Plant Care

All Plant Care Content

A group of raised ground beds with crops growing in them at McCrory Gardens in Brookings, South Dakota.

Garden Hour

Make the most of your garden and landscaping with weekly insights and ideas from our team of experts.

Wooden planks forming a raised circular garden bed with a notch in the side for access

Keyhole Gardens

Keyhole gardens combine composting, water conservation, and space efficient planting in a single raised bed design. They give gardeners a practical way to produce vegetables, herbs, and flowers when space, soil, or water would otherwise be limited.

Raised-bed style cold frame structures with brick frames and glass lids.

Cold Frames

Cold frames are structures that provide a method for extending the growing season, allowing gardeners to begin production earlier in the spring or continue later into the fall.

Gardeners browsing a tablet computer while visiting a garden center.

Home Horticulture Resources for Gardeners

Horticulture is the branch of plant agriculture dealing with garden crops. In addition to our website, there are many horticulture resources available on the web to provide research-based information to help every gardener succeed.

Coneflower with Aster yellows disease.

Aster Yellows Phytoplasma

Aster yellows is a phytoplasmal disease carried and introduced by aster leafhopper. It is known to infect over 80 different plant families, as the aster leafhopper has extremely broad feeding habits.

hand examining clump of soil organic matter

Soil: It’s Not Just Dirt

Most soils are complex ecosystems with worms, insects and microscopic organisms, which all work together in helping plants grow.

Young man shoveling a pile of compost.

Organic Gardening: Soil Management

Gardeners throughout South Dakota are experimenting with organic gardening. While the adoption of organic gardening methods can be daunting, learning some fundamental soil management concepts will set the foundations for success.

Two dandelions side by side. The left has a bee foraging on it. The right has a hover fly foraging on it..

Should I Get Rid Of My Dandelions?

While there is much appeal to having a lawn that is free of other plants, there can be benefits. Some weeds that are sprayed out of lawns, including dandelions, can serve as early-season food sources for pollinators.

fruit and vegetable garden with raised beds

Fertilizing Gardens in South Dakota

Publication about fertilizing gardens in South Dakota

Rose rust disease symptoms on the tops and bottoms of leaves.

Rose Rust

Common rust of roses is a fungal disease that is found throughout the United States. While hot and dry summers limit the prevalence of the disease, it surfaces when weather conditions are cool and wet.