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About those rust-colored needles on our pine trees...

4/28/2020

 
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We've all seen them - those reddish-colored pine needles  that start with a few and then, over time, seem to take over some pine trees.

According to Colorado State Forest Service, thousands of trees are displaying yellow or rust-colored needles due to a natural "shedding" process, and the trees should recover.

Generally, new needles are produced every spring and summer and last for two to four years (they don't stay literally 'ever green'.  Older needles aren't as efficient at producing food for the tree and eventually turn brown and drop off. This doesn't hurt the tree because there are newer needles ready to replace the old ones.


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"Colorado evergreens shed their older, interior needles as part of an annual growth process" says Colorado State Forest Service.

"Soon-to-be-shed pine needles typically yellow first, then turn a reddish-orange or brown color before dropping off."



It is common to see these unsightly needles on pine trees after a particularly harsh round of extreme temperatures (warm days and then a blast of arctic cold). Trees that are already stressed because of lack of adequate water (drought) or some kind of root damage (sitting in a boggy or standing-water area) may shed more needles to keep the tree in balance with it's root system.

In Colorado, ponderosa and lodgepole pines and also some spruce and fir trees are the trees that seem to be most susceptible to needle shedding.

CSFS wants landowners to know that there is no need to spray or otherwise chemically treat pines and other evergreens exhibiting normal needle drop.


Want more information? Here's an article from Plantalk (Colorado State University Extension) with fact sheets, additional articles, and a YouTube video.

Weed Identifier Guide

4/27/2020

 
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It's always a good idea to identify and eliminate weeds in your garden early in Spring (and beyond) before they get out of control or grow those super-long tap roots that makes eradicating them nearly impossible.

Better Homes & Gardens has published a weed identification slideshow with excellent photos to help you weed with confidence.

Garden Club members agree - we've seen nearly ALL of these weeds in our gardens at one time or another (typically every year). The sooner we tackle them, the better our gardens grow, and look, without unsightly weeds in the picture.

The photo above is showing a closeup of a common garden nemesis: bindweed. It will choke out everything else if you don't keep it under control!

Mother's Day Gift Ideas for the Gardener

4/23/2020

 
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Mother's Day is May 10th, 2020. The best gifts for the gardener are those that are well-made (won't break or wear out easily), not intended to replace already beloved gardening items, and something that will be appreciated for years to come.

Here are our ideas for Mom's who love to garden:


  • A pair of well-designed gardening gloves. Every gardener appreciates a nice pair of gloves, especially those that are quality-made and comfortable. Here are some of the best gloves out there.  And here are fancy leather gardening gloves to consider.
 
  • Flowering plants - instead of purchasing a bouquet of flowers, give her something to plant like a beautiful rose bush, a few peony plants, summer flowering bulbs (gladiolas and dahlias (shown above) are always a good pick), or a few packets of seeds tied with a pretty ribbon.  If you're unsure what she might like, get her a gift certificate to the local nursery (see Resources page for nurseries in our area).

  • Garden clogs - Mom's usually garden in old tennis shoes, but once they've tried a great pair of garden clogs they'll never go back.  Hunter makes a pair that will last Mom for years and are easy to slip in and out of and rinse off. 

  • Spring-flowers Door Mat - we can all use a fresh door mat after a long snowy winter. This doormat has pretty spring flowers and will last throughout spring and summer. And it's currently on sale for $10.

  • Garden Journal - it's fun and valuable to keep track of what was planted when in the garden and to note performance so that in a subsequent year we don't repeat mistakes and can take advantage of doing again what worked well. Keeping track of that information can be tedious, and that's where garden journals come in handy. Etsy is filled with ideas for garden journals - from downloadable PDF printables starting at $2 to pricier leather-bound styles.

  • Garden Area Redo - if she's been struggling with an area of the garden year after year, maybe it's time to hire a landscape designer to address the problems and help Mom see the opportunities for what will flourish in that area. Local nurseries are happy to recommend their trusted landscape designer who can provide you with a gift certificate for Mom. Quite a surprise this will be!

  • Artist's rendition of her garden - Mom's who are really into their gardens would love a watercolor or colored-pencil drawing of their happy place to see framed and hanging in the home. Put a request on Nextdoor in your area to see if any artists out there might do this for you and surprise her with the ultimate gift for the gardener!

Happy Mother's Day lovelies!

It's time to plant bare-root rhubarb

4/19/2020

 
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Rhubarb is a true perennial, coming back to add value to the garden year after year. This stocky vegetable thrives in our area because the ground freezes in winter.  Yep - rhubarb loves a good freeze (even last week's deep freeze didn't phase the plant).

If you've ever wanted to grow rhubarb, now is the time to get planting. Pick up a bare-root rhubarb plant from the local nursery and plant it in well tilled soil so that the crown is 2 inches below the soil level. Put it in a sunny spot that has plenty of grow room (the plant can reach four to five feet across when fully grown).

Rhubarb likes a sunny spot to produce the most stems (the leaves aren't edible but are excellent for composting), and more stems means more delicious rhubarb goodies such as rhubarb-strawberry pie, rhubarb jam, rhubarb-strawberry crisp, and rhubarb bars. See recipe ideas at the bottom of this post.

Mulch rhubarb through the growing season with a 2-inch layer of well-rotted compost, straw, or bark, and replenish to keep a consistent thickness.

Each fall after stems die back, remove the leaves and mulch generously with chopped leaves or compost.

The first year you won't harvest any stems, but you will be able to minimally in the second year and full on in the third year.

Rhubarb Rules:
1.  dig a deep hole, then backfill with soil. Plant the bare root rhubarb with roots down and crown 2 inches below the soil line.

2. Fertilize plants in spring with a standard plant fertilizer.

3.  No flowers allowed! Remove flower stalks as soon as you spot them. Plants that flower produce fewer stems the following year.

4.  To pick rhubarb, grab stems near the base and "snap/pull' upward, twisting slightly as you pull. Use a fast, crisp action and they should snap right off.  Be sure you grab very near the base of the stem. You can also use a scissors to cut the stems close to the crown.

5.  Wait a year after planting to harvest. The second year, pick only a few stalks. The third year and beyond, harvest freely.

Click here for Rhubarb Desserts Recipes

10 types of apple trees thought extinct found

4/19/2020

 
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North America once had 17,000 named varieties of domesticated apples, but only about 4,500 are known to exist today.

The nonprofit Lost Apple Project has rediscovered 10 apples varieties that were believed to be extinct. The apples identified as previously "lost" were among hundreds of fruits collected in October and November  from 140-year-old orchards tucked into small canyon or hidden in forests that have since grown up around them.

The latest finds include the Sary Sinap, an ancient apple from Turkey; the Streaked Pippin, which may have originated as early as 1744 in New York; and the Butter Sweet of Pennsylvania, a variety that was first noted in a trial orchard in Illinois in 1901.  Read the full article here.

Apples trees grow well in our area include Yellow Delicious, Red Delicious, MacIntosh, Gala, Granny Smith, Honey- crisp, Cortland, Fireside, Haralson, Jonathan, Cox Orange, Fameuse, Northwest Greening, Joyce, Wealthy and Lodi. Here is information from PlantTalk (CSU) on growing apple trees in Colorado.

No-dig gardening is trending in a big way (and saving a lot of backaches in the process)

4/1/2020

 
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For the pasta 25 years, serious gardeners have been finding real success using no-dig gardening - a method that disturbs the garden soil as little as possible to maintain the healthy microbes and other goodness at work in the soil. Proponents of no-dig gardening say that soil that is firm, not airy and fluffy, is better for plant roots.

Read al about the pros and cons here:

no_dig_gardening_-_edited.pdf
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    Authors

    Blog posts are written by Kathy Sullivan, Communications Director.  Contact BFGC:  blackforestgardenclub@gmail.com 
    If you would like to submit a guest article please email us.

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