A few final chores

More fall leaves… (Photo credit: life is good (pete))

Though the season seemed endless, the recent cold snap has convinced even the die-hard gardeners that fall is well under way.  Winter is around the corner, so before the holidays distract you and chill days drive you indoors, take advantage of the lingering warmth to tuck the landscape in to bed.

 Here are a few suggestions for helping your garden head into winter:

 Wrap young trees.  With a few moments out of your busy schedule, wrapping a young tree to tuck it in for winter is an easy way to keep your sapling strong.

 Winter can be a rollercoaster of warm days and cold nights, which wreak havoc on young, thin barked trees that have not grown old enough to form protective corky bark. Sun hitting trunks on south and west sides warms the bark and cells underneath, causing them to lose their cold protection.  As nighttime temperatures plunge, these cells freeze and burst, resulting in sunscald on the trunk, an area that will be prone to disease in summer.

 Sapling fruit trees are vulnerable to sunscald, as well as lindens, honeylocusts, ashes, oaks, maples, and willows.  Protect them for the first two to three years they’re in your landscape by wrapping them with tree wrap in early in November.

 Wrap from the ground upward, overlapping each layer over the lower one by one-half-inch until you reach the lowest branch.  Use tape to hold the wrap in place, making sure the tape doesn’t stick to the trunk.

 Mulch perennial beds.  Leaves make an excellent blanket for protecting perennials and woody plants from the ravages of winter.  In Colorado, thawing and freezing can lift roots, but covering the soil with a four to six-inch layer of leaves will keep temperatures consistently cool.

 If the leaves are from trees that aren’t diseased, pile them up around your plants and let the ones that blow into the beds settle there for winter.  In spring, rake the leaves out and put them in your compost pile.

 Compost rotting, dead plants to convert them to organic material that, tilled into the soil, holds water and nutrients for roots to take up.  This is a great soil amendment to have on hand in spring.

 To build a compost pile:

–          Select an out-of-the-way area at least 4-by 4-feet wide.

–          Gather together both green and brown plant material – you’ll need twice as much brown material as green.

–          For faster composting, chop the plants into small chunks before mixing them into the pile.

–          Layer brown and green material into a pile, adding water with each layer until the pile feels damp, like a sponge.  If the pile is soggy to soaking, add more material in until it dries a little.

–          The compost should heat up within a week and be very warm to the touch.  Once it begins to cool, turn it from the outside in and sprinkle with more water to recharge the microorganisms.

–          When the compost no longer heats up after turning, looks like crumbled humus and has an earthy smell, it’s ready to be added to your soil.

 Give trees and shrubs one last, big drink.  Research has shown that the best thing to do for trees and shrubs as they head into winter is to give them a deep soaking before the ground freezes.  This helps prevent winter desiccation of branches, needles, or evergreen leaves, so for good woody plant health, give them a last soaking when temperatures are warm.  Be sure to disconnect the hose from the faucet once you’ve finished watering.

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Hopping mad over grasshoppers

Image via Wikipedia

A rustling noise alerted me to a visitor in the squash patch, one that gives gardeners the chills each season. Thinking it was a squirrel, my concern was simply for the swelling pumpkins whose rind is irresistible to the pilferers. Stalking up to the patch to catch the robber red-pawed, the rustling fell silent and no squirrel was found.

Mouse, rabbit and neighborhood cat all went through my mind but it wasn’t until the thief sprang from the foliage that I knew I had a problem. I stared into its eyes as it clung to the front of my shirt, gently masticating the last of its snatched meal. A grasshopper had invaded my vegetables, and where there’s one, there’s bound to be many.

More than 100 species of grasshoppers live in Colorado. Some feed on grasses, others weeds, but the Differential (Melanoplus differentialis), Twostriped (Melanoplus bivittatus), and Redlegged (Melanoplus femurrubrum) are frequent pests in home gardens. All types lay their eggs in the soil, favoring dry, undisturbed locations for their nurseries. Upon hatching in spring the young dine on nearby plants until they reach adulthood and fly off in search of food.

Controls for grasshoppers are aimed at the nymph stages, when the insects are vulnerable and don’t move over long distances. Baits, sprays, or the parasitic nematode, Nosema locustae, that worms its way throughout the body of the bug are all best on younger grasshoppers in early summer.

Now that it’s August such controls are no longer effective, since the hoppers in my yard arrived as adults. The sprays of insecticides that can be used are only slightly effective; they might kill the munching marauder today but have a limited time span. Another hopper will take its place in the next few days.

My usual method for ridding my garden of pests — throwing them in the neighbor’s yard — doesn’t work with grasshoppers; they just bounce right back. Literally. And floating row covers would do more harm than good, since I’d be trapping the hoppers under the tent with a complete buffet at their claw tips.

Poultry are a great choice if you live in an area that allows them. I know this first-hand, since my son used to raise ducks. They were comical, and thanks to a drake who took guard-duck duty seriously, were effective at keeping all manner of annoying creatures out of the yard, including grasshoppers and door-to-door salesmen.

Chickens, turkeys and guinea fowl are also touted by Colorado State University Extension as excellent non-chemical grasshopper control. The first two birds I’m familiar with, but guinea fowl are a mystery. Evidently they look like small vultures wandering your yard, shrilly cackling as they swoop down on insects, particularly grasshoppers, June beetles or Japanese beetles. Guinea hens are noisy, belting out a warning whenever intruders arrive, which in suburbia, means a cacophony arises whenever the postman, meter reader, garbage truck or my mother stops by. The entertainment potential alone makes them worth considering.

Ultimately there is little to be done to rid my garden of grasshoppers. Hopefully the plants

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Loveland Garden Tour a don’t-miss event

 Gorgeous gardens, amazing artwork, and cheerful plants await you on the 8^th annual Loveland Garden Tour, tomorrow, June 25.  Benefitting the Loveland Youth Gardeners, if you’re one of the lucky ticket holders, here’s a sneak peek at the treats in store for you: 

The tour has returned to downtownLoveland, winding through the cozy west side neighborhood to visit seven amazing gardens.  At each stop on the one-mile walking tour you’ll find gardens hand crafted by the gardeners who live there, personalizing their yards with raised beds, trellises, and an assortment of found items sure to make you reconsider tossing anything away. 

Following the map during the pre-tour event, I was amazed at the sense of community this tour has; you’ll find yourself waving hello to neighbors as you walk past, or stopping for a quick chat over a garden fence at a nearby home.  

Arriving at tour stops, you’ll goggle over front yards filled with perennials, roses, or shrubs, but don’t be fooled into thinking that this is all there is to see.  No, the inspired organizers take you behind the fences and into backyards that are a sheer delight, their hidden beauty a breathtaking example of the artistry of gardeners.  From formal beds and Asian-influenced screens to chickens and Rocky Mountain Natives, the gardens are true gems to be savored.   The copper-topped beehive in garden 3 caught my eye, as it’s easily the most beautiful bee box I’ve seen.

Plan to spend a lot of time in garden four, says Vonne Zdenek, one of the Colorado Master Gardener volunteers, because a little bit of time won’t work in the quirky yard packed with recycled items.  Old shoes, can, tools, and appliance parts are turned into garden art that brings grins to every face.  “It’s just amazing – he sees nothing odd about any of this,” says Kathi Taylor, “though it doesn’t match, it works together.  He’s brilliant!”

Local artists also get in on the act, with displays of metal sculpture, furniture, birdhouses, stepping stones, and truly lovely potting benches.  Art is for sale so if you find a piece you like, snap it up before it’s gone home with another gardener.

Tickets are $15 (children 10 and under free) and are available at Earle’s Loveland Floral & Gifts, Gateway Garden & Home Center, Loveland Garden Center, Rabbit Shadow Greenhouse, Rowe’s Flowers & Gifts in Loveland. InFort Collins, find tickets at Bath Garden Center & Nursery, Fossil Creek Nursery, Fort Collins Nursery, Wild birds Unlimited, and Gulley Greenhouse. 

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Sowing Onions

Image via Wikipedia

Today’s post can be heard on the public radio show Crop to Cuisine, hosted by Dov Hirsch.

As you’re planting your spring kitchen garden, leave room for one of cooking’s basics that’s delicious enough to bring tears to your eyes.  Growing onions in Colorado is easy, and if you want to add this allium to your vegetable plot, the time to get planting is now.

Seeds, seedlings and sets are available to the home gardener, so here’s a quick primer on the difference: seeds are directly sown into the garden from mid-March through the end of April and are very successful in Colorado.  Sow them shallowly, about three-eighths of an inch deep. 

Seedlings are started plants, grown this season and not yet mature enough to begin forming bulbs.  Locally, onion seedlings are readily available in small clumps that you tease apart upon planting.  Plant them one inch deep and slightly later than seeds, so any time in April will do.   

Sets are onion bulbs that are about one inch in diameter and planted as you would a tulip or daffodil.  Both seeds and seedlings can be used for green onions, often called scallion-stage, or for sizing up into storage bulbs.  But if you use sets, keep in mind that they’re best if you want bulb onions. 

 Look for long-day varieties that form bulbs once we have 14 or more hours of sunlight daily; in our area, onions will begin producing pungent, sweet bulbs beginning in July.  

 Onions prefer fertile, well-draining soil liberally amended with organic material.  Spread compost one to one-and-a-half inches deep across the bed, then till it in, working it eight inches into the soil. 

 If you’ve sown seeds, thin them once the seedlings have five leaves.  For best bulb production, thin to three inches apart.  Pulled seedlings are delicious as fresh or grilled; eat them as you would a scallion.  As your onions grow, each leaf they put on represents a ring in the bulb itself, and size matters: larger leaves mean bigger rings.

Water them frequently, never allowing their shallow roots to dry, which can cause bulbs to be stunted and tough.  Onions are nitrogen-greedy during the first part of the season, so fertilize until mid-July, then put them on a diet – onions don’t need much nitrogen past that point. 

As onions bulb, they often push themselves out of the soil; this is normal and your plant will be fine.  Avoid giving in to the urge to “hill-up” your onions; hiding the beautiful bulb will work against the plant’s desire to plump it and you won’t get good production.  As the plant prepares to bulb (the neck will feel a little soft), if your soil is hard from the summer sun, gently loosen it to let the plant expand.

Keep weeds to a minimum, since they rapidly crowd out the less-vigorous onion.  Careful, shallow hoeing around the plants is a must to avoid damaging the developing bulb, so if you’re a bit of a brute with the hoe, mulch is a good option for your onions.

Thrips are common insects in our area, rasping off the surface of the onion leaf, leaving a tell-tale trail of silver.  They hide out on weeds, so weed suppression is key to control.

You can tell if your onion is mature by its floppy tops, which start laying over in mid-August.  Hold off on watering at this point and when most of the tops have fallen, gently lift the onions from the ground. Let them rest on top of the ground for up to two days, trying to keep them oriented the same way they grew in the ground to prevent sunburn.

After two or three days, take the onions into a warm, dry location to cure for several weeks until the necks are completely dry.  Trim the tops, then store the bulbs in a mesh bag out of sunlight in a cool location.

Related Articles

• All Things Onions (doyoudig.wordpress.com)

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Request from gardener to governor: Can we have a tree czar?

Some states elect wrestlers, others movie stars.  But in Colorado, we’ve elected a brewer.  Ok, yes, before that he was a geologist, but for any gardener who’s toiled under the blazing sun cutting a soon-to-be garden bed, well, a skill in brewing up cold, frosty beverages is more useful than being able to say that those rocks are limestone, granite, or gneiss.  Leave that conversation for after you’ve relaxed in the shade.

As John Hickenlooper is sworn in as the 42nd Governor of the state, I hope the man who launched the Million Tree Initiative in Denver takes that philosophy across the state.  Think of it – if an area the size of greater Denver can hold a million new trees by 2025, can’t he pack a few more into the state, until we become so thickly forested that we resemble Connecticut instead of Colorado?

Sadly, the answer is no, as anyone traveling the eastern or western borders of our state can attest.  It turns out we can’t really plant wall-to-wall trees, despite what bona fide treehuggers like myself want.   We’re limited by water, something trees need to grow big and strong.  On those borders I haven’t seen anything much larger than a shrub living outside of the towns. 

But a gardener can dream about taking over the planet with big, hulking vegetation, and trees are a gateway plant to other garden treasures.  Their shade keeps us cool, their branches support our children’s swings; the only thing I have against them is that they harbor squirrels who pilfer from my garden (it could be worse – if it gets much colder in portions of Florida, they’ll have those iguanas dropping from the trees again).

True, the Governor will have his hands full with the state budget, and yes, creating jobs, shrinking government and promoting the state are all worthy of his immediate attention.  But as long as he’s appointing a cabinet, toss in a tree czar – he can appoint an Ent to the position. 

Then the tree czar can get to work encouraging people to plant this spring, which is right around the corner.  There’s plenty to do, what with the new Front Range Tree Recommendation List being unveiled at ProGreen in February, The Colorado Garden and Home Show (also February), and planting starting in March.  

Related Articles

• The John Hickenlooper Exception (nytimes.com)

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Winter water is for lawns too

With apologies to Frank Loesser, his song, Baby It’s Cold Outside, has been running through my head with a few changes:

We really can’t sleigh (baby it’s dry outside)

The warmth’s got to go away  (baby it’s dry outside)

This winter we’ve been (hoping that snow’d drop in)

Not very nice (I’ll warm up the hose, it’s stopped up with ice)

Trees aren’t the only thing that need water in a dry winter – and boy, is it dry.  The federal Climate Prediction Center has said most of the Front Range and all of eastern Colorado is in a moderate drought.  We’ve gotten just a whisper of water since July, so monthly watering of your landscape is a must. 

In a previous post, how to water your trees was described, but lawns, too, need a drink.  “Established lawns will benefit from watering, but the critical ones that need moisture are the ones that are new,” says Dr. Tony Koski, Extension Turf Specialist with Colorado State University Extension.  If you put down sod after September 15, you should water it. 

Even if you don’t have a new lawn, watering the grass is important, and if you’ve been plagued by lawn mite problems in the past, water that yard soon, he said.  “This is when mite populations start to rise, especially on warm days when they get a little active and frisky.  They’re frisking around, the population starts to rise, and though mites haven’t started to damage the lawn, their potential to do so increases with their numbers.”  Mites prefer bone-dry grass, so hold them at bay with moisture. 

To water a lawn in winter, warm days with temperatures above 45-degrees is a must.  Fortunately we have plenty to choose from, since we’re in the 50’s and 60’s several days per week.

Drag out your hose with a sprinkler, or set the water to a slow trickle.  “The problem is that everything is frozen, but you don’t want water puddling on the lawn.  And the worst thing is forming a layer of ice on it; that really harms the turf.  So it probably won’t take more than a quarter to half-inch of water before you get standing water and puddles.”

Set your timers to tell you when to move the hose or shut off the water.  Most importantly, disconnect the hose from the house before evening so you don’t run the risk of frozen pipes.

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