Outsmarting Colorado’s weather is a fool’s game. It’ll lull you into thinking we’re hot, dry, and unforgiving, then send a month of cold rain just for laughs. When it dries out a bit, thunderstorms with hail roll through. This year, gardeners just can’t seem to get a break.
So we’re all seeking therapy for Goldilocks Syndrome, because this day’s too hot, that day’s too cold, and we never seem to get a day that’s juuust right.
You can fight the crazy. But it’s wiser to simply embrace it.
“I look at these garden magazines and I get garden envy when I see what other places can do; they’ll have things like beautiful coneflowers and hostas blooming,” says Kara Burke, retired owner of Petals Fine Gardening in Denver. “But then I think, ‘wait a minute, that’s a lie — someone staged that.’ “
You don’t have to give up the dream, though. With a bit of thought your garden will be every bit as beautiful, but in a Colorado way. And it’ll roll with the punches that are the reality of gardening in a fickle climate.
First, fix the soil
Taming Colorado conditions takes dedication to the basics, says Burke, a member of the Associated Landscape Contractors of Colorado. “The problems we have here, you can circumvent. It’s all about the bones of the garden: soil structure. If that’s good, then I’ve found most other problems here are cyclical; they come and go. You have to be dedicated to amending with organic material, reducing compaction, and staying on top of drainage.”
If you have horrible clay, the recent spate of rain waterlogged the soil, filling up the pore space and pushing out the oxygen roots need. When plants are oxygen starved from too much water on their roots, they can’t move water or nutrients into the top growth, and they suffer. Amended soils allow water to infiltrate more efficiently, cutting the recovery time from saturating rain.
“We can handle all the rain we’ve had if you have soil that moves water away. Plants don’t care how much rain there is; they just don’t want the water to stay,” says Burke. Even pines, known for their preference for drier conditions, can shrug off the soggy weather. “Pines planted on (amended) berms don’t care how much water they get, as long as the water goes away.”
And if the season is dry, amended soil holds on to moisture so plants don’t burn out. In combination with mulch, amended soil helps gardens tolerate our hot, dry summers.
Burke acknowledges that tending to soil is a blood, sweat and tears task. It takes patience and persistence, she said; it isn’t a job that you do once and you’re done. Side dressings of compost in perennial beds, core aeration of lawns, and compost application into annual or vegetable beds are yearly jobs.
Smarter landscapes
In our semi-arid climate, precipitation is a tricky thing; we’re still learning to improve how we build landscapes to maximize it.
As it rains, there are two ways water moves across your yard: it flows over a pervious area, moving into the lawn; or it flows over an impervious area and into the storm system, according to Chris Olson, a research associate at Colorado State University and program manager of the Colorado Stormwater Center. Olson gave a class on rain gardens — landscapes that maximize the use of available rainwater — in April.
Under natural conditions, only 10 percent of rain runs off the surface and over 50 percent infiltrates into the soil. The remaining 40 percent is absorbed by plants. When pavement, sidewalks, patios, or driveways are added, they cover the soil so water can’t infiltrate, increasing runoff. In urban areas, which are typically 30 percent impervious, that increased surface runoff can be two to four times what it would be in a natural area.
Until and unless legislation legalizing the use of rain barrels passes, rain gardens are one way to design your yard for Colorado conditions. It’s a way of keeping water in the soil to recharge the moisture plants need.
But you’ll still need to follow the rules of our water laws: water must be gone from surface of the area in 72 hours and it can’t be diverted solely for beneficial use, such as watering your garden. Diverting water to protect your home and structures from water pooling up against their foundations, though, is OK.
Making good choices
Intentionally installing the right plants for your location is another basic for success, says Burke. The first step is to get past the realization that you can’t grow everything here.
Think about the conditions in your yard and whether the plant will work there. “If you love them enough to plant them, love them enough to learn about them,” Burke said. Figure out if you can push the plant’s tolerances a little.
If you’re unsure, talk to a landscaper to help you understand the conditions you have in your yard. After all, it’s where those plants will live.
And when you’re planning, include the time and effort you need to nurture the plants.
“They’re like kids,” said Burke. “You need to nurture and tend to them. They have a lot of energy their first three years and can bounce back, but it’s a live thing and you need to take care of them.”
Colorado gardens aren’t just affected by temperature and precipitation. Our high-elevation sun can turn plants crispy even when air temperatures are mild. The combination of elevation and low humidity means there’s less to buffer the sunlight.
And planting by the calendar is a recipe for disaster if you’re not watching the other signs Mother Nature sends. While frost date is a great benchmark, it means little to soil temperatures.
With an average 150 growing days, the Front Range is considered a short growing season; with the late start, 2015 will be shorter still. Pay close attention to the back of the seed packet and look for seeds that will mature to harvest within 100 days, or your crop might be lost to frost.
Use the rainy hours to search the Internet or books for information on the plants you want, said Burke. It’ll pay off in flowers, butterflies and a gorgeous landscape — and maybe even tomatoes.
