Blog Archives

Recipes using rose hips

9/30/2022

By Kathy Sullivan, Communications Director

Did you know the fruit of wild rose has the most vitamin C of all wild fruits? And they are edible!

Douglas Conserves has a bounty of recipes using wild rose hips, including rose hip juice, candied rose hips, and rose hip tea.

Click here to browse the recipes.

Sacrificing lawn for an all-gravel yard comes with issues

9/29/2022

People are reconsidering their lawns for a lot of reasons - water, chemicals, upkeep, troubleshooting for mites or fungus. Some folks opt to replace portions or all of their traditional Kentucky Bluegrass lawn with boulders, rocks, perennials, trees and shrubs.

Others replace the lawn with a different, more water-wise grass (i.e. buffalo grass or dryland grass seed).

And then there are the zero-scapers - putting in an all-rock yard. But as this article in The Denver Gazette reports, not all is sunshine and roses when you go to that extreme.

The many benefits of a planned rock garden

9/29/2022

By Kathy Sullivan, Communications Director

Rock gardens stunningly beautiful when done well. They are highly sustainable, use little water, and literally elevate a landscape.

Rocks and boulders add depth and dimension to an otherwise mundane space, and with added plantings, introduce an element of natural delight into the outdoor environment of a home.

The rugged appearance of rocks and boulders contribute an earthy, natural, and even dramatic appeal to an outdoor space, and beautifully connect any landscape to the natural world.

Highlights of a rock garden include:

Low maintenance
Lend year-round structure and interest to the landscape
Add style and scale
Don’t look overly contrived or designed
Highly sustainable
Save water
Evoke a sense of calm and order
Perfect for filling a large outdoor space
Help to prevent erosion on steep or terraced areas of landscape
Perfect for water features
Design appropriate and fitting for our area

Garden Design has an excellent primer on planning, building, and planting a rock garden. The article includes a resourceful list of plants that are well suited to rock gardens.

Photo credit: Camelot Design

End of season garden to-do list

9/29/2022

By Kathy Sullivan, Communications Director

End of summer and early fall are no time to sit back and relax when it comes to gardening. Many of us are still harvesting (and even growing) right now, especially with this long, warm autumn we've been having.

Keep up with your garden maintenance now and reap the benefits come spring.

Final tasks:

Deadhead
Weed
Harvest and Clear Space - save what you can (seeds, canning, and/or drying)
Cover cleaned-out garden areas with compost and then a thick layer of pine needles to prevent weeds and nurture the good stuff in the soil (microbiome)
Prune trees and shrubs that are winter-hardy
Rake fallen leaves from garden areas, and mulch-mow leaves on lawns
Harvest and store herbs for cooking. They can be dried or frozen.
Plant strawberries (here's how)

Take breaks from outdoor chores to simply look at the beauty of your garden. You've poured a lot of love and sweat into it and it's time to admire your work!

How to plant trees correctly - now is a good time!

9/23/2022

As long as you are planting a tree correctly, now is a great time to add a new tree to your landscape!

Follow these steps:

Choose a tree that is right for your location, how much light it gets, how big its mature size will be, etc.
Dig your hole! MUCH wider that deep, 2-3 times wider than the tree. Make the hole more shallow than the trees root ball.
Cut the bottom of the basket off, put the tree into the hole and turn it till you find the best side and its straight up-and-down.
Put some water into the tree hole as you fill it but be careful to not overflow.
Finish filling, compacting a little, removing the cage, burlap and twine. Do not cover the top of the tree root.
Using all the leftover soil, build a dam around the outside, then fill with water.
NO staking unless windy.
Water every couple of days by filling the dam.

IMPORTANT TO NOTE:
With young trees make sure to wrap the tree trunk for the fall/winter to avoid sunscald. Wrap from the base up to the first or second main branch and tie or tape it there. Remove the wrap in spring, and repeat annually until the tree bark thickens.

Don't forget to continue to water the newly planted tree throughout the fall/winter, especially in the dry months.

Product Review: compost bags

9/23/2022

By Dennis Volz, Black Forest Garden Club President

I found these bags at a local King Soopers and have seen them at other retailers as well. When I purchased these bags I thought they would prevent me from having to clean my kitchen compost pail so often (a nasty job).

They do that but they didn’t break down in my composter. In fact, they didn’t show the slightest sign of breaking down over an entire growing season. I’m having to empty the bags and throw them out. In addition, they leak so I couldn’t just pull them out of the pail to take them to the composter and I still had to clean the pail.

To be fair, the fine print states that they are commercially compostable so I guess they could be put out for a compost collection service, but to my knowledge there are no compost collection services in this area.

10 perennials you should cut back every fall (and 5 to leave alone)

9/23/2022

It's the 'perennial' question - what to cut back in the fall for best growth in the spring, as opposed to those perennials that prefer to be left alone until cutback in spring.

This article in Family Handyman is a resource you'll want to keep because it provides clear instructions for what to cut back, how, and when. Large pretty pictures accompany each of the perennials.

Press your own apple cider at Colorado's annual 'Cider Days' festival

9/9/2022

By Kathy Sullivan, Communications Director

Cider Days is October 1 and 2 at Heritage Lakewood Belmar Park. The festival will feature apple pie eating contests, trick pigs, burro rides, line dancing, a straw bale maze, and a petting zoo. Guests will also be able to buy fresh apples, and press their own cider.

Buy tickets and learn more here.

Keeping a garden journal is a good way to become a great gardener

9/9/2022

As the seasons change, you've probably heard some variation of, "Can you believe the daffodils/rosemary/dahlias etc. are already blooming?"

Whether I'm asked that question in an excited voice or with a worried expression, my response as a Master Gardener is always the same: "You should write down what you're noticing in a garden journal."

That's because our lives are busy, and it's hard enough to remember recycling day, much less when the neighborhood daffodils appeared. But when you start recording these botanical events, you'll notice natural patterns from year to year. This info can help you choose plants and figure out when to time gardening chores, such as when to jump on those spring weeds.

Here's what you need to know about creating your own garden journal:

You will make smarter plant choices.
You will make better choices in the timing of your garden chores.
You can share your garden with others.
You can keep better track of what you planted, when.

What should you record in your garden journal? Read all about it in the article here.

Credit: BHG.com

Water your trees!

9/2/2022

We see a lot of people watering their lawns right now but some are missing the most important, most expensive, and biggest asset of their yards: their trees!

If you have trees in the lawn there’s a good chance your trees may be receiving enough water. But look at the drip line of each tree. If it is outside of the lawn area making sure to water there, where the tree roots absorb the most water.

If you don’t have trees in the lawn and don't already have irrigation to your trees - water them!

Trees don’t necessarily show drought stress immediately but will respond over time by letting some of their outer branches fail, as well as being more vulnerable to problems like insects and tree diseases.

What are the best areas to apply water to trees?

Drip line
Near the trunk, but not saturating it

Here are two excellent articles from CSU Extension on maintaining healthy trees and tree roots, and fall and winter watering recommendations.

Healthy Roots and Trees

Fall and Winter Watering of Trees

Credit: ALCC

Ways to use cucumbers

9/2/2022

By Kathy Sullivan, CommuBy Kathy Sullivan, Communications Director

Cucumber plants are blooming and starting to produce cucumbers around this time of year. It's important to use your home-grown varieties within two or three days of picking unless properly stored (wrap tightly in wax paper or wax wrap and store in an airtight container).

Ways to eat cucumbers
Pickled. Pickling is easy and a fun family activity. Pickles makes your crop last for months! Click here for two tried and true pickling recipes - including refrigerator pickles.

Snack. What better way to handle that 3 o'clock hunger than eating fresh sliced cucumber dipped in ranch dressing or straight balsamic?

Smoothies. Cucumbers make any smoothie sparkle. They lend a refreshing note to plain H2O and ice, too.

Cucumber Tzatziki Hummus. Remember the warmed pita bread and crudités for dipping in this bright tasting hummus with a nice sharp tomato flavor and a strong backdrop of basil. Here's the recipe.

Give to friends and neighbors. Everyone loves that you garden and share your bounty! Homegrown produce is a treat and appreciated by the receiver.

Freeze Them. It's tedious but freezing cucumbers works due to their high water content. Slice, freeze in individual slices for three hours, store in a freezer-compatible container with room at the top for expansion. Can be kept 8 - 10 months. Best used in smoothies.

Compost. There are going to be cucumbers you missed picking or forgot to use or let grow too large etc. etc. The compost pile likes old cucumbers for their good water content.

Recipes using rose hips

Sacrificing lawn for an all-gravel yard comes with issues

The many benefits of a planned rock garden

End of season garden to-do list

How to plant trees correctly - now is a good time!

Product Review: compost bags

10 perennials you should cut back every fall (and 5 to leave alone)

Press your own apple cider at Colorado's annual 'Cider Days' festival

Keeping a garden journal is a good way to become a great gardener

Water your trees!

Ways to use cucumbers

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