Groundcovers Beautify Garden While Preventing Weeds

Plumbago provides a carnival of colors throughout the fall.

When it comes to weeds, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.  As you know from experience, it takes a lot of time, money and energy to get rid of weeds once they appear.  What’s worse is when weeds go to seed.  Just one weed can produce hundreds of seeds for current and future germination.

Weeds can pop up anywhere, but their favorite places to show up are bare patches of ground or patches where vegetation is sparse.  That’s why it’s so important to fill spaces between trees, shrubs and other plants in your borders to shade the ground and keep weeds from germinating.  You can fill those spaces with various types of mulch, or you can fill them with groundcovers.

Most groundcovers are one foot tall or less.  But there are taller groundcovers as well.  Ideally, the groundcovers should spread grow densely and spread relatively quickly to keep weeds down.

Attractive spring-blooming groundcovers that meet these criteria include basket of gold (Aurinia saxatilis), prostrate veronica (Veronica prostrata), woolly speedwell (Veronica pectinata), bloody cranesbill (Geranium sanguineum) and June-bearing strawberries (Fragaria). Ever-bearing strawberries send out few or no runners, so if you’re looking for dense coverage, June bearers are a better bet.

Dense summer-blooming groundcovers include prairie winecups (Callirhoe involucrata), Kannah Creek buckwheat (Eriogonum umbellatum var. aureum ‘Psdowns’), orange carpet hummingbird (Zauschneria garrettii), lady’s mantle (Alchemilla mollis) and seafoam artemisia (Artemisia versicolor ‘Seafoam’).  However, seafoam artemisia’s best feature is its curled, silvery-blue foliage rather than its flowers.

A great fall bloomer is plumbago (Ceratostigma plumbaginoides) with its cornflower blue blossoms and copper seed heads.

With its glossy green leaves and double blooms, the sea foam rose enhances the landscape while preventing weeds.

For taller groundcovers, try seafoam rose (Rosa ‘Seafoam’), which produces double white blooms from early summer till frost.  This gorgeous, low-maintenance rose is so popular that it grows in the White House rose garden.  The plant grows two to four feet high

Another taller groundcover is Pawnee Buttes sand cherry (Prunus besseyi ‘Pawnee Buttes’).  This hardy, drought-tolerant plant generates showy white blooms in the spring and blazing red foliage in the fall.  It grows 15 to 18 inches tall.

By getting to know groundcovers and their uses, you can enjoy a more beautiful garden with lower maintenance.

Register for Free Scarecrow-Building Workshop

Register to attend a scarecrow-building workshop at Denver Public Library. All materials will be free; you simply provide the hat.

Add whimsy to your garden with a comical, kid-sized scarecrow!

I’ll facilitate two free scarecrow-building workshops at the Denver Public Library.  The first will be Saturday, May 2, from 11am to 1pm at the Ross-Cherry Creek branch, 3rd and Milwaukee.  The second be Sunday, June 2, from 2 to 4pm at the Schlessman branch, 1st and Quebec.

I’ll show you how to create an eco-friendly, weatherproof garden character that will attract, rather than scare, birds by providing nesting materials.

All workshop materials will be provided free of charge, thanks to the generosity of Denver Public Library.

Registration is required.  To register, call 720-865-0120 or email fclmybranch@denverlibrary.org.

How to Grow a Low-Sneeze, Breathe-Easy Garden

This architectural yellow ribbon arbovitae makes a strong statement in the garden. Unfortunately, it also creates problems for allergy sufferers.

When gardening season rolls around, many of us feel like one of Snow White’s dwarfs—Sneezy or Wheezy.

According to the World Health Organization, allergic rhinitis (AKA hay fever) affects between 10 and 30 percent of the world’s population.  As for asthma, the Center for Disease Control indicates that, in the U.S., the number of people diagnosed with asthma grew by 4.3 million from 2001 to 2009.

Garden pollen, dust and fungi rank among major causes of nasal and respiratory problems.  Here are steps you can take to reduce allergens in your garden.

Hose down hedges.  Hedges are notorious for collecting dust and pollen that aggravate allergies.  So if you blast your hedges periodically with your garden hose, you’ll reduce your exposure to allergens.

Resist high-allergen plants.  Agricultural researcher Thomas Ogren has developed a 10-point allergy scale, rating plants from low to high in allergens.  He provides a digest of individual plants and their ratings in his book, Allergy-Free Gardening.  His research indicates that garden troublemakers in Colorado include oaks, arborvitae, birches, purple smoke bushes and Kentucky bluegrass, among others.

Give plants room.  Make sure your plants have plenty of air circulation to reduce the risk of powdery mildew and other fungal diseases that release harmful spores into the air.

Mind that mulch.  Don’t leave piles of wood mulch and other organic mulches sitting around.  They often attract mold and other fungi.  When spreading wood mulch, always wear a dust mask to keep spores out of your nose and lungs.  If you’re extremely allergic to molds, consider using pea gravel, landscape fabric and other inorganic mulches instead of organic mulches.

Keep weeds down.  Because weeds are often wind-pollinated, they release allergy-producing pollen into the air.

Can the chemicals.   Use organic pesticides and fertilizers instead.  You can use high-strength (20% concentration) vinegar, for example, to kill weeds.  Be sure to protect your eyes and skin when using it, however.  For fertilization, you can use fish emulsion.

By following these steps, you can create a low-sneeze, breathe-easy environment for not only you and your guests, but for your neighbors, too.  For more information on mulches and nonchemical disease control, visit the Colorado State University Extension website at www.ext.colostate.edu.

Three Thrifty Ways to Create Garden Whimsy

This playful display featuring foxtail fern (top) complements the lively atmosphere in the Denver Puppet Theater garden.

Have you ever wanted a playful garden that reflected your creativity?  There are dozens of ways to add whimsical touches to your garden without going broke.  Here are three low-cost approaches:

Pick playful plants.  Foxtail fern (Asparagus densiflorus ‘Myers’) lends a comical air to the garden because its shape resembles a jester’s hat.  Taller plants can radiate a sense of childlike wonder. If you like plants that reach five feet or more, consider foxtail lilies (Eremerus), annual sunflowers such as Helianthus annuus ‘The Joker,’ hollyhocks (Alcea rosea). Joe Pye weed (Eupatorium maculatum) and Harry Lauder’s walking stick (Corylus avellana ‘Contorta’).

One gardener artfully arranged a small cactus collection on a colorful bench.

Compose colorful collections.  You may already have a collection that’s just begging to be displayed on a garden fence or trellis, or in some other garden location.  Examples include straw hats ($2 apiece at Goodwill), baskets, old hand tools, sun faces, pink flamingoes, children’s furniture, vibrant flower pots or unusual plants.  Tereasa Surratt’s book, Found, Free & Flea:  Creating Collections from Vintage Treasures, offers abundant ideas for organizing and exhibiting collections.

This arrangement of wicker chairs has mama bear and baby bear written all over it.

Select sociable seating.  Wicker chairs add a friendly, comfortable air to the garden.  One gardener places a child’s wicker chair next to an adult wicker chair, mama-bear/baby-bear style.  Another gardener constructs a covered seating bench from discarded doors—check out the photo at http://www.flickr.com/photos/9182937@N06/.  All kinds of objects can be used for seating, including nail kegs, cinder blocks with wood planks, tire swings and milk crates.  Marcianne Miller’s wonderful book, Salvage Style for the Garden, offers ideas and instructions for building garden benches, furniture and other accents from repurposed materials.

Once you add whimsical elements to your garden, you’ll begin noticing other items to incorporate into your exterior decorating scheme.  Resources for your repurposing efforts include thrift shops, estate and garage sales, salvage yards, nursery and hardware store sale racks, and even dumpsters, if your yard backs up to an alley.

Get a Jump on Gardening with Free Library Programs

Crocodiles enliven this shady “pond” in one whimsical Denver-area garden.

If you’re eager to get a jump on the gardening season, you’re welcome to attend one of my talks at the Denver Public Library in March and April.  The programs, which are free and open to the public, include:

• Add Whimsy to Your Garden for Next to Nothing.  Times and places: Wednesday, March 6, at 6pm at the Smiley branch; Saturday, April 13, at 1pm at the Ross-Cherry Creek branch; and Saturday, April 27, at 2pm at the Bear Valley branch.
• How to Grow a Low-Sneeze, Breathe-Easy Garden.  Time and place: Saturday, March 30, at 2pm at the Ross-University Hills branch.
• 12 Gorgeous Groundcovers for Preventing Weeds. Times and places: Wednesday, April 6, at 6pm at the Ross-Cherry Creek branch; and Sunday, April 14, at 2pm at the Schlessman Family branch.

For details and branch locations, pick up a Fresh City Life brochure at your Denver Public Library branch or visit denverlibrary.org/fresh/mybranch.  The programs run from 45 minutes to an hour.

It’s Time to Cut Back

These grasses may be beautiful, but they need to come down. Now.

You’ve enjoyed several months of winter interest from your ornamental grasses, but it’s time to haul out the hedge clippers and/or chainsaw if you live in Colorado and it’s February.  It’s time to cut back.  It may be hard, but if your dead blades and seedheads are still standing when the green blades grow in, your grasses will look just plain weird.  And they won’t be as healthy as they could be.

So, how far should you cut them back?  To about six inches above ground.  You may not be able to cut that low with some of your larger grasses, but get them down to a foot or so if you can.  Cutting back is easier if you tie the grass blades together with a piece of twine.

Once the new growth comes in, it’ll hide the grass stumps.

Happy cutting.

Need a Tree? It Could be Free

If you live in Denver City or County, you may be eligible for a free tree from the The Park People’s Denver Digs Trees program or the Mile High Million’s Trees for Energy Savings program.

Each program has its own guidelines concerning eligibility.  The Denver Digs Trees spring program requires that free trees be planted along the street in the public right-of-way.  The Trees for Energy Savings program indicates that free trees may be planted in your front, back or side yard or in the public right-of-way as long as the trees are planted on the west side of your house (the side that receives the most intense sunlight).

The application deadline for Denver Digs Trees is February 15, 2013.  The tree pickup date is April 20, 2013.  Mile High Million’s website, www.milehighmillion.org, didn’t provide 2013 program dates as of January 10, 2013, but the organization typically accepts applications in late summer or early fall.  I’ll keep you informed.

The Denver Digs Trees 2013 choices for medium and large shade trees include the hardy rubber tree (Eucommia ulmoides), bloodgood London planetree (Platanus x acerifolia ‘Bloodgood’), Japanese pagodatree (Styphnolobium japonicum ‘Millstone’), patriot elm (Ulmus wilsoniana ‘Patriot’), autumn gold ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba ‘Autumn Gold’) and flashfire® maple (Acer saccharum ‘JFS-Caddo2′).  Small ornamental trees, for planting under overhead power lines only, are Cole’s select serviceberry (Amelanchier x  grandiflora ‘Cole’s Select’) and bigtooth maple (Acer grandidentatum).

If you don’t qualify for a free street tree this spring with Denver Digs Trees, you may qualify for a free yard tree in the program’s fall shade tree distribution if you live in target neighborhoods. Or you can buy low-cost trees at The Park People’s annual Earth Day and fall tree sales.  For more information about the sales and the Denver Digs Trees program, visit www.theparkpeople.org or call 303-722-6262.

For those of you outside Denver, you also may be able to obtain free or low-cost trees in your municipality.  Check with your local forestry or environmental representatives.