Continue planting summer flowing bulbs like cannas, dahlias, and gladioli – if you plant a few gladioli each week in June, you’ll have continuous flowers blooming throughout the Summer. Fertilize your annuals and perennials with nitrogen-based fertilizer. Check your drip and lawn irrigation system for damage. Remove any sprinkler heads or emitters that are overwatering…
Conserve moisture and protect against weeds in planters and beds by spreading mulch around flowers and shrubs. Mow lawn to no-less-than 2″ in height, and never remove more than 1/3 of blades. Water all plants, shrubs, trees, and your lawn thoroughly, but infrequently. A week after the average frost in the Front Range (May 8th),…
April is National Lawn Care Month! Prepare to reactivate your sprinkler system for the Summer. Aerate and fertilize the lawn. Cut back perennials – except evergreen perennials (plants that stay green all year). Remove dead material all the way to the ground with a sharp pair of scissors. Prepare your soil for gardening (if you’re in…
Check evergreens for browning and deciduous trees and shrubs for buds that have died. If you didn’t rake leave or remove old fruit from deciduous trees last fall, do so now. Deep water trees and shrubs as needed this month.
Use dormant oils to control scale or aspen black spot this month. Old, overgrown deciduous shrubs should be thinned before they start to bud out or bloom. Gently brush snow from trees and shrubs after winter storms
Check to make sure mulch is still covering plants exposed to the south and southwest. All trees and shrubs (except maples) should be comprehensively pruned for correction, height, damage, and shape. Deep water trees, shrubs, and roses as need.
March 22nd is World Water Day, and though we’ve been having wetter weather the last couple of years, we should all be thinking about conservation. When we use less, it costs less.. to us in dollars for the water and the infrastructure to deliver it, to the infrastructure itself, and to the environment. Using less…
