Ken Johnson
University of Illinois Extension Horticulture Educator serving Calhoun, Cass, Greene, Morgan, and Scott Counties
Appears in 315 Episodes
Ep. 153 Talking Spotted Lanternfly with Dr. Kacie Athey | #GoodGrowing
This week on the Good Growing Podcast Chris and Ken talk with Dr. Kacie Athey about the newest invasive insect found in Illinois, the spotted lanternfly. Even though i...
Ep. 152 Creating a water-conscious landscape | #GoodGrowing
On this week’s Good Growing podcast, we welcome Emily Swihart back to talk about water-conscious landscaping! Learn why planning our landscapes with water in mind is i...
Ep. 151 How to grow and pick the perfect pumpkin | #GoodGrowing
This week on the Good Growing Podcast, Chris and Ken talk with commercial ag educator Nathan Johanning all about pumpkins! Nathan has been researching pumpkins with Un...
Ep. 150 What's up with 2023 weather & what to expect for the winter | #GoodGrowing
This week on the Good Growing Podcast, Chris and Ken chat with state climatologist, Dr. Trent Ford. During the episode, we chat about what’s up with the weather for 20...
Ep. 149 All About Mulch: Lay it on thick and keep it chunky | #GoodGrowing
On this week’s Good Growing Podcast, we welcome Emily Swihart back to talk about mulch! Learn about what mulch is, what it’s good for, what mulches we should avoid usi...
Gardenbite: Moving houseplants indoors and overwinter care | #GoodGrowing
Now that night temperatures are starting to cool, it’s time to start thinking about bringing houseplants back indoors for the winter. On this week's Good Growing Podc...
Gardenbite: Three tips for a healthier lawn | #GoodGrowing
This week on the Good Growing podcast Chris shares a Gardenbite of when retired horticulture educator Richard Hentschel visited the show in 2021 to talk about fall law...
Gardenbite- Soil testing: Give your soil a check-up this fall | #GoodGrowing
Fall is almost here! On this week's Good Growing Podcast, Ken talks about something we should add to our to-do list for this fall: conducting a soil test. Contact us! ...
Ep. 148 Answering more of your summer garden questions | #GoodGrowing
On this week’s Good Growing podcast, we are answering more of your questions. We discuss the new invasive hornet that has been found in Georgia, coca mulch and worms i...
Ep. 147 More than just mums: Fall blooming plants for the garden | #GoodGrowing
On this week’s Good Growing podcast, we discuss fall-blooming plants. While we typically reach for mums, there are a lot of other plants we can use in our landscapes f...
Ep. 146 Time to start fall garden crops | #GoodGrowing
It may be hot out there, but fall gardening has already started in Illinois. This week on the Good Growing Podcast Ken and Chris share how the summer veggies faired an...
Ep. 145 Preparing newly planted trees for success and periodical cicadas | #GoodGrowing
On this week’s Good Growing podcast, we discuss newly planted trees. How to pick them, take care of them, and get them ready for something we haven’t seen since 1803! ...
Ep. 144 Derechos & Tree Damage | #GoodGrowing
This week on the Good Growing podcast we relive the recent derecho with horticulture educator Emily Swihart. Emily and Chris swap stories about their experiences with ...
Ep. 143 Answering your summer garden questions | #GoodGrowing
On this week’s Good Growing podcast, we’re answering some of your questions that have come into our offices this summer. We discuss poison hemlock, aphids, Japanese be...
Gardenbite - Dealing with Storm Damaged Trees | #GoodGrowing
After a few rounds of severe weather in Illinois, Chris chats about what to do with a storm-damaged tree and how to make your trees more resilient to future storms. ...
Gardenbite - Selecting a lawn care service | #GoodGrowing
This week on the Good Growing podcast Chris tackles a question about how to hire a lawn care service when facing a list of services to choose from. How does a homeowne...
Gardenbite - Fireflies and tips on conserving them |#GoodGrowing
On this week's Good Growing Podcast, Ken Johnson discusses fireflies. Learn about fireflies in Illinois, the threats to their populations, and how you can help conserv...
Gardenbite - How to hand water your landscape plants |#GoodGrowing
This week for the Good Growing podcast we have a gardenbite episode that dives into the basics of how to water your landscape and garden plants. While some may have bu...
Ep. 142 Dealing with dry weather and drought monitoring | #GoodGrowing
On this week’s Good Growing podcast, we discuss the dry, hot weather we’ve been having recently. We discuss Illinois State Climatologist Trent Ford’s recent blog post ...
Ep. 141 Yard & Garden Considerations When Buying a Home | #GoodGrowing
This week on the Good Growing podcast we sit down with Illinois Extension communications specialist and first-time homeowner Emily Steele and walk through some of the ...
