Leave Ornamental Grasses Alone Until Spring by Nancy Shepard

 

Ruby Muhly Photo: Plant Select

As we see plants in our garden die off, some of us might have the urge to tidy everything up. One of the plant categories that can benefit most from a hands-off approach are the ornamental grasses.

Heatwave in the Garden: how to identify and prevent heat stress in plants

 (Reposted from Oregon State University Extension June 2021)

When a heatwave hits, plants may show the impact.

• Most plants grow best in temperature ranges 59-86F.
• When temperatures above 90F are sustained for long periods, plant growth is slowed, and some plants begin to show signs of stress.
• Above 104F, many plants will survive but will show different signs of heat stress dependent on plant type, maturity of the plant, and factors that often come with high temperatures, such as drought or wind.
• Extreme air and soil temperatures slow down chemical activity and growth in plants.

What are signs of heat stress in plants?

Prune lilacs soon after they bloom by Vicky Spelman

Courtesy Pixabay

The fragrance of lilacs is one of the most wonderful of springtime flowering shrubs. Lilacs are versatile flowering shrubs and can have a wide range of uses in the home garden from border plants, and windscreens to flowering hedges.

Not So Fast! Gardening Tips for Early Spring by Donna Duffy

Yes, it does feel a bit like Spring outside. And yes, there are signs of life in your yard and garden. As tempting as it is, don’t go full-force into your gardening mode quite yet. Following are some gardening chores you can start right now, and others that you’ll need to wait to begin.

Time to Prune Apple Trees in Front Range Colorado by Carol O'Meara

Carol O'Meara from Boulder County Extension gives us a hands on look at the proper way to prune an apple tree.  The time for pruning is now before bud break!



Here's a fact sheet also. https://extension.colostate.edu/docs/pubs/garden/07003.pdf

Pruning the Trees in Your Landscape by Peter Drake

Photo courtesy thegardenerseden.com

Accustomed, as we are, to regard trees as an integral part of our home landscape, we would do well to remember that the trees we commonly enjoy usually need our help to continue their life here.

Beyond the willows and cottonwoods that have found homes along the rivers, streams and irrigation ditches, our Colorado Front Range foothills region is not generally hospitable to the varieties of shade and ornamental trees we’ve come to enjoy so much.  This broader climate zone still wants to be what it was before Euro-American colonization and settlement: a high plains desert, covered with durable grasses and low shrubs, and intensely vulnerable to climatic extremes which can split bark and easily kill top-growth, both new and old.

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.

Gardening Power to the People (Video) —Myth Buster: Dressing a Wound from Pruning

If you are doing some spring pruning, don't bother with the wound dressings you will find at the garden centers! Save your money for plants! Trees don't need it.

Fall Pruning “Dos and Don’ts” by Audrey Stokes

Mild fall weather may have you thinking about pruning shrubs and trees but it's better to wait until winter or at least until after deciduous trees’ leaves have fallen. When it comes to fall pruning, procrastination is the way to go.  One exception to any ‘no-pruning’ advice is that dead, diseased and damaged wood should be removed as soon as possible.  Hire a professional arborist to remove big limbs, high branches, and any other tree job that you’re not prepared to do.

Pruning timetables can be broken down according to the type of plant: trees, shrubs, perennials and roses.

Pruning Considerations: Shade Trees in the Landscape by Sally Blanchard

Photo by Donna Duffy

It is tough to be a shade tree here in the Front Range! With periods of drought to record precipitation, blistering heat to deep freezes, extreme winds to infestations of lethal insects, our trees need our help! Surely you’ve watered those trees during this period of warm weather and little or no snow or rain, and now it is time to look closely and see if your trees are in need of pruning. Early spring is the perfect time to accomplish this task.

Growing Grapes for Wine? It's Time to Prune! by Donna Duffy

John Crawford, photo by Donna Duffy

My neighbor, John Crawford, is a fourth generation vintner. I recently asked him to share some advice on pruning vines for maximum grape production. Here’s what I learned.

Protecting Trees From Heavy Snow by Donna Duffy

Photo courtesy tree boss.net

Winter weather has arrived and the snow is falling! Take precautions to avoid this kind of tree damage.  Here are some suggestions on protecting your trees from the weight of heavy snow from Curtis Utley, Jefferson County CSU Extension Research Associate.

Spring Pruning of Roses by Donna Duffy

Hybrid Tea Peace Rose before pruning

Sharpen your pruners and grab your gloves – it’s finally time to prune the roses! In Colorado, the best time to prune roses is around the end of April, after the danger of frost. By now, the roses have broken dormancy, and have lots of green growth.

Rejuvenation (“to make young again”) Pruning by Audrey Stokes

Pruning photo Cyrus McCrimmon, Denver Post

This article is an excerpt from the CMG Garden Notes publication Pruning Flowering Shrubs and is re-printed here because of the extreme timeliness of the information – early spring is the time for rejuvenation pruning! http://www.ext.colostate.edu/mg/Gardennotes/616.html

Tending to Roses in the Spring by Donna Duffy

It’s finally beginning to feel like spring! Your roses are probably showing signs of life again with canes turning green and leaf buds starting to form. But this is Colorado, and we’re not quite out of freeze danger yet. With that in mind, the following are some steps you can take to help your roses get off to a good start. 

Keep Those Summer Blooms Coming! by Carol King and Donna Duffy

Late June and early July are rewarding times in the garden. The results of all the hard labor in the spring are beginning to be evident: a variety of blooms make their first appearance. Those beautiful blooming plants will need some attention to keep the blooms coming back. Most perennials and annuals will benefit from deadheading, pinching, cutting back, and disbudding. It’s not as traumatic as it sounds, and you’ll be rewarded with a longer blooming season.

Rose Care in the Spring by Donna Duffy

Proper spring rose care helps ensure summer blooms!

It's finally beginning to feel like spring! Your roses are probably showing signs of life again with canes turning green and buds starting to form. But this is Colorado, and we’re not out of freeze danger yet. With that in mind, the following are steps you can take in the next few weeks to help your roses get off to a good start.

Growing Grapes for Wine? It's Time to Prune! by Donna Duffy

My neighbor, John Crawford, is a fourth generation vintner who has been growing grapes for about six years in Colorado, and making wine since 1979 using the private label “Crawford Castle. John was previously co-owner of Colorado’s oldest winery, Colorado Mountain Vineyards – now Colorado Cellars. Here's John's advice on pruning vines for maximum grape production. 

It’s Time to Prune Your Summer Flowering Shrubs by Elaine Lockey

Rejuvenation pruning on an older Potentilla. The one on the left needs similar work.

Get out your pruners and loppers - it's time to do some pruning. Summer-flowering shrubs bloom on new growth from this year. Some examples are Potentilla, butterflybush, blue mist spirea and Rose of Sharon. They should be thinned or rejuvenated in the late winter or early spring before growth starts.  

Comments on Spring Rose Pruning by Gardener Dave

Just a couple of paragraphs, repeated from my blog posting of May 12th, 2009, “Spring Rose Pruning and Other Rosy Ramblings”:

1) Pruning: I DON’T try to save rose canes in the spring that are really dark in color or have “weather cankers” on them. They will almost NEVER support good roses later in the season, even if they have new sprouts on them. When you cut the canes back from the top, look for a healthy green cambium layer all the way around the cane down to the base, then stop pruning a bit above that point. This spring my roses will be severely pruned!

2) Pruning: I WAIT until late April or early May to prune the canes back. By that time you will have a pretty good idea of the extent of winter damage, and new sprouting growth will be evident. This last winter was hard on roses in our area, especially if they were exposed to below-zero temperatures and drying winds. In my first years of growing roses, I would prune canes back on mild days (during some of our “false springs” in February or March) only to prune them back some more after later cold spells. All right… I’ll admit that some years – such as this one – I just can’t stand the sight of ugly tall, brown, thorny canes, and I do lop them off early to improve the general appearance of the garden.

Cheers,

Gardener Dave