#1 Home Improvement Retailer

Do you have what you need to make your garden grow?

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Garden Center

Contact Us

Pro Service Desk

(847)599-3400

Tool & Truck Rental

(847)599-3404

Store Hours

Mon-Wed:
6:00am - 9:00pm

Thu:
Closed

Fri:
6:00am - 9:00pm

Sat:
6:00am - 9:00pm

Sun:
7:00am - 8:00pm

Curbside:
09:00am - 6:00pm

Location

6625 Grand Ave

Gurnee, IL 60031

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Garden Project Calculators

Grass Seed Calculator

Grass Seed Calculator

When you're ready to seed your lawn, our calculator helps you estimate the amount of grass seed you'll need to get the job done.

Mulch Calculator

Mulch Calculator

Enter your preferred material, the square footage and mulch depth of the coverage space for accurate results.

Fencing Calculator

Fencing Calculator

We'll calculate the amount of fencing you should purchase based on your property needs.

Frequently Asked Questions About Gardening

Do some vegetable plants prefer fall temperatures?

Fall plants should be mature by first frost so the cold won't kill them. Heat-loving plants, like bell peppers, won't often survive a frost unless they're covered, but other plants don't mind so much. Cole crops, or crucifererous vegetables, like kale, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage, thrive in cooler temperatures and may continue growing into the winter months. Get incredible depth to their taste by harvesting these veggies after frost. The plants convert starches to sugar, so they'll taste sweeter than earlier harvests. Root veggies, like carrots, also love cooler temperatures.

How can I use the extra wood after tree trimming or tree removal?

Log splitters leave you with more manageable chunks of wood, while wood chippers make tiny wood chips. After pruning trees and bushes with hedge trimmers or a gas chainsaw, clean up the debris in a wood chipper. If your trees are healthy, the chopped wood makes mulch that you can spread around your fall flowers and plants. If you removed a tree, you can either get an axe or a log splitter to divide the downed tree into smaller pieces. The wood splitter will be quicker and a wise investment if you're doing an expansive amount of tree cleanup, and the bigger the splitter, the better.

How can I clear fall leaves from my lawn?

If you'd prefer to use power tools to keep fallen leaves under control, shop our leaf blowers. Electric versions come as corded or cordless leaf blowers. We've also got handheld, walk-behind, and backpack leaf blower models. Leaf vacuums, vacuum-mulcher combo units, or rakes are additional options. Let the gathered leaves turn into mulch and enrich your soil or fill up lawn and leaf bags and take them out to the curb.

How do I care for a lawn mower?

To maintain outdoor power equipment, clean it before you store it. Check the manufacturer's website or your owner's manual for info on caring for a specific tool, like removing grass from lawn mower blades or oiling a chainsaw chain. To shut down gas-powered outdoor power equipment for the season, idle each tool until the gasoline runs out, then change the oil so it's ready in the spring. For electric tools, remove the battery, put it in its storage case, and store it where it won't freeze — usually away from the tools themselves. It's a bit labor-intensive now, but you'll be glad you maintained your tools when you use them again.

How do I prepare outdoor taps for winter?

Prepare for freezing temps by covering outside faucets with faucet covers. Shutting down the outdoor spigot can be put off until washing the car in the driveway or watering the garden is done for the year, but don't wait too long. With all hoses disconnected, turn off the indoor valves that control the spigots, then open the taps and let them run until the water stops. If you have underground sprinklers or an irrigation system, drain those as well as per the manufacturer's instructions. You may need a rental air compressor to remove every drop of water. While you're at it, get a pool vacuum and pool cover and winterize your swimming pool, too.

What tools do I need for snow removal?

In climates where it gets cold and snowy, early fall is the time to prepare your snow removal tools. Snow blowers are great, but keep a snow shovel or two to clean trouble spots or chip away ice patches. We carry gas snow blowers, electric snow blowers, and cordless ones, too. People with larger driveways may consider using a salt spreader to evenly distribute the ice melt or salt to clear the way to the car. Shop now before the weather cools more and the snow rolls in.

The Home Depot Garden Center at Gurnee

When a crisp day breezes in, take advantage of it to do a second round of planting and outdoor maintenance. Now is a great time to get fall flowers and flower bulbs in the ground. Neaten up your bushes and trees, too, with chainsaws, pole saws, and pruners. Read on for more on fall garden maintenance, fall planting, and how to transition to your fall lawn and garden.

Fertilize or Patch Your Lawn
Repair bald spots on your lawn by overseeding them. Autumn is a great time to fill in brown, dead, or bare places in your yard. However, make sure leaves don't fall on freshly seeded areas. New grass seed needs water, air, and sun to grow, and leaf litter can block out the sunlight and air it needs to germinate.

If you're in a northern climate, prepare your cool-season grass for the fall with lawn fertilizer. Aerate your lawn before adding fertilizer to get the most bang for your buck. An edger gives extra polish to the perimeter of your yard. Water your cool-season lawn regularly and tend to any pesky weeds that show up. Warm-season varieties, like those in the southern states, are winding down their growth for the year. It's better not to fertilize it now, as you don't want fresh grass growing right before it goes dormant. Taper down watering on warm-season lawns.

Fall Gardening
Many colorful fall flowers are annuals, like marigolds, so they last until the end of the year. Hardier plants, like pansies and chrysanthemums, should return in the spring. Always check the plant tag for info. If you want your mums to grow back next year, the label should call them chrysanthemum morifolium, hardy mums, or garden mums. If it says they're an annual or florist mum, you'll have flowers this year only.

Shrubs and succulents often flower in the fall, especially if they're already established in the ground or kept in flower pots. Succulent planters allow for easier upkeep of sensitive succulents. Customize the soil to fit these desert plants, as they need a sandy succulent soil mixture.

For shrubs, look after the ones you've got or plant new ones, weather permitting. Get in new plants now, especially if you're in a warmer climate and have time before the cold and frost comes. If you use retaining wall blocks to surround or accent your garden, try giving a finished look with rubber mulch. It'll overwinter just fine and look new longer than bark chips or other mulches that fade with weathering.

Cut and Cover Perennials
In climates where you might have a cold snap but then warm up above freezing again, cover your plants. Protect your garden from frost and freeze damage to extend their season. You can get extra life out of your garden by covering your plants with tarps, buckets, or even painting drop cloths. It'll warm your plants like a greenhouse, and they'll survive a frost.

This works well early on, until you're fully into the colder parts of the season. Uncover the plants in the morning when it warms up again and let them enjoy that autumn sun. Once the temperatures regularly dip below freezing, say goodbye to the garden for now.

Put the Garden to Bed
When the sun angle changes and your annuals start looking rougher, dig up the plants. Northern climates that get cold earlier in the fall may be putting the garden to bed for the season in October or November, while warmer climates might wait until November or December. After your annuals are done blooming for the year, dig them up, then chop and dispose of the detritus, or dead plant debris. Feel free to let them decay to enrich the soil unless you had one of two exceptions: if your plants dealt with blight or if you had a snail problem.

After you've removed the old plants, you have a clean slate. Prepare your garden bed for the spring by rotating the soil with a shovel or renting a rototiller. You want to send the topsoil down, bring up the deeper soil, and loosen the earth. It lets the soil rest and helps nutrients penetrate. It's also an excellent opportunity to test the soil and see what, if any, soil amendments you need. Different crops and plants use different nutrients. Test your soil to see if it's balanced or if you ought to add certain nutrients that have been depleted.

Bring Potted Plants Indoors
Gardeners with potted plants can extend their growing season by bringing delicate plants indoors to a sunny window. Indoor gardening allows both outdoor plants to live longer and house plants to bring joy into your home. Just turn them regularly to give all those leaves equal sunlight, and make sure they get enough water. Remember to place decorative dishes beneath them if the pots don't have built-in overflow dishes to catch any extra water.

Warm the Outdoors with a Fire Pit
Stretch out your fall evenings with a patio heater, outdoor fireplace, or fire pit to take off the chill. No matter if you're looking to heat a small patio, a cozy back porch, or a spacious deck, we've got options. All you have to do is discover the one that matches your decor style.

We've got fire bowls and fire pit tables ready to warm your outdoor space. Check out stylish propane and natural gas fire pits in a variety of shapes. We've also got woodburning fire pits and the firewood to stoke them. You can even build your own with fire pit kits or make it completely custom and build an in-ground fire pit to fit your vision with pavers that lead to and surround the pit. Stop by your closest garden center to see what's in stock.

Ease Into Autumn
This fall, prepare your garden and lawn for the change of season with us. We have the tools and supplies you need for leaf cleanup, putting the garden to bed, and restoring nutrients to your soil so it's ready for next spring. Shop our wide variety of fall garden care and outdoor living products in our mobile app, online, or in the aisles of your Gurnee store.

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