To water or not to water—that is the question in a gardener’s mind each fall.

Fall in the high country is typically a dry time.  Until the ground freezes in mid-October, your garden, shrubs, trees and lawn still need water.  Failure to keep your garden watered in the fall can lead to root damage that affects the health of the entire plant.  Trees and shrubs need adequate moisture stored in their roots to survive the winter.

If Mother Nature is not providing us with rain or snow, you should water once a week through the fall. Do not water if the air and soil temperatures are below 40 degrees F.  Try to water in the middle of the day so the water has time to soak in before freezing at night.  Remember to disconnect your hose after each use to prevent damage.  And once there is snow on the ground, you can put your hose away for the winter!

There is nothing more beautiful than a colorful field of wildflowers in the Colorado Mountains.  Wildflower seed is the easiest and most economical way to get flowers growing in a large area of your yard.  Some planting tips:

1. Fall is the best time to put down seed—ideally before the ground is frozen in late October.  You do not want the seeds to germinate until spring, so wait until the temperatures aren’t getting above 55 degrees.

2.  Roughen the soil surface with a rake and then hand broadcast the seed over the area.  We often mix the seed with sand to prevent clumps of seed from falling in one spot.

3. Lightly rake the area again to compact the soil.  Light compaction improves germination by providing seed to soil contact.  Be sure not to bury the seeds or they won’t germinate.

4.  Wildflower seeds are an exercise in delayed gratification.  It will take 2-3 years before many of the flowers are mature enough to bloom.

5. We sell two different mixes of wildflower seeds.  If you are a purist and want only true native flowers, make sure our staff points you in the right direction.  One of our blends thrives in this climate but includes some flowers that aren’t really true natives.

6. We sell many individual types of wildflower seed: flax, lupine, penstemon, balsamroot and yarrow to name a few.

This was another fantastic year for the Community Gardens thanks to the efforts of High Country Conservation and its community partners.

http://www.highcountryconservation.org/

As we move closer to fall in the high country, it is time for gardeners to complete their final projects and think about putting their garden to bed for the winter. 

1. Consider whether you want to make any additions to your garden this fall. In our climate zone, perennials can be planted into the first part of September, giving them a few weeks to get established.  Trees and shrubs can be planted until mid-October when the ground freezes.

2. Clean up any dead plant material in your yard.  Voles, diseases and fungus thrive in a habitat of decaying materials.  Raking up leaves and grass helps remove the environment where these pests flourish.

3. Avoid major pruning in the fall.  Evergreens should never be pruned in the fall, and deciduous trees should only be thinned after they have dropped their leaves for the year.

4. Cut back perennials. Most perennials will let you know when they have stopped growing and are going dormant for the winter by turning brown.  When this happens, you know it is safe to cut their stems to ground level.  Spreading a layer of mulch or compost around your perennials helps insulate them and compost insures they will have plenty of nutrients in the spring when the snow melts away.

5. Fertilize your lawn. A high nitrogen fertilizer applied in the fall will be a great benefit to your lawn.  Be sure to apply it before your lawn turns brown.

6. Perennials, shrubs and trees all love the insulation of a layer of mulch.  Wood chips, weed-free straw and pine boughs all offer protection from sudden temperature changes.  Snow is the best insulator of all, so pile it onto your garden when you are shoveling this winter.

All of us look forward to the beautiful fall display as deciduous trees, such as aspen and cottonwoods, change color before losing their leaves.  What many of us don’t realize is that evergreen trees also lose their needles in the fall, and that this is a perfectly natural phenomenon.  Needle drop occurs on all evergreens in the late summer or early fall and can be alarming to those of us who are concerned about the spread of mountain pine beetle and Ips beetle.  The tell tale sign of normal needle drop: interior needles turning brown while the outer needles stay green.  If this is the case, you should have nothing to worry about.  If you see any yellowing or dieback on the tips of your needles, your tree could have a more serious issue.

2012 seems to be a record-breaking year for voles in Summit County.  We have heard endless tales from gardeners suffering from the ravages of voles.

Voles are best known for tunneling through the ground leaving long trails of dirt in their wake.  If you see signs of vole activity in your yard, consider using MoleMax.  MoleMax consists primarily of castor oil which repels voles, skunks, squirrels, rabbits and moles from your garden.  Castor oil can be used safely around children and pets, and it is biodegradable so it won’t harm your lawn or plants.  MoleMax is available in both granular and Ready-to-Spray forms.  Summit Landscaping does not sell the poison pellets that kill voles because it can be fatal to pets.  But we have heard of people using mousetraps quite successfully!

Voles prefer lush areas of thick grasses and groundcovers that hide them from their predators.  Removing these grasses and groundcovers and replacing them with mulch can prevent voles from settling into your garden in the first place.

With over 350 different species of aphids in the state of Colorado, there are few plants that do not support at least one type of aphid.  If you are a gardener, you are bound to encounter aphids, sooner rather than later.  Aphids are very small insects with an oval body shape.  The color of the aphid can vary from pale yellow to nearly black, depending on the aphid species.  Aphids feed themselves by sucking the sap out of plants.  This feeding process can cause wilting, leaf-curling and dieback of buds and new shoots.  Some suggestions for how to control aphids, from most natural to most aggressive:

1. Hosing off a plant with a forceful jet of water will often kill the aphids, and those that get knocked to the ground can rarely climb back up on the plant.

2.  Cut back the old top growth of plants in the spring to remove the eggs of the aphids which were laid on the stems in the fall.  This works well for columbine, lupine and aster.

3. Apply an insecticidal soap or spray.  Summit Landscaping carries several organic sprays that are safe, even for your edibles.

4. Apply a systemic insecticide that will be absorbed into the plant.  Gardeners who know they have aphid prone plants will put systemic granules into the soil around the plant to prevent the aphids from appearing in the first place.

Did you know that 80% of pollination requires the presence of a pollinator? Bees are the best pollinators, but birds, butterflies and other insects can help. 

Pollination

The best way to lure bees is to plant flowers that produce lots of nectar and pollen.  Fortunately, many of the flowers that you find beautiful will nourish bees and attract them to your garden.  Salvia, penstemon, lupine, poppies, cranesbill, columbine, chives and catmint are just a few of the bee-friendly flowers that thrive in Summit County, CO.  Avoiding the use of pesticides is critical to the health of both honeybees and native bee populations.  Colony collapse disorder has dramatically reduced the bee population of the western U.S. since 2006—and pesticides are one possible culprit.  Garden organically for your own health—and to protect the birds, bees and water shed we depend on.  We at Summit Landscaping have a variety of organic products.  Call us at (970) 423-6345 for more information.

Encouraging pollination is a vital part of creating healthy flower, vegetable or herb gardens.  Unpollinated flowers won’t set seed or form fruit, leaving you with fewer blooms and edibles.

In August, my perennial garden is full and blooming.  The fruits of my labor are apparent: the delphinium are tall, the oriental poppies have full crepe-paper blooms and the penstemon are brimming with tubular flowers.  But a gardener is never satisfied, and what I love most about my August garden is the opportunity to get a sense of what my garden really needs. 

Do I have too many purple flowers?  Would it look nice to have a larger grouping of painted daisies? Have I planted some flowers too close to each other?  Should I divide the aster that has become huge over the last few years?  Now is the time to ask those questions and take action in your garden.  Typically, the Summit County weather pattern is for a monsoonal flow in July and August, so the ground is wet and ready to accept new roots.  (Thankfully we are finally getting that moisture this year!) New perennials planted now will have plenty of time to get established before the ground freezes in mid-October.

And yes, I always seem to have too many purple flowers because I can’t resist bachelor buttons, cranesbill, penstemon and columbine!