For more than two decades, Brenda Dahlfors has been the go-to person in McHenry County for just about every garden plant disease, insect, drought and excessive moisture challenge. While she helps ramp up a new growing season and organize annual events such as the upcoming Gardenfest at McHenry County College (MCC) again this year, she’ll officially retire from her current role later this summer.
“I love doing it,” said Dahlfors, program coordinator for the University of Illinois Extension (UIE) Master Gardener and Master Naturalist programs in McHenry County. “I love the people, I love the subject.”
Based in Woodstock, Dahlfors helps manage the more than 150 county residents who have gone through the UIE Master Gardener and Master Naturalist programs and serves as the local resident expert in both areas. She and her volunteer gardening and naturalist colleagues provide research based and unbiased information to county residents on gardening, insect and plant disease issues along with practicing and encouraging environmental stewardship.
“I definitely see that people who are attracted to those programs are natural, lifelong learners, they want to know more,” said Dahlfors. “They are lifelong learners, which is the way I would describe myself as well.”
Dahlfors grew up in suburban St. Louis and made her way to Illinois to attend Bradley University. She holds her undergraduate degree from there and achieved a master’s degree from Northern Illinois University, both in education. She taught high school for 15 years in Streamwood and got hooked on gardening early in her career. She went through UIE Master Gardener training when her daughter started school in the late 1990s.
“Back in the day, Master Gardener training was a full day, every Friday, January through April from 9 to 4,” said Dahlfors. “I thought, ‘Okay, she’ll be in school, guess what, I get to do Master Gardener training.’”
UIE hired Dahlfors in 2002 as program coordinator in McHenry County. In addition to serving as Extension’s resident gardening and naturalist expert, she helps organize popular annual events in partnership with groups such as the McHenry County Farm Bureau (MCFB) and entities such as MCC. They include The Great Seed Event, held Feb. 7, Gardenfest, to be held April 11, Garden Walk to be held July 11, and Farm Stroll to be held September 27.
“They are all like-minded people,” said Dahlfors about the volunteers who help make many of the events happen and the thousands of county residents who attend each. “Everybody wants to talk about their gardens. Everybody wants to talk about their plants. All of the events are like that. Everybody just has a great time together.”
As far as gardening and environmental challenges in the county, Dahlfors ranks climate high on her list and in particular, extreme temperature swings and the intensity of storms.
“The rule of thumb in gardening is, one inch of water a week, that’s what you need,” she said. “You can’t wait until the end of the month and dump 4 to 5 inches of water on there and think it’s going to be okay. It just doesn’t work that way.”
She also expresses concern about some inaccuracies generated by artificial intelligence and social media platforms on ways to manage weeds and harmful insects, like using vinegars, some stronger than others, and dish soap, which she said can strip the waxy coating off the leaves of good plants.
“You scroll through the answers and some of them are so far-fetched,” said Dahlfors. “Or you just see the same misinformation being perpetually repeated over-and-over again, like killing weeds with a little bit of dish soap and vinegar and these supposed natural concoctions. Natural does not equal safe.”
The solution? Dahlfors believes you can still rely on a research-based entity such as the U of I, and her colleagues and volunteers seem to agree.
“Brenda and the Master Gardeners cover a lot of plant, tree, and insect questions that come into our office from our membership as well as the public,” said Dan Volkers, MCFB Manager, which leases space to UIE at the organization’s headquarters at McConnell Rd. and Route 47 in Woodstock. “We work together on the Farm Stroll and some other educational programs for farmers, teachers and students.”
“She is amazing with bugs,” said Ann Min of Huntley, who became certified as a UIE Master Gardener in 2017 and must volunteer time and achieve continuing education to maintain certification. “I don’t care what bug you show that lady, she knows something about it and how to deal with it.”
Rich Tobiasz, a Master Gardener and soils and horticulture instructor at MCC, agrees that Dahlfors institutional knowledge, organizational skills and positivity will be missed.
“She is very knowledgeable as far as gardening, she’s very hard working, she gets along with essentially everybody, said Tobiasz, a former fire chief in Spring Grove. “I think that’s important because there’s over 100 personalities in the Master Gardener program and in Master Naturalist program. She works with all of those people plus she works with Farm Bureau, with MCC with the Conservation District. She is such people person, she is so able to work with so many people.”
Dahlfors said she won’t be going too far when she officially retires at the end of July. “’People keep saying, ‘Oh my, you’re retiring,’ and I’m like, ‘But I’m not going anywhere,” she said. “I will now volunteer. So, I will be at the seed event next year, I’ll just be on the other side of the table. I will be at Gardenfest next year. I will be at the Garden Walk. I will be at the Farm Stroll.”
Brenda Dahlfors serves county residents from her University of Illinois Extension (UIE) office located in the McHenry County Farm Bureau building off McConnell Rd. in Woodstock. Her most recent achievement brought the Master Naturalist program to the county. The Master Naturalist program educates and trains adult volunteers so they obtain knowledge to share natural resource information with others in their communities and assist with conservation and restoration activities.
Friends and colleagues of Brenda Dahlfors say she’ll always greet you with a smile. “Annually at the recognition dinner in December…she wears this hat,” said county Master Gardener Rich Tobiasz of Spring Grove. “She almost didn’t wear it one time and everybody went, ‘Where’s the hat?’ She is such a positive aspect of Extension. She makes it all work.” (Photo by Steve Deberg)
In her roles as resident gardening and naturalist expert in the county, Brenda Dahlfors helps manage the hundreds of Master Gardeners and Naturalists and fields dozens, if not hundreds of questions from county residents every year. “I know if I run across a bug I’m not sure of all I have to do is bring a sample in and she’ll look at it and go, ‘Oh yeah, it’s this, and this and do this and this,” said Master Gardener Ann Min of Huntley. “It’s so matter of fact.”