Spring has officially arrived! This season is a time of rejuvenation and reconnection with the earth. As Margaret Atwood said, “In spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt.”</p> Here are some essential tips to ensure your garden thrives this spring:</p> Prepare the Soil:</strong> Before planting anything, take the time to prepare your soil. Remove any weeds and debris and loosen the soil to allow for better water drainage and root growth. Consider adding organic matter such as compost to enrich the soil with nutrients.</li> Start Seeds Indoors:</strong> Get a head start on your spring garden by starting seeds indoors. This is especially beneficial for plants that require a longer growing season, such as tomatoes, peppers and eggplants. Use seed trays or pots filled with quality potting mix, and place them in a warm, sunny location.</li> Prune and Trim:</strong> Early spring is the perfect time to prune shrubs, trees and perennial plants. Remove dead or damaged branches and shape the plants to encourage healthy growth. Questions about specific pruning needs? Get gardening help from Colorado Master Gardeners</a>. </li> Monitor Moisture Levels:</strong> As the weather warms up, plants will require more water to thrive. Monitor soil moisture levels regularly and water deeply when necessary. Avoid watering during the hottest part of the day to minimize evaporation and use mulch to retain moisture and suppress weeds. (And starting May 1, be sure to follow Denver Water’s guidelines</a>.)</li> Protect Against Frost:</strong> Early spring can bring unexpected frosts. Keep an eye on the weather forecast and be prepared to cover tender plants with frost cloths or blankets overnight. </li> </ol> By following these gardening tips, you'll set the stage for a successful and flourishing garden this spring. </p> Want to dig deeper?</strong> Sign up for </strong>A New Gardener Boot Camp – Online</strong></a>. Sessions are designed to equip you with all the tools you need to master your garden once and for all.</p> And don’t forget: Spring Plant Sale</strong> is just around the corner! Chat with horticulture staff and shop plant divisions curated for Colorado’s semi-arid environment. The event is free, but registration is required</a>. Member reservations open April 10 and public reservations open April 15. </p>
The prairie teams with wildlife. This diverse and inspiring ecosystem supports a wide variety of plants and animals. Prairie dogs scurry between their burrows while the first wildflowers of the season poke out of the cold ground. Pronghorn scratch their heads on the yucca that thrive even in harsh winter conditions. </p> The Plains Conservation Center</a> boasts more than 1,000 acres of protected plains that these beautiful creatures call home. Often overlooked, we can learn so much from the shortgrass steppe right here in Aurora, Colorado. In cooperation with the City of Aurora, Denver Botanic Gardens manages programs for all ages at the Plains Conservation Center.</p> Whether you are looking for a weekday adventure with your preschooler or a Saturday workshop for families, we have something for you. With rotating topics each class, your kiddos will explore the science and history of the prairie through hands-on, immersive activities, wagon rides, arts and crafts and games. </p> Join us at the Plains Conservation Center at 21901 E. Hampden Avenue in Aurora. We can't wait for you to experience the prairie. </span></p> This article was contributed by Assistant Manager of School and Plains Programs Julie Reiske</strong>.</span></em></p>
A demographic study of a plant population is usually a low-tech job. We drive and hike to a rare plant population. To measure the survival, growth and reproductive rates of the population, we delineate sampling plots with stakes and measuring tape, mark and map each plant within each sampling plot with a nail and numbered tag and record individual measurements with paper and pencil. This study design allows us to track the fate of perennial species. However, this design is not well suited to annual species. A large portion of an annual species’ life cycle is spent as seed in the soil, and that seed can’t be individually tracked. It is more important to track populations within the species range rather than individuals in a population. </p> Annual species germinate, flower and die all in the same year, as opposed to multi-year perennials. Annuals can be hard to monitor because they often only germinate and flower in years with favorable environmental conditions and so you can’t find them every year. This is the case for Phacelia submutica</em>, an annual species found in small patches in Western Colorado. These populations persist in a specific type of undisturbed soil. Annual low-tech monitoring would cause a great deal of disturbance and harm to these soils due to the frequent trampling of the site during sampling. Intensive sampling at each site would limit the number of populations we can monitor. Drones provide a promising remote solution to annually monitor many population patches without harming the soils. However, using drones for plant demographic monitoring poses a few technical problems. </p> In the spring of 2023, we tested the use of drones to detect the tiny plants. The first problem to address was flying low enough to identify the leaves of P. submutica</em> compared to the many other tiny green plants that germinate in a good year. The solution involves timing drone flights when P. submutica</em> is at its peak before it dries and turns the color of the soil. The next problem is stitching images together. The benefit of drone imaging is creating a composite image of a large area that can be georeferenced. Distances can be calculated in a georeferenced image to measure plant population density. However, when flying low enough to see the plants, stitching images becomes much more challenging. The solution may be to use measuring tapes as a visual cue in each image to map the distance and location of each image. We can then use individual images as a sample plot without having to stand and cause a disturbance at each image location. </p> Through our pilot study, we learned about the limitations and possibilities of using drones to monitor a rare annual species. We will adjust our plans based on what we learned to propose a suitable method to monitor P. submutica</em> and to make recommendations for long-term monitoring of other species that would benefit from drone imaging. </p>
So, what have gardeners been up to all winter? Resting the body, enhancing the mind with classes and conferences, and preparing for spring. One of the best tasks to prepare for spring is tool maintenance. Proper tool maintenance extends tool longevity, improves performance and minimizes both environmental and budgetary footprints. Ideally, tools get cleaned, sharpened and repaired often. I like to dedicate time during the winter to ensure the task gets done well at least once per year. </p> Well-used garden tools get grimy between soil, sap, plant resin, dust, grease and more. Periodic tool-washing prevents the spread of plant diseases and enhances performance. Cleaning takes the basic form of soaking to loosen caked-on gunk, washing with warm and soapy water, rinsing and sanitizing with a diluted isopropyl alcohol spray. </p> Once sanitized, the tools are ready for sharpening. Wearing hand and eye protection is important for this process. What you aim to sharpen determines your tool, such as flat files, round files and whetstones. The general movement is lengthwise along the blade. Start from the base of the blade and go to the tip, trying to maintain a consistent angle. Sharpening in the same direction keeps the striations consistent along the edge. The goal is to have an even plane that angles down at around 20 degrees from the bevel. </p> For smaller tools, like bypass pruners, foam sanding blocks and hand files are preferred. The foam block buffs out rust and grime across the whole blade. The hand file fits better in the small curve of the pruners. For tools with hinges and bolts, adding some 3-in-1 tool lubricant makes a nice final addition for rust prevention and improved mobility.</p> For more power, consider using an angle grinder for medium to large hand tools. Insert a flap disk and use a vice to clamp whatever needs to be sharpened. Be sure to wear that hand/eye protection! Also tie up loose hair and remove anything flammable from the workspace. An angle grinder with a flap disk works well for getting through the many shovels, shears, edgers and soil knives in the horticulture team’s tool inventory. Without excess pressure, run the tool flat against the angle that requires sharpening, going back and forth. Sparks may fly as the metal is cut, which can be quite dramatic. Finally, pull a whetstone (or other finishing grit sharpener) across the back edge of the blade to remove the potential burr and create the desired smooth, sharp edge. </p> Maintaining tools extends their functionality and makes the work easier and more enjoyable. So, with spring knocking at the door, consider giving your tools some TLC before putting them back to work. </p> </p>
Last summer one of the projects I was most excited about was a biodiversity survey at a golf club. “At a golf club?!” you say. That’s right! Ballyneal Golf Club, situated near Holyoke, Colorado, on the Eastern Plains—just a stone’s throw from Nebraska—hosts some beautiful expanses of sandsage prairie on its out-of-play acreage. This vegetation type is unique, as it is underlain by extremely sandy, well-draining soils. This gives rise to unique plant assemblages, for example, in what are called “blowout” communities. Blowouts are pockets of undulating sand, a dunescape that you might expect to find near the sea, not in the middle of rolling grasses and patches of sagebrush! These blowouts harbor fun little treasure troves of pretty wildflowers.</p> One exceptionally cool find was the Carolina puccoon (Lithospermum caroliniense</em>). This species is distributed across the Great Lakes region and ranges as far south as Georgia and Florida. It barely threads its way into the far northeastern corner of Colorado and does not extend beyond this small part of the state. However, the star of the show is a grass, aptly named blowout grass (Muhlenbergia multiflora</em>). As its name suggests, this grass can persist in loose, sandy soils due to its extensive rhizomes, and it is considered an important soil binder in areas where other plants may not be able to take root. If you have ever been to Great Sand Dunes National Park, you have seen blowout grass growing in matted patches across the shifting sands.</p> Sandsage prairie is of conservation concern due to encroachment by roads, pipelines and other infrastructure that supports energy development. It is also home to several unique wildlife species including greater and lesser prairie-chickens, Cassin’s sparrows, and ornate box turtles, all of which are at-risk species. Given this, we appreciated the invitation to survey and make natural history collections of the flora found at Ballyneal. These collections will be held in perpetuity in the Kathryn Kalmbach Herbarium</a>, contributing to a larger understanding of plant distributions across Colorado. </p>
