How to Prune Raspberries

If you have an ever-bearing variety that produces berries in both July and the fall, you have two options for pruning them. Some gardeners prefer cutting all the canes to an inch or so above ground level in spring,  but this means you are eliminating the July crop, encouraging them to only be fall-bearing.

Stay in Touch With Nature By Bringing Outside In

Saturday, December 10, 2011

With the garden buttoned up for now and nearly two weeks until the Dec. 22, when the Winter Solstice marks the pivotal point for an increase in daylight hours, we can focus our attention inside.

Even during the dormant season, there are ways we can stay connected to the natural world.  The most obvious and easiest way is to bring the light and bright inside with cuttings from plants in your yard.  Make your own arrangements with cuttings from pines and spruces along with beautiful broadleaf evergreens like Grape Holly (Mahonia spp.), Manzanitas (Archtostaphylos spp.) and Boxwoods (Buxus spp).  Stems of rose hips and a number of the thick leafed, variegated euonymus will also add color and texture.

Fort Collins Tree Damage Vast But Will Pass

Saturday, November 12, 2011

The two recent snowstorms and the resulting tree damage are cause for reflection.  Although it is all in hindsight, I wonder how we might have had a different outcome.  Yet life is short and I am not one to get bogged down, so I am also looking for the silver linings.

While we humans were enjoying the unseasonably warm temperatures, our green friends were 8-10 days behind schedule with the leaf dropping process.  Additionally, City Forester Tim Buchanan told me that when the cold came and the temperature hit 13 degrees Fahrenheit, it essentially froze the leaves on some trees by blighting the abscission layer – the place where the leaves would otherwise have detached from.  Even the heavy wet snow wasn’t enough to take down the leaves at that point, other than by whole limbs. These brown withered leaves will gradually fall through the winter as they further dry out and wind breaks them off.

Fabulous Fall Bouquets

Saturday, October 15, 2011

You don’t have to be a professional floral designer to make stunning bouquets from the gorgeous flowers, foliage, seed heads and berried branches that are available at this time.  There is so much more to select from than just mums and asters.

Choose your color scheme based on where you will be putting your vases.  For rooms featuring earthy, rustic tones gather deep yellow, chocolate or burgundy colored sunflowers, black-eyed Susans and other rudbeckia daisies, yellow, orange and crimson gaillardias, and clusters of lingering yarrows.  Add in taller, fall blooming sedums with their shades of russet or red.