Content by Amanda Bachmann
Garden Hour
Make the most of your garden and landscaping with weekly insights and ideas from our team of experts.
Garden Hour
Make the most of your garden and landscaping with weekly insights and ideas from our team of experts.
Research Report: Warm-Season Living Mulch Impacts on Cucumber Yield and Disease Symptoms
A 2025 trial in Brookings, South Dakota aimed to detect the influences of various warm-season cover crop living mulches on pest pressure in tomatoes and cucumbers and the interactions between both grafted and nongrafted tomatoes and cucumbers and the living mulch.
New season of SDSU Extension Garden Hour starts May 5
April 23, 2026
The latest season of Garden Hour, South Dakota State University Extension’s popular webinar series for gardeners, will start on May 5, 2026.
Ants Preparing for Another Busy Year
A wet growing season last year combined with a mild winter has boosted ant activity across the state, and we have already received numerous questions from both curious and concerned residents in South Dakota.
Garden Hour
Make the most of your garden and landscaping with weekly insights and ideas from our team of experts.
Garden Hour
Make the most of your garden and landscaping with weekly insights and ideas from our team of experts.
Square-Foot Garden Sample Planting Layout
Learn how to maximize produce production and space using a square-foot layout design.
West Nile Virus Update: October 16, 2025
As of October 16, 2025, the South Dakota Department of Health reported 86 human cases of West Nile virus from Aurora, Beadle, Bon Homme, Brookings, Brown, Charles Mix, Clay, Codington, Corson, Douglas, Grant, Gregory, Haakon, Hamlin, Hand, Hughes, Hutchison, Hyde, Lawrence, Lincoln, Marshall, Meade, Miner, Minnehaha, Pennington, Roberts, Sanborn, Spink, Stanley, Todd, Union, Walworth, and Yankton counties.
Corn Rootworm Presence in Cut Flowers
Multiple cut flower farms in Eastern South Dakota have reported corn rootworms on a variety of crops, including sunflowers, zinnias, and dahlias. Careful attention to species present, their timing, and the damage they cause can help inform integrated pest management strategies.