Resources
Some of my recommendations for improving your skills.
Drought-Tolerant Gardening in the Chicago Suburbs
People hear "drought-tolerant" and picture gravel and cactus, which always makes me laugh a little. Out here in the Chicago suburbs — DuPage County, the western collar, the spread from Naperville to Schaumburg — a low-water garden looks lush. It's deep green and...
A Chicago Spring Lawn Care Calendar (USDA Zone 5b–6a)
After more than ten years of fussing over my own patch of grass on the Northwest Side, I've learned that spring lawn care in Chicago is less about a calendar date and more about reading the ground in front of you. We sit in USDA Zone 5b–6a, which means our average...
The Best Native Plants for Chicago Clay Soil
If you garden anywhere in the Chicago area — city lot, Cook County bungalow, DuPage subdivision — you already know the soil's dirty little secret. Dig down a few inches and you hit clay. Heavy, gray, sticky-in-spring, brick-hard-in-August clay. I spent my first couple...
