Articles
Fort Collins is lucky to not have major invasions of flying and creepy crawly critters. Those that do show up in fruit and vegetable gardens are usually controllable with benign cultural, mechanical, natural, and biological controls. By arming oneself with a combination of these techniques and an awareness of the life cycles of local and migratory pests, you’ll probably find it’s not necessary to use chemical controls.
Cultural aspects include what we plant, when, where, and how we do it. These all impact the occurrences and susceptibility to pest problems. Simple actions can discourage troubles by making conditions unfavorable to those that would do harm to specific crops, such as letting slug prone areas dry out and not overplanting.
May 2010
Finally, a large number of spring flowering trees and shrubs are starting to bloom, albeit cautiously. Couple this annual assurance that spring is finally here with showy groundcovers also on display, and you have the potential makings of breathtaking vignettes that can be enjoyed for years to come.
Now’s the time to start making detailed notes on your 2010 garden calendar to track the progression of bloom and foliage color that is about to unfold. By recording your observations, you’ll know exactly what to buy on upcoming trips to nurseries and greenhouse. This includes bulb purchases that won’t be available until late summer.
April 2010
When I gave tours at the Gardens on Spring Creek, I would mention that the master plan called for an area featuring a permaculture garden. Most people confessed to not having heard the term much less know what it meant or how to integrate its principles into their landscape.
I’d explain that the term is composed of two words, permanent, from the Latin "permanens" meaning to remain to the end or persist throughout, and culture, meaning the cultivation of land, or the intellect.
January 2010
Do you have the winter blues from too much time inside? Bring some live greenery into your home and work spaces to keep your spirits up while also beautifying and purifying your interiors.
Most know that plants produce life sustaining oxygen, but some are unaware that many plants purify our indoor air as well. Their foliage does an amazing job of absorbing and removing specific toxic organic chemicals like formaldehyde, benzene, and trichloroethylene which are found in abundance in common building materials, furnishings, and cleaning supplies.