The spring and summer growing season of 2018 may be one for the books.
The usual spring frosts stayed away, which cheered on pretty spring blooms and resulted in an abundant summer crop of fruits.
Life was good until summer turned stifling hot and mostly dry. Hailstorms decimated annuals, many perennials, lots of tomato plants and plenty of cars.
Some gardeners threw in the towel and relied on produce donations. Some had a tremendous summer crop of green beans, peppers and squash. The mantra that “there’s always next year” was heard often.
As we slipped into fall, trees in the high country started turning autumn colors much earlier this year. They will be changing soon along the Front Range. Some trees look as if the leaves have changed, but on closer examination are those scorched, dead leaves?
How are your trees doing? Have you taken a close look at them lately? Are they ready for winter? Trees that consistently go into winter with dry roots often experience leaf scorch, early leaf drop, canopy die back, and even death.
We may assume that trees will take care of themselves from automatic sprinkler systems, the occasional drink from summer rain and fall and winter moisture. That may be true for well-established, drought-tolerant trees and plants. But the reality is trees often need help here because of the low average yearly moisture (12-14 inches). So far this year the metro area has had 11 inches of moisture. Many of our trees and perhaps even our plants are drought stressed.
Plan on year-round watering practices. Regularly check soil depth to see that tree roots are moist to a depth of 8-12 inches (poke down with a screwdriver or invest in a soil probe). The exception to watering is when there’s snow on the ground, temperatures below 40 degrees or frozen soil. Our vital tree landscape is counting on us.
Fall and winter tree watering
• Plan on deeply watering established landscape trees, including conifers, twice a month through November, or later if it stays warm. Newly planted trees need watering more often — two to four times a month.
• From December through spring, when temperatures are above 40 degrees and there’s no snow cover, water established trees once a month mid-day.
• After sprinkler systems are turned off connect the hose to a sprinkler. Place the sprinkler head under the outer branches (dripline) and move the sprinkler about every 10 minutes, or less if water is running off. Water around the full canopy of the tree, then move on to the next tree.
• Insert a long screwdriver into the watered area and check to see if moisture has penetrated at least 8-12 inches.
General landscape
• Indoor plants that have been growing outside need to go indoors before nighttime temperatures remain below 50 degrees. First get them acclimated to lower light conditions by moving them to shady areas for several days.
• If possible before their return indoors, lift the plant from the container and check the root ball for hitchhiking insects. Treat with insecticidal soaps or systemic (soil) products for scale insects, white fly and spider mites. Remove damaged or leggy growth. Repot overgrown plants to a slightly larger container. Give them a light fertilizer. Yellowing or leaf drop is normal until plants get used to being indoors again.
• To extend the vegetable growing season be prepared to use frost blankets or lightweight sheets over warm-season crops when nights drop below 50 degrees. Cover plants all the way to the ground to trap warm air. Avoid using plastic directly over plants as it transfers cold to the foliage. Remove covers when temperatures reach 50 degrees.
• If you’re calling it a season, pick tomatoes with a slight blush of color (these will ripen best). Place on the counter out of direct sunlight or wrap individually in newspaper and place in a cool, dark place to ripen.
• For more harvest and storage tips, see bit.ly/2DsJupm.
Betty Cahill speaks and writes about gardening in Colorado. Visit her site at http://gardenpunchlist.blogspot.com/ for even more Colorado gardening tips.
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