November 2005

Edible

Drain all the water from your hoses and store them in the garage. If left outdoors during the winter, the hose can crack and split.

Dig or till a 2-3 inch layer of organic material into the vegetable garden. Soil prep now will allow you to get into the garden earlier in the spring. Digging will also expose insect pests to winter cold, reducing their numbers in next year's garden.

Watch for mice in your home and garage as cold weather approaches. Mice like grains and seeds, so keep birdseed and grass seed in rodent-proof containers. Mice can survive without water deriving moisture from the food they eat. In their search for food, mice will travel an area 10 to 30 feet in diameter. Signs of house mice include the following:

• Droppings-1/4 inch long droppings are often found around feeding areas or runways.
• Tracks-footprints may be visible along dusty pathways. Sprinkle a light layer of flour along a suspected pathway next to walls and check for footprints in the morning.
• Odor-where mice are numerous a musky odor may be present.
• Nests-are usually made of fine, shredded fibrous material like paper. Mice breed in the fall. A female can have 5 -10 litters per year with 5-6 young per litter.

For control, inexpensive snap traps are still effective. Place the tracks close to walls where mice will have to walk over the trigger. Bait traps with bacon, chocolate candy, marshmallows or peanut butter. Bait the traps, but don't set them for a couple of days until the bait is taken. This will prevent the mice from becoming trap-shy.

For an informational factsheet about mice and other methods of control, call 773-233-0476.

Last chance to sign up for the Chicago Master Gardener training program, which begins on January 23 at the Chicago High School for Agricultural Sciences, 3807 West 111th Street. Classes will be held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Mondays, Jan. 23 through April 10. Classes to be taught by University of Illinois horticulturists include: botany, soils, woody ornamentals, vegetables, annuals and perennials, fruits, insects, turf, plant pathology, organic gardening and pesticide safety. Call 773-233-0476 or apply online at http://web.extension.uiuc.edu/county/survey.cfm?sID=50.

Ornamental

Clean your birdfeeders in preparation for the winter bird feeding season. Wash feeders with hot, soapy water and soak and rinse with a solution of one part liquid household bleach in nine parts of warm water. Clean feeders twice a month during the winter.

Remove soil from terra cotta containers. These containers can crack when filled with soil in our cold winter temperatures. Plastic and wooden containers are much less likely to crack.

Run your mower until it runs out of fuel. Scrap off all the matted grass. Have the blades sharpened and change the sparkplug now, so your mower will be ready to go next spring.

Apply winter mulches to protect perennial flower plantings from alternating freezing and thawing cycles over the winter. Apply a 3-4 inch layer of mulch in late November when the plants have gone dormant. Straw, wood chips, evergreen boughs, pine needles and shredded leaves make good winter mulches.

Water trees and shrubs until the ground freezes, especially after our recent drought. Evergreens will better survive cold winter temperatures if they have been well watered.

Take the family to a local "Cut Your Own" Christmas Tree Farm. Most open the day after Thanksgiving. For a free listing of local farms, call 773-233-0476 or check out the "Christmas Trees & More" Web site at www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/trees.