Gardening Power to the People: Pruning Shrubs (Video)

When is the best time to prune shrubs? It depends! If it's a spring-blooming shrub, wait until the shrub has finished its spring bloom. Late winter is a good time to prune your summer blooming shrubs. Watch Master Gardener Gail's pruning tips.

Cleaning Your Garden Tools by Donna Duffy

Photo courtesy country file.com

Gardeners tend to get the mid-winter blues this time of year. Summer seems so far away! We nourish our gardening souls by looking through seed catalogues, feeding the birds, reading our garden journals from last year. But there are some gardening tasks that can be done now so you'll be ready when the ground thaws and the first shoots of spring appear.

Gardening Power to the People:Wrapping Trees for Winter Protection Video

It's time to wrap your newly planted and young trees to prevent sun scald and to keep that valuable tree healthy through the winter.  Here's how:

Clean Your Garden Tools Quickly and Easily by Gail Wilson

January can be a grim time in the garden here along the Front Range.  Master Gardener Gail gives some good tips for taking on this task and January might just be the time to do that!

Aphids by Gail Wilson

One of the most common insect problems we suffer here on the Front Range is Aphids.  They are so very common they are sometimes called plant lice.  These small, soft-bodied, pear-shaped insects are generally less than 1/8" long.  Green or black is the most common color but they can also be found in a variety of other colors as well. 

The insects survive by sucking the sap and juices from the soft, new growth, causing injury to plants.  These injuries damage the plant's ability to properly process food and causes the plant to lose vigor, wilt, distort or show spots.  Aphids can also transmit viral diseases from unhealthy plants to healthy plants.

Garden Tool Care at Its Finest: Oiled Sand by Gail Wilson

I have spent a fair amount of money on my garden tools and I work hard at keeping them in good shape.  One of the ways I do that is oiled sand and I would like to share that secret with you.

I use a 3-gallon plastic bucket because I found it at a thrift store but you can use a 5-gallon bucket or even a large trash can filled only about a third full.

To create the oiled sand I used general all-purpose sand and the most inexpensive motor oil I could find at the local big box store.  You can use mineral oil or vegetable oil but for me the motor oil was less expensive.   The success of the project is not dependent on the quality of the oil.    A 5-gallon bucket requires approximately ½ gallon of oil so for my 3-gallon bucket I used a total of about 1 and 1/3 quarts.  That is enough oil to moisten the sand but not enough to create a drippy mess.

Will my Green Bell Peppers turn Yellow? by Gail Wilson

Have trouble figuring out when peppers are ripe and ready for harvest? Here's a few tips to help.

First things first, different pepper plants produce different colored peppers so it is imperative that you know what type of peppers you’ve planted.

You can harvest peppers at any size desired, however, green bell varieties are usually harvested when they are fully grown, about 3-4 inches.  When fruit is mature, they break easily from the plant but less damage occurs if the fruit is cut from the plant.

The Grass is Greener by Gail Wilson

..Or at least I certainly hope so!  I decided in 2010 that it was time to do some thing with my lawn.  I had only owned the property for 10 years but the lawn was 40 years old.  My decision was to over seed with Reveille, a Hybrid Blue Grass that claims to be more drought resistant.  Saving water is really important to me so I did some research and everything I read indicated that it was worth a try.

In the spring of 2010 I aerated (2 inch centers) my existing lawn, applied seed, (1 lb per 1000 square feet) and covered the seed with approximately 1/8 inch of compost.  I watered three times a day until the seeds germinated and continued watering an average of three times a week during the summer.  In the beginning of August I repeated the procedure, Reveille is started in early August no later.  I had a beautiful lawn that year.  Well of course I did with all that care and water.