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Keep logs outside until you're ready to burn them

Some important tips to keep in mind regarding your home and garden in the winter:

• It is best to keep any logs you saved for burning in the fireplace outside until you are ready to burn them, as insects can come in with the firewood. Never treat firewood with insecticides. Also, do not transport any ash wood outside of the emerald ash borer quarantine zone to avoid further spreading of this insect. Look online for information regarding the quarantine zone.

• It is important to protect houseplants from cold temperatures when purchasing them in the winter. Most garden centers will wrap plants to protect them from cold temperatures but if they don't, be sure to ask them to wrap the plants for you. Wrapping the plants also protects them from breaking.

Be sure the plants are placed in a stable location on the way home. When transporting plants, the car should be warm, especially if outdoor temperatures are below freezing. Plants should never be transported in a cold trunk or allowed to sit in a cold car for any length of time.

It is best to set the plant on a stable surface and carefully tear or cut the wrapper from the bottom up to unwrap the plant. Do not attempt to pull the wrapper off the plant, as you risk breaking stems, flowers and leaves. Plants should stay within their wrappings for no more than 24 hours. Open the top to allow the plants to get air if you cannot remove the entire wrapping right away.

• This is the month to check host plants for overwintering Eastern tent caterpillar egg cases. Check crabapple, apple, hawthorn, mountain ash, flowering cherry and other members of the rose family for signs of dark, iridescent egg cases encircling small twigs, giving a pencil-like shape to the twig. Remove any egg cases that you find.

• Tim Johnson is director of horticulture at Chicago Botanic Garden, chicagobotanic.org.

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