Predator Profile: Eastern Screech Owl
With the right habitat including food, water, shelter and nesting sites, you too can attract an eastern screech owl to your landscape.
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Category Archives: Blog
Five Book Recommendations for the Kansas Prairie Gardener
Learning to identify wildflowers is a rewarding pastime that can greatly increase one’s appreciation of the world of nature. Identifying plants in their natural setting can also inform our decisions on what and how to plant many of these wildflowers, grasses, trees and shrubs in our own yards. Identification is made easier with the aid of […]
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Calling it Cuts: Tree Care
If you have been walking at the Arboretum lately you may have noticed some bare spots. Some big bare spots. We have been cutting down dead trees and clearing brush. It can be sad to say goodbye to something that has been a part of our landscape for so many years; casting shade, catching wind, […]
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Fall Checklist for a Wildlife Beneficial Landscape
Each fall there are a lot of articles and checklists outlining what you need to do to make a healthy garden – a whole stack of chores that take so much time and effort. Who are you tidying for? Is all that raking, cutting, hauling, tidying, trimming and pulling necessary this time of year? I’m here to tell […]
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Discovering Host Plants
My phone is chock full of caterpillar photos. It seems I am constantly stooping down to examine another caterpillar, and to document what it is eating. I am a big fan of all insects, but especially these charismatic transformers. With their plump bodies and endless colors, it is not hard to see why people are […]
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Last Update on Buffalograss Seeding Experiment
It has been almost a year since our buffalograss seeding experiment began. In this new approach, we planted the buffalograss seeds along with annual ryegrass in the fall or early winter. In theory, the annual ryegrass, a cool season grass will germinate and hold the soil through the winter. The buffalograss seeds will work their […]
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Dyck Arboretum is Turning 40!
Celebrate the Dyck Arboretum turning 40 as we think about the past, present and future of Harold and Evie’s legacy.
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Reasons to Leave Ornamental Grasses In Winter
The use of ornamental grasses in the landscape has become more popular than ever, and for good reason. The allure of ornamental grasses is that they are tough and easy to grow. Their resilient nature reflects our prairie landscape in our own garden. They are a nice visual contrast to many other plants like perennials, […]
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Landscaping with Plant Communities in Mind
This blog post is updated and republished. Previously published as “The Social Network for Plants” in September 2017. One of the landscaping concepts I touched upon in my recent Matrix Planting class is the idea that plants are members of a complex social network. No, they are not on Facebook, Instagram or tweeting about the […]
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Insects – Motivation for Native Landscaping
Increase your enjoyment of landscaping with native plants by motivating yourself to attract insects and increase biodiversity.
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