Call 303-730-1920 or email Master Gardener volunteers with your lawn, landscape and garden questions.
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Expand Your Knowledge and Skills
CSU Extension hosts many in-person and online educational events. Check them out here and here.
May 11 @ 12:00pm
Managing Japanese Beetle
May 13 @ 12:00pm
Bulbs for Summer Blooms
May 17 @ 6:00pm
Bemis Public Library Monthly CMG Series: Pollinators
No registration required.
May 20 @ 12:00pm
Growing Backyard Berries
May 21 @ 10:00am
Walking Amongst the Natives
May 27 @ 12:00pm
Plant Besties - Companion Plants
June 3 @ 12:00pm
Beauty and the Bees
June 8 @ 12:00pm
Dry Shade Gardening
July 8 @ 5:00pm
Weed Walk
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Foodscaping is Not Your Grandmother’s Vegetable Garden
By Judy Kunz, Colorado Master Gardener
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It’s a gardening method that has been enjoying a revival in recent years. The practice of integrating edible plants with ornamental plants, known today as foodscaping, is as old as the ancient Egyptians and Babylonians, who were known for combining ornamental trees, shrubs and fruit trees along with flower gardens and edible crops. It wasn’t until the Renaissance period that Europeans started separating ornamental gardens and food gardens. |
At a time when there is seemingly no end in sight for skyrocketing food prices, growing one’s own fruit, vegetables and herbs makes sense from a financial perspective. While expanding existing ornamental gardens to include edible plants and replacing existing turf with a food garden border is not only a good choice environmentally, it can also be a money saver from the standpoint of reducing water consumption and eliminating the cost of fuel, fertilizer and pesticide associated with lawn maintenance. In addition, a perennial garden with a border of greens, squash and edible flowers, for example, can be just a few steps away from the kitchen, virtually eliminating transportation and fuel costs from grower to retailer. What could be fresher, tastier and better for the environment?
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Volunteer Spotlight: Mary Beth Patterson |
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Colorado Master Gardener℠ (CMG) volunteers are a dedicated group of individuals who are knowledgeable and passionate about sharing gardening, landscape and horticulture education. This month we are highlighting Mary Beth Patterson. |
When did you join the Colorado Master Gardener program and why did you join?
I became a volunteer in 1997. I joined the program to learn more about gardening and when I retired (2/1/2022) my goal was to be a Master Gardener for my “second” career.
What is your favorite Master Gardener activity and why?
Volunteering at Hudson Gardens is my favorite activity. I love to play in the dirt, and I continue to learn so much from the team leaders, Debbie Moody, Kathi Thistlethwaite and Donna. Farley-Wade.
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Inspiration from a Colorado Prairie Garden
By Musetta Dean and Becky Zenthoefer, Colorado Master Gardeners
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Photo:Rita McConnell - Summer Day at Plains Conservation Center |
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While we live in a world of traffic jams and deadlines, there is a place where you can transport yourself back in time, where you can hear the song of a meadowlark, and watch the pronghorn antelope and eagles. Learning what fruits and vegetables can be grown in primitive conditions on the Colorado prairie, like the settlers did, is quite remarkable. No raised beds, fancy trellises, or irrigation systems needed. |
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An Ounce of Prevention is Worth a Pound of Cure
By Martha Kirk, Colorado Master Gardener
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Photo: Arapahoe County Extension |
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Do you remember the expression “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” a phrase made famous by Benjamin Franklin? History tells us that Franklin was referring to Boston’s methods of fire prevention in the early 1700s. I got to thinking how Franklin’s saying holds true for many things, especially how we manage landscapes.
Take Kentucky bluegrass for example. Simple proper practices such as irrigation, fertilization, aeration, and mowing can reduce turf stress and thereby thwart common problems. Here are six helpful tips:
- Set your irrigation clock to the type of soil you have. Sandy soils require more cycles with less water. Clay soils require fewer cycles with more water. For heavy, compacted clay soil, run several soak cycles - apply enough water to the root zone each cycle before it runs off.
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Aspen Alternatives for the Front Range |
We are pleased to have guest author, Amy Lentz, Horticulture Agent at Weld County Extension, contribute a timely article on trees. Thank you Amy! |
It's tree planting season which means there are choices to be made in yards all across the state. But which tree should you choose?
Today's tree-in-question - the aspen. So many of us want one in our yard to give us that 'Colorado' feeling. From the beautiful white bark to the perfectly shaped and uniform green leaves, or maybe it's the fall color or rustling sound that you just have to have! Before you go out and buy an aspen to plant in your home landscape, I urge you to reconsider if you live along the Front Range or Eastern Plains. These native trees are only native to the higher elevations of Colorado, the mountains and foothills.
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Amy Lentz
Horticulture Agent,
Weld County Extension
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What's in Your Garden?
By Kathi Thistlethwaite, Colorado Master Gardener
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Shrubs and Plants to Attract Wildlife
Did you know
- Shrubs provide privacy, windbreaks, seeds and berries for wildlife
- Deciduous shrubs provide seasonal change and winter interest
- Deciduous trees provide places to birds to perch and nest
- Coniferous trees provide food and shelter
- Thorny plants help keep predators away
- Ground covers provide winter shelter for bees and other beneficial insects
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Photo: Amkha Seed - Golden Currant |
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Photo: Clemson University - Serviceberry |
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Native Plants in the Landscape
By Pam Rosendal, Colorado Master Gardener
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Photo: Wikimedia Commons - Big Tooth Maple leaves |
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There has been a lot of talk recently about the advantages of using native plants in urban landscapes. What is a native plant? Native plants are defined as a plant species “that occur naturally in a particular region, state, ecosystem, and habitat without direct or indirect human actions” (Federal Native Plant Conservation Committee, 1994). Many native plants have developed distinct characteristics based on where they grow and have evolved. When choosing native plants to incorporate into the landscape it is important to consider where the plant is naturally found – i.e., plains, mountains or the western slope – and to choose those that come from conditions similar to those found in the home landscape. For instance, the aspens that blanket our mountains, though native to Colorado, are not adapted to life on the Front Range. As a result, they do not thrive here as they do in their natural mountain environment.
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I Didn't Know That!
By Lucinda Greene, Colorado Master Gardener
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Photo: Lucinda Greene, Englewood CO |
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Is Your Tree Having a Bad Hair Day?
On a recent spring day, I ventured outside in the yard to enjoy the sunshine. Imagine my surprise when I noticed some abnormal growths in my neighbor’s hackberry tree. The bare limbs showed snarls, the likes of which I haven’t seen since my daughter was a youngster and each shower made her hair a thick mess of tangled curls.
Aptly named “witches’ broom,” these small growths of numerous small twigs, or brooms develop on several species of trees, including oak, juniper and hackberry. On hackberry, two disease organisms must be present for the symptom to occur: the fungus causing powdery mildew or Sphaerotheca phytophila and Eriophyes celtis, one species of the Eriophyid mite. When the disease is identified, powdery mildew fungus is found on stems and buds in early spring and the mites are found overwintering beneath the bud scales.
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PHONE
(303) 730-1920
EMAIL
mastergardener@arapahoegov.com
LOCATION
6934 S. Lima St., Suite B
Centennial, CO 80112
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CSU Extension programs are available to all without discrimination. |
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