Do we dare venture outside and resume our regular garden chores and enjoyment? Heck, yeah!
COMPOST
• Garden clichés abound, and a perennial favorite is “compost happens.” Book titles about the subject say it all: “Let It Rot,” “Worms Eat My Garbage” and “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Composting” are just a few.
• Compost is by far one of the easiest, least expensive and most beneficial additives to soil. And there’s just something cool about using the finished product when you know that it was once food scraps or leaves from your favorite maple tree.
• In heavy clay, it breaks up soil particles so air and water can get to plant roots. It also helps sandy soil hold onto nutrients and moisture. Although it’s not technically a fertilizer, nutrient-rich compost contains earthworms and other helpful microbes that benefit plant growth.
• By , a compost pile reduces seasonal spring and summer trash — which is mostly yard waste anyway — by close to 40 percent.
• Finished compost can be used as mulch on top of the soil or worked in as a soil amendment. Keep in mind that especially the manure-based products, are often high in salt and nutrient levels, so making your own makes sense.
• Composting is as easy as building a 3-foot-square pile, or digging a hole. The contents should consist of mixed or layered chopped carbon (or brown items) such as dried leaves, dried grass, hay or chopped cardboard; and nitrogen, or green items such as fresh leaves, grass clippings, coffee grounds, banana peels and other kitchen scraps.
• Materials to avoid include dairy products, fat, meat, fish, whole eggs, wood ashes, animal feces and bones. Don’t add weeds with seeds or chemically treated or diseased plants.
• High-resin woods such as spruce, pine, arbor vitae and juniper take longer to break down in the compost pile, as do higher-tannin leaves such as oak and cottonwood. So use smaller amounts and chop them well.
• There are Commercial composters work well for tight places or smaller yards. They tend to hold less material. Homemade composters might use recycled wood, bricks or plastic. More: www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/garden/07212.html
• Now that you know how you’ll contain your compost, find a place to put it. Locate the pile in partial shade and out of the way of backyard activities.
• The ideal compost temperature for efficient breakdown is anywhere from 120 to 130 degrees. Temperatures higher than 160 degrees will cause the good microbes to die off. When cooler outdoor temperatures come with fall and winter, the pile will continue breaking down. It’ll just do it more slowly.
PHOTO POLL:
• Starting a compost pile? Add a handful of garden soil between the layers of green and brown materials to help the breakdown begin. There’s no need to purchase a commercial starter. Mix it all around with a garden fork, and then add water until it has a wet, spongy consistency. Don’t make it too wet. Cover the pile with straw or black plastic so that it doesn’t dry out.
• Build the pile to a minimum height of 3 feet, adding a little soil to each layer. Turn it all once a week with a pitchfork or compost aerating tool, which can be found at garden centers.
• If the pile begins to smell, it most likely needs air, so turn it more often or add a bit more carbon material.
• Regular maintenance of your compost pile should yield you some “gardener’s gold” in about two months. Sometimes it takes longer.
• is another way to turn kitchen scraps into nutrient-rich compost. The advantage of this process is that it can be done at home or in schools. More: www.ext.colostate.edu/sam/vermicompost.pdf
• There are compost classes held in many communities along the Front Range. Most are free or inexpensive. More: dug.org/compost
MOSQUITOES
• because of West Nile virus. No doubt mosquito numbers will be high this summer. For an in-depth discussion of mosquito repellants, control devices, insecticides for larvae and for adult mosquitoes: www.ext.colostate.edu/westnile/mosquito_mgt.html
• Mosquito control for gardeners includes eliminating their breeding grounds in standing water and using mosquito repellant sprays or lotions when outside in the garden.
• Walk around your landscape and look for areas or things that are holding water. Empty everything that collects water, including trays under planting containers, buckets, tires, toys, lids and tarps. Change water often in bird baths, wading pools, fountains and animal troughs. Check rain gutters to see that they are draining properly. Clean them each spring and fall.
• Try or anywhere in the landscape that has static water. Use a product that contains Bti (Bacillus thuringiensis var. israelensis), a safe, natural, effective control for mosquito larvae. Bti is safe for beneficial insects, including bees. Follow all package instructions. This product has a short shelf life (two to three years), so replace as needed. More: www2.epa.gov/mosquitocontrol
• You might see something in a store that’s billed as a “mosquito-repellant plant.” There’s no research to back up these claims, so don’t rely on plants to effectively control mosquitoes in your yard. More: www.ext.colostate.edu/ptlk/1400-20.html
IN THE LANDSCAPE
• Grass is growing fast from all the moisture. Consider mowing twice a week, removing one third of growth each time, instead of trying to mow tall grass all at once. Maintain the mowing height at 2½-3 inches.
• Be extra careful when mowing around trees to protect tree trunks. Scraped, nicked or gouged trunks can be a serious injury and possibly predispose the tree to insects or disease. The best prevention is a wide ring of mulch around the base of the tree, but not touching the trunk.
• Because of the heavy moisture, some plant leaves, including grass, appear yellow or washed out in color. This may be the result of the plant not being able to take up nutrients in the soil. , or general yellowing of leaves. Sometimes it’s part of other problems, too-high soil pH or compacted soils with poor drainage. The best approach right now is to wait and see how the plant does when drier summer conditions return. Some trees may need iron applications. Consult with your certified arborist. More: www.ext.colostate.edu/ptlk/2121.html
• Trim hail damage off of annuals and perennials. Replace and replant severely damaged annuals.
• There’s still time to direct-seed beans, basil, summer squash, okra and New Zealand spinach.
Betty Cahill:
Punch List by Betty Cahill
