How to Keep Your Garden Looking Nice All Year
In Colorado, your garden is about to transition from winter’s grip to the energy of spring. Here’s a helpful guide from the Denver Gazette for your April garden tasks:
- Lawn Care: Lawn care is an excellent way to keep your landscape looking healthy. Brighten up your lawn with aeration and a light feed of nitrogen. If weeds pop up, tackle them with spot spraying—not broadcast pre-emergent herbicide. Water an inch weekly in dry conditions and patch up bare areas with suitable grass seed.
- Planting Trees, Shrubs, and Perennials: Planting is another great way to add some life to your Colorado Springs landscape. When the soil warms to 55 degrees, it’s time to plant trees, shrubs, and sturdy perennials. This period also permits the splitting and relocating of these plants.
Soak your bare root roses and nurture them with a phosphorus-rich food for flourishing blooms. Surround new plantings with nutrient-packed soil additives like decomposed manure or bone meal.
- Pruning: Pruning is the process of getting rid of dead parts of your plants. Shape your early bloomers like forsythia and lilac after they flower, but prune summer bloomers, including butterfly bush and hydrangea, now since they thrive on new growth. Cut back your roses, aiming for well-spaced, outward-facing buds.
- Annuals for Cooler Times: Give your garden a color splash with frost-hardy flowers like pansies and snapdragons, but hold off on tender varieties until after Mother’s Day.
- Vegetables that Can Take the Chill: Enrich your soil with compost before planting early potatoes, greens, and other cool-season crops. Remember to shelter them on frosty nights and start your tomatoes inside until late May.
- Grasses for Elegance and Texture: Trim ornamental grasses down to about 6 inches to enable new growth. Just tidy up evergreen grasses like Blue fescue by combing through them.
- Weeding and Mulching: Get ahead of weeds while they’re young and easy to remove. Lay down a layer of mulch to discourage new weed growth. Take care with pesticides to protect essential pollinators.
Taking Care of Your Lawn and Plants Can Help You Prepare Your Yard For Spring
Common Concerns Regarding Year-Round Gardening
Ideal Plants for Consistent Gardens
For a garden that stays lush throughout the year, choose plants that can adapt to varying conditions. Plants like coneflowers, lavender, and some types of sedum provide enduring color. Also consider evergreens and ornamental grasses for structure during colder months.
- Perennials: Coneflowers, sedum, lavender
- Evergreens: Boxwood, holly
- Grasses: Blue oat grass, feather reed grass
Planning Your Yearly Vegetable Patch
Organize your vegetable garden by season. Start with cold-hardy vegetables like kale and carrots in early spring. Follow with warm-season crops such as tomatoes and peppers in summer. Late crops can include turnips and winter squash.
- Spring: Lettuce, peas
- Summer: Beans, cucumbers
- Autumn: Broccoli, pumpkins
Be Sure You Understand Which Vegetables Should Be Harvested Each Season!
Indoor Vegetables for Continuous Harvest
Some plants can even be grown indoors! Grow plants like herbs, salad greens, and microgreens indoors. These require less space and are perfect for year-round cultivation. Use pots with good drainage and place in well-lit areas or use grow lights.
- Herbs: Basil, chives
- Greens: Spinach, arugula
- Microgreens: Radish, beet
Easy-Care Plants for All-Year Thriving
Select drought-tolerant and disease-resistant plants. Succulents, snake plants, and spider plants need minimal care and can grow in various conditions.
- Succulents: Aloe vera, jade plant
- Houseplants: Snake plant, spider plant
Keeping Gardens Alive in Cold Months
Protect your garden from frost and freezing temperatures by using mulch, cold frames, and row covers. Choose cold-tolerant varieties and consider container gardening for easy mobility.
- Insulation: Straw, leaf mulch
- Protection: Cold frames, cloches
Books on Gardening Techniques for Every Season
Expand your knowledge with literature that focuses on gardening year-round. Some titles might include guidance on crop rotation and soil health management. Look for books that are specifically written for gardening in your climate zone.
