Green Side Up

About the author: Richard Hentschel’s expertise extends across several subject areas with specialties in lawn care, fruit tree production, woody ornamentals, and home and community gardening. During his 45-year career in horticulture and agriculture, Hentschel became a well-known and respected expert for commercial and homeowner audiences, industry organizations, and media. He retired from University of Illinois Extension in April 2022 with nearly 30 years of service as a Horticulture Specialist and Educator in northern Illinois.

Horticulture Educator Richard Hentschel discusses keeping our houseplants as healthy as possible during the low light levels of winter. Which window you use? How far away they are from the window or other sources of light make a big difference. There are a variety of lighting options today that were not around even 10 years ago.

Richard Hentschel, host of Green Side Up, discusses the history of our holiday tree and current good practices to keep the tree as fresh as possible once in the home. Fresh trees will have a good smell, needles, and stems will bend and won’t be losing a lot of needles.   Families can cut their own, starting a great tradition, or selecting from a local organization’s tree lot. Initial watering of the tree is key to having a tree last several weeks indoors.

University of Illinois Extension Educator Richard Hentschel shares how to winterize the home orchard. Two primary concerns are preventing damage from: 1) cold weather damage and 2) rodents. Whether it is rabbits or field mice, using protective wraps and wire fencing are still the best way to prevent feeding damage. Cold weather damage can also be prevented by wrapping the young tender trunk to prevent both frost cracks and sun scalding. This will need to be done for at least the first winter.

GSU Host Richard Hentschel discusses the last of the gardening season. November gardening gives us a chance to finish up routine projects and to catch up on overdue gardening tasks. Late season vegetable gardening can mean harvesting the last of the root crops and healing them in at the edge of the garden for easy retrieval throughout the winter. Final clean-up of the garden and the last of the leaf pick-up means utilizing the compost pile again. As the season ends, garden equipment needs to be cleaned and stored properly for the winter too.

University of Illinois Extension Educator Richard Hentschel discusses the merits of composting and why late summer and fall are good times to start. It is easy since all the ingredients are readily available this time of year – lawn clippings for the greens, fallen leaves for the browns, a bit of garden soil, and water from the hose. The location can be an out of the way spot in the yard or behind the garage or garden shed, yet somewhere convenient. 

Green Side Up Host Richard Hentschel discusses one of those gardening chores that catches us off guard, bringing in the houseplants that have been outside for the summer. With a little planning and inspection, that job can be a lot easier and timely. The main trigger is the weather forecast showing that first frosty night. Houseplants need to be in before those very cool nights, as most of our houseplants are tropical in origin. Learn how to bring them in without pests and how to decide which houseplants to save and which to send to the compost bin.

Families may tend to “let the garden go” once school starts or the fall sports season begins because we are too busy, yet the garden has lots of life left until we really get cold weather. All the root crops can stay right where they are until you need to use them. Learn more about your garden and how to use it in fall in this episode.

Richard Hentschel, host of Green Side Up, talks about garden vegetable yields this season and how they have been impacted by the weather pattern we have had in northern Illinois. Early cool weather has given us plenty of leafy greens and early snap beans. The hot dry weather has set back our fruiting vegetables like peppers and tomatoes. However, another change in weather and they too are beginning to produce.

Enjoying the yard and keeping it looking great are connected. Great weather this spring allowed many plants to grow well and bloom longer. Now that the season has settled down, keeping the yard looking good only takes a bit of work, if done routinely. So what can you do? Between the rains we received, and watering done, weed seeds can sprout. Lightly working the surface takes care of that and is not too labor intensive. Edging back the lawn away from the shrub bed or keeping the tree ring open can be done in stages too. Educator Richard Hentschel talks summer to-do lists for your yard in this episode.

In the garden, no one likes to see holes in foliage, or fruits and vegetables being eaten, yet some feeding is expected if you rely on beneficial insects to help manage pest problems. Predatory insects will not show up unless the population of damaging insects is high enough to support them through their life cycle. In this episode, learn about some of the insects in your yard and garden, and how they can impact each other and your harvest.