Turn Your Thumb Green with Help from the Broomfield Extension

With March comes longer days, warmer temperatures and daffodils peeping through the snow, all of which herald the beginning of Spring. Although conventional wisdom warns Coloradans to avoid starting their gardens until after Mother’s Day, you may already be dreaming about colorful annuals and perennials to beautify your yard, or perhaps a vegetable garden that you can tend to with your kids.

Much to the chagrin of many novice gardeners, Colorado does not provide a naturally easy environment for gardening, and many a brown thumb have given up on their gardening dreams after a few failed attempts. But what many people don’t know is that there is a resource in our figurative backyard to help us make the most of our literal backyards.

The Broomfield County Extension office, which is administered by Colorado State University, exists to provide residents with expertise and information about yard and gardening topics. The Master Gardener program, made up of about 30 volunteers, is a primary focus of Broomfield’s Extension office. These expert gardeners maintain a demonstration garden in partnership with the Denver Botanic Gardens and CSU’s Plant Select program, which tests plants to find out which will do the best in Colorado. Master Gardener volunteers also provide free advice to citizens via phone or email and will make site visits for a fee.

“Colorado is one of the most diverse states geographically,” said Nancy Klasky, Master Gardener Coordinator with the Broomfield Extension office. “We have plant hardiness zones ranging from 3a to 7a. This creates unique gardening challenges depending on where you live.”

With such a diverse spectrum of influences on horticulture and agriculture, county CSU extension offices are crucial in Colorado to provide highly local information, she said.

The key is to understand the plants you are considering growing so you know how much sun, water, and care they need. Here are a few projects that you can try this spring and summer:

1. Plant vegetables in raised beds. “Our climate is dry and our soil is mostly made of clay,” said Klasky. While it is possible to work with clay soil to improve its composition and make it more hospitable for gardening, it sometimes can take years to achieve that. One way many Colorado gardners deal with soil issues is by planting vegetable gardens in raised beds, which allows them to start out with good gardening soil. Klasky said local garden nurseries can help you choose a good soil, and if you need a large amount, check with landscaping companies, which can deliver it to your home.

2. Grow a salad on your patio. Growing vegetables in containers helps eliminate irrigation and mulching issues that can complicate vegetable gardens grown directly in the ground. “Containers let you gauge how your plant is doing and easily adjust sun exposure and watering,” said Klasky. She noted tomatoes and chili peppers grow well in patio gardens.

3. Donate your bounty. Last year, the Extension program launched a Victory Garden program, which harnessed the enthusiasm for gardening many people developed while quarantined at home, and turned it into something beneficial for the community. Gardeners who grew vegetables were encouraged to donate their bounty to local food pantries that were able to accept such donations. The Victory Garden program will likely be repeated this year, Klasky said.

4. Choose plants that will thrive in Colorado. Choosing native plants, or plants that thrive in poor soil and are drought hardy, can increase your chances for success. Klasky said she is an advocate for xeriscaping, which she emphasized is not ‘rock scaping’ but replacing traditional landscaping with native plants that aren’t so thirsty. “As much as 60 percent of the water we use in residential areas goes toward our lawns,” Klasky said.

5. Plan a year-round garden. Some plants take a bit of planning. For example, to decorate your yard with cheerful tulips, crocuses, and daffodils in the spring, you have to plant bulbs in the fall before the ground freezes. If you want a bounty of vegetables in summer, you may want to start seeds indoors in March or April. And if you want plants and veggies to produce well into the fall, plant some cold hardy varieties like lettuce, spinach, and turnips during the heat of summer so they hit their maturity when temperatures start to drop.

To reach the Broomfield Extension and Master Gardener program:

Visit them online at: https://broomfield.extension.colostate.edu/ for a variety of blogs, project ideas, and videos.

Call the Master Gardener line at: 303-464-5558 and leave a message.

Email: BroomfieldMG@colostate.edu.