H2o shortages impact additional than 3 billion people today globally. In the U.S., approximately half the region professional a drought right after the best summer season on report in 2021, and the drought in the West now is deemed to be a megadrought, the driest interval in the earlier 1,200 years. This April is the driest on history in the space.
The base line: In Colorado, excellent gardeners preserve drinking water. Preserve that in head as we enter the busy thirty day period of Might. Listed here are tasks for any gardener’s checklist:
Early May possibly
• Thoroughly clean and sharpen back garden equipment.
• Improve the oil in your lawnmower, sharpen the blade, and exchange the air filter, if required.
• Mugo pines could be your initial pruning problem of the time. Pinch or cut out two-thirds the duration of the “candles” of new expansion. You can also use this pinch system with other pines if you want to management their shape.
• Plant perennials, raspberries, potted roses, container grown and balled and burlap trees and landscape shrubs. Look for perennials marked “Plant Select” at your nearby nursery. These plants are developed for our area and will prosper in our complicated local climate. Most of them will be labeled drought tolerant but keep in mind all new plants will require water until set up.
Mid-May possibly
• Slim seedlings of early planted crops these types of as carrots, lettuce, spinach and beets.
• Stake peonies and delphinium.
• Commencing now, feed roses a well balanced rose food items every 6 weeks during the expanding year.
• Depending on your area, get started planting annuals. In quite a few components of Colorado Springs, mid-May is the time to securely get started planting tender annuals. Examine the weather conditions forecast and your elevation! It is not abnormal to have a difficult freeze in late May possibly.
• Start planting gladiolus each and every two months as a result of June for a continual collection of blooms.
• If weather remains warm, transfer seedlings outside the house but harden them off in a sheltered spot the week prior to planting step by step exposing seedlings to much more sunlight each day.
• Ordinary last frost date in city: May well 10 to May possibly 15.
Late May perhaps
• Transplant tomatoes into the backyard garden, planting the crops 1 inch further than in the pot or even further.
• Plant corn, bean, pumpkin, squash, cucumber, and early-maturing melon seeds now if the soil is warm.
• Plant eggplant and pepper vegetation when the soil has arrived at at least 50 levels.
• Prune early spring-flowering trees and shrubs these kinds of as lilacs and forsythia right after bouquets fade.
• Harvest asparagus stalks larger sized than a few-eighths inch right until about the finish of June. Slice just at soil level.
• Plant annual seeds outdoor the last 7 days of May. Some instructed bouquets are zinnias, salvia and nasturtiums. If you want to mature annual vines you may possibly test hyacinth bean vine (Lablab purpureus), a Plant Choose plant with striking purple bouquets and deep purple seed pods. A different fantastic decision is cardinal flower vine. Its trumpet-shaped flowers and feathery, deep inexperienced foliage is a significant hit with hummingbirds.
E-mail gardening queries to [email protected]. For much more information and facts, stop by fb.com/ ColoradoMasterGardeners.EPC. To indicator up for classes, go to epcextension.eventbrite.com.
