garden of pink tulips

Join us for our FREE webinar series!

Registration is open now!
Find out more information on these webinars.

These engaging mini-webinars are 30 minutes including Q&A. Mini-webinars are free, but registration is required.
All of our webinars from last year were recorded! View them here.
The webinars in the next series are longer with some new topics – starting April 26.


Growing and Caring for Plants in Wisconsin: Foundations in Gardening

Growing and Caring for Plants in Wisconsin: Foundations in Gardening is an online introductory course where you learn key concepts for selecting, growing, and maintaining plants – from trees to houseplants to vegetables and everything in between!

Next course: Fall 2023

Registration begins in July 2023. Stay informed about all our offerings, including 2023’s Foundations in Gardening course. Join our mailing list to receive reminders about this course and more!


New to Gardening?

Gardening and learning to grow your own food provides many benefits, but we know it can be a bit intimidating when first starting out.
Check out our
New Gardener Resources to get your Wisconsin garden started quickly and easily.

Latest Horticulture News

Avoiding Winter Salt Injury on your Landscape Plants 

Winter is here!  Snow and ice on driveways and sidewalks need to be removed with each snow or ice storm that arrives. Are you looking for salt alternatives for your driveway or sidewalk?  Do you want to learn more about salt tolerant landscape plants?

Preparing the vegetable garden for winter

Fall is here, so it’s a good time to think about preparing the vegetable garden for winter. There are things you can do now to protect or extend harvest of existing crops and prepare your soil for next year. Here are some tips

Photo wit a tree in autumn leave color
Leave the Leaves. To rake or not to rake?

Fall is a beautiful time of year in Wisconsin, but it comes with a list of chores to be done before the snow flies. Is raking leaves one of those chores? Maybe, maybe not. If you have trees dropping leaves on your lawn grass, in many cases there is no need to incur blisters by raking them up. Leaves have nutrients, which can be recycled into your lawn. The concern is if your leaf layer is very thick and will smother the grass.

Check out Horticulture News Posts from earlier in the season!

Timely Articles for Winter Gardens

Winter Salt Injury and Salt-tolerant Landscape Plants

Learn to recognize and prevent plant damage caused by deicing salts. Learn about alternatives to rock salt and which plants are salt-tolerant.

Planning and Designing Your Home Landscape

This publication explores landscape planning: putting the plan on paper; selecting, placing, and planting trees and shrubs; and maintaining the home grounds.

Houseplant Care

Amy Gibbs* and Brian Hudelson, UW-Madison Plant Pathology Revised:  5/11/2010 Item number:  XHT1033 Where do I put my houseplant in my home?  Two of the most important factors in placing a houseplant in your home are light and temperature.  Know both the light requirements of your plant and the sources of light in your home […]

image of plant
Maintaining Your Festive Houseplants

By: Janell Wehr, Horticulture Outreach Specialist Festive houseplants are common gifts in winter. In this video, learn how to keep a poinsettia, Christmas cactus, Norfolk Island Pine and other favorite gift plants thriving.  Common gift plants are usually native to tropical locations around the world, in particular Norfolk Island Pines, holiday cactus, and poinsettias. Using […]

Maintaining Lawn and Garden Tools

When it comes to digging in the garden or pruning trees and shrubs, having high quality tools that are cleaned, lubricated, sharpened and otherwise properly maintained, makes any outdoor job simpler and more efficient. Learn how to maintain your garden tools in this useful factsheet.

Pruning Deciduous Trees

Proper pruning controls tree size, directs growth, influences flowering, and maintains tree health and appearance. Learn how in this factsheet.

January 2021: Saying Bye-Bye to Boxwood Blight: Proper Disposable of Holiday Wreaths

Holiday decorations containing boxwood foliage can be a source of disease for boxwoods in our landscapes. Learn more in this article.

image of a variety of vegetable plants in a coldframe
Growing Vegetables at Home: Questions and Answers

Here are answers to the questions gardeners ask most often about growing vegetables. From asparagus to watercress, this guide covers over 50 vegetables plus other basic gardening topics.

Pruning Deciduous Shrubs

Pruning controls the size of shrubs, directs growth, influences flowering, and restores plant health and appearance. Learn pruning techniques in this factsheet.

African Violets

Amy Gibbs* and Brian Hudelson, UW-Madison Plant Pathology Revised:  4/26/2010 Item number:  XHT1034 What are African violets?  African violets (Saintpaulia spp.) are popular flowering houseplants in the Gesneriad family (Gesneriaceae), native to Tanzania in East Africa.  Their compact forms make them ideal for use on tabletops, windowsills, and hanging baskets.  There are many varieties of […]

Forcing Bulbs

Many plants grown from mbulbs can be forced to bloom indoors during the winter. Learn how to choose, plant, and provide the right conditions to enjjoy spring-flowering blooms indoors while its still winter outside.

image of youth planting seeds
Seed Starting

Starting your garden from seeds might be easier than you think. Check out this article to get practical tips on starting your plants from seeds.

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