Colorado Gardening

Spring has sprung. The grass is riz. I wonder where the birdies is?

Trees are blooming. The grasses are greening. The hardy plants are returning. Ah Spring! When a friend asked about gardening, I remembered to refer her to the Sunset Western Garden Book and to my favorite reading, Colorado Gardening, Month-by-Month. For winter dreaming and planning these books are great.

However for vegetable gardening, I enjoyed the direct information in Square Foot Gardening. Making your garden productive requires a fair amount of soil augmentation work, especially where it seems our soils are either clay or sand with little humus or organic matter. A compost pile can help you make a rich soil from simple kitchen wastes and some ingredients from the nursery or hardware store. Now's a great time to be working the ground. Some folks have already planted the cold weather starts. Since Colorado weather can be unpredictable (late snows, chilly or hot summers, early snows or Indian summers) we have some extra challenges in timing the plantings and determining whether to mulch much or not. Further, the Colorado State University extension has good resources on-line and for specific questions, the extension agent can be helpful.

Finally, the Denver Botanic Gardens is a source of information and beautiful inspiration for gardeners.

Do you garden? What advice would you share with my friends who are just beginning to dig in the dirt this Spring?