Tag: Gardening
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Year-round gardening: Grasshopper management in the garden
Last year we saw large populations of grasshoppers in El Paso County and across Colorado. While we might hope this year will be different, the grasshoppers will be back in some way. Why is this? The grasshopper life cycle can help explain why recent high grasshopper populations are so difficult to manage. Grasshopper embryos begin…
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Pikes Pick: Hit Denver Botanic Gardens’ Spring Plant Sale
Not that you ever need another reason to visit Denver Botanic Gardens, but the annual Spring Plant Sale is one. Mark your calendar for May 9-10, when all your gardening dreams take to the York Street location. Admission is free, but reservations are required, beginning April 28. — Seth Boster
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Year-round gardening: Plant nostalgia often influences choices in Colorado gardens
People garden for a multitude of reasons: beautification of their property, satisfaction of growing their own food, therapeutic benefits of connecting with nature, and the sense of accomplishment when plants thrive. Gardening also provides an opportunity to express creativity and personal style through designing landscapes and arranging plants. A garden can be all that and…
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Year-round gardening: Extra space in your Colorado garden? There’s so many great ways to fill it
“Gardens are the result of a collaboration between art and nature.” – Penelope Hobhouse All too often homeowners believe that any uncultivated space in their garden will best be used as turf. There is an idea that installing a lawn is easy, but lawns require a lot of maintenance, water and fertilizer, and they have…
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Year-round gardening: It’s time to start working in the garden
“In March winter is holding back and spring is pulling forward. Something holds and something pulls inside of us too.” – Jean Hersey, American author What a deliciously cold winter we’ve had. Hopefully, March will bring us an equally delightful spring that provides rain, sunshine and perennials that have survived the winter temperatures. Here are…
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Year-round gardening: Add color around your Colorado home with holiday cactus
Once gardens become dormant, Coloradans could long for flowers to brighten their homes during the holiday season. Holiday cactus (Schlumbergera sp.) is a great choice. These natives of Brazil grow in the crotches of trees but are not parasitic. Because they’re understory rain forest plants, they will get enough light near a sunny window. Holiday…
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Year-round gardening: Autumn is an ideal time to examine deciduous trees in your yard
Once leaves have dropped in autumn, there is a great opportunity to examine the deciduous trees in your garden and determine if some pruning is needed. November through March is an ideal time to get that work done. Evergreen tree pruning should be deferred until early spring. The reasons for pruning include: • Managing damage…
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Year-round gardening: Is it time to clean up your Colorado garden? Well, it depends.
The need for seasonal garden cleanup can be a controversial subject. How much to do in autumn, and how much to leave for spring, is a question best answered by, “It depends.” Questions to ask yourself include: • What are you growing? • What insect and animal pests do you want to manage? • What…
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Year-round gardening: Some important tasks await Coloradans as gardening season winds down
“Now, let me see … There’s the large carpet in the main hall. Clean it! And the windows, upstairs and down. Wash them! Oh yes. And the tapestries and the draperies. Do them again! And don’t forget the garden. And scrub the terrace, sweep the halls and the stairs, clean the chimneys, and of course…
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Year-round gardening: Attracting birds to your Colorado garden
It’s not too late to start waking up to the sound of bird calls in the morning. And it’s not too early to prep your garden to entice birds this coming spring. In Colorado, 519 species of birds have been documented as of September 2022, according to the Colorado Bird Records Committee of Colorado Field…