This feels like a long winter. Not because there have been blizzards every other week, but because COVID-19 has been keeping me cooped up inside binge watching episodes of Magnum P.I., just so I could feel like I went on vacation. Fortunately, there have been some wonderfully warm days, which has interrupted my winter madness by allowing me to get into the garden and start my spring cleanup. </p> You can start your spring cleanup as soon as the ground thaws. This is usually in March, but as you know, we have had some thaws during February. Perennials can be cut back to the basal growth, or the crown of the plant. If you look closely, you may be able to see new growth popping up through the crown. On more delicate perennials such as lupine (Lupinus</em>) or columbine (Aquilegia</em>), I use my hands to clean out the dead. On tougher plants, I use a small garden rake, especially with ground covers like lamb’s ear (Stachys byzantine</em>). </p> Cut grasses back by leaving 1 to 2 inches of old growth, which protects new shoots and keeps things looking tidy. While some grasses like blue avena grass (Helictotrichon sempervirens</em>) do not require cutting back (try combing through it with your hands to release the dead blades) many grasses may start showing classic signs of “the donut.” The donut is when your grasses or perennials start to die back in the center and create a hole in the middle of the plant. At this point, you can divide your plants to rejuvenate and reduce the size of the clumps, then just plant the extra clumps for more plants. Win-win!</p> Late winter and early spring are perfect for pruning for shrubs and is not just limited to breaking out the electric shears. As shrubs age, they can get very dense and woody, creating a hedge. If this is your goal, only prune out the dead, damaged or diseased stems. This allows energy to be redirected to newer growth. For shrubs five years or older, you may want to prune out more to allow for air circulation and light penetration.</p> It is most important to know what kind of shrub you have, and whether it blooms on old growth, or new growth. Old growth refers to shrubs that bloom on last year’s growth. These shrubs, such as lilacs, forsythias, and some hydrangeas (Hydrangea macrophylla, H. quercifolia</em>), should be pruned in the summer after they finish blooming. Shrubs that bloom on new growth, or this year’s growth, can be pruned in the spring, such as some hydrangeas (H. paniculata, H. aborescence</em>), and rose of Sharon (Hibiscus</em>). </p> Trees also can use a little dormant pruning during this time, but I like to stick with the rule of never cutting out more than 25 percent of the crown per year. Stick to pruning the 5 D’s: dead, dying, damaged, diseased or disfigured (this includes crossing or rubbing) branches. Make sure you have a plan before you start and remember that this process takes years. </p> Finally, the cherry on top of the sundae: mulch. Giving your beds a two- to three-inch layer of mulch helps to keep in moisture, regulate soil temperatures, protect any shallow roots and promote microbial communities that keep soil healthy. While you don’t want to put mulch directly on top of perennials or up against woody trunks, placing mulch around your freshly cleaned plants will enhance plant health as well as aesthetic. You may only need to rake up the old mulch, give it a nice air fluff and re-apply it to make things look fabulous all season. </p> Spring cleaning doesn’t have to be a rush to the finish line. As soon as we start having nice days, I like to tackle my garden a little at a time. As Billy Ocean said, “Get outta my dreams and into my yard!”*</p> *Not a direct quote from Billy Ocean.</em> </p>
Next weekend we spring ahead with Daylight Saving Time! That means soon we'll be waving winter goodbye and welcoming warmer weather. What better way to bring spring into your home than with some whimsical details that celebrate the season?</p> Check out our gallery for new spring arrivals at the Shop at the Gardens. And remember: You can shop online</a>, select curbside pick-up or stop by in person</a>. Members get 10 percent off their purchases.</p> Shop today!</p> </p>
If you’ve driven past the Gardens on the Josephine Street corridor and glanced eastward, you may have noticed some changes: new plants emerging from a formerly barren hillside, horticulturists gazing into walls of rustling foliage and volunteers tucking thousands of plants into their forever homes. This vast space is the East Josephine Streetscape, one of Denver Botanic Gardens’ newest gardens.</p> Through a partnership with Denver Water, the Gardens is now stewarding the development of this site towards the vision of a vibrant, naturalistic garden reflective of our work on the west side of Josephine Street.</p> Utilizing a combination of planting and seeding, the landscape is being reimagined as a “super prairie.” The design is inspired by natural prairies but combines a wider range of drought-tolerant grasses, shrubs and flowers from Colorado and other steppe regions around the world.</p> We started the process last summer, by using heavy equipment to carve up the homogenous planting of Spiraea</em>, a drought-tolerant shrub that dominated the hillside, to create a dynamic look to the shrub layer and open space for sowing and planting. We then spent the summer managing weeds while we waited for the cooler temperatures of fall to sow our seed mix. In October we hand-sowed a mixture of 43 species of annuals, perennials, grasses and shrubs. Due to the steep slope of the site, we stuck them to the ground beneath a layer of hydromulch, a liquefied, shredded wood fiber that pressed the seeds to the soil and would hold them in place until spring.</p> This year we’ve been busy planting through the emerging seed mixture, further editing the existing shrub layer and pulling weeds. We’re seeing perennial species from the seed mix like Monarda fistulosa, Euphorbia marginata, Cleome serrulata, Linum lewisii </em>and Echinacea pallida </em>begin to germinate and emerge.</p> We hope that after a few years of guidance this garden will become self-sufficient, becoming dense with desirable, competitive species and needing very little intervention from gardeners. Watch with us as this space flourishes and changes over the years.</p>
