Robin Trott's Gardening Columns

Robin Trott serves as Horticulture Educator for Douglas County and contributes horticulture articles relating to our local area. We are happy to be able to post them here.

•   March 25, 2013: Spring Planted Bulbs for Summer Bloom
•   March 18, 2013: Spring into Gardening: Dividing Perennials
•   March 11, 2013: Spice Up Your Garden with Red Plants
•   March 4, 2013: Let's Get Growing!
•   February 25, 2013: It's Fruit Tree Pruning Time!
•   February 18, 2013: Garden Style
•   February 11, 2013: True Blue Gardening
•   February 4, 2013: Ground Covers for Rough Sites
•   January 28, 2013: Indoor Gardening: Herbs
•   January 21, 2013: Vertical Gardens
•   January 14, 2013: Orange Plants to Enhance Your Garden Palette
•   January 07, 2013: Must Have Garden Tools
•   December 31, 2012: Minnesota Natives: Ferns
•   December 24, 2012: Successful Seed Starting
•   December 17, 2012: Success with Poinsettias
•   December 10, 2012: Caring for your Fresh Cut Tree
•   December 3, 2012: Helleborus niger, Christmas Roses
•   November 26, 2012: Minnesota Gardening Calendar 2013
•   November 19, 2012: Grasses for Your Ornamental Garden
•   November 12, 2012: 2013 All-America Flower Award Winners
•   November 5, 2012: Soil Health and Fertility
•   October 29, 2012: Indoor Succulent Gardens
•   October 22, 2012: Building Your Own Terrarium
•   October 15, 2012: Indoor Gardening
•   October 8, 2012: Management of Pantry Pests
•   October 1, 2012: Protect Your Trees and Shrubs from Winter Injury
•   September 24, 2012: Protect Your Trees from Winter Pests
•   September 17, 2012: Putting Your Garden to Bed
•   September 10, 2012: Bed Bug Bedlam
•   September 4, 2012: Dealing With Yellowjackets
•   August 28, 2012: Blossom Drop In Our Vegetables
•   August 21, 2012: Preserving Your Harvest
•   August 14, 2012: When are My Melons Ready to Pick?
•   August 7, 2012: Aster Yellows
•   July 31, 2012: Rust Diseases of Lawn Grasses
•   July 24, 2012: Cottony Maple Scale
•   July 17, 2012: What'Wrong With My Tomato Plant?
•   July 10, 2012: Caterpillars, Garden Friend or Enemy?
•   July 3, 2012: Interested In Becoming a Master Gardener? Here's How!
•   June 26, 2012: Cut It Out! Controlling Cutworms
•   June 19, 2012: Pet Safe Gardening
•   June 12, 2012: Annual Tour of Gardens
•   June 5, 2012: Fungus Amongus
•   May 29, 2012: Attracting Humming Birds to Your Garden
•   May 22, 2012: Bugged by Ants
•   May 14, 2012: Planting Trees
•   May 8, 2012: Forest Tent Caterpillars
•   May 1, 2012: Keep Your Eyes Open for Ticks!
•   April 24, 2012: Controlling Apple Pests
•   April 17, 2012: Healthy Soil=Healthy Plants
•   April 10, 2012: Cultural Tips to Prevent Scabby Potatoes
•   April 6, 2012: Spring Chores for the Impatient Gardener
•   March 27, 2012: Stay off the Grass!
•   March 20, 2012: Spring Into Gardening: Dividing Perennials
•   March 13, 2012: Ornamental Grasses Add Dimension to Your Landscape
•   March 7, 2012: Fragrant Flowers for your Cutting Garden
•   February 28, 2012: Beautiful Lisianthus for your Cutting Garden
•   February 21, 2012: Lilies for your perennial garden!
•   February 14, 2012: Good Garden Reads
•   February 6, 2012: It's Fruit Tree Pruning Time!
•   January 30, 2012: Selecting a Garden Style
•   January 24, 2012: Winter Sowing Perennials
•   January 17, 2012: Spring Horticulture Education Days
•   January 10, 2012: Successful Seed Starting
•   January 3, 2012: Selecting Seeds for Your Garden
•   December 27, 2011: Brunnera, Jack Frost: The 2012 Plant of the Year
•   December 20, 2011: Let It Snow!
•   December 13, 2011: Holiday Gifts for the Gardener
•   December 6, 2011: Caring for Your Fresh Cut Tree
•   November 29, 2011: Successfully Growing Traditional Plants of the Season
•   November 22, 2011: New Invasive Alert: the Brown Marmorated Stink Bug has been confirmed in Minnesota
•   November 15, 2011: Success with Houseplants
•   November 8, 2011: Winter Bird Feeding
•   November 1, 2011: Pantry Pests Pervade!
•   October 25, 2011: Snow Mold Prevention Begins in Autumn
•   October 18, 2011: Buckthorn — the Quiet Invader
•   October 11, 2011: Protect Trees and Shrubs Now to Reduce Winter Vole Damage
•   October 4, 2011: Storing the Harvest
•   September 27, 2011: Asian Lady Beetles
•   September 20, 2011: Becoming a Master Gardener
•   September 13, 2011: Autumn Garden Chores
•   September 6, 2011: Apple Season!
•   August 29, 2011: Fall Lawn Care
•   August 23, 2011: Fungal Diseases of Tomatoes
•   August 16, 2011: Stinging Pests
•   August 9, 2011: Tree Damage
•   August 2, 2011: Blossom End Rot
•   July 26, 2011: Think Green and Pinks
•   July 19, 2011: Held Hosta
•   July 12, 2011: Snapdragons for Your Garden
•   July 5, 2011: Tick Tips
•   June 28, 2011: Tour of Gardens
•   June 21, 2011: Rhubarb, The Wonder Plant?
•   June 14, 2011: Unusual Rudbeckia for your Garden
•   June 7, 2011: Unusual Bouquet Fillers for Your Cutting Garden
•   May 31, 2011: Growing Sunflowers for your Cutting Garden
•   May 23, 2011: Master Gardener Bus Trip
•   May 16, 2011: Apple Pests
•   May 10, 2011: Forest Tent Caterpillars
•   May 3, 2011: Topping Trees
•   April 26, 2011: Winter Damage of Trees
•   April 19, 2011: Crabgrass Prevention in Your Home Lawn
•   April 12, 2011: Cultural Tips to Prevent Scabby Potatoes
•   April 5, 2011: Re-blooming Lilacs?
•   March 29, 2011: Easter Lilies
•   March 22, 2011: Early Spring Lawn Care Tips
•   March 15, 2011: Snowfleas!?!
•   March 8, 2011: Early Spring Perennials
•   March 1, 2011: Low Maintenance Houseplants
•   February 22, 2011: 2011: The Year of the Zinnia
•   February 15, 2011: Tree Pruning
•   February 8, 2011: Let’s Get Growing!
•   February 1, 2011: Sustainable Gardening and Permaculture
•   January 25, 2011: Plants That Add Winter Interest
•   January 18, 2011: Hardy Hydrangeas for Your Garden
•   January 11, 2011: Fragrant Flowers for your Garden
•   January 4, 2011: Seed Starting for Beginners
•   December 28, 2010: Upcoming Horticulture Workshops
•   December 21, 2010: 2011 All American Selections
•   December 14, 2010: Last Minute Holiday Gifts for the Avid Gardener
•   December 7, 2010: Beautiful Christmas Cactus
•   November 30, 2010: Caring for your Fresh Cut Tree
•   November 23, 2010: Holiday Poinsettia Success
•   November 16, 2010: Tulsa, Flowers and Snow
•   November 9, 2010: Fall Preparation Can Reduce Spring Snow Mold
•   November 2, 2010: Pantry Pests Pervade!
•   October 26, 2010: The Roadblocks to Healthy Houseplants
•   October 19, 2010: Why is the Grass Orange??
•   October 13, 2010: Getting Rid of Common Buckthorn
•   October 5, 2010: Fall Bird Feeding
•   September 28, 2010: Overwhelmed by Winter Squash?
•   September 21, 2010: Bugged by Insects?
•   September 14, 2010: Autumn Garden Chores
•   September 7, 2010: Becoming a Master Gardener
•   August 24, 2010: Fall Gardening Workshop Opportunities
•   August 17, 2010: Fairy Rings in Home Lawns
•   August 10, 2010: Weird Growths on Trees? You've Got Galls!
•   August 3, 2010: Healthy Tomatoes in Your Garden
•   July 27, 2010: What’s wrong with My Plant?!?
•   July 20, 2010: Garden Bus Trip with the Master Gardeners
•   July 13, 2010: Horticulture Night at WCROC
•   July 6, 2010: Proper Use of Garden Insecticides
•   June 29, 2010: Annual Tour of Gardens
•   June 22, 2010: Perennial Plant of the Year: Baptisia Australis
•   June 15, 2010: Edible Landscaping
•   June 1, 2010: Summer Lawn Care
•   May 25, 2010: Ash Anthracnose and Forest Tent Caterpillars
•   May 18, 2010: Hummingbirds in the Garden
•   May 11, 2010: Master Gardener Summer School
•   May 4, 2010: Planting Trees
•   April 27, 2010: Designing Gardens around Trees
•   April 20, 2010: Apples
•   April 13, 2010: Crabgrass Prevention in Your Home Lawn
•   April 6, 2010: Cultural Tips to Prevent Scabby Potatoes
•   March 30, 2010: Spring Into Gardening: Dividing Perennials
•   March 23, 2010: Stay off the Grass!
•   March 16, 2010: Gardening From the Ground Up: Soils
•   March 9, 2010: Spring Planted Bulbs for Summer Blooms
•   March 2, 2010: Let’s Get Growing!
•   February 23, 2010: Gardening with Water Quality in Mind? Plant a Raingarden!
•   February 16, 2010: 2009 Minnesota Annual Flower Trials
•   February 9, 2010: Tree Pruning
•   February 2, 2010: Garden Style
•   January 26, 2010: Selecting Plants for Your Garden
•   January 22, 2010: Starting Seeds Indoors
•   January 12, 2010: Robin’s Top Picks for Gardening Catalogs
•   January 6, 2010: Winter Sowing Perennials
•   December 29, 2009: Native Prairie Plantings
•   December 22, 2009: Hoppin’ John and Black-Eyed Peas
•   December 15, 2009: Pet Safe House Plants
•   December 10, 2009: Last Minute Gifts for the Gardener
•   December 1, 2009: Holiday Flowers
•   November 25, 2009: Caring For Your Fresh Cut Tree
•   November 18, 2009: Welcome To Winter
•   November 10, 2009: Getting Rid of Common Buckthorn
•   October 28, 2009: Becoming a Master Gardener
•   October 21, 2009: Forcing Bulbs
•   October 14, 2009: Fall Bird Feeding
•   October 7, 2009: Box Elder Bugs
•   September 30, 2009: Asian Lady Beetles
•   September 23, 2009: Putting Your Garden to Bed
•   September 14, 2009: Northern Hardy Garden Mums
•   September 1, 2009: Winter Bird Feeding with Carrol Henderson
•   August 19, 2009: Plant Bulbs in Autumn for Early Spring Color
•   August 12, 2009: Preserving the Harvest
•   August 5, 2009: Spotty Tomatoes? There’s Fungus Among Us!
•   July 29, 2009: Ploughshare Farm and Community Supported Agriculture
•   July 22, 2009: Eat Smart, Eat Local
•   July 15, 2009: Drought Stressed Trees
•   July 8, 2009: Herbs for Use and Delight in Minnesota Gardens
•   July 1, 2009: July Tours Inspire Local Gardeners
•   June 24, 2009: Care and Maintenance of Your Vegetable Garden
•   June 17, 2009: Care and Maintenance of Your Vegetable Garden
•   June 11, 2009: Perennial Plant of the Year: Hakonechloa macra “Aureola”
•   June 3, 2009: Forest Tent Caterpillars
•   May 27, 2009: Emerald Ash Borers