Winter climate and snowpack: You get what you get

Winter climate and snowpack: You get what you get

If you are new to Colorado, you will soon learn that snow is the source of most the hydrology in the state. Therefore everyone – commercial and residential users, farmers and ranchers, rafters and fishermen – keep an eye to the snowpack as we enter a water year, Oct. 1 through Sept. 30.

Drought in Colorado

Drought in Colorado

We need to be planning how we can help plants survive the drought conditions while conserving water. Here are some suggestions.

Care of holiday plants

Care of holiday plants

Small pines, aromatic mini-trees, and flowering cacti are the perfect touch for your décor. Try these care tips:

Winter bird feeding with native plants

Winter bird feeding with native plants

Here are some trees, shrubs and perennials you might consider adding to your landscape. They not only provide food and shelter for birds and wildlife but also provide winter interest in your landscape.

Halloween mythconceptions

Halloween mythconceptions

Halloween horrors aren’t always connected to the spirits of the dead, even though the ancient holiday is. Some of the spookiest creatures on the planet are products of human imagination trying to explain the workings of Mother Nature, or using Mother Nature to...
All fired up about fall

All fired up about fall

We all need to muse more, and fall is the perfect time for sitting, pondering and reflecting, particularly in front of a fire.

Gardening is exercise

Gardening is exercise

I recently underwent a health assessment which involved a lengthy questionnaire on how I care for myself. Things went smoothly until the interviewer asked about any exercise I routinely do. I said “gardening.”

What makes weeds so successful?

What makes weeds so successful?

What characteristics make weeds so successful and able to annoy us and resist our attempts to eliminate them from our properties?

Lawns browning from heat

Lawns browning from heat

When the heat switched on, lawns stressed, with Kentucky Bluegrass going dormant to escape the near-hundred degree temperatures. Brown spots in yards are blooming faster than the roses.

Artificial turf and how it has evolved

Artificial turf and how it has evolved

We’re getting more proficient at making artificial things appear like the real thing. From plant-based Impossible Burgers to porcelain tiles that are the spitting image of marble, reproductions sometimes offer benefits that improve upon the real deal. Artificial grass has improved over time, too.

Turf benefits environment and increases property values

Turf benefits environment and increases property values

Turf often gets a bad rap. Because people do not really understand the water requirements of their lawns, or newly established sod, it is often mischaracterized as a water guzzler. However, grass doesn’t waste water, people do.

The annual weeds of summer

The annual weeds of summer

With the recent moisture and the heat of summer, summer annual weeds have sprouted and are growing in Colorado.

Help plants beat the summer heat

Help plants beat the summer heat

Summer heated up in a hurry in Colorado, and yards, vegetables and trees are showing the price of the record heat in between the rains.