Gardening in the snow?

5 things to do now for your garden

  
  All the Valentine flowers make us yearn for spring - but our yards are still bleak.

If the gardener in you just needs to get outside do something, here are five things you can do now to get your garden ready for spring.

1. Compost. If you didn't work compost into the soil last fall, throw fresh compost over the garden - even if it's snow covered. It will settle over the soil and you can work it in right before planting.

2. Get going on seed. You can plant cool season crops as soon as the ground can be tilled (March, April). So have your seed ready. Find a local garden center from the link at the right or order seed online or from catalogs.

3. Select your crops. Carrots, spinach, lettuce, beets, green onions, radishes, pak choi and peas are veggies to plant soon.

4. Plan what grows where. Rotating veggie placement each year is a good practice in order to avoid insects and diseases that can overwinter in the soil and attack specific veggies. They are more threatening if debris was not cleaned out of the garden last the fall. Tomatoes and corn are crops to move to a new place each year.

5. Before planting, rototill or hand till the ground to work in the compost bepore planting.

Want to really jump start the garden? After working the soil, place black plastic over it. This will warm up the soil and give 2-3 weeks head start on growing. Pinch holes in the plastic to plant seeds. The plastic can be left as mulch during the growing season.

And if your sweat heart is a gardener, tuck some seed packets into your Valentine card!



Tip of the Week reprinted courtesy of Associated Landscape Contractors of Colorado (ALCC) of which Foothills Landscape Maintenance, LLC is a member. ALCC is the only only professional organization for Colorado's landscape contracting industry statewide. Tip of the Week is copyrighted by Associated Landscape Contractors of Colorado and may be forwarded or copied by its members provided proper credit is given to ALCC

Got The Scoop On Your Dirt?

Good soil and good seeds make a garden grow

 Experienced gardeners know that the quality of veggies you get out of the ground is directly related to what you put in it.

Use seed tape for uniform spacing.


Everything that happens down in that dirt is what makes plants grow--or not! So starting from the ground up, get the real scoop on your soil--and then the seeds.

Check your dirt
If you don't know the kind of soil you have, your growing efforts may not bring the best results. Having low organic matter in the range of less than 1 per cent is typical in Colorado. So to get soil to the desired range of 3 to 5 per cent organic matter, you will most likely need to amend the soil.

Before adding amendments, however, get a soil test to learn what you really need to add. A soil test (available from Colorado State University for much less than $50) gives important information about the PH of the soil, salt content, amount of organic matter and the content of several minerals like nitrogen.

The CSU soil test kit tells how to submit your soil sample. Results arrive in a few weeks and you don't have to be a scientist to understand them. When you know what your soil needs, you can go about adding it.

Sort out the seeds
Planting old seeds that don't germinate can cost you two to three weeks of outdoor growing time before you know the seeds have failed and you need to replant. That's time you don't want to lose in Colorado's growing season. Check expiration dates on seed bags from past seasons and toss expired seeds.

Can you use seeds harvested from last year's garden? The next generation of seeds from hybridized plants is generally less reliable than the fresh seeds you can buy. Also, as plants cross-pollinate with other garden plants, the mixed-up results land in the seeds--and the next season's plants. Consequently, this year's veggies may look a lot different than last year's.

Seed planting tips
Plant seeds in garden rows that run east to west. The east/west orientation gives the sunniest advantage for your crop and more even plant growth.


Use seed tape to speed up planting and get uniform spacing. You can find these seeds in bags similar to loose seeds at garden centers. Seeds come pre-attached to a paper tape so all you have to do is run the tape down the row and cover it with soil. Within a few days, the tape disintegrates and the seeds germinate.


Plant seeds for your early season crop of cool season veggies--like spinach, lettuce, carrots--before the end of April.

Tip of the Week reprinted courtesy of Associated Landscape Contractors of Colorado (ALCC) of which Foothills Landscape Maintenance, LLC is a member. ALCC is the only only professional organization for Colorado's landscape contracting industry statewide. Tip of the Week is copyrighted by Associated Landscape Contractors of Colorado and may be forwarded or copied by its members provided proper credit is given to ALCC

Heading out this weekend?

Weather this week reminds us that we're at the jumping off point for another glorious season outdoors. We're deciding what to plant-more veggies, splashier annuals, more perennials for longer lived color.


Before we get busy and just go plant something, we need to pull back. Think big picture.

What do you want your landscape, your balcony, your front porch, your patio, your curb appeal to do for YOU? Where does your landscape meet your life and how can you make it better?

If your outdoor space is where you want to live (or want to live more) in the warm months, do everything you can to make it friendly for you, your family, your guests.

• Do you need an expanded lawn area for little soccer players to kick the ball around?
• Has the dog worn trails across the grass that need to be remedied?
• Would an outdoor food prep area make entertaining easier?
• If you added some color and greenery to your patio, would that draw you outdoors more?
• Could a real fire pit create a gathering place for the teenagers you'd like to keep closer to home?

Answering these questions is all about having a plan and in the landscaping world, we call that plan a landscape design. The design relates to how we want to live in our landscape in a very pragmatic way. It incorporates the details that make the pet happy, cater to the kids, create privacy and drive the outdoor ambiance we want to enjoy.

On the practical side, a new design can be a problem-solver. Creating the big picture perspective for your space (even a very small one) will also point out problem areas that could be solved. Screening off the AC unit or solving a drainage problem by the downspouts isn't as much fun as adding a fire pit. But solving those problems along the way will help your state of mind and safeguard your property.

This weekend, if you're out planting carrot seeds or pushing petunias into pots, get a fresh take on how you want your landscape to meet up with your life.




Tip of the Week reprinted courtesy of Associated Landscape Contractors of Colorado (ALCC) of which Foothills Landscape Maintenance, LLC is a member. ALCC is the only only professional organization for Colorado's landscape contracting industry statewide. Tip of the Week is copyrighted by Associated Landscape Contractors of Colorado and may be forwarded or copied by its members provided proper credit is given to ALCC

Ready to plant something?

Carrots can be planted now.

Countdown to growing season!


This weekend the weather was warm. Daylight savings time began. And it's just 7 days until spring. Must be about time to plant something--and it is!
Right about mid-March is when we can plant those cool season veggies. Here are some choices you can start planting now:

• Early lettuce, like bibb
• Radishes
• Spinach
• Carrots
• Sugar snap peas or other peas that mature early.

Once these veggies are harvested in about mid-May, the garden can be re-planted with warm season crops--like broccoli, cauliflower, small cabbage and peas. When that crop is harvested around mid-July, that garden plot can again be planted with a repeat of the cool-season varieties. At that time, you can also add green onions and early-maturing snap beans. These plants should mature and be ready to harvest before the early fall frost.

When planting three successive crops, the key to pulling it all off in about six months is in counting the days to maturity--in other words, the time it takes for the seed to mature and yield vegetables ripe enough to pick.

Iceberg lettuce is generally 60 days from planting to harvest. Bibb lettuce matures in about 46 days--but the crop can be thinned out as early as 28 days. In Colorado's growing season, selecting varieties that mature more quickly, like bibb over iceberg, is what makes those three successive crops possible.

How do you know days to maturity? Check the back of the seed packet. The label will have valuable planting information and that includes days to maturity for the seeds inside.

And don't forget to plant some color! We're still about two months out for planting petunias and all the other annuals. But pansies can be planted as long as they have been hardened off to be accustomed to being outdoors. If you cover them with fabric when temps get below freezing, pansies can be planted either in pots or in the ground.

Pansies are Mother Nature's gift of early spring here in Colorado. They are the early flowers of the season that help us survive until we can go wild planting all those wonderful annuals!




Tip of the Week reprinted courtesy of Associated Landscape Contractors of Colorado (ALCC) of which Foothills Landscape Maintenance, LLC is a member. ALCC is the only only professional organization for Colorado's landscape contracting industry statewide. Tip of the Week is copyrighted by Associated Landscape Contractors of Colorado and may be forwarded or copied by its members provided proper credit is given to ALCC

Need fresh ideas for your landscape?

Find inspiration for your landscape

Whether it's more Zen or more zing your landscape needs, you can find fresh ideas from ALCC's Excellence in Landscape Awards. This year's awards competition showcases the best designs, installations and maintenance projects throughout Colorado--and the photo gallery of recent recipients can inspire you for the outdoor season that's just weeks ahead.

Here are five fresh ideas from these award-winning landscapes that you might want to consider:


• Small spaces can be amazing places for outdoor living. A high-rise balcony or townhome backyard offer great possibilities. Or for an expansive yard, tucking a small living area into an inconspicuous space can make a cozy retreat.

• Outdoor lighting adds security, curb appeal and evening drama around a home.

• There's nothing like annual flowers for outdoor pizzazz. From new spins on traditional designs to exotic flower combos, annuals remain the number one outdoor fashion statement.

• Edibles are in and should not be segregated from the rest of the yard. Carefully placed combos of flowers and veggies not only ward off pests, but bring new visual interest to planting beds.

• Perennials are the newest trend for landscape value. Because they keep coming back year after year, perennial plants are the sought-after landscape investment for the long term. Seasoned gardeners know this--and others are catching on fast to this great outdoor value.


Tip of the Week reprinted courtesy of Associated Landscape Contractors of Colorado (ALCC) of which Foothills Landscape Maintenance, LLC is a member. ALCC is the only only professional organization for Colorado's landscape contracting industry statewide. Tip of the Week is copyrighted by Associated Landscape Contractors of Colorado and may be forwarded or copied by its members provided proper credit is given to ALCC

Why buy new seeds?

SEEDS--the miracle of Mother Nature
 
It's mystery and nature's own magic how those small specs and dots fall into the earth and before you know it, spinach, lettuce, herbs, carrots, zucchini, pumpkins and radishes are all over the place.
Spring planting is just around the corner, so now is the time to sort out the old seeds and order new ones.

Can I use last season's left-over seeds?
While some plant varieties will produce seeds that will last for centuries, they are generally the exception. Anasazi beans collected from the cliff dwellings in southwestern Colorado that were planted soon after discovery were good to grow.
Beans, grain and corn are generally longer-lived than other plants--but their hybridized versions we use predominately today don't have a prolonged shelf-life. Best rule of thumb is to check the expiration date on old seed bags and toss expired seeds.

If you have left-over seeds from past seasons that are questionable, you can check them out with a pre-season germination test. Plant a couple seeds of each variety indoors now in a sand/peat mix. If they don't germinate, don't waste your time with them later outdoors.
Planting old seeds that don't germinate can cost you two to three weeks of outdoor growing time before you know the seeds failed and you need to replant. That's time you don't want to lose in Colorado's growing season.

Can I use seeds harvested from last year's garden?

The next generation of seeds from hybridized plants is generally less reliable than the fresh seeds you can buy. Also, as plants cross-pollinate with other garden plants, the mixed-up results land in the seeds.
For example, if you plant seeds from last year's huge pumpkin that grew next to the zucchini, the fruit that grows this year from those seeds may be a surprise. It may not look anything like last year's prize pumpkin. That's part of the magic that matters when you select seeds.

What about heirlooms?

Heirloom varieties are the old-favorite plants that go back many years, some to Colonial days. Heirlooms have been collected and maintained for generations and have not been hybridized. These seeds can be collected for future seasons and will remain true to the original plant as long as they have not cross-pollinated with another variety in the garden. To keep heirlooms going from plant to seed to plant, season after season, keep them isolated from non-heirlooms.

How much and when to order?

For most home gardeners, one or two seed packets per variety are all you'll need. To have the best selection in seeds, place your order soon. Popular varieties will sell out, so be an early bird if you want to catch the best seed.




Tip of the Week reprinted courtesy of Associated Landscape Contractors of Colorado (ALCC) of which Foothills Landscape Maintenance, LLC is a member. ALCC is the only only professional organization for Colorado's landscape contracting industry statewide. Tip of the Week is copyrighted by Associated Landscape Contractors of Colorado and may be forwarded or copied by its members provided proper credit is given to ALCC