Join Alison O'Connor, Horticulture Specialist with Larimer County Extension, via Zoom on Wed, Dec. 11 at noon to learn about common Colorado gardening myths. Are all wood mulches the same? Do clover lawns use less water than bluegrass?

You'll find out those answers and more by attending our free webinar Fresh Gardening Myths!

Register at: https://col.st/5qgRl

We have this area in front of our fence that we are hoping to make much more appealing. I'd love to plant stuff that is native and can survive with the natural amount of water that Denver offers.

Since it is mostly rocky now, I think the way is to start fresh with a weed barrier and put new soil over that? Any other suggestions?

Also looking for suggestions for what to plant here. Would like for it to look a bit more wild and to offer further privacy as we will be reducing the opacity of our fence to 50% since we lost our appeal with the city of Aurora. TIA!

The city of Denver, in its infinite wisdom, scheduled the leaf drop to end yesterday, for the year. Mind you many of my trees decided to drop their leaves with this last snow storm and are now no longer covered in ice.

So long story short, I have 8 full paper bags of leaves ready for composting. Will happily drive them to you if you live in South Denver. Let me know!

Hello! Just moved to Denver this summer and was advised to water the trees once a month during the winter. Should I still water during the months that have had good snowfall?

I have two small lilac seedlings that are not currently planted, is it too late to plant them in the ground? If so, can I temporarily plant them in a pot for the winter? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Sorry for the terrible late night photo I just can't stop thinking about this stupid f****** tree and needed to make a post about it now. It's growing through a hole in concrete clearly very very close to the house, what do I do

I know, I know, it's already too late to be planting these. But they were $5 for 15 and it's a warm weekend! 😩

I have a bag of Foxfarm organic soil ready to go, and various amendments I could add (perlite, compost, sand, etc.)

Should I:

• Plant them in a large hanging railing planter that tends to get snowed on
• Plant them in a ceramic or plastic planter that could sit further in on my shaded balcony and be taken indoors when needed
• Stash them in the fridge for 12-14 weeks then plant in spring?

I feel very silly, but these are my only options. Oh well. The Home Depot clearance section is a trap.

Odd question, but, never got a chance to get a last mow in before that storm we got that dumped a bunch of snow. Its all melted off at this point and my grass is sitting at 4-5” high.

Now that we’ve got some warm-ish weather should I give it one last chop to ~3” to prep it for the real winter weather we have ahead of us, or is it fine as is?

Hello there! Over the past year since I’ve joined this sub, I’ve learned a ton from each of you. In the spirit of continuing to share knowledge while we aren’t as active in the gardens over the winter, I was wondering if we could do an over winter weekly/biweekly reflection question where anyone who was willing could respond to a focus question or thought. It could be something as straightforward as “what are you excited for next year” to something thoughtful like “who are you as a gardener and what does that say about/mean for you as a person?”

If you think this may be a good idea let me know and feel free to drop some reflection questions below that you would like to see answered and I or someone really interested can organize the questioning. In terms of timing: I’m thinking from the solstice to sometime in march. But open to suggestions on that as well.

I received guidance that it's best to plant bulbs when it's still a little warm and oriental/ielandic seeds when it's colder, more around Thanksgiving. True on both accounts?

Would you plant bulbs this upcoming weekend or just wait until next year. I'm not in a rush and am thinking I'll just do the poppy seeds in a couple weeks.

Thanks

Thanks to u/untitled5 for the three luffa gourds they gifted me last month!

I finally got them completely processed. I used advice from this YouTube video and this one.

The original gourds were still nice and juicy when I got them home. I cut off the ends and made 1” slits along the outside of the skin to help with venting during baking. At that time, I was able to save a few seeds. After baking, the skin came off easily. I let them dry for about 2 weeks - I used a fan in our basement bc I wasn’t sure if the below freezing temps in our garage would hamper the drying process. Today, I shook out as many seeds as I could, and then soaked them in bleach for 4 hours. I rinsed them one more time after their soak and was able to get the rest of the seeds out, although some were stubborn!

Some lessons learned:

• to save enough seeds (well, “enough” for my inner seed-hoarding goblin), next time I’ll cut off a bigger chunk from the skinny end of a gourd so that I can squeeze them out rather than trying to dig into the end prior to baking them. I only ended up with like 4 viable seeds and the ends of a couple of the finished sponges are frayed from my poking around… I’d have been better off just sacrificing a couple inches of raw gourd at the start

• I will be much more careful about my slits on the outer walls of the raw gourds… I can tell that I got too deep bc the finished pieces have some holes in the sides. I’m not sure I could have learned this any other way than just the first-time trial and error

• the 3 original gourds were around 16”-18” long. I had hoped to get 9 total sponges, but looking at my final results, I will only expect to get two sponges from a gourd in the future.

• I used running water in my kitchen sink to clean them after baking and then today during cleaning … overall, it was pretty excessive. I did that bc it has been cold af and the warm running water made it easier on my hands. My ideal state would be to do most of the cleaning in a bucket, outside, in the sun.

• Processing did take a significant amount of labor (maybe 3-4 hours of active work) compared to just buying some, but it was way easier work than canning I didn’t feel it was unreasonable.

I can’t wait to try and grow my own next season!

(Missing 7th sponge was gifted to a friend today)

Hey all,

Live in Louisville near Boulder. First time trying to grow lettuce over winter. Made a cold box out of scrap single cell polycarb sheet, and old school xmas lights for heat. Anyone else want to share their success/failure with cold boxes?

https://preview.redd.it/sjipjtjezp1e1.jpg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d934d4fdbe56db36333c505b3235fa4265c363f3

I have a side yard that is all pea gravel with a weed barrier underneath that I'd like to put a bunch of garden beds into, and am trying to prep myself of the spring.

Is it better to leave some gravel under with the weed barrier for drainage at the bottom, or is it better to clear both the gravel and the weed barrier so the bottom of the bed is the actual soil?

Also our soil is like an actual brick and we bought concrete garden bed corner blocks to infill with wood between but I see that they recommend to drive a rebar stake into the ground to anchor those blocks and I'm in doubt that we even will be able to get a stake in the ground like that, esp. since rebar isn't sharp on the end. We already bought the supplies and then have let them sit around all summer so I really want to make it work rather than losing money on those (and we bought enough for 6 garden boxes, its a large sideyard of a corner lot that gets a ton of sun).

I feel bad we let it sit all summer but we have a toddler and did a lot of other yard projects this summer, we just didn't make it to this one; we bit off more than we could chew for one season.

Advice much appreciated!

Hi everyone! I forgot to grab milk jugs at the seed swap, and my family is mostly vegan so I don't really have access. We do have plastic jugs from soda and juice. Would that work too?

Hi Denver gardeners, local bonsai grower here. I’m interested in finding locally sourced moss for my bonsai creations.

Any ideas on where to find some? I’d like to be able to find either someone who grows/has some in stock or a reliable place to find some (not illegally!).

Thanks!

I am reading conflict blogs. Should I be cutting my 2 butterfly bushes down before winter. If so… how far? Thank you!!

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For all you late baggers and reluctant rakers, we're just dropping in to share a recent story from our CSU Extension gardening experts with tips about how to properly mulch and compost your leaves!

https://engagement.source.colostate.edu/skip-the-bags-how-to-mow-compost-and-mulch-leaves-instead/

TL:DR

• Mowing Leaves: Using a lawn mower to chop leaves into small pieces allows them to filter into the grass, improving soil health, providing nutrients, and suppressing weeds. This process works best with dry leaves and requires setting the mower at a high level.
• Composting Leaves: Excess leaves can be composted for garden use. Whole leaves are preferred over shredded ones, as finely chopped leaves can inhibit oxygen flow, slowing decomposition. Combining leaves (carbon-rich) with nitrogen-rich materials like grass clippings balances the compost. The story also provides advice on managing oak and cottonwood leaves, compost bin sizing, and maintaining moisture levels.
• Using Leaves as Mulch: Leaves can serve as mulch for garden beds and around landscape plants, providing insulation and organic matter. Mulched leaves help retain moisture, support soil microbes, and encourage earthworm activity, all of which improve soil health and reduce waste going to landfills.
• Bonus Pollinator Points: Leave the leaves! Leaf litter can be critical for bumblebees looking for safe places to overwinter. Leave leaf litter in an undisturbed area until bumblebees emerge in the spring, which is generally between mid-April and mid-May. However, avoid leaving leaf litter on your lawn to prevent grass smothering, mold, and disease.

Questions? Check out the links in the story or submit your query via Ask Extension and it'll be routed to one of our local experts: https://ask2.extension.org/widget.html?team_id=1955?default_location=CO?default_county=All

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UPD: as of morning of 11/15/2024 all compost that we had had been taken. We will post again once we have another batch! Thank you all for your interest!

Hello Fellow Gardeners!

We are an urban mushroom farm in Denver metro and we would like to offer a lot of great stuff for your garden!

Spent mushroom substrate blocks can't be used to grow mushrooms again, but we can give them a second life in your garden or farm. Your plants will like them guaranteed.

Self-pick up only. Substrate blocks are packed in a large 200-300 pound bags, that are usually sitting outside. Its easy to come and self-load your trunk, come and take as much as you need.

The only thing we ask is to leave the bag, please.

831 E 73rd Ave Denver; easy access from I-25, I-36, I-70, 225, 270.

Oddly specific but I'm very new at this...We have a ground-level window that is constantly muddy from rain dripping from the roofline onto the dirt. The Internet says to put down gravel or mulch. I suppose I should first diagnose the dripping, but do you use gravel too, or plamts? Maybe a xeric garden in gravel, to keep the water low?

From my walk yesterday.

Hi all! New to the area and didn't really expect a real snow! The few plants I have only have a thin layer of mulch on them. Should I be worried? I have mulch that I'll throw on them when this melts! I've been focused on other projects and this got away from me

I have an AeroGarden (self-contained indoor hydroponic system) which has been gathering dust for several years which I might take out of the closet and use to grow some chiles (perhaps attempting to grow some of New Mexico's Chimayo chiles with their Grow Anything kits)

Do you have any indoor gardening plans for the winter?

I have two raised beds that I built in April this year and had a good summer garden. Everything has run its course and I’d like to clear the beds out and prep it for winter, but also curious what I could possibly grow over the winter in Denver.

Help me, I’m poor.

Grow your own food this winter! Come get immersed in the magic of oyster mushrooms in this hands on, all ages, class!

I made a scheduling mistake over the summer, hoping to have new grass or planting established before winter. Unfortunately my yard is a desolate Tattooine wasteland; I couldn’t figure out what I should plant, I don’t want a ton of grass and would prefer shrubs/local plants/flowers but…I know nothing. Now I’m looking at a winter of mud, because I have 3 dogs. Advice? Guidance? Anything I can/should plant now? I’m not good at this