Articles
Gardening Articles
Research-based horticulture information to help keep your plants and gardens thriving.
Planting and Managing Your Own Prairie
Whether a beginning or experienced gardener, you’ll appreciate the step-by-step instructions for planting, landscaping, and managing your own prairie plot. This booklet has more than 50 illustrated descriptions of plants to help you make the best selections.
Sampling Garden Soils and Turf Areas for Testing
Save money and protect the environment by having your soil tested before applying lime and fertilizer. This concise publication tells you when and how to sample and where to send it for testing.
Tar Spot of Trees and Shrubs
Tar spot is a common, visually distinctive and primarily cosmetic fungal leaf spot disease that can affect many species of maple, including silver maple, sugar maple and Norway maple. Learn more in this factsheet.
Spongy Moth
Spongy moth (formerly gypsy moth) is a destructive insect when the caterpillars occur in large numbers and defoliate trees. This factsheet will help with identification and management of this pest.
Aphids
Aphids are soft-bodied, insects that feed on plant sap and subsequently excrete a sugary substance that can attract ants as well as support a saprophytic fungus called sooty mold. Learn about aphids found in home gardens in this factsheet.
Herbicide Damage
Herbicide damage is any adverse, undesired effect on a plant that is caused by exposure of that plant to a pesticide designed for weed control. Learn symptoms and more in this factsheet.
Viburnum Leaf Beetle
The viburnum leaf beetle (VLB), Pyrrhalta viburni, is an invasive insect that feeds exclusively on and can significantly damage Viburnum species. Identification and control are described in this factsheet.
Armillaria Root Disease
Armillaria root disease, also known as shoestring root rot, can affect most conifer and hardwood species, and is an often lethal disease of tree and shrub roots and lower stems. Learn more in this factsheet.
Woody Ornamentals Pest Management in Wisconsin
An indispensable resource for nursery growers, this publication identifies pests of trees and shrubs in the state plus the products available for their control.
Summer Flowering Trees, Shrubs and Vines
Ideas and information about woody plants that flower in summer, to create a landscape with year-round interest.
Organic and Reduced-Risk Lawn Care
More and more people wish to move in the direction of creating an organic lawn, or what some people call a natural lawn. This publication helps them decide which route to follow: organic lawn care or reduced-risk lawn care.
Aphids, in-depth
Aphids are really fascinating insects, with bizarre lifestyles and eating habits Learn more about this large group of insects and how to manage them in the garden in this article…
