, but the plant will be much smaller and more compact. I’m a Garden Coach in the Chicagoland area and I love this community — if you know the answer to someone’s question in the comments, please jump in and help! I can’t always respond personally, but together we can figure anything out. 🌱 Visit powersplants.com to learn more about booking a coaching session with me, and for just $5/month you can subscribe for exclusive behind-the-scenes content, videos, and live Q&As where you can ask me anything directly! #chelseachop #nativeplants #gardening | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DafgLCkkjQr/ | 07/07/2026 | DafgLCkkjQr |
| Keep any materials from your Chelsea chop of native plants as there may be insects living on the leaves and stems. | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DavUKXNuIFJ/ | 07/07/2026 | DavUKXNuIFJ |
| Look at the insects all over these native flowers! Culver’s Root, Purple Coneflower, Blue Grama Grass, Lanceleaf Coreopsis, Haas Halo Hydrangea (cultivar). I’m a Garden Coach in the Chicagoland area and I love this community — if you know the answer to someone’s question in the comments, please jump in and help! I can’t always respond personally, but together we can figure anything out. 🌱 Visit powersplants.com to learn more about booking a coaching session with me, and for just $5/month you can subscribe for exclusive behind-the-scenes content, videos, and live Q&As where you can ask me anything directly! #nativeplants #garden #insects | https://www.instagram.com/reel/Dau-_PEj8iz/ | 07/07/2026 | Dau-_PEj8iz |
| I install a four-way splitter on my water spigot. These cost about $25 at your local garden center or hardware store. Then you can buy a timer which you can install on one of the branches. Run a regular hose over to the plants you want watered. Attach a soaker hose and wind it around the base of your plants. Adjust the water pressure so that water is slowly leaching into the soil. On a day when the top inch of soil is dry run the soaker hose and figure out how long it should run for all of your soil to be saturated. Then figure out about how many days it takes for the top inch of your soil to dry out. That’s how many days apart you want to run your timer and it’s best to run your timer early in the morning. I’m a Garden Coach in the Chicagoland area and I love this community — if you know the answer to someone’s question in the comments, please jump in and help! I can’t always respond personally, but together we can figure anything out. 🌱 Visit powersplants.com to learn more about booking a coaching session with me, and for just $5/month you can subscribe for exclusive behind-the-scenes content, videos, and live Q&As where you can ask me anything directly! #garden #gardening #tomatoes | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DaiGbJIFftA/ | 07/08/2026 | DaiGbJIFftA |
| Dividing peonies is so easy! You just need to cut a chunk of the roots that has an eye. The way to guarantee that your piece has an eye is to cut a piece that has stems coming out of it. Don’t plant too deeply peonies won’t set a flower if they don’t feel the cold of winter. | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DakrKQeAGyT/ | 07/09/2026 | DakrKQeAGyT |
| When buying a home, be sure to check the outside of the property as well as the inside. If you see a very messy hedge of shrubs and trees around the property lines, you can assume that most of it is invasive and will need to be removed. I would think at least $10,000 maybe more to clean up the hedge in this video. Keep that in mind when buying a house. I’m a Garden Coach in the Chicagoland area and I love this community — if you know the answer to someone’s question in the comments, please jump in and help! I can’t always respond personally, but together we can figure anything out. 🌱 Visit powersplants.com to learn more about booking a coaching session with me, and for just $5/month you can subscribe for exclusive behind-the-scenes content, videos, and live Q&As where you can ask me anything #realeastate #PropertyMaintenance #homeinspection | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DanGyM8E77J/ | 07/10/2026 | DanGyM8E77J |
| So many fantastic cafés and bakeries in Chicago, but Mindy’s in Wicker Park on Milwaukee Avenue is hands-down the best of everything. A lot of bakeries do flavors really well. Mindy’s does flavor and texture like no one else. The blend of butter and crunch and flavor is like nothing else I’ve ever had. Update we had some of the bagels out of the freezer this morning with chive pesto cream cheese, and I was eating the cream cheese with a spoon! | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DaqqGVuxerZ/ | 07/11/2026 | DaqqGVuxerZ |
| Native Wisteria: More Blooms | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DaoffgNsEHX/ | 07/11/2026 | DaoffgNsEHX |
| You can prune weeping cherry trees within a few weeks of the flowers fading. You can still prune in the summertime. You will be cutting off flowers of anything that you removed but as long as you leave the rest of the tree as it is, you’ll still get lots of flowers next spring! I’m a Garden Coach in the Chicagoland area and I love this community — if you know the answer to someone’s question in the comments, please jump in and help! I can’t always respond personally, but together we can figure anything out. 🌱 Visit powersplants.com to learn more about booking a coaching session with me, and for just $5/month you can subscribe for exclusive behind-the-scenes content, videos, and live Q&As where you can ask me anything directly! #pruning #trees #gardening | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DasZqVdlNLO/ | 07/12/2026 | DasZqVdlNLO |
| The more diversity of plants you have in your garden, the more diversity of insects you will attract. Those insects will help keep your pest in check for free! I’m a Garden Coach in the Chicagoland area and I love this community — if you know the answer to someone’s question in the comments, please jump in and help! I can’t always respond personally, but together we can figure anything out. 🌱 Visit powersplants.com to learn more about booking a coaching session with me, and for just $5/month you can subscribe for exclusive behind-the-scenes content, videos, and live Q&As where you can ask me anything directly! #Nativeplants #biodiversity #gardening | https://www.instagram.com/reel/Dap03RTjy9E/ | 07/12/2026 | Dap03RTjy9E |
| July is your last pruning window for trees and shrubs. The energy cycle at the beginning of August is about to shift downward in these plants as they prepare for winter and we don’t want to disrupt that process. There’s also not enough time to harden off any new growth that happens after pruning before cold fall temperatures. Exceptions are oak, Birch and Elm. I’m a Garden Coach in the Chicagoland area and I love this community — if you know the answer to someone’s question in the comments, please jump in and help! I can’t always respond personally, but together we can figure anything out. 🌱 Visit powersplants.com to learn more about booking a coaching session with me, and for just $5/month you can subscribe for exclusive behind-the-scenes content, videos, and live Q&As where you can ask me anything directly! #pruning #garden #gardening | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DavJ3w5lfDv/ | 07/13/2026 | DavJ3w5lfDv |
| Unless you have a soil test telling you that you are deficient in basic nutrients and organic matter, you don’t need fertilizer. Excess fertilizer washes into your groundwater and creates problems downstream in your water shed. I’m a Garden Coach in the Chicagoland area and I love this community — if you know the answer to someone’s question in the comments, please jump in and help! I can’t always respond personally, but together we can figure anything out. 🌱 Visit powersplants.com to learn more about booking a coaching session with me, and for just $5/month you can subscribe for exclusive behind-the-scenes content, videos, and live Q&As where you can ask me anything directly! #garden #gardening #fertilizer | https://www.instagram.com/reel/Dax7V5_E-gG/ | 07/14/2026 | Dax7V5_E-gG |
| Evergreen’s will drop their needles if there is no sunlight reaching them. So we don’t ever want other plants growing up and touching the needles of our evergreens or else the Evergreen is just going to drop all the needles. Also, when we don’t have airflow between our plants and the leaves are touching, you run the risk of getting a needle disease. I’m a Garden Coach in the Chicagoland area and I love this community — if you know the answer to someone’s question in the comments, please jump in and help! I can’t always respond personally, but together we can figure anything out. 🌱 Visit powersplants.com to learn more about booking a coaching session with me, and for just $5/month you can subscribe for exclusive behind-the-scenes content, videos, and live Q&As where you can ask me anything directly! #pruning #pruningyews #garden | https://www.instagram.com/reel/Da0BlAyjg_2/ | 07/15/2026 | Da0BlAyjg_2 |
| I think the best thing we can do for the native plant movement is in front of the house, grow organized, designed beds that are aesthetically pleasing, and not a wild overgrown mess flopping over the sidewalk. I’m a Garden Coach in the Chicagoland area and I love this community — if you know the answer to someone’s question in the comments, please jump in and help! I can’t always respond personally, but together we can figure anything out. 🌱 Visit powersplants.com to learn more about booking a coaching session with me, and for just $5/month you can subscribe for exclusive behind-the-scenes content, videos, and live Q&As where you can ask me anything directly! #gardening #nativeplants #landscapedesign | https://www.instagram.com/reel/Da3o4RCxQXX/ | 07/16/2026 | Da3o4RCxQXX |
| Be sure to fill all your containers and raised beds with soil. The plants will use the soil that is available even more than 15 inches deep. When you put two different mediums next to each other in a container, the water does not drain out of the top layer due to the difference in porosity. I’m a Garden Coach in the Chicagoland area and I love this community — if you know the answer to someone’s question in the comments, please jump in and help! I can’t always respond personally, but together we can figure anything out. 🌱 Visit powersplants.com to learn more about booking a coaching session with me, and for just $5/month you can subscribe for exclusive behind-the-scenes content, videos, and live Q&As where you can ask me anything directly! #containergardening #containers #garden | https://www.instagram.com/reel/Da2xq8wAkKZ/ | 07/16/2026 | Da2xq8wAkKZ |
| You don’t need to replace all of the soil in your containers every year. If you have a disease on your plants in that container, then I would remove the soil. But when you take out the plants that are finished at the end of the season, I take the soil that comes along with those roots out. When I put the new plants in for the next season all the soil that is already in the new plant containers will fill up that space and if I have any gaps, I will fill it with fresh potting soil. I’m a Garden Coach in the Chicagoland area and I love this community — if you know the answer to someone’s question in the comments, please jump in and help! I can’t always respond personally, but together we can figure anything out. 🌱 Visit powersplants.com to learn more about booking a coaching session with me, and for just $5/month you can subscribe for exclusive behind-the-scenes content, videos, and live Q&As where you can ask me anything directly! #containergardening #annuals #gardening | https://www.instagram.com/reel/Da5PabXiXmR/ | 07/16/2026 | Da5PabXiXmR |
| I think the best thing we can do for the native plant movement is in front of the house, grow organized, designed beds that are aesthetically pleasing, and not a wild overgrown mess flopping over the sidewalk. I’m a Garden Coach in the Chicagoland area and I love this community — if you know the answer to someone’s question in the comments, please jump in and help! I can’t always respond personally, but together we can figure anything out. 🌱 Visit powersplants.com to learn more about booking a coaching session with me, and for just $5/month you can subscribe for exclusive behind-the-scenes content, videos, and live Q&As where you can ask me anything directly! #gardening #nativeplants #landscapedesign | https://www.instagram.com/reel/Da3o4RCxQXX/ | 07/16/2026 | Da3o4RCxQXX |
| You can transplant shrubs, and perennials in the summer as long as you are not in a heat wave. If you are in a drought you can plant but you would need to monitor watering more closely. You can also wait until the fall and do this in September. | https://www.instagram.com/reel/Da083jVRBaa/ | 07/16/2026 | Da083jVRBaa |
| Panicle Hydrangeas can be pruned in late Winter/ early Spring before the new growth starts. In Chicago that is March/April. I can’t always respond to comments so for those of you that are experienced gardeners, please jump in and help as much as you can. I am a Garden Coach located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I do on-site sessions right in your garden if you live in the Chicagoland area from March until November. Click the link in my bio to learn more. I also do virtual sessions for people that don’t live near me. From plant selection and design, flowers to vegetables and of course, pruning, book a session with me on my website at PowersPlants.com! My calendar opens up new appointments every week so check back weekly during the season! | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DVi-sC8jhiZ/,https://www.instagram.com/reel/DVlfYkWkVxv/,https://www.instagram.com/reel/DVqiJ94gMGS/,https://www.instagram.com/reel/DaAoMchCoAp/,https://www.instagram.com/reel/DaDM_-IibPQ/ | 06/26/2026 | DVi-sC8jhiZ |
| Where I am in Chicago, a few days of wildfire smoke in the air could not cause a tremendous amount of damage that the plants can’t recover from. We’ve had a little bit of rain which is helping to wash any residue from the poor air quality off the plant. It is a good idea, however to hose off the leaves and fruit of anything edible to keep that nice and clean since you’re going to be eating it . I am not hosing off any tree shrubs or perennial because of the rain we are about to get, but if you’re not about to get any rain, you might want to consider washing off the leaves of your plants. If you’re going to do any hosing off of your plants, do it early in the morning so the sunlight has a chance to dry the plant off. It’s more important that we actually consider the insect that are being harmed by the poor air quality. They will not porridge during Times a very bad air quality so make sure you’re keeping your blooming plants as healthy as possible during this time so that when the insect do emerge, they have got healthy sources of nectar and fallen to get them and their families through this stressful time. I’m a Garden Coach in the Chicagoland area and I love this community — if you know the answer to someone’s question in the comments, please jump in and help! I can’t always respond personally, but together we can figure anything out. 🌱 Visit powersplants.com to learn more about booking a coaching session with me, and for just $5/month you can subscribe for exclusive behind-the-scenes content, videos, and live Q&As where you can ask me anything directly! #wildfiresmoke #gardening #insects | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DVqiJ94gMGS/,https://www.instagram.com/reel/Da8cTMmDldy/,https://www.instagram.com/reel/DZxLQ6yArhu/,https://www.instagram.com/reel/DVi-sC8jhiZ/ | 07/18/2026 | Da8cTMmDldy |
| Coneflowers are not a long lived perennial and most home gardens they only live 3 to 5 years. Let some seeds drop into the area where you want them to grow so that you always have a new batch of fresh plants coming up to replenish the ones that die off. Be careful when you’re weeding! I’m a Garden Coach in the Chicagoland area and I love this community — if you know the answer to someone’s question in the comments, please jump in and help! I can’t always respond personally, but together we can figure anything out. 🌱 Visit powersplants.com to learn more about booking a coaching session with me, and for just $5/month you can subscribe for exclusive behind-the-scenes content, videos, and live Q&As where you can ask me anything directly! #nativeplants #gardening #coneflowers | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DZxLQ6yArhu/,https://www.instagram.com/reel/Da-bJ4oAa8B/,https://www.instagram.com/reel/DVqiJ94gMGS/,https://www.instagram.com/reel/DVi-sC8jhiZ/ | 07/19/2026 | Da-bJ4oAa8B |
| Tomatoes should be harvested at the breaker stage and ripened indoors at room temperature. They certainly can be left on the vine to ripen fully but when you do that, you are running the risk of problems from weather and animals. I’m a Garden Coach in the Chicagoland area and I love this community — if you know the answer to someone’s question in the comments, please jump in and help! I can’t always respond personally, but together we can figure anything out. 🌱 Visit powersplants.com to learn more about booking a coaching session with me, and for just $5/month you can subscribe for exclusive behind-the-scenes content, videos, and live Q&As where you can ask me anything directly! #tomato #tomatoes #gardening | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DVqiJ94gMGS/,https://www.instagram.com/reel/DZxLQ6yArhu/,https://www.instagram.com/reel/DbBAGD1lIGx/,https://www.instagram.com/reel/DVi-sC8jhiZ/ | 07/20/2026 | DbBAGD1lIGx |
| You can stop rabbits eating your coneflowers by protecting them with mesh cages in early spring when the plants start turning green. Then you can take the cages off once the flower stocks reach the top of the cage. Also a good idea to plant in large masses of the same plant so that when rabbits do browse around the edges, you don’t even notice. I’m a Garden Coach in the Chicagoland area and I love this community — if you know the answer to someone’s question in the comments, please jump in and help! I can’t always respond personally, but together we can figure anything out. 🌱 Visit powersplants.com to learn more about booking a coaching session with me, and for just $5/month you can subscribe for exclusive behind-the-scenes content, videos, and live Q&As where you can ask me anything directly! #nativeplants #coneflowers #gardening | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DbDkxEDkn-_/,https://www.instagram.com/reel/DZxLQ6yArhu/,https://www.instagram.com/reel/DVi-sC8jhiZ/,https://www.instagram.com/reel/DVqiJ94gMGS/ | 07/21/2026 | DbDkxEDkn-_ |
| I have permission from the homeowner to share a tour of her cottage garden. I’ve walked by this house for many years and when I saw the homeowner outside, I went out and introduced myself and asked if I could share a tour of her garden. She has taken objects from thrift shops and figured out how to turn them into pieces of art. She started doing this to add color to her shade garden. She does a very good job of spacing these objects throughout the loose cottage style plantings. I’m a Garden Coach in the Chicagoland area and I love this community — if you know the answer to someone’s question in the comments, please jump in and help! I can’t always respond personally, but together we can figure anything out. 🌱 Visit powersplants.com to learn more about booking a coaching session with me, and for just $5/month you can subscribe for exclusive behind-the-scenes content, videos, and live Q&As where you can ask me anything directly! #cottagegarden #landscapedesign #gardening | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DZxLQ6yArhu/,https://www.instagram.com/reel/DVqiJ94gMGS/,https://www.instagram.com/reel/DbGJteZAL3_/,https://www.instagram.com/reel/DVi-sC8jhiZ/ | 07/22/2026 | DbGJteZAL3_ |
| When you get black spot on your roses that is an indication that water has been sitting on the leaves of your roses for six hours or longer without being able to dry off. Plant your roses where they get morning sun, all day sun is best, and prune for an open center. Do not water the leaves of roses. In the meantime, if you have this disease cut all of the infected tissue away. I’m a Garden Coach in the Chicagoland area and I love this community — if you know the answer to someone’s question in the comments, please jump in and help! I can’t always respond personally, but together we can figure anything out. 🌱 Visit powersplants.com to learn more about booking a coaching session with me, and for just $5/month you can subscribe for exclusive behind-the-scenes content, videos, and live Q&As where you can ask me anything directly! #roses #rosesofinstagram #gardening | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DVi-sC8jhiZ/,https://www.instagram.com/reel/DZxLQ6yArhu/,https://www.instagram.com/reel/DVqiJ94gMGS/,https://www.instagram.com/reel/DbIuo6QlEp5/ | 07/23/2026 | DbIuo6QlEp5 |
| Tomatoes are susceptible to lots of leaf diseases so we want to prune to keep our plants open and airy so they can dry off and resist disease. Pruning your tomatoes also helps contain them and keep them from getting unruly so when a summer storm comes along, it doesn’t snap your branches off or pull the whole plant over. I’m a Garden Coach in the Chicagoland area and I love this community — if you know the answer to someone’s question in the comments, please jump in and help! I can’t always respond personally, but together we can figure anything out. 🌱 Visit powersplants.com to learn more about booking a coaching session with me, and for just $5/month you can subscribe for exclusive behind-the-scenes content, videos, and live Q&As where you can ask me anything directly! #tomatoes #gardening #Growtomatoes | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DZxLQ6yArhu/,https://www.instagram.com/reel/DbLTWs0gTA2/,https://www.instagram.com/reel/DVqiJ94gMGS/,https://www.instagram.com/reel/DVi-sC8jhiZ/ | 07/24/2026 | DbLTWs0gTA2 |
| I struggled with panic attacks and depression in my late 20s and early 30s. I started spending more time outdoors and it helped my recovery immensely. Research has shown the mental health effects of the gardener and also the community around green spaces. I’m a Garden Coach in the Chicagoland area and I love this community — if you know the answer to someone’s question in the comments, please jump in and help! I can’t always respond personally, but together we can figure anything out. 🌱 Visit powersplants.com to learn more about booking a coaching session with me, and for just $5/month you can subscribe for exclusive behind-the-scenes content, videos, and live Q&As where you can ask me anything directly! #gardening #wellness #mentalhealth | https://www.instagram.com/reel/DbN34EmjETO/,https://www.instagram.com/reel/DZxLQ6yArhu/,https://www.instagram.com/reel/DVqiJ94gMGS/,https://www.instagram.com/reel/DVi-sC8jhiZ/ | 07/25/2026 | DbN34EmjETO |
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